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The Venetian's Midnight Mistress
Niccolo D'Alessandro has never seen eye to eye with spirited redhead Daniella Bell. So he's shocked to discover that the mystery woman he's just made love to after a Venetian-style masked party was Dani! Their night together was the most amazing of Dani's life, but with a failed marriage behind her she never wants to wed again. But Niccolo has other ideas.… When Dani announces she's pregnant with his baby, the uncompromising Italian has only one she will become his wife!
203 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2008
About the author
Carole Mortimer
1,316 books912 followersI have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 28, 2019
"The Venetian's Midnight Mistress" is the story of Daniella and Niccolo.
Our h and H have never seen eye to eye, ever since they met when the h was a teenager and best friends with the H's sister. Since then she has seen a disastrous marriage, that has traumatized her; and now faces pressure from her controlling grandfather to produce an heir.
When she finally decides to let go and relax at her bff's masquerade ball, she does not expect to meet, be entranced by, and have a one night stand with a handsome pirate...only to soon realize it's our hero!
Soon the H realizes her identity too, and is taken aback by the passion he feels for the h- while she is hell bent on denying it. But when their night has a consequence in the form of a bun in the oven, will the couple be able to work their differences out?
Sweet story with a passionate couple, some family drama, confrontation of the past and HEA. What I did like about it was how the H's antagonism vanished when he realized the h's identity. He then went on to pursue her, and was there to soothe her fears when she got freaked out. The ending was really good, especially the epilogue.
SWE
3.5/5
Our h and H have never seen eye to eye, ever since they met when the h was a teenager and best friends with the H's sister. Since then she has seen a disastrous marriage, that has traumatized her; and now faces pressure from her controlling grandfather to produce an heir.
When she finally decides to let go and relax at her bff's masquerade ball, she does not expect to meet, be entranced by, and have a one night stand with a handsome pirate...only to soon realize it's our hero!
Soon the H realizes her identity too, and is taken aback by the passion he feels for the h- while she is hell bent on denying it. But when their night has a consequence in the form of a bun in the oven, will the couple be able to work their differences out?
Sweet story with a passionate couple, some family drama, confrontation of the past and HEA. What I did like about it was how the H's antagonism vanished when he realized the h's identity. He then went on to pursue her, and was there to soothe her fears when she got freaked out. The ending was really good, especially the epilogue.
SWE
3.5/5
June 5, 2019
Carole Mortimer has published more than 140 novels, and here I am, reading only the fourth. But I am glad that finally I have come across one of her books that I loved.
Dani, short for Daniella Bell, comes to know Niccolo D’Alessandro through her school friend and his younger sister, Eleni. It's obvious he doesn't have very high regards for her. It has been ten years since then, and at present Dani is busy preparing Brad and Eleni's new home, where they will stay post their marriage.
Dani shares the contents of the will of her very much alive and tyrant of a grandfather. Married once, she doesn't have any intention to repeat that mistake but it may result in her parents losing their home, if there's no heir till her grandfather's alive. Niccolo's thirty-seven to her twenty-four, and they can't stand the sight of each other. Though she had a crush on him and is still infatuated with him.
Much stress has been put on being either a English or a Venetian in this book. The story starts eight months later after the prologue, at a masquerade party thrown by Eleni.
So much for irritating the hell out of him, it's funny how enchanted Niccolo becomes with Dani when he doesn't know her identity. And Dani, on the other hand, is enamoured with his pirate avatar and wants to forget her sad life and her disastrous marriage. But it's beyond me as to how they didn't recognise each other's voices! And when Niccolo reveals himself, Dani just escapes from there with her identity intact.
When she comes to know about her pregnancy, which is halfway into the book, and goes to Venice to tell Niccolo about it, the days that follow are wonderful! The way Niccolo eases her into intimacy, which she didn't have with her ex, was adorable. Her grandfather is a real nasty piece of work, so high-handed, so arrogant. It's such a beautiful and fitting end, with Niccolo bullying Grandpa for a change! And a sweet epilogue. Though I would have loved a friendly scene with Eleni too, in the end. She is his sister and her best friend, after all.
P.S. This is the second book whose Harlequin Manga I have read as well, and equally loved the depiction of all the characters.
Dani, short for Daniella Bell, comes to know Niccolo D’Alessandro through her school friend and his younger sister, Eleni. It's obvious he doesn't have very high regards for her. It has been ten years since then, and at present Dani is busy preparing Brad and Eleni's new home, where they will stay post their marriage.
Dani shares the contents of the will of her very much alive and tyrant of a grandfather. Married once, she doesn't have any intention to repeat that mistake but it may result in her parents losing their home, if there's no heir till her grandfather's alive. Niccolo's thirty-seven to her twenty-four, and they can't stand the sight of each other. Though she had a crush on him and is still infatuated with him.
Much stress has been put on being either a English or a Venetian in this book. The story starts eight months later after the prologue, at a masquerade party thrown by Eleni.
So much for irritating the hell out of him, it's funny how enchanted Niccolo becomes with Dani when he doesn't know her identity. And Dani, on the other hand, is enamoured with his pirate avatar and wants to forget her sad life and her disastrous marriage. But it's beyond me as to how they didn't recognise each other's voices! And when Niccolo reveals himself, Dani just escapes from there with her identity intact.
When she comes to know about her pregnancy, which is halfway into the book, and goes to Venice to tell Niccolo about it, the days that follow are wonderful! The way Niccolo eases her into intimacy, which she didn't have with her ex, was adorable. Her grandfather is a real nasty piece of work, so high-handed, so arrogant. It's such a beautiful and fitting end, with Niccolo bullying Grandpa for a change! And a sweet epilogue. Though I would have loved a friendly scene with Eleni too, in the end. She is his sister and her best friend, after all.
P.S. This is the second book whose Harlequin Manga I have read as well, and equally loved the depiction of all the characters.
March 10, 2026
Brotherly control
A warm tale of friendship that started with two school friends and a disapproving old brother. Eleni and Daniella met when they were fourteen at school in England, becoming fast friends. Niccolo never approved of his younger, by thirteen years, sister’s out spoken friend. After the first year, Niccolo forced Eleni to return to Italy to finish school. Their home was after all in Italy, not England.
Through the following years Eleni and Dani stay in touch through written letters. So it wasn’t a surprise that Eleni insisted on returning to England for her college years, where she met and fell in love with an Englishman. Niccolo now had even more reason to dislike the fact that Dani’s influence on his sister meant Eleni would be living in England. Relations were very much strained when Dani and Niccolo spent time with Eleni and her husband Brad. But the final nail that seemed to seal the dislike between Niccolo and Dani was her marriage and almost immediate divorce from her husband, Philip Maddox, after returning from their honeymoon, two years ago.
However, all was to change on a night in August, when Eleni held a masquerade party. Dani met a masked pirate that appeared to be the perfect partner to offer the intimacy she wanted a chance to experience. Neither, at first realized that they were already aquatinted and under normal circumstances couldn’t even be bothered to be civil to each other.
And the story goes on…
I enjoyed the banter between Niccolo and Dani, as well as the backstory of how they first met. There is also some soul searching retrospection that takes the edge off of Niccolo’s character a bit as the story plays out. There is some spice with open door encounters. And a good deal of romance, loss of parents, in the past, and some dysfunctional family members. I have long been a fan of Carole Mortimer’s storytelling and recommend this one for those who enjoy romance with some heat and a touch of angst.
However, this edition needed a better editor. Question marks (?) were like a plague of locus throughout the book. Symbols, periods and comas were replaced by ?, as well as in odd places, (beginning of a sentence) that were disruptive to me as a reader; I stopped counting after a hundred. I believe this to be a software glitch rather than the author’s writing.
A warm tale of friendship that started with two school friends and a disapproving old brother. Eleni and Daniella met when they were fourteen at school in England, becoming fast friends. Niccolo never approved of his younger, by thirteen years, sister’s out spoken friend. After the first year, Niccolo forced Eleni to return to Italy to finish school. Their home was after all in Italy, not England.
Through the following years Eleni and Dani stay in touch through written letters. So it wasn’t a surprise that Eleni insisted on returning to England for her college years, where she met and fell in love with an Englishman. Niccolo now had even more reason to dislike the fact that Dani’s influence on his sister meant Eleni would be living in England. Relations were very much strained when Dani and Niccolo spent time with Eleni and her husband Brad. But the final nail that seemed to seal the dislike between Niccolo and Dani was her marriage and almost immediate divorce from her husband, Philip Maddox, after returning from their honeymoon, two years ago.
However, all was to change on a night in August, when Eleni held a masquerade party. Dani met a masked pirate that appeared to be the perfect partner to offer the intimacy she wanted a chance to experience. Neither, at first realized that they were already aquatinted and under normal circumstances couldn’t even be bothered to be civil to each other.
And the story goes on…
I enjoyed the banter between Niccolo and Dani, as well as the backstory of how they first met. There is also some soul searching retrospection that takes the edge off of Niccolo’s character a bit as the story plays out. There is some spice with open door encounters. And a good deal of romance, loss of parents, in the past, and some dysfunctional family members. I have long been a fan of Carole Mortimer’s storytelling and recommend this one for those who enjoy romance with some heat and a touch of angst.
However, this edition needed a better editor. Question marks (?) were like a plague of locus throughout the book. Symbols, periods and comas were replaced by ?, as well as in odd places, (beginning of a sentence) that were disruptive to me as a reader; I stopped counting after a hundred. I believe this to be a software glitch rather than the author’s writing.
June 29, 2021
Carole Mortimer used to be one of my favourite HP writers. But I think the publisher is forcing HP writers to always get an unplanned pregnancy in the story.
Lately I have read a lot of more recent HP’s (published in 2019 or later) and they all have an unplanned pregnancy. They all do it without condoms. Or in the very few cases that they use birth control, it doesn’t work.
I hate the unplanned pregnancy theme. It is just stupid to have sex with someone you hardly know without using condoms. And the silly make-belief that they were both so overwhelmed by desire that they didn’t think about using condoms insults the reader’s intelligence.
What I especially don’t like about it, is that it fades the romance. Romance, love, between a man and a woman. A man who pursues a woman who is not pregnant by him. A woman he wants for herself and not partly because she has his baby.
Anyway, enough ranting.
This book is an okay read. Not a book I would want to re-read in the future, but still okay.
In my opinion it would have been better if she hadn’t been a divorced woman, if she had been a virgin, if he had been in love with her before they had sex, if she had been less sexually agressive the first time they have sex, if she didn’t have an unplanned pregnancy.
Lately I have read a lot of more recent HP’s (published in 2019 or later) and they all have an unplanned pregnancy. They all do it without condoms. Or in the very few cases that they use birth control, it doesn’t work.
I hate the unplanned pregnancy theme. It is just stupid to have sex with someone you hardly know without using condoms. And the silly make-belief that they were both so overwhelmed by desire that they didn’t think about using condoms insults the reader’s intelligence.
What I especially don’t like about it, is that it fades the romance. Romance, love, between a man and a woman. A man who pursues a woman who is not pregnant by him. A woman he wants for herself and not partly because she has his baby.
Anyway, enough ranting.
This book is an okay read. Not a book I would want to re-read in the future, but still okay.
In my opinion it would have been better if she hadn’t been a divorced woman, if she had been a virgin, if he had been in love with her before they had sex, if she had been less sexually agressive the first time they have sex, if she didn’t have an unplanned pregnancy.
December 6, 2021
Daniella Bell has always been in love with her best friend Eleni's brother, Niccolo but both feel antagonism towards the other, thereby hiding their true feelings.
When at a masquerade ball they come together under cover of Venetian masks and costumes the unthinkable happens and Daniella winds up pregnant.
But with two such stubborn characters can they ever find happiness together now they also have a shared child to think of?
An inventive and cute story, a perfect festive romance.
When at a masquerade ball they come together under cover of Venetian masks and costumes the unthinkable happens and Daniella winds up pregnant.
But with two such stubborn characters can they ever find happiness together now they also have a shared child to think of?
An inventive and cute story, a perfect festive romance.
July 17, 2023
3.5🌟
Author's writing style is very fluid and so easy to read and quick to get through. I liked the balance of the tension-- the portrayal of the initial intense dislike and the UST-- but I just find it hard to believe in ML's sudden interest in FL after their one-night stand and finding out it was her. Rolled my eyes at that one.
Author's writing style is very fluid and so easy to read and quick to get through. I liked the balance of the tension-- the portrayal of the initial intense dislike and the UST-- but I just find it hard to believe in ML's sudden interest in FL after their one-night stand and finding out it was her. Rolled my eyes at that one.
December 4, 2022
Graphic with a silly romance.
December 4, 2024
Tiene el peor cliché del mundo.
Añadir eso a la historia no logra que los personajes se tengan que amar inmediatamente.
Añadir eso a la historia no logra que los personajes se tengan que amar inmediatamente.
May 18, 2022
This book tells a complete story and could stand alone. It is short, but probably longer than a novella.
This is my second story by CM and both have in common H's who are dominating of their women to the point of almost considering them possessions. Meanwhile the h's seem to thrive on resisting that control. The result is a story with a lot of tension, especially in the dialogue.
The published synopsis reveals events well into the story, practically half way in the short book. But even if you don't read the synopsis, it doesn't take the reader long to see where this story is going to go.
Dani's backstory isn't fully revealed until almost the end. The way in which it is uncovered seems unlikely to me.
The author attempts to credit sexual encounters between Niccolo and Dani with producing real love, especially in him. I have a hard time accepting that concept especially in a relationship where he had such a long history of disdain for her.
Despite my complaints, the story moves along nicely and I tend to enjoy stories more or less this length where laments and denials aren't repeated to the point of becoming tiresome.
As to style, paragraphs containing the characters' thoughts are mixed somewhat randomly, sometimes alternating back and forth rather than being separated into sections comprising one character's thoughts at a time. Often, when authors do it the former way, I find it confusing trying to keep them straight. Here there is only a very little confusion identifying who is thinking what.
Mature themes: there is consensual sex which is mildly explicit, but lengthy for such a short book. I discussed in the spoiler a more serious mature theme.
This is my second story by CM and both have in common H's who are dominating of their women to the point of almost considering them possessions. Meanwhile the h's seem to thrive on resisting that control. The result is a story with a lot of tension, especially in the dialogue.
The published synopsis reveals events well into the story, practically half way in the short book. But even if you don't read the synopsis, it doesn't take the reader long to see where this story is going to go.
Dani's backstory isn't fully revealed until almost the end. The way in which it is uncovered seems unlikely to me.
The author attempts to credit sexual encounters between Niccolo and Dani with producing real love, especially in him. I have a hard time accepting that concept especially in a relationship where he had such a long history of disdain for her.
Despite my complaints, the story moves along nicely and I tend to enjoy stories more or less this length where laments and denials aren't repeated to the point of becoming tiresome.
As to style, paragraphs containing the characters' thoughts are mixed somewhat randomly, sometimes alternating back and forth rather than being separated into sections comprising one character's thoughts at a time. Often, when authors do it the former way, I find it confusing trying to keep them straight. Here there is only a very little confusion identifying who is thinking what.
Mature themes: there is consensual sex which is mildly explicit, but lengthy for such a short book. I discussed in the spoiler a more serious mature theme.
April 20, 2012
When the heroine and hero made love together, they were wearing masks and just present at a masked ball. They didn't know who each other were, they had no clue that they knew each other but most of all, they didn't realize that the heroine was the heroes younger sisters best friend. When they did find out, they were shocked because the heroine has always been in love with the hero. They were also shocked that the hero had fallen in love with the heroine and they were going to have a baby..
June 2, 2021
Niccolo D'Alessandro has never seen eye to eye with spirited redhead Daniella Bell. So he's shocked to discover that the mystery woman he's just made love to after a Venetian-style masked party was Dani
Their night together was the most amazing of Dani's life, but with a failed marriage behind her she never wants to wed again. But Niccolo has other ideas.... When Dani announces she's pregnant with his baby, the uncompromising Italian has only one demand: she will become his wife
Their night together was the most amazing of Dani's life, but with a failed marriage behind her she never wants to wed again. But Niccolo has other ideas.... When Dani announces she's pregnant with his baby, the uncompromising Italian has only one demand: she will become his wife
May 3, 2010
I like maske balls that's why I knew I'd love this book.
Read
June 17, 2010That Venetian masquerade night is the highlight!so sexy and thrilling!!A high five for that,Carole!
February 6, 2012
The masquerade ball encounter made the novel enjoyable. There is something undeniably sexy about kissing a masked stranger (pirate) in the moonlight.
February 26, 2012
Bir h&q olarak iyiydi gerçi fantastikte vampirler neyse italyanlarda h&q ler için her zman güvenli bölge gibi olsada gayet iyiydi bence bu :D
Read
August 28, 2013Good book, nice how the two got together under disguise at the party.
July 15, 2016
I liked the background story with a strong male character but at times I felt it was ranting and the friendship of Eleni felt a little fake.
Read
September 4, 2016I just can't seem to read the book because all it shows is the cover.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews