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Sicilian Stepbrothers #1
The Sicilian's Wife
The first book in the Sicilian Stepbrothers series.
Marriage to Cesare Santorino is all Megan has ever wanted, although never like this! She's in deep trouble and, with no other choice, agrees to Cesare's offer of a mutually beneficial, convenient marriage.
Cesare makes no secret of his attraction to her. But what about love? Megan can only hope that her proud Sicilian husband might eventually come to see his young wife with more than just passion....
Note: Title is also included in the 'Italian Husbands'mini-series/theme by Harlequin/Mills & Boon publisher.
Marriage to Cesare Santorino is all Megan has ever wanted, although never like this! She's in deep trouble and, with no other choice, agrees to Cesare's offer of a mutually beneficial, convenient marriage.
Cesare makes no secret of his attraction to her. But what about love? Megan can only hope that her proud Sicilian husband might eventually come to see his young wife with more than just passion....
Note: Title is also included in the 'Italian Husbands'mini-series/theme by Harlequin/Mills & Boon publisher.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 25, 2003
About the author
Kate Walker
506 books150 followersI was born in Nottinghamshire, England, but I didn't live there for very long. The family moved to West Yorkshire when I was just eighteen months old and so I have always regarded Yorkshire as my home. I grew up there as the middle child in a family of five—all girls—in a home where books were vitally important and I read anything I could get my hands on.
Even before I could write I was making up stories. My mother tells the story of me recounting the tale of the Three Little Raindrops — Drippy, Droppy and Droopy to my two younger sisters when I was four. I can't remember a time when I wasn't scribbling away at something, and I wrote my first 'book' when I was eleven, an adventure story, most of it in secret in lessons at school—particularly maths lessons, which I hated.
But everyone, particularly teachers and my parents, told me that I would never make a living as a writer, and I should work towards a more secure career. So I decided instead that if I couldn't write books, I could at least work with them and so I settled for becoming a librarian. On leaving school, I went to the University College of Wales Aberystwyth where I studied English and Librarianship for my degree.
More importantly, university was also where I met my husband who was also studying English there. We married and moved back north, eventually settling in Lincolnshire. Here I worked as a children's librarian until I left work when my son was born.
After three years of being a full-time housewife and mother, I was ready for a new challenge, but needed something I could do at home, and so I turned to my old love of writing. My first attempts at novels were written on the kitchen table, often late into the night when my son was asleep or during a few snatched hours when he was out at nursery school.
The first two novels sent off to Harlequin Mills & Boon were rejected, but the third attempt was successful. I can still remember the moment that a letter arrived instead of the rejection slip I had been dreading. I think I must have read it over and over at least a hundred times before the reality of what it said sank in, and for days I kept checking it just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. In 1984, THE CHALK LINE was published just in time to be one of my best Christmas presents ever.
Fitting in hobbies around working and being a wife and mother can be difficult, but I always find time to read. I love all sorts of fiction, especially Romance, obviously. I also enjoy historical novels, detective fiction and long, absorbing biographies about fascinating people and I can spend hours in bookshops just browsing. I enjoy knitting and embroidery, but I rarely get time to do either now that I'm a full-time writer. I also love looking round antique fairs or junk shops, hoping to add to my collection of Victorian embroidery. During my working hours my four cats, all adopted from the RSPCA, usually keep me company in my study, though they have to be dissuaded from sitting on the piles of papers that they are convinced are there just for them.
I love to travel and visit new places, especially places with an interesting history, and I always enjoy visiting old castles or stately homes and imagining how the people who used to live there spent their days.
I'm often asked if I'm a romantic sort of person because I specialise in writing Romances. Well, if being romantic means caring about other people enough to make that extra special effort, then yes, I am. Romance is about making the important people in your life feel valued and letting them know that you care. But I also write about relationships and the difficulties people sometimes have in understanding each other, or expressing affection, or overcoming problems.
