Hired for Romano's Pleasure

by Chantelle Shaw

Orla's to-do #1 Resist my arrogant new boss!Working for cutthroat billionaire Torre Romano is shy Orla's worst nightmare--she's never forgotten the crushing blow of his cruel rejection. Unfortunately, her traitorous body can't forget the white-hot pleasure they found together! Traveling abroad with him, and working late nights, is pure sensual torture--especially as Torre seems determined to tempt Orla to play with fire once again...

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Presents, Romance, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2018

About the author

I grew up without a TV, let alone DVD’s, computer games etc that my kids spend so much time engrossed in, but I learned to read at an early age and from then on I was always entertained – so much so that my friends used to hide their books when I visited them because all I wanted to do was read!

When I was a teenager I discovered Mills & Boon romances in my local library, and so began a lifelong love affair. I still remember that feeling of anticipation when I settled down with a pile of books - all bearing the famous rose logo - knowing that I would be drawn into a world of love, passion and emotional intensity that I have never found in any other books. I enjoy reading a wide range of books, especially historical novels, and I am a big fan of Agatha Christie, mainly I think because her characters seem so real, but I love romances and unashamedly admit that I only want to read books with a guaranteed happy ending. Reading is my joy and pleasure and I don’t want to cry buckets at the end of a book or have my sleep disturbed by its gruesome content.

For me, the characters in Harlequin Mills & Boon romances are the key. I love reading and writing about strong, alpha heroes and feisty, independent heroines who find that they can’t fight the blazing attraction between them.

When I married my own tall, dark, but sadly not wealthy hero, we moved out of London to the Kent coast and started a family that grew and grew. I adore my six children, and when they were small I loved being a stay-at-home mum, but there can be days, as I’m sure many of you know, when you feel isolated and – dare I say it – bored of conversing with three-year-olds. Harlequin Mills & Boon romances were my life-line and my sanity and I read them whenever I had a spare five minutes (in the bath, pacing the floor at three am with colicky baby on one shoulder and a book in the other hand!)

My imagination soared and I decided to try and write a book myself. My first attempt was typed up on a manual type-writer with the full-stop key and the letter p missing. Luckily my hero and heroine were not called Paul and Poppy, but it still meant going over my manuscript with a pen to fill in the gaps!

That first book was duly rejected as were my next two. I suppose I was disheartened and by now I had four small children and very little spare time, so although I continued to read romances, I gave up writing. It wasn’t until my youngest son started school that I tried writing again. I was struggling to come to terms with the death of my darling mum Gabrielle and writing became my therapy. Mum had always nagged me to get on and write a book and had an unshakeable belief that I would one day be published – I’m so glad that she was proved right and my biggest regret is that she isn’t here to share my success with me.

I wrote two more books which were both rejected by HM&B, but I was given some advice on my writing from the editorial team that encouraged me to try again. Third time lucky certainly applied to me – the day I received ‘the call’ was exactly four years after Mum had died. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life - but instead of chatting to the editor about contracts I had to dash off and pick my sick daughter up from school. Reality is never far away in my house!

I have now had nine books published - At the Sheikh's Bidding was released in September 08. My next book, Argentinian Playboy, Unexpected Love-Child will be out in the UK in July 09, and The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Princess in the UK in August 09. I have just had my twelfth book accepted and am already busy on my thirteenth. Now that my children are growing up I am able to write every day between 9 am and 3 pm, but often I become so involved with my characters that I sneak off to write again in the evening!

I feel I must be one of the luckiest people in the world to be doing something that I love, but I work hard at my luck and I believe that w

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

18 year old Orla is infatuated with her stepbrother, the son of the man her mother married. They spend one night together and he takes her virginity but the next morning Torre accuses her of being a gold digger like her slutty mother and Orla is heartbroken and she leaves him. While on university Orla meets another man and she marries him. Sadly he is a violent bastard but Orla manages to escape her abusive husband and asks for a divorce. Years later she meets Torre again and they can’t resist each other. They become lovers once again and Torre slowly realizes that Orla is not her mother’s daughter. Orla is still in love with Torre but her abusive marriage has left her with scars emotional and physical.

