The Tie That Binds

Serendipity #1

by Catharina Maura

When Alyssa Moriani loses her father, she's faced with an impossible choice: fulfil her father's last wish and marry Daniel Devereaux, her best friend's older brother... or lose her father's company to the one person that'll burn everything she's worked for to the ground.

Her marriage to Daniel was never meant to be more than a business arrangement. They were never meant to be so perfect together, and they were definitely never meant to fall in love.

After all, they started their marriage with an end date in sight.


Author's Note: Full length novel with a guaranteed happily ever after. This book contains steamy scenes and an alpha-hole hero.

Genres: Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Forced Proximity, Marriage, Billionaire Romance

326 pages, Paperback

Published January 25, 2022

About the author

Catharina Maura is a USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author. She writes angsty, fast-paced contemporary romance novels that break your heart before they lead you to a hard-won happily ever after.

Cat lives in Hong Kong with her husband and a dozen houseplants that all have names. When she isn't daydreaming about future characters, she's exploring the world and seeking out new adventures.

You can find Cat's socials and latest updates here: https://hi.catharinamaura.com/bio

Reviews

[Kaykay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This whole story was a test in perseverance for me. I kept wanting to put this in my DNF pile but little instances kept showing that it had potential so I would keep reading, thinking "this has to get better". Spoiler alert, it did not, in fact, get better, it got worse. Daniel the main character's love interest, husband of convenience, long time family friend, is a piece of human garbage. I've long been of the belief that as an author, just the mere fact of putting down a story is such an accomplishment, and so personal that you have to be extremely brave to be willing to expose yourself like that. So in that manner of speaking I am actually deeply concerned that this author thought that she was portraying Daniel as someone who audiences would also love. He was a manipulative, emotionally abusive asshole, who even though he is supposed to be 10 years older than the protagonist is, as far as I can tell, stunted emotionally at 12 years old. Not one redeeming quality.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Figures my first read of 2023 is a 1-star book 😭😅 Honestly, it's all of my own making, because I read a couple of reviews for this book and went in to try it anyway, thinking - with somewhat unexpected bout of optimism - it couldn't possibly be that bad, could it?

COULD IT???!

[Narrator: It was, in fact, that fucking bad.]

This whole story read like a study in humiliation/torture porn. Alternatively, perhaps the author got a writing prompt along the lines of "let's see how much shit hero can put the heroine through only for her to get back to him without a blink" and she went with it 🙃

The way this book gave me an emotional whiplash was unforgivable. On one hand, there was a potential for such a fun, feels-good story. Tropes I love: marriage of convenience + guy falls first + workplace romance + age gap. There were all these cute, domestic, intimate moments between Alyssa and Daniel that made me giddy, and it all just went to waste. Daniel was mostly written as this considerate, decisive, caring guy who'd hang the moon for Alyssa, who observed her and could read her moods, who was adamant to help her succeed but not in an overbearing way.

And you know what? It ALL went to fucking waste. Why?

Here's why:

🖕 despite Daniel's better qualities, they were completely overshadowed by his alter-ego that made appearance anytime he got jealous or something didn't go his way - an alter-ego of a pathetic, whiny man-child who didn't communicate with Alyssa AT ALL and instead just withdrew his affection anytime he wanted to punish her for things she didn't even do

🖕 like srsly, Daniel was supposed to be 32 to Alyssa's 22, but he acted with an emotional maturity of a spoiled 12-year-old

🖕 it's worth telling that Alyssa is OF COURSE *rolls eyes* a virgin and while she's supposedly been in some relationships, it's Daniel who's the manwhore in the relationship (usually I don't like using that term but with him I got no qualms, he deserves it) but she has way more emotional maturity than him and she's the one putting all the emotional labour into their marriage

🖕 I don't care that when they married, Alyssa thinks she's in love with Daniel's younger brother (and her best friend), Dominic, and that Daniel has been pining for her for years - what Daniel put her through is downright emotional abuse, I said what I said

🖕 Daniel and Alyssa get married because of a stipulation in her late father's will, to maintain shares in their shared company - here's what this...man does:

🤬 first he demands that they remain faithful to each other, he and Alyssa start getting really chummy and domestic together, then he hears about a client flirting with Alyssa and asking her out (Liam) and though she did NOTHING to encourage that, he punishes her by withdrawing emotionally, treating her like shit and telling her he changed his mind and wants to see other people, and when she brings up their earlier stipulations, he basically says she needs him and their marriage more than he needs it and he will do what he want 🙃💁‍♀️

🤬 he stops spending time with her, he ignores her when he's home, he acts cold and aloof, and then gossip rags publish photos of him seemingly on a date with another woman and he's SURPRISED when Alyssa thinks he cheated on her - so when she gets a message and withdraws herself and just starts acting professional with him, he suddenly changes his mind, demands they must be faithful to each other after all and acts all butthurt when Alyssa doesn't trust him at first that he didn't cheat

🤬 they reintroduce the earlier no cheating rule, going in so far as to sign an agreement where the cheating party forfeits their shares in the company (worth sth like 300 millions, rich people are crazy) - and tbh isn't that the problem in itself that they feel they need to make the cheating cost literal millions to make their marriage work...

🤬 when they have sex the first time, Daniel again completely withdraws emotionally afterwards, supposedly giving her space and not pressuring her given circumstances of their marriage, but AGAIN, he doesn't communicate any of it to Alyssa, so to her it's basically that he had sex with her, she was a virgin so she thinks it sucked for him and now he doesn't want her - it's ONLY after Daniel sees Alyssa being friendly with Dominic that he wakes the fuck up and talks to her

🤬 honestly, most of their marriage feels like Alyssa constantly putting the effort, tiptoeing around Daniel's little, butthurt feelings and pursuing him while battling feelings of being rejected by him and fears of not being enough for him

🤬 when they reach stipulations of Alyssa's father's will and both Alyssa and Daniel secure their shares or whatever, at which point they've been married and in an actual relationship for A YEAR, their lawyer sends them divorce papers; Alyssa thinks they'll rip the papers together and have a laugh about that, instead she comes home to this:

"It's been fun playing house with you, but enough is enough. I guess the sex wasn't bad and I'll definitely miss your sweet pussy, but there are plenty of fish in the sea. You're too young to be married. Hell, you were a fucking virgin. I definitely didn't think I'd be married now either."

yes, you read that right - a 32-year-old man, and all he has to say to end their marriage is "I'll miss your sweet pussy"



🤬 so what does Daniel proceed to do? he signs the divorce papers, tells Alyssa to move out, cuts all contact with her, then starts seeing another woman very publicly (literally two days later) and resigns as co-CEO in their shared company (he also has his own company besides that one and he starts working solely there) - in the last (gutsy, but also a little pathetic) attempt to save their marriage, Alyssa storms his office, only to find him there with his (supposed, I guess) new girlfriend, looking all cozy as if they just fucked; she says she won't sign the divorce papers and that she wants to give him another chance, when he refuses, she says she'll enforce the whole fidelity contract - to which, Daniel AGAIN lets her think he's seeing this woman, and then he signs away his 300 million shares just to show how much he wants to have sex with other people

I'm ----

🤬 so what happens is that Alyssa is basically put through an emotional hell, Daniel acts cold, cruel and detached, then he cuts all contact with her and all she sees are photos of him with this another woman and then they divorce for real

🤬 and what happens then is the most fucked-up, pointless series of back-and-forth where Daniel starts going after Alyssa again (especially when she shows up to some even with a date), and I won't go into more details bc this review is already too long but OF COURSE it turns out Daniel divorced her FOR HER OWN GOOD GUYS, because he's loved her all along and he wanted her TO HAVE A CHOICE

🤬 so instead of, you know, talking to her like a normal human being might do, he chooses to make decisions about their relationship for both of them, actively taking away her choice, and hurt her again and again by making it seem like he's moving on and happily dating other people

because rejecting her over and over again and basically beating down her self-esteem with a baseball bat is what a person does to their loved one, you know, again, FOR THEIR OWN GOOD

you can't make this shit up, I swear

🤬 worst of it? when in the last 5 pages he FINALLY explains this all to Alyssa, she just takes him back 😭😭😭

This author? Not for me.

I looked up her other books and it looks like they are all like this. This was not a romance. It was not a story about a relationship. It was what could happen if Taylor's "Dear John" was ever written as a book. It was a study in how much emotional pain can a woman endure to achieve the ultimate goal -a relationship. And it was sold as romantic, with a tragic, brave hero being all self-sacrificing in the name of love 🙃🙃💀

[Luckylovesbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man this was one bad book. The constant hot and cold behaviour of the main characters was getting on my nerves. Alyssa claims she’s been in love with Dominic and yet she can’t seem to stop lusting after his elder brother Daniel. Some love, huh?
With Daniel’s immaturity, you’d never be able to guess he’s a 32 years old man. So freaking fickle.
And then, around the end, he decided to divorce her (Alyssa) and proceeds to rip her self-esteem apart. He says he wants to fuck other people and that she was a distraction and she’s nothing special except for her 😺. He also implied she was bad in bed. That’s right, her first sexual partner said she was bad in bed.
What a keeper of a husband.
And you know what Doormat Alyssa did, she still took him back. Still lusted after him. Still wanted to get back with him. Ugh. Hate heroines like this. You’ve had 22 years! Grow a spine already!

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very angsty book

The hero was a total douche canoe!! He jerked Alyssa around like a go yo! She annoyed me too. Big time. I think I would have starred it higher if the book would have ended at the 80% Mark. The last 20% was more jerking and rejerking and sex and rejerking and jerking and I think you get it. Daniel the hero was so back and forth. I think he may be bipolar. And some of the things He said to her were wrong. I did not like the relationship between heroine and Dominic the brother. I hated that he had slept with all those women. Yes it was before they were married and they weren't together but it was mentioned too many times. Way too many times. And guess what, while he was doing them, he was madly in love with the heroine for years. Now that is a special kind of love right there!!! Sign me up for it!!! NOT! This book made me cry several times so if you like cruel heroes this might be up your alley. The miscommunication in this book was just so annoying it just got old. I did like parts of it but overall incident get the feels when I was done. If it would have ended early like I said maybe if give it four stars. But too much OM and OW drama just made the book a total lesson on who not to marry.

[Melluvsbooks]

DNF@56% - I really liked this author's debut novel. It was a solid read. I don't know what happened, but this book is a hot mess. The characters are difficult to like. She's way too desperate... like the kind where you get second hand embarrassment, not the endearing kind. And he's such a passive wishy-washy idiot. This hero is EASILY the most insecure unconfident hero I've come across. He's obviously been in love with her for years, but he has never made a move. He's supposed to be 10 years older, but he acts like a middle schooler. We're told over and over that he's a super alpha... aggressive in bed, and maybe someone to be feared, but all I could see was a super beta who was too chicken sh*t to make a move or any sort of decision that he planned to stick to. The h was the alpha, which was super weird since shes the 22 year old virgin. She does AAAALLLL the pursuing and is the one who initiates all sexual contact. He is TERRIBLE to her, letting her think he cheats, but she takes him back without even a real apology. Over and Over. The back and forth was ridiculous. I was fed up with it at 56% and went review mining, only to find out these two continue to be awful until 95%. Like they are still trying to make the the other miserable through the whole entire book.

Just no.

I'm not sure I'll try another by this author. This was a train-wreck, even by my drama-queen standards.

[Justine · Rating 1 out of 5]

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT
THE TOMFOOLERY. THE AUDACITY
THE GASLIGHTING WHAT THE FUCK


GIVE ME THE HOURS I SPENT ON THIS BOOK SO I COULD HAVE SLEPT BETTER AT NIGHT

THE SMUT WAS NOT EVEN SMUT-ING
LIKE WHAT THE FUCK


i would give thIS NO STARS but the star is for me, because i read this audacity of a book

[AvidReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars ���.

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This almost seemed like it had potential - for about a chapter or two. It certainly showed some measure of technical writing skill, and I'll give it that and only that.
But between the inexplicably odd ways the characters behaved towards and treated one another and the repetitive shallowness of the heroine - i.e., "He's hot," "He's so hot, my face flames," "It's not fair he should be good at things when he's so hot," I spent way too much of this crapfest thusly - 🙄😒😑.

I really do wonder how many writers ever bother to actually pay attention to how people really behave or bother to study the nuances of human nature. This writer in particular would do well to brush up in a few areas, namely the simple art of communication between individuals and also male thought patterns and behaviours.

Age-gap stories are generally ones I avoid because if a man is attracted to someone who was in nappies when he entered middle school then I wonder what he is lacking that he can't hold his own with women closer to his age. And also, the ONLY thing a 32 yo man could possibly find desirable in a 22 yo girl is what's in her bra and knickers. It's not like they are even on the same intellectual or emotional level. Then again, one of my issues with this hero is his childishness, so maybe it makes sense here to a small degree. But it really squicks me out that he was crushing on her before the ink on her high school diploma had dried.
As I said, what tf is wrong with this guy - besides being immature and having a full roster of female characteristics with the only male qualities being his 'hot' physical appearance?

Which segues into my oft-voiced complaint about the shallow practice of sacrificing plot substance with sex.
It doesn't take talent or a lot of creativity to write erotic scenes. There's only so much to be done with them and I used to wonder why so many writers depended on them to the point they consumed over half their stories in many cases. Of course, now I understand that it's to disguise the fact that they wouldn't know a compelling plot if one crawled up their arse. If more camouflage is needed, they add 'dirty talk' during the scenes. To me, that sort of dialogue is filthy and demoralising, and I find it disturbing when after reading a scene that should establish intimacy and connection instead makes me want to shower with a power washer.
But hey, sex sells, right?
So, what do I know?
😑😑

But - and again - I really wonder where these ideas come from. Like, who in the HELL talks that much during sex, anyway?
How about nobody, like ever? I mean, in my experience getting busy with someone isn't time for a good chin wag.
I asked the lasses I work with about this stuff a week or so back, how many of them talked back and forth during sex and if hearing their man reduce them to a 'wet p*ssy or a pair of titties by a man was a turn-on.
I'll add that we're a pretty diverse group with a wide range of ages, backgrounds and experience, as well as personalities. And you know what? Not only did everyone find the locker-room sex talk unappealing, but I think the oldest one of the group summed it up best -
"If y'all can think straight enough to talk during sex, y'all ain't doin' it right!"
Sex might sell, but the less said here about that, the better.

As far as the book. Age-gap romance, best-friend's older brother, fake marriage, single POV from heroine. She is a daddy's girl and virgin - ofc - hero is an über-hot, über-successful, über-rich reformed playboy. And there is an implausible marriage of convenience plot and a shite-tonne of graphic sex. So, there ya go.
~~~~~~~~
Edited a few hours later...

All that ranting and I totally forgot the worst thing about this book, and that's the spineless heroine with BBS.
The hero hurts her out of spite, flirting with another woman and icing the h out. He then hurts her again and lies that he shagged another woman, again out of spite but also "because it's for her own good." He lies, manipulates and jerks her around but ONLY because he's loved her for years and needed her to be sure she loved him.
And this stupid, stupid girl happily spreads her legs and all is forgiven 🤮🙄.
Fuck. That.

Even if the writer has some skill buried under her penchant for needless drama, I'm not interested in further work by her. My tolerance for female writers that create weak heroines has finally expired.

[Anastacia ✿ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most insecure couple ever. With 0 communications skills.

[Everly Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m exhausted. I’m 85% sure I hate Daniel. There’s angst and then there’s just unnecessary circles. This was so circular I just stopped and hoped for it to end. I kept rooting for Alyssa to get some self esteem and run away to Paris or something. And he’s supposed to be 10 years older and cold and alpha. Really he’s the most insecure character in the entire book. The writing itself isn’t bad but if Daniel is anything like the heroes in other books from the author, this is a one and done for me.


I decided. I 100% hate Daniel. Team Dominic.

[Heroesinbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Daniel and Alyssa Stars

I enjoyed this book which is a forced marriage / childhood sort of friends / workplace / age gap / unrequited love romance . Alyssa (21/22) is devastated when her businessman father dies and it leaves her very isolated and potentially in the clutches of her nasty , scheming paternal Granny. Her family has long been intertwined with the Devereux family and her father had been training Daniel Devereux to be an integral part of the business. Daniel (32) is successful in his own right and comes from a rich family with a huge business pedigree. Daniel has known Alyssa all her life and developed feelings for her when she returned from College. Those are his secretly held feelings though because Alyssa only has eyes and feelings for his brother Dominic who is the same age as her. Events evolve and so do emotions and at times this really is quite the emotional roller coaster.
The story is told purely from Alyssa's POV but there is a second book called Serendipity which is the same story but from Daniel's POV. I am going to read that book.

I felt that there was a bit too much push and pull for me in the book , but that is purely personal preference. I liked Daniel's character more. Alyssa and her relationship with Dominic irritated a bit at times.

HEA? Yes
Cheating? No. Some OW drama.

[Marcia Arguelles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was halfway when my eyes finally understood what they were looking at and connected to my brain, shouting at me “THIS IS TRASH”
Jesus Christ. Someone give this woman a better editing team, or a class in creative writing…
I have also never met a FMC so fucking cringe as this one… so insecure, yet goes full on, no restraints, when it comes to sleeping with the dude. Like, the dots are not connecting ma’am.
Anywho, this is a no from me and anyone else that has taste.

[Heather White · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW

This book brought me to tears, real free flowing tears. I didn't want to put it down once I started. I feel asleep with my phone in my hand reading the story. These two want through so much to get their happily ever after. They had so much history and drama between them.
An amazing job by the author on this book. I have become a fan of Catharina Maura after this book. I can't wait to read more.

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Ties that Bind” is the story of Alyssa and Daniel.

Marriage of convenience story in which the heroine is in love with her husbands brother, her best friend. Ofcourse there’s a smitten hero and eventually her falling for him, but there’s way too much other man/ other woman drama and the hero spends half of the book pushing the heroine away instead of confessing his feelings.

Safeish??
2.75/5

[Zen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the first half was legit 5 stars for me but then..came the absolute disaster that was the second half. The unnecessary drama was so childish and boring and could’ve been avoided if they talked to each other. They were so soft in the beginning I thought for sure this will get into my favorite books of the year but I ended up skimming the second half.

[Melissa Locke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m still trying to figure out my feelings for this one because I usually love Cat’s books but this one annoyed me the whole way through. The miscommunication trope has to be worse than the pregnancy trope & Daniel is poster child for not communicating. He treats Alyssa like crap every other page then gets mad at her for trying to be happy. Red flags every where. I’m going to read the next book since it’s Daniel’s pov & maybe it’ll help me like him.

[prarthita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The push and pull in their relationship tire me. I wish the guy could have communicated with the girl before making assumptions. I wish the author had created this dual POV instead of creating another book in the guy's POV. It would have made the book better.

[Zoë · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could give negative star reviews becuase this book needs it

[Katharina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You might not have had my every first, but you’ll have all my lasts. You’ll be the last girl I’ll ever sleep with. The last one I’ll ever take on dates and the last one I’ll ever kiss.”

okay wow. I wanted to read something with alot of angst and this definitely delivered. read this in one sitting.

after losing her father, Alyssa has to marry her best friends brother, Daniel or else she will lose her fathers company, the problem is Alyssa has been in love with her best friend for the longest.

this story was so good. I felt so many emotions reading this. there were moments that I wanted to pop both characters.

this does have miscommunication & a lot of going back and forth between the mmc + fmc. not gonna lie I was annoyed at that but still enjoyed it.

now do I wish Daniel groveled? Yes I do. After the way he was doing Alyssa. I felt like Alyssa needed to step up though. She gave in too easily. I could’ve stayed mad at Daniel’s actions but his confession in the end made me forgive him (I’m still thinking if I really did though).

Catharina Maura’s books are just so addicting. Literally becoming one of my favorite authors.

Read this if you like:

- marriage of convenience
- best friends brother
- age gap (10 years)

[Bookish.Midnight. and. black · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read almost all Chatarina 's books and I kinda love her but man...she did it with this one. OTT drama and the hero kept acting stupid making the heroine suffer because he thought that if she was under duress, like almost the entire book, when she will choose him , she will choose him forever and because she wanted him not because he was the only choice. I took 2*for that s+++it.

[RCK *don’t be all, like, uncool* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I do like this author’s style of writing but her books can be abit longer then necessary.

Her Hero’s seem to be the jealous/possessive kind I love. It also nice to read about a jealous heroine.

None of her books that I’ve read have epilogues though!! I LOVE a good look in the future, sadly we don’t get that.

[BAG of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alyssa (22) works for her dad's company. She has a Guy Best Friend, Dominic. She has a crush on Dominic and she did confess her feelings, but he has a girlfriend and didn't reciprocate Alyssa's feelings.

Meanwhile, Dominic's brother Daniel (32) works for Alyssa's father. Her father is a father figure/mentor to Daniel.

Daniel doesn't like Alyssa much. We don't know why, but Alyssa says he barely tolerates her.

Then Alyssa's father dies. The will states Alyssa must marry his protege Daniel to inherit shares in the company, or else the shares go to Alyssa's estranged grandmother. If they go to the gma, the company will be ruined for sure. Why did Alyssa's dad make her marry the brother who dislikes her? Why make her marry at all? It makes no sense to her.

They agree to a marriage of convenience. They are required to stay married for 3 years. She wants to keep it secret so that she isn't called his ex-wife for the rest of her life. He doesn't ask that they have sex with each other, but just that they don't have sex with others. She doesn't understand why he'd want that, since she can't believe he'd want stay celibate for 3 years. But she agrees.

On the day of the wedding, Dominic is suddenly saying things like "Why couldn't he have made you marry me instead?" Which is weird, since he's already rejected Alyssa. So she ignores it and marries Daniel as required.

They move into Daniel's family mansion, so Alyssa at least had his mother for companionship, since Daniel works long hours. But that also means Dominic and his girlfriend Lucy will be around all the time too.

Lucy doesn't like Alyssa and is jealous of Dominic's friendship with Alyssa (and she's not wrong. I mean, Alyssa does want her man). Alyssa and Daniel also agreed to keep the marriage secret from Dominic and Lucy, so Lucy thinks Alyssa is there to spend time with Dominic, not Daniel. This creates tension any time they're around.

Alyssa receives a letter written by her father, not explaining why he made her marry Daniel, just saying he did it because he loves her.

Alyssa and Daniel go out to dinner and he reveals there's a girl he's kinda in love with who wasn't available till now. It's obvious he's talking about Alyssa. But she doesn't figure it out and she feels weirdly jealous that he'll probably marry someone else after they divorce in 3 years.

There's a new hire at the company whom Alyssa has to mentor, and it's her old college boyfriend for some added drama.

[nanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not bad as some of people think, I loved Daniel and Alyssa very much. And I'm very curious to read the next book that has Daniel's point of view.

[Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

if i could give this 0 stars i would. reading this book was the literary equivalent of a root canal. death to all of them.

[Kathryn Noorani · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characters and their behaviors were so severely TOXIC.

[Sloan Mulloy · Rating 1 out of 5]

daniel literally what tf happens in your brain. I fear I liked haunting adeline better than this one

[Alkanb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je vais finir par lire tous les livres de cette autrice c’est tellement addictif ! Est-ce que tous ses livres sont construit de la même manière ? OUI. Est-ce que je vais tout de même continuer à lire ? ABSOLUMENT. Je m’en lasse pas. J’ai hâte qu’elle publie le dernier tome des Windsors.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buddy needs to learn what communication is

[Judy Portelles · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Judy🍒🪩 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fw anything that reminds me of wattpad so that’s why it’s not 1 star😔✋🏻