El dulce sabor de la venganza

by Lynne Graham

Sólo hay una forma de retenerla a su lado: casarse con ella

Aristandros Xenakis es como una pantera dispuesta a saltar. Brillante, atractivo y tremendamente poderoso, va a probar muy pronto el dulce sabor de la venganza…

Eli está desesperada por tener acceso a su sobrina, pero la niña está bajo la custodia de Aristandros… ¡su ex prometido! No tiene más remedio que someterse a sus exigencias… ¡debe convertirse en su amante!

Ingenua e inexperta, Eli no se parece a las sofisticadas cazafortunas que han calentado hasta entonces la cama de Aristandros. Sólo será cuestión de tiempo que se canse de ella…

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

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.


Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.

Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.

Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a second chance/revenge story of a hero who never got over the heroine jilting him seven years before. This is a trope I love, but I ended up not loving this story.

Backstory:
Hero proposed to doctor heroine seven years before. Heroine wanted to continue her studies, but hero wouldn’t compromise. They broke up, leaving the heroine broken-hearted and the hero a womanizer. The heroine’s family (abusive father, doormat mother, half brothers and sister) all disowned her for jilting the rich hero.

Doctor heroine donated eggs to her sister who was married to hero’s cousin. Now sister and cousin are dead and the hero is the legal guardian to their little girl (the heroine’s biological child).

The story:
Hero decides that he since he’s saddled with a child, he might as well use that child to get the heroine back in his bed. In order for the heroine to see her biological child she must:
-Sell her house
-Give up her career
-Have sex with him anytime he wants
-Stay faithful to him while he can have affairs
-Can only see the child with his permission and with his knowledge
-He can withdraw the offer at anytime for any reason and heroine will never see the child again

He writes this up in a legal document and makes her sign it.

Heroine is angry and humiliated, but agrees. She is a virgin, but won’t admit it after they have (mind-blowing, of course) sex.

The hero is still not satisfied with his power trip and makes the heroine and the 18 month-old baby fly to Paris so he can attend a gallery opening. The baby cries on the plane the whole way and everyone is worried about *the hero.*

Then the child is ill with a fever, the hero makes the heroine attend a party rather than stay with the child. While at the party, the heroine keeps checking in with the nanny and then gets a nasty phone call from her mother calling her a “whore.” The hero, meanwhile, ignores the heroine and flirts with three other women.

He is angry when she leaves the party without him. Heroine lets slip that her stepfather hits her mother at one point in the argument and this is where LG lost me.

LOL – I know – he’s been a total stinker and I hated him and only now am I at the point of no return with this hero? Yes, because LG brings up an even worse man – the abusive stepfather – in order to make some sort of comparison to the hero.

And the hero does not come out looking any better than the wife beater.


The only thing this hero *didn’t* do was physically harm the heroine. Look at the list of abusive actions he took against the heroine. Look at how he treated that baby with indifference. Look at what he needed to do to feel secure about the heroine’s feelings even though he had a contract. He had to make her jealous as a test.

This is not the behavior of an alpha. This is the behavior of a deeply insecure, controlling man. He did not lose his temper – he cold-bloodedly *planned out* this behavior after seven years. The heroine had every right, at 21, to not get married or to marry and still continue her studies. She didn’t leave him at the altar. She didn’t humiliate him (although he felt humiliated).

I really don’t care that the hero helped the heroine’s mother to the hospital (after he set up a volatile situation that put the mother in danger). I don’t care that the mother pressed charges and divorced the guy. That’s a happy ending to the *mother’s * story.

This heroine lost her self-confidence during her time with the hero. She realizes it when she thinks he’s having sex on the side after a short absence. Instead of seeing that as a warning sign that she is an abusive, unequal relationship (why the contract didn’t tip her off, I really don’t know), she sees it as a sign of her love for the hero. When the hero tracks her down and assures her that he wasn’t having an affair on the side and tells her he is going to tear up the contract, the heroine is happy. He’ll “let” her work now.

I felt like I was witnessing an abusive relationship forming in real time in front of my eyes. The heroine had more sense seven years before in getting away from this guy. Good God, he is a nightmare – I don’t care how good the sex is.

I’m giving this three stars for intensity –it was well told. But I really did hate this story and this hero.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why did I read this again!!?? Melody asked me a question and I knew the answer but I just had to make sure didn't I? This book really affected me for some reason. The Hero was a total a$$ and I could never ever ever understand why she let him treat her like a whore. She was too good for him. I just really didn't like that it had been seven years and he broke up with her because she wanted to be a doctor. And then he took off on a cruise the next day and returned to his manwhore ways for the next seven years. She read about it in the magazine's and followed his life. It was awful. He blackmailed her by only allowing her to see her niece, although her eggs were used, if she became his mistress. He insulted her with an agreement that she had to sign in front of witnesses saying she would be his sex slave basically and I felt bad for her. There was one point I thought she would walk away but she didn't. I could see him falling in love with her actually but his ego was so enormous it just irritated me. I could not get over the man whore stuff though. It was brought up constantly and it just detracted from the story. And she of course was a virgin. I don't mind that but I just wish he had deserved her. He didn't. There's a lot of angst and I cried several time in the book. There is an HEA and the hero did a 360 turn right before that and said she could start practicing medicine again and he'd let her raise the little girl if she wanted to leave. I could probably give it two stars because he was faithful once they got back together but I am a vindictive bit@# and I am leaving it at one. I don't see him remaining faithful. Just saying!6

[Vintage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Music to read GBM by…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Pfr...

This book made me feel very Clint Eastwood.

The hero is handsome so there is that.


But at heart, he is a big meanie.


Many, many mean people: the dead sister, the h’s stepfather, her worthless mother, her equally worthless half-brothers…


I can’t decide if the H’s punishment should be Hang Em High


Or simply being a punk.


Oh yeah, there was a heroine


And a plot moppet
No! Not like that, more like this.

Lynne Graham phoned it in.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle of the road Lynne Graham. Kind of different in that the child involved is her sister's but using the heroine's donated eggs. The hero is not the father but is a cousin. He is however the child's legal guardian and so has the child to hold over the heroine's head to get her to be his mistress. The emotions here seemed to ramp up and fizzle out and the heroine while not really a total doormat sure leaned that way. I don't mind if you're going to turn into a puddle of goo if the hero touches you but don't embarrass yourself by declaring every other page that you hate him and don't want to sleep with him if you know you're going to give in. The hero is pretty much an ass but not to the asshat level.

[Grace*dnfing books since 2022* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lynne Graham has written a lot -- and I mean a lot of Harlequin Presents novels. Chief among the similarities are her heroes always having black/golden eyes (I don't see the overlap. Brown/golden might be more believable in terms of eye color) and really appalling adverbs and adjectives. Well, appalling depending on your views. Creative, but really, at times I wish she'd tone down her freedom with descriptions. "Superbly male" is one of her favorite descriptions and kind of makes me gag. One I found recently in one of her books was the heroine "strickenly" saying something. Well, that's the first time I've heard that usage. And there are too many others to count.

But one thing is for certain: she certainly knows how to spin that age-old HP formula to great effect, and somehow, she's able to establish background, old traumatic pasts, past meetings between h/H, personal growth through conversations, the dramatic misunderstandings, and the inevitable HEA. That's not to be sneered at, even despite the descriptions.

Now, despite the