Chantelle Shaw delivers once again. I love a cruel hero who misjudges the innocent heroine and accuses her of being a gold digger and then he realizes how wrong he is. Torre was your typical alpha playboy hero. He was brutally cynical but I loved how he protected Orla from her abusive husband. And Orla was a great heroine. Strong but vulnerable. Her failed marriage made her shy and insecure but I was glad she found the strength and courage to abandon her disgusting violent husband. Her chemistry with Torre was sizzling and the sexual tension was intense. Loved the epilogue with their baby boy and pregnant Orla. This book is a keeper and I highly recommend it!

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

H/h were stepbrother and sister for a nano second back when the heroine was 18 and a virgin. They met at a wedding reception for their parents, but the hero didn't know who she was because she had a different last name than her mother. They had a one night stand, which was great until the hero realized who she was. He accuses her of trying to trap him and being a golddigger just like her mother.

Fast forward 8 (?) years. Heroine is freshly divorced from her abusive cricket-player husband of 8 months. Her mother is ill with mounting debts (this time she married a pastor - so 4th times a charm) and heroine is trying to help her. She needs a job and yet another step brother of the hero's has the bright idea that she might work for the family company. She has been invited to her step father's 70th birthday party in Italy and hopes to find out about a position in the firm.

Hero is just as attracted to her and just as rude. Heroine won't tell him about her abusive husband, her mother's illness, or the civil engineering degree she had to give up because of her abusive husband. But hero can't quit her so he offers her a two month temporary assignment as his PA. The fun of this story is watching the hero realize he's misjudged the heroine as one layer after another is peeled away from her backstory.

I do like unjustly accused heroines and remorseful heroes. CS does a great job with the set up and the hero's dawning realization of what an ass he's been. Just what I like in an HP.

There's a baby-filled epilogue and a graduation ceremony for the heroine.

Triggers: memories of domestic abuse/stalker ex-husband.

[*CJ* · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Hired for Romano's Pleasure" is the story of Orla and Torre.

Our h and H are sorta stepsiblings, who had a torrid ONS years ago- after which the H called her a gold-digger and threw her out. The h ran away to lick her wounds, got educated, and married a famous cricketer. Sadly, mofo turns out to be an abuser, and the h finally divorces him and is left penniless. She also has a sick selfish mother, who is draining all her funds.
Anyways, the book begins when her stepfather- the H's dad is having his 70th birthday and invites the h. The H takes his as an opportunity to slut shame the h, verbally abusing her while calling her a money hungry snake. But our h finds the abuse very charming and decides to repeatedly bang him. He also offers her a job, chastises her even more, she takes it, calls her all sorts of bitch and hoe, they copulate even more, loads of confessions from the h's side who gives in with MINIMAL resistance- never letting the fucktard of a H eat his words. Even after he realizes the crap she has gone through, his accusations don't stop.

You know what Torre? I hope you got neurosyphilis and died from respiratory failure. Utter POS.

Unsafe
1/5

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars ~ This story opens with our hero, Torre, learning that his father has invited his step-son and step-daughter (both from different marriages) to his 70th birthday party. He doesn't relish the idea of seeing Orla again. The first and last time he'd seen her was on the night his father married her mother. They'd seen each other across the room. It didn't take much seduction for Torre to get Orla into his bed. After their explosive sex, he learns that she is his father's new step-daughter and he rushes to the conclusion that Orla is just as gold-digging as her mother. Seeing Orla now, eight years later, several years after his father had divorced her mother, brings back all those uncontrollable lusty feelings.

Orla had been hurt by Torre's rejection, she'd been 18 and he was her first lover. Close to completing her university degree, she finds herself falling for a charming cricket player. David swept her off her feet and to the alter. It didn't take long for David's jealousy and need to control to turn violent. And the night she went to get stitches, was the night she left him. The tabloids blamed her for David's slump on the cricket fields, and they proclaimed she had only been after his money. All Orla wanted was to be free, so she didn't look for a financial settlement. It took two years for the divorce decree. She was glad of her step-brother Jules friendship and happily accompanied him to their step-father's birthday bash on the Amalfi coast. Finally in charge of her life again, Orla now needs to face Torre to wipe out the other painful experience that has shaped her. She'd hoped she'd feel indifference, but is dismayed to discover that her body hasn't ever forgotten Torre. Their physical reactions to each other is even more explosive than it was eight years ago.