Sometimes—when the right words won't come, or an idea hasn't worked out as I'd thought, I wonder why I don't have some regular nine to five job, but when the story's flowing and the characters come alive, I really can't imagine a
Even before I could write I was making up stories. My mother tells the story of me recounting the tale of the Three Little Raindrops — Drippy, Droppy and Droopy to my two younger sisters when I was four. I can't remember a time when I wasn't scribbling away at something, and I wrote my first 'book' when I was eleven, an adventure story, most of it in secret in lessons at school—particularly maths lessons, which I hated.
But everyone, particularly teachers and my parents, told me that I would never make a living as a writer, and I should work towards a more secure career. So I decided instead that if I couldn't write books, I could at least work with them and so I settled for becoming a librarian. On leaving school, I went to the University College of Wales Aberystwyth where I studied English and Librarianship for my degree.
More importantly, university was also where I met my husband who was also studying English there. We married and moved back north, eventually settling in Lincolnshire. Here I worked as a children's librarian until I left work when my son was born.
After three years of being a full-time housewife and mother, I was ready for a new challenge, but needed something I could do at home, and so I turned to my old love of writing. My first attempts at novels were written on the kitchen table, often late into the night when my son was asleep or during a few snatched hours when he was out at nursery school.
The first two novels sent off to Harlequin Mills & Boon were rejected, but the third attempt was successful. I can still remember the moment that a letter arrived instead of the rejection slip I had been dreading. I think I must have read it over and over at least a hundred times before the reality of what it said sank in, and for days I kept checking it just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. In 1984, THE CHALK LINE was published just in time to be one of my best Christmas presents ever.
Fitting in hobbies around working and being a wife and mother can be difficult, but I always find time to read. I love all sorts of fiction, especially Romance, obviously. I also enjoy historical novels, detective fiction and long, absorbing biographies about fascinating people and I can spend hours in bookshops just browsing. I enjoy knitting and embroidery, but I rarely get time to do either now that I'm a full-time writer. I also love looking round antique fairs or junk shops, hoping to add to my collection of Victorian embroidery. During my working hours my four cats, all adopted from the RSPCA, usually keep me company in my study, though they have to be dissuaded from sitting on the piles of papers that they are convinced are there just for them.
I love to travel and visit new places, especially places with an interesting history, and I always enjoy visiting old castles or stately homes and imagining how the people who used to live there spent their days.
I'm often asked if I'm a romantic sort of person because I specialise in writing Romances. Well, if being romantic means caring about other people enough to make that extra special effort, then yes, I am. Romance is about making the important people in your life feel valued and letting them know that you care. But I also write about relationships and the difficulties people sometimes have in understanding each other, or expressing affection, or overcoming problems.
Sometimes—when the right words won't come, or an idea hasn't worked out as I'd thought, I wonder why I don't have some regular nine to five job, but when the story's flowing and the characters come alive, I really can't imagine a
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 11, 2025
Well I quite enjoyed parts of this. Particularly the hero.
It was different to the normal Mills and Boon with a hero, Cesare who had been in love with the heroine Megan for years but who had promised her father he would do nothing till she was 22. Sorry I know that was a plot device to set up the scenario but it was utterly stupid and incredible. So that was the first problem I had.
The way the author developed the story was quite interesting, and again, unusual with Megan having gone off and had an affair with a Cesare lookalike and the thought she was pregnant. That was believable, but it certainly put me off the heroine.
Cesare decided he’ll marry Megan and bring up her child as his own and he is determined to make the marriage real. He actually was a honey and despite some seriously stupid things that he did, I really liked him.
What spoiled it for me was Megan. She was antagonistic, aggressive, hostile and thoroughly unpleasant towards the man who actually ‘rescued’ her and her father. Yet she still thought that ‘pushing’ Cesare like this might make him declare he loved her. By the end, I was thoroughly fed up with her and would have been happy if Cesare had walked away and left her.
