His Wedding Ring of Revenge

by Julia James

The convenient bridegroom…Rachel is forced to offer Vito Farneste a marriage of convenience. She has his most prized possession–surely he'll say yes?The bartered bride…Vito won't be blackmailed, but at last Rachel's caught in his web–and she'll wear his ring…his wedding ring of revenge!

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

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Julia lives in England with her family. Mills and Boon novels were Julia's first "grown up" books she read as a teenager ("Alongside Georgette Heyer and Daphne du Maurier."), and she's been reading them ever since.

Julia adores the English countryside ("And the Celtic countryside!"), in all its seasons, and is fascinated by all things historical, from castles to cottages. She also has a special love for the Mediterranean ("The most perfect landscape after England!") — she considers both are ideal settings for romance stories! In between writing she enjoys walking, gardening, needlework and baking "extremely gooey chocolate cakes" — and trying to stay fit!

Reviews

[Vintage · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am going to need therapy after this. A lot of it. I do not know what Julia James was smoking when she wrote this, but I never want any of it. This is craptastic, barftastic but not fantastic.

According to Vito the H, the h is the bastard of his father's whore. Charming. Yeah, the hero is a grade A bastard, but for me the real villain of the piece is the father's whore, to borrow the charming phrase from Vito.

PLOT: (such as it is)
The heroine aka bastard of his father's whore has come to Vito with an offer he can't refuse: the emerald her mother STOLE in exchange for a MOC with Italian stud services off the menu. This is a direct reference to their sad little ONS after a whirlwind Roman Holiday seven years ago when the h was a fragile 18 year old virgin. The ONS ended poorly when the h's mother and the H's father walked in that morning. All heck breaks loose as the mother calls for insta-marriage because, although this was published in 2005, once again the rational rules of society are suspended in HarleyLand and men can be forced to wed the girls they sleep with. It all gets shut down when the H gets out of bed starkers, and says the h was "gagging for it". That is not a phrase I care for which made reading this book even more uncomfortable as either the H was saying it every other paragraph or the heroine was dwelling on it in what is left of the corner's of her mind.

Why does the h want to associate with this pig? Okay. Hold on. Her mother is dying of cancer, and she wants to make her happy by showing that she's finally a Farneste bride. Heck any bride. The mother was obsessed with her daughter being legitimatized that way as the mother was ditched by the h's father and could only ever be a mistress to Vito's father. Choices woman. Make a better one. Vito ends up going for the MOC, but just knows the real reason is she must have been turned down by a lover and this is her revenge. That's an impressive jump to conclusion even for a Greek, oops, Italian tycoon.

They get married and ugh. The heroine who ranks extremely high as one of the most stupid heroines in HP with no self-respect falls into bed with the H AGAIN. The next morning he uses THAT phrase again. What an idiot.

I'm not going any further with the plot because who cares. I hated the heroine. I hated the hero. I especially hated the heroine's mother, and I am not too crazy about Julia James right now. Julia James tries to redeem the whole mess of the mother that lives with a married man, humiliating both married man's wife and son, by making the mistress in love with the father but never really being loved back. James then sets up the H's mother by having her hold a long-term emotional but non-physical affair with a Cardinal, an honorary uncle to Vito. The h's mother lets this drop to Vito as he visits her on her deathbed. So it's not enough to be Dad's mistress, she has to destroy the son's faith in his mother. This is, of course, after setting her daughter up as a spineless doormat by living by example. No wonder the h fell in love with a cruel manipulative monster, she was raised by one.

[Penny Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a KILLER for me.

1. It had not ONE, but TWO big misunderstandings!

2. It had the DUMBEST reason ever for marriage. I can't believe the heroine even considered it, and I also don't for a minute believe the hero would have gone through with it. Ridiculous.

3. The hero was a douchebag until 98% of the book was over.

4. Even though the hero was HIDEOUS to her, the heroine jumped right into bed with him. No one is that horny. Not. Possible.

5. None of the love scenes were enjoyable, because they were revenge scenes. You knew as soon as it was over, the hero would be an ass again. And he was. Ugh.

6. This book even had a big secret reveal at the end--for no good reason--just to make the hero look even worse than he already did. And believe me, that wasn't necessary. He looked plenty bad enough already.

7. In conclusion, reading this book made me look like this...(I'm attempting my first image, let's see if it works!)...

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heroine forces the hero into a marriage of convenience so her mother can die happy. Seems her mother was never good enough for marriage - first with the heroine's father and then with the hero's father. Always a mistress, never a bride.

Heroine had messed up 7 years before when she gave her virginity to the hero. Hero didn't realize he was wooing the mistress's innocent daughter and when they were caught, he thought he was being set up to marry. Heroine's mother wanted her daughter to marry well and she castigated her for throwing her virginity away on the scheming hero. To her, it was obvious hero wanted to get back at her through her daughter. So it was bad feelings all around.

Now the heroine's mother is dying. Heroine has the hero's family emeralds and she'll trade a marriage certificate for them. Hero agrees - just so he can have sex with her again and maybe a spot of revenge.

The heroine can't resist her only lover, so of course she goes to bed with him on their wedding night and puts up with his insults the next morning before leaving. The hero begins feeling pangs of conscience and has her followed. When he hears she went to a hospital, he comes up with several implausible theories.

Heroine tells him about her mother - but begs him not to burst her fairy tale bubble with the true circumstances of their marriage. They finally talk out their past and the heroine reveals she was pregnant, but she miscarried after their encounter when she was 18. Hero is horrified and grovels for how he treated her. When they go together to see her mother in the hospital, they find out that the hero's mother was upset her entire married life - not because her father had a lover - but because her true love was a Cardinal in the Catholic church and they could never be together. Hero's mother attends the mistress's funeral and has no problem with the mistress's daughter marrying her son. HEA

Only in HP land.

Yes, the hero was an idiot and hostile for most of the story. And yes, the heroine was a pushover at 18 and at 23. And yes, emeralds for marriage is cray cray as is the no hard feelings I'm in love with a cardinal plot resolution. This is the Julia James brand and she delivers it in this story.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay re-read 1/1/20 and I actually love this book. Why? Because it makes me feel and I loved the heroine. I actually ended up loving her Mother too. The epilogue was so amazing. Vito is not my favorite hero. I still hate how he treated her. She hurt so bad. He still treated her and judged her badly. His Father sounds evil. I cried through this again. Just really an emotional read. Upped it to four stars.

re-read 6/22/19 raised from one to three stars

I have just been put through two hours of emotional reading. I have bawled for at least one of them and now my nose is stopped up and I feel like I have been hit by a train. I can't believe the pain this heroine endured and lived through. It was horrible and there were times I was mad at her for her undying love for him. She wasn't TSTL though. She did what she had to do because she had the strength to love. Her Mother, her dead baby, Vito. She made the ultimate sacrifice for all of them. I hated Vito with a passion. Even at the end with his declaration of Ti Amo. He was the real bastard, not the heroine. So why three stars? Because the book made me feel. I cried through it, I felt the heroines love and pain and I even rejoiced at the epilogue that the heroine finally found love. I don't know why but this book just smacked me in the face this time and I have to give credit to Ms. James, she wowed me. I am stunned that I actually liked it.. Maybe I am coming down with a cold?!?!?😷

[Kiki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything penny said in her review.
And oh, hero needs to be slapped silly.

[Tmstprc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was one whacktastic hot mess.

Revenge may be my new favorite trope 😆🤦‍♀️😆

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel pretty much blackmailed Vito into a MOC, but she wasn’t going to consummate the marriage. Vito had other plans and he allowed the MOC to take place because he wanted Rachel in his bed again.

This was a great story! I liked that Rachel attempted to get at Vito that way. I didn’t like the set-up and reasons for her doing so, but I could understand them. She truly felt there was no alternative in order to give her mom her dying wish. So she went for it, despite what she believed about Vito. Both Vito and Rachel saw their previous encounter in a different light and that was fully explained. I definitely could see why they each would think what they did, but I also truly believed that they cared a great deal for one another. They needed to have that clearing of the air, if you will, and they do of course! However, the book also wrapped up a few other issues too.

I didn’t like that Vito wasn’t nice to Rachel when he first saw her when she was 14, but again as he explained he was angry at the time he said that. I completely understood that sometimes his mouth went off on a rant when his anger was stirred. Rachel and Vito’s conflicts and dialogue when they embarked upon them were riveting. I. Could. Not. Turn. Away! Vito thought he knew everything, but he didn’t. He also seemed to truly be heartbroken when he discovered why she had continued to attempt to contact him. However, there for a moment he lingered on his old ways and believed the worst of her, but he was quickly corrected and then he felt like pond scum!!

[Boo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I keep waiting for a frothy romance where the H is a bullish brute, treats the h like dirt he scrapes off his shoe after misjudging her and then pays for his behaviour. Alas, it seems this is a pointless dream. All the juiciness in this book - the insults, the hurt, the deliberate cruelty - is only fun in the end if the H actually has to grovel. For a long time. Not just one sentence. Because that's not a grovel - that's a half-hearted apology. Words mean nada. Actions are what's important.

The only romance writer that provided sufficient grovelling was whoever wrote The Unwanted Wife. All other romance writers should be forced to read that until they understand that if he makes her suffer, the only way the HEA is satisfying is if she makes him suffer for just as long. This book was such a letdown. All anticipation; no follow-through.

[Diya✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt sorry for the Racheal. just didn’t understand who setup who at the end. That one was unclear for me...

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

5-star trainwreck, 1-star romance. Julia James, bringing the drama once again. Awful, awful H and h who needs so much therapy.

[Melanie♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Grisette · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

⏳ [Re-read project #23 of 2025, 1st proper review, rating maintained]

I confess: this book is one of my guilty pleasures read. It's got cringey lines with over-pathos, but damn if it is not efficacious. It gets me to the bone every time I read (I've lost count how many times I've read the paperback over the years 😅). I just get sucked anew in all the drama, all the cryfests and all the angst.

I don't know why Julia James is so unliked as an HP author (based on reviews I've seen across all her books) because this book is almost perfect as an archetype HP book. It follows one of the classic timeline of HPs of the 1990s / 2000s era (do new HPs still follow it?): girl meets boy and it's intense love — they break up by uncovered circumstances in the most dramatic way — jump to years later, and new circumstances bring them together — all the anger, drama, misconceptions, bbs is still there and they clash — somehow, the truth is revealed — hea

Nothing new under the sun but I firmly think that JJ did it so well and way better than most other similar HPs. Here's why:

💎 The pathos is just divine. Sure there are some requisite over-pathos, repetitive angsting, purple prosing about how everyone is beautiful, but it does the job. It makes me angst along the characters, empathise with them, rage at them, shed ugly tears! 👏👏

💎 The povs of both Rachel and Vito are explored. We get to read their side, relive all key events from their standpoint. Rachel's brokenness and Vito's remorse were specially well done.

💎 The initial drama that divided them actually was believable. Over the top dramatic of course, but the actual bad blood between the two families plausibly explains why Rachel and Vito would each held on the belief for years that the other set them up. Similarly, the whole plot of their meeting again, clashing and finally, clearing the air had enough credence credits to make me willingly suspend disbelief. I consider this a feat for this genre because not every HP book is born equal, no matter that the very same frame is used. JJ's writing style makes all the difference imho.

💎 Rachel suffers from a terrible case of BBS but the girl tries, and tries, and tries hard to resist. But even when she succumbs, she kind of owns it. Her low-self esteem might grate at times but her traumatic background explains a lot.

💎 Vito, Vito, Vito. Italian, sneering, cruel, prideful but at the same time, with some brains, and he actually displays deep emotions when the truth is revealed. Not one of these robotic HP heroes who act irrationally through the book and barely say sorry by the last page. I will confess, that one of my most anticipated moments upon any re-read is when he throws callously to Rachel his iconic brutal punchlines (note: this is fiction people! 😅):

'I know exactly who you are– you're the bastard daughter of my father's whore.'

===

'Seduce her?– Hardly. She was gagging for it.'

Heartily recommended for the cheap, but oh so satisfactory thrills.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rachel forces Vito to a MOC by dangling the Farnese emeralds. He hates her for being the illegitimate daughter of the woman who became a mistress of his dad.
He had a one-night stand with her years ago but thought her mom set them up. Foul insults. If guy humiliates me by saying that I was "gagging for it," I'd sever ties forever. Yet this spineless girl calls him up later to ask for help with pregnancy and the guy rejects all her calls. She miscarries.
Where his comeuppance? His grovelling consists of one admission (while SHE was sobbing) that she has cause to hate him a hundredfold because he turned her away when she was carrying his child and that she was even willing to be paid off to disappear. For perfect grovelling, authors should hold "Lady Gallant" by Suzanne Robinson as textbook case.

[Xai Xai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never thought I could read a book where a hero was so cruel and harsh. There was love between the protagonists yet based on hatred formed by their respective parents actions simply blinded them to the inevitable. I wanted the H to dissolve in tears and grovel . There were tears of rejection, lost love, loss of baby, joy, new baby, hope. I enjoyed it.....

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angst and pain....but it was believable that he had fallen in love with her and believed the worst. Great grovel.

[sbf20112011 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, so much of this book is just the inner stream of consciousness of the characters, I really prefer more plot action. It was ok.

[Diamond]

أحزان ابنة الفجر / جوليا جايمس

ما زالت "رايتشل فايل" تعاني من ذكرى رفض "فيتو فارنيسى" لها بفظاظة وإتهامه لها علناً بالسعي وراءه وبإغوائه؛ لكن الظروف المأساوية اجبرت "رايتشل" على الإتصال بفيتو مجدداً، فهي بحاجة ماسة ويائسة إلى زواج ملائم.
لهذا جاءت إلى فيتو مسلحة بإحدى أثمن ممتلكاته لتقايضه بها مقابل الزواج، إلا أن فيتو رفض الخضوع للإبتزاز، لا سيما من قبل امرأة ساعية خلف الثروة، ومع ذلك وقع في الفخ الذي نصبته له، والآن أصبح هدفه التالي هو الإنتقام.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one, but the hero was too much of an assface for the entire book. The heroine had NO reason to love him. He was trash to her for YEARS. And said horrible things after sleeping with her TWICE!! But you want to root for these idiots. The heroine was nice and kind, and caring. But in the end we have still more for the couple to deal with. I say read it though.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really touching book, its amazing what someone will do for the love of their mother.

[AlexandraB95 · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is so much inner thought,dialogue the hero and heroine talking inside her/him own head all the time.it was really annoying.But a Julia James book after all !

[Angy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I DON'T KNOW Y BUT I LOVED THE BOOK...

TOTALLY RECOMMENDED.

[gautami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel blackmails Vito into marrying her. He has always hated her but for the emeralds he agrees to marry her.

Then finds out that he had always been wrong about her.

[L H · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

slightly sappy at the end but excellent revenge story with HEA

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange story. I know we have to suspend reality somewhat for some Harlequins, but Julia James wrote a really confusing mess in this one. You have a rich man's mistress who takes some family jewels with her when her time is up. The rich man's son feels like he has to get the jewels back at any cost. The rich man's wife who was being protected by the son did not need any protection as she was fully aware of her husband's behavior and she was having an emotional affair of her own. Anywho...mistress has a daughter who wants her mother to be happy and feels like being a martyr and marrying the rich man's son is the plan. He wants the family jewels, she wants a marriage of convenience = done. Wait, he is still angry and she excuses her manipulative behaviors because her intentions are good. Mary goes around the roses.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes the plot is over the top and the heroine has a foolish reason to seek marriage and the hero acts like a creep, but somehow this still works and I liked it. She was kidding herself about her reasons to want marriage - she was still in love with him and her Mom's happiness was only part of it - but his reasons are even murkier.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I loved Vito and Rachel’s love story. James did a good job of blending the past and the present into a cohesive story. I never felt lost or confused by it. These are two strong characters who have scars from their past and find their way to their HEA.

This story does deal with grief and death.

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like this one. Just lies upon lies and wait misunderstandings. The H was an ass till about 98% of the book. The FIL was another ass and the h was very much TSTL!!! Let's forgive everyone!!! Hard pass
oh yeah to late for me!! 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[Rawan Hamid · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a story where I wanted to throttle the heroine and slap her senseless....I mean the hero was a j*rk but the heroine was disgusting for going to bed with him every single time ..like get a grip you spineless chit...

[Yanira · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia se hace super interesante a medida que lees, lastima que por ser novelas cortas todo se resuelve bastante rapido, pero tiene sus dosis de romance, injusticia, drama y algo de lujuria!!! Para pasar el rato...el amor siempre triunfa y el final feliz siempre llega...