I rather enjoy stories where the hero believes horrible things about the heroine, only to be guilt ridden later when he discovers he'd been wrong. This is an angsty reunion, one with some sizzling chemistry and passionate confrontations. Ms. Shaw had me hooked and I couldn't put this one down.

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can Romano hire me because damn 💦

[Rgreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't drawn into the story. The heroine annoyed me. I didn't like the abusive marriage subplot. I would rather the heroine be celibate & not married to another man than be with another man who beat her. I also noticed right away numerous subplots...too many subplots don't work for me as a reader because I want the focus to be on building up the romance

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

לסקירה מפורטת בעברית, קישור לבלוג שלי -

https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/העוב...

[Mtve41 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend Jenny has an excellent review of this book and those are exactly my sentiments. I read this one earlier and reread it today. Unputdownable. Gives you all the feels and the sex is pretty darn hot. Won't even start with Torre. He easily breaks alpha husband records. And Orla is a sweetheart. No over dramatic angst and internal monologue in this book. Just plain heart searing romance and an incredible plot! Loved it!!!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did very much like and enjoy the story of Orla and Torre’s journey to their happily ever after, however while I was reading this I felt something missing, therefore preventing me from giving it five stars. I wasn’t overwhelmed or amazed or blown away by it. I just felt like this was the typical Harlequin Presents story that I very much enjoy reading, but there was no wow factor to it either. Don’t get me wrong it was good and it was never dull, but there was just a little bit of disconnect for me. There could be a couple reasons for this.

Reason one was I was expecting a lot more angst from this story than I actually got especially after reading the reviews, which got me really excited for it. From the back synopsis alone I would have never known that Orla and Torre were in fact step siblings at one point until I read a review about this book. So with that little piece of information, my expectations were kind of set that they had this burning sexual tension between them and had for years as they decided to deny their need for each other until one night when everything blew up between them. Then regrets would set in and led them to separate years at time just creating all this angst and angst that had been building for years. In Orla and Torre’s story that wasn’t the case, in fact their little scenario had totally been different than what I thought it was going to be. First off, Orla never lived with her mother or Torre’s father, therefore Torre himself like I thought. In fact they didn’t meet until that first night where they gave into their passion for each other. Granted they had this insane connection that pulled the two of them together and led to an explosive night and even more explosive misunderstandings the next morning. What I really care for was the fact their first time was the fact that they were strangers and it was a case of lust at first sight. I hate those types of tropes, and it just feels very forced and not realistic at all, and it just didn’t feel right at all. And this was the case in this story. I get the argument can be made that their connection was so powerful that Orla and Torre couldn’t help themselves but give in to it, but I didn’t like it, not at all. I like the build up and the slow burn until it finally gets released, but that didn’t happen there.

And this carried onto the rest of the book as well. Orla and Torre’s desire for each other was always there and they gave into it pretty easily. There was not a lot fight nor back and forth between them, instead they just fell into that type of relationship. There was little to no angst in my opinion. No build up. No anticipation between the two of them. Just when the mood struck they did it, and that was it. After awhile their relationship felt a little superficial and less meaningful because they kept on going to bed with each other. They really didn’t get to the heart of the story until near the end when all was revealed.

The second thing I really didn’t care for was Torre himself. I didn’t like him. He set my teeth on edge, and he was such judgmental jerk that it was really hard to warm up to him. Some of the things he did and said to Orla wasn’t okay. He kept accusing her of being a gold digger and that she was nothing but that and treated her very much like her abusive ex husband without the physical abuse. And the only reason he did any of that was because he was a coward and couldn’t face his own fears about love and relationships, and I was not okay with that. And after awhile it got real tiring to hear him accuse her again and again and hurting Orla badly in the process. He was very unfair. I just didn’t like his treatment of Orla.

There were things that I did like. I liked Orla very much. I liked her strength and her growth. She may have been in an abusive marriage, but eventually she found the courage to leave once her ex hit her, and I very much admired that about her. Most woman in those type of situation never leave due to fear of what will happen to them if they do leave, and I am sure that thought went through Orla’s mind too, but she found her courage and the strength to walk away from him. It was hard, but she knew she had to do it. That didn’t mean that she no longer feared her ex or that the scars had disappeared because she did, but she took that step which was the important part. I adored her, and I wanted the best for her.

After all the nonsense with Torre, he finally showed his human side when he learned the full truth about Orla. Then he very much became a different person. He was tender and caring towards her. Once he found out the truth, he wanted to take care of her. There was a really sweet and tender scene between them that was really beautiful. I loved how he cherished her and tried to heal all of her hurts with his tender caresses. It almost redeemed him. Almost. But that was probably my favorite scene in the entire book that happened very near the end of the story.

I liked the love scenes too. The last one was the one I mentioned above, but I liked the passion between them. They had some very steamy moments between them. The heat between them knew no bounds. That was what they had going for in them in their relationship. That was the crux of it anyway. Them coming together showed that they did have a connection even if it was just a physical one. Those were the good moments between them. The rest of them were a little bit questionable.

Overall I liked the story, but I didn’t love it. I had few problems, and it was really hard to root for Torre when he was a jerk. He was hard to root and care for. I understand why he was afraid to love, but it didn’t excuse all the stuff he said to poor Orla. He did make up for it when he was taking care of her during her vulnerable moment, and that was when I started liking him, but that was very late in the book. That was the most special part of the book was when he found out about her abusive marriage and his protective instincts towards her and wanting to take care of her. I think there needed to be more of those scenes and a little less of them just focusing on the lust in their relationship. I also wished there was more angst in this book, and I thought there was going to be especially when I heard the setup, but I was sadly disappointed. I wanted them to be fighting their attraction a lot longer than they did both in the past and the present. That would have made the book more edgier and brought out a little bit more of the emotions that were hidden beneath the surface. It just would have brought another layer to the story. Then I think I would have loved this book, but it was good and I did enjoy it. It just wasn’t my favorite book of all time.

[Shatarupa Dhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Office romance, yum! Hmm...the hero does have a sexy name, Torre - oh, how it rolls off your tongue.
Orla, who at the age of eighteen had lost her virginity to Torre, and was subsequently dumped by him - after being blamed for being like her gold-digger of a mother - returns to her stepfather’s (Torre’s fathers’) home for his seventieth birthday celebrations, after eight long years. On the hunt for a job, she lands again in Torre’s arms, but now as his PA, and something more. Meanwhile, she had suffered for ten months in an abusive marriage which made her more wary of Torre.
Half the time, their teasing banter made me laugh so much. And at other times, they couldn’t understand each other’s behaviours, what with the things they hid from each other. But later, after reacting badly to her pregnancy, and then realising how much he loved her, they get their HEA, and she her civil engg degree!

[Debby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This made me cringe. She needs a job. And out of all jobs in the world, she applies for a job as a PA for the man who called her and her mother prostitutes, who took her virginity when she was only 18 and after that threw her out.

Why not take any other job, like cleaning or something. Her resumé is worthless, which makes it even more cringeworthy that she applies for a job there with him. Bleh.

And apparently their first time sex wasn’t that great because for 8 years she wasn’t worth his time. I don’t like that. I want the hero to be besotted from the first moment they meet. And I also don’t like the fact that she married another guy.

I don’t believe at all that he is smitten. He is horny and she is willing and available.

They have lots of sex, so if you’re looking for a HP filled with sex scenes, this is your book. If you’re looking for romance and a besotted H pursuing the woman, this isn’t it.

[lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it

[Maria Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hired for Romano’s Pleasure by Chantelle Shaw is a sexy second chance romance for a couple who had a one night stand that ended poorly, but never forgot about each other.

When Orla was eighteen she was seduced by sexy, handsome Torre in a one night stand that rocked them both. But when Torre discovered in the morning that Orla was the daughter of the gold digger about to become his new step-mother, he pushed her away, believing she’d orchestrated their night to make a fool of him.

Years later, Orla is invited to celebrate her ex-step father’s birthday, arriving with another of her step siblings for the party. Torre is there too of course, and while it’s been years since he’s seen Orla, particularly since her mother has long since moved onto fresher pastures, he’s never been able to put their night together out of his mind. And neither has Orla. Desperate for money, Orla agrees to take a temporary position as a personal assistant to Torre. The attraction between them is as strong as ever. Will they be able to put the past behind them and this time, get a happier ending?

For more of this review please visit Harlequin Junkie: https://harlequinjunkie.com/review-hi...

A copy of this story was provided by the publisher for review.

[رومولا الن emmajain-book · Rating 3 out of 5]

قرأتها بعنوان مستأجرة لمتعته من ترجمة منتدى روايتي
روايه مليئة بالرومانسيه
احببت علاقة اورلا وتوري وحبهما
من الروايات التي تزيل فتور القراءة
انصح بها
ا

[Xai Xai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book throughly. It had all the ingredients of making a spectacular book., Sexy Alpha Italian hero, love at first sight, misunderstandings, interdiction and remorse. The groveling was beyond par!

[Kasturi Bhattacharyya · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Would be a 5 star rating, if the heroine was not a doormat. She was abused by her ex-husband, and she let herself bullied to Torre. Though the story was really good, but the earring misunderstanding was not cleared literally. And I really didn't feel Orla's love towards Torre. Because true love will never let you feel pressured and bullied.

[JillyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love at first sight, although it took 8 years to come to that realization. In the 8 years since that first melding of hearts and bodies, there have been mistresses, broken engagements, financial difficulties, and 1 abusive marriage.


So why would it take 8 years for our two lovers to make a go of it?



If you guessed that it was due to another Italian hero who likes jumping to conclusions even more than sex(ok that may be an overstatement) then you would be correct!

Our hero(Torre)first spies the (Orla)h at his father’s marriage to a gold digging harlot. Oh, and the harlot is the h’s mom(but he didn’t know that). Orla is one smitten kitten who now believes in love at first sight. She willingly goes with the hero to his little farmhouse on the coast. Caught up in the moment, the 18 year old h has no inhibitions about her virginity and gladly bestows this honor to the 26 year old H. The H is touched by this honor and then he discovers she is the daughter of the harpy who married his dad. He discovers this when some earrings drop out of her purse that belonged to his dead mother. She tells him that her mom lent them to her as the Hero’s dad gave the earrings as a gift. He doesn’t believe her and on top of that he believes that she is taking a play from her mother’s playbook and hoping to score a millionaire with her virginity offering. Our h’s fairy tale prince has just given her a huge dose of cruelty. She runs away and goes back to England. In the few years that her mom stays married to the H’s dad, she makes sure her visits will never correspond with the H’s visits. Eventually her mom divorces, gets a settlement, and goes on to live her high life style.

In the 8 years they are apart, the h and H think of each other often. Since the H’s mother’s death at the age of 6 he has closed himself off to love. Love means pain and loss of control. The only woman to ever make him lose control is the h.

Meanwhile the h goes to school. However, she gets involved with and marries a cricket player who is possessive, jealous, and abusive. She doesn’t finish her degree in civil engineering per his request she make herself available to him at all times. She finally gets away from him, without any monetary gain, as she wanted nothing to do with him. Although she still gets vilified in the the tabloids. On top of this, her mother has run through all her money and then has a stroke. The h takes on all of her mom’s medical bills. Her mom actually remarried and lives in the states, but her husband is not wealthy, but is kind. (We briefly learn that the mom had her own demons to vanquish from childhood) The h now needs a job as she lost hers when she was taking too much time off to take care of her mom.

The h and H come into each other’s orbit when she is invited to attend her stepdad’s 70th birthday. She has kept in touch with him and her other stepbrother Jules who has more than brotherly feelings towards the h. She only sees him as a good friend.

As soon as the h and H meet the air crackles with unresolved heat that needs to be quenched. Of course, this doesn’t stop the H from degrading the h with unfounded allegations and comments. She ends up working for him temporarily and they become lovers. During their 2 months together the H starts to realize how much he has gotten wrong…BUT he is still determined to keep denying his love and keeping his emotions reigned in….



Anyhoo, I am leaving a lot out, but let’s just say that the hero makes one more mistake. However, time has educated the H and instead of wasting 8 years to claim the h he wastes about 8 seconds. He gives a very heart felt love avowal complete with tears. (Don’t worry our alpha H doesn’t become a soppy sponge, but the wetness from his eyes does grace the h’s neck)

CS gives us a wonderful epilogue. This is only my 2nd CS book(and in less than 24 hours) and I like that the heroines in both books are not just ornamental. They actually go to and complete school in fields that would boggle many people.

My “you have it bad moment” :
“But when he had walked into the library—where, according to his father, Orla had preferred to spend most of her time, instead of lying on a sunbed by the pool and flicking through gossip magazines, which invariably was how her mother had occupied herself—he had inhaled the faint, lingering scent of her perfume and his body had clenched hard.” I mean at this point he hasn’t even seen the h for a few years and only had 1 night with her. That is some pretty powerful fragrance to elicit such a response!!


Again if you like cruel heroes who like to get things wrong then this should be one to pick up. Not to mention that there is a good dollop of angst and emotional turmoil to boot!

[loslibrosdeeri (Eri D. Ross) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 Estrellas.

Esta lectura me fue muy entretenida. Aunque no ha sido una lectura memorable, me dejó con algunas bonitas frases de las cuales me he agarrado. Me recordó a cómo inicié en la lectura, de la manera romántica, algo erotica y con drama, y con la misma técnica que llegan a manejar casi la mayoría de los libros de este genero. Admito que la forma de escribir de la escritora es buena, y tiene muy buen uso de sinónimos para no llegar a leerse de manera muy repetitiva en ciertas escenas, así que eso se lo aplaudo. 💙

Sin más que decir dejo aquí las frases que me gustaron:

“Había dejado de creer en los cuentos de hadas y en el príncipe azul que la rescataría y protegería. Había aprendido, con mucho dolor, que la única persona que la protegería ella era misma”. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“Nadie se merecía que lo agredieran física o verbalmente. La violencia no tenía excusa”. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“—Eres lo más bonito que he visto en mi vida—afirmó—. Bellísima—murmuró él.” 🌟🌟🌟���

“Las princesas de los cuentos tenían que aprender a cuidar de sí mismas en vez de confiar en hallar a un príncipe”. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“—Eres la única mujer que he traído aquí a la que le fascinan mis tuberías. A la mayoría le interesan los muebles y el color de los cojines.
—Las tuberías son un elemento importante del diseño del edificio y, en mi opinión, mucho más interesante que los cojines.
—Estoy de acuerdo—él seguía sonriendo—. A mí, lo que me fascina eres tú”. 🌟🌟🌟

“Nada te prepara para lo mucho que te duele aquí—se apretó el corazón con la mano”. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Liba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giuseppe is celebrating his 70th birthday and invites his two stepchildren :the French Jules (2nd marriage) and Irish Orla (3d marriage ).His son Torre doesn't want Orla around -thinks she is a gold-digger like her mother Kimberly .Giuseppe steps down as the CEO of his engineering company, the ARC.He also hopes that Jules and Orla would marry. He also wants Torre to marry .
Torre and Orla met 8 years ago at their parents's marriage and spent the night together.
In the next few years Orla went to study civil engineering , but didn't graduate. She got married to David, a cricket cbampion, who discouraged her from studying. Orla was a battered wife and it took her two years to obtain a divorce .She wanted nothing from David. Her ex continues harassing her- calls and threatens the woman.
Torre is still attracted to Orla.He investigates David and sends Jules to Japan- far from her.
This story is about people's prejudices concerning others and whether or not they can change their view.I didn't like Kimberley as a mother, but her fate made me pity her in the end.Torre's rigid upbringing made him to shut down his feelings. And we see Orla overcoming emotional abuse from David.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick Summary: Arrogant man (formerly a little boy lost) is set to reconnect with a stunning beauty (former lover) from his past

My Review: Hired for Romano's Pleasure by Chantelle Shaw was a Goodreads recommendation that caught my attention.

Ultimately, this HQ romance was about two people whose paths intersected in the past and crossed in the present. The story was peppered with classic tropes - boy meets girl, boy and girl have relations, boy makes unjust claims about said girl, girl runs away broken hearted, girl's life is irrevocably changed, years pass, boy and girl have an inevitable encounter, boy and girl get caught up in their feelings (and denial of those feelings), a disagreement creates conflict, then love is finally realized, as one fights to win back the other (because that person is the one they've always wanted). Once reconciliation happened, a nice and tidy HEA was celebrated. The end.

Rating: 3/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Trigger: Domestic violence

#GoodreadsRecommendation

[Dj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orla’s to-do list: #1 Resist my arrogant new boss! Working for cutthroat (construction billionaire) Torre Romano is shy Orla’s worst nightmare—she’s never forgotten the crushing blow of his cruel rejection. When she was 18 she gave him her virginity and when he discovered who her mother was, said she was a gold-digger trying to set him up as her mom had done. Unfortunately, her traitorous body can’t forget the white-hot pleasure they found together! She marries a wealthy man and everyone believes divorced with a huge settlement which couldn’t be further from the truth. She barely escaped with her life and now is seeking employment to help with her mother’s medical expenses. Torre offers her a 2-month trial position as his PA while his regular PA takes medical leave. Traveling abroad with him, and working late nights, is pure sensual torture—especially as Torre seems determined to tempt Orla to play with fire once again…Luca, their son, changes everything.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chantelle Shaw is a normal buy for every book she has had out. I enjoyed this book immensely as the heroine Orla goes to see her stepfather on his 70th birthday. The hero Torre questions her motives and sees her as a golddigger and the story continues from there with the angst and passion igniting. A good read.

[Sandy Schmid Radcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Good, interesting, enjoyable read. I would have given it a 5 star but Torre was kind of a hard sell he believes Orla is a gold digger. She was not, only virginal and a sweetheart, who after Torre's rejection had a bad/abusive marriage. I Loved the chemistry/interaction between Torre and Orla with her love for him enduring for years until she finally makes HIM wake up.

[Kenya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Me operé la nariz y no tengo más nada que hacer que leer esto. No hay FORMA que gente le haya dado cinco estrellas, me niego a creerlo. Que onda los pe$ones de ella? Porque él está re loco? Todos a TERAPIA.

[Geraldine Sadiku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense romance that deals with a few issues in a sensitive way with an arrogant hero and strong heroine thrown into the mix.

[Ishara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read from Chantelle Shaw. Orla and Torre really touched me with all the angst and misunderstanding.

[Sassi J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Loved this book. I finished it in one sitting till 4am. It’s been years since a book enthralled me like this.

[nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy the passion and the chemistry between the hero and heroine. They met as strangers at their parent’s wedding and had a one night stand. Meet again after 8 years which is too long of separation. I did not enjoy the fact that heroine was married to another man (was sex with her husband as exciting?). Did she have other sexual partners in the past other than her husband, which was unclear to me. For me the ending was the best part of the story.

[RomLibrary]

Orla's to-do list: #1 Resist my arrogant new boss!Working for cutthroat billionaire Torre Romano is shy Orla's worst nightmare--she's never forgotten the crushing blow of his cruel rejection. Unfortunately, her traitorous body can't forget the white-hot pleasure they found together! Traveling abroad with him, and working late nights, is pure sensual torture--especially as Torre seems determined to tempt Orla to play with fire once again.

[MissKitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, maybe 3.5.

The Hero behaved badly at the start, but midway realized all his misconceptions about the heroine, so their relationship continues smoothly from then on. Meaning lots of sex and low on angst.

She gets pregnant, he doesn’t jump for joy, she runs away, he follows immediately and offers to grovel in the street in public. She relents, they get married and have a cute baby with another on the way.

HEA