This had so much potential but the constant hostility and constant misunderstanding was both unreal and unattractive. This story was disappointing because it could have been five stars if the whole plot and character development had been more nuanced. But the writer has talent! I’ll look at more of her books. 😉
It was different to the normal Mills and Boon with a hero, Cesare who had been in love with the heroine Megan for years but who had promised her father he would do nothing till she was 22. Sorry I know that was a plot device to set up the scenario but it was utterly stupid and incredible. So that was the first problem I had.
The way the author developed the story was quite interesting, and again, unusual with Megan having gone off and had an affair with a Cesare lookalike and the thought she was pregnant. That was believable, but it certainly put me off the heroine.
Cesare decided he’ll marry Megan and bring up her child as his own and he is determined to make the marriage real. He actually was a honey and despite some seriously stupid things that he did, I really liked him.
What spoiled it for me was Megan. She was antagonistic, aggressive, hostile and thoroughly unpleasant towards the man who actually ‘rescued’ her and her father. Yet she still thought that ‘pushing’ Cesare like this might make him declare he loved her. By the end, I was thoroughly fed up with her and would have been happy if Cesare had walked away and left her.
This had so much potential but the constant hostility and constant misunderstanding was both unreal and unattractive. This story was disappointing because it could have been five stars if the whole plot and character development had been more nuanced. But the writer has talent! I’ll look at more of her books. 😉
April 1, 2011
I have to agree with another reviewer when they said the heroine was TSTL. The only reason for the two stars was because of the hero. He was great and I think he deserved far better than her.
October 9, 2014
Not bad.... d:)
Good, but a little slow. I like internal dialogue especially when you get both the H and h's POV, but there was just too much for me, my kindle was turning pages at the speed of light. Clearly they love each other, but due to insecurities and lack of communication, it took them the whole book to work through it, thought it could have been resolved sooner. Also, the h had a habit of running her mouth and saying stupid stuff that prolonged the drama.... d:)
Good, but a little slow. I like internal dialogue especially when you get both the H and h's POV, but there was just too much for me, my kindle was turning pages at the speed of light. Clearly they love each other, but due to insecurities and lack of communication, it took them the whole book to work through it, thought it could have been resolved sooner. Also, the h had a habit of running her mouth and saying stupid stuff that prolonged the drama.... d:)
June 9, 2015
Not bad. I'll admit: at times the book moved slowly, and the heroine acted a little too naive sometimes. But overall, it wasn't terrible. I think Ms. Walker did a good job in portraying the insecurities felt by both parties with an age gap of almost a decade between them. This is my first book by Kate Walker, but it won't be my last.
March 1, 2022
No one is this stupid.
Seriously? The man laid himself out on the table for her, practically tore his own heart out for her and she couldn't figure out he loved her? No one is that dumb.
Seriously? The man laid himself out on the table for her, practically tore his own heart out for her and she couldn't figure out he loved her? No one is that dumb.
August 18, 2013
i liked it. it was a nice one nothing special though. they were both very much in love with each other since childhood but were not aware lol:p
November 2, 2017
The Sicilian's Wife
When two people who have loved each other for a long time finally get together not all goes smoothly. He rejected her and she feel into another's arms. She believes that she is pregnant. He comes to blackmail her into marriage. So that he would be able to help her father. But when star crossed love enters things go wrong. Neither are honest with the other.
When two people who have loved each other for a long time finally get together not all goes smoothly. He rejected her and she feel into another's arms. She believes that she is pregnant. He comes to blackmail her into marriage. So that he would be able to help her father. But when star crossed love enters things go wrong. Neither are honest with the other.
September 29, 2020
The book had such a promising and rather original beginning but unfortunately it didn’t quite deliver. The h was less than charming and she was so afraid of being vulnerable and getting hurt that she didn’t mind hurting the H tenfold.
May 12, 2022
Note: I read the English version which does not appear to be on good reads
January 31, 2016
he was too hostile - considering he supposedly wanted to make the marriage work, he didn't even try to be nice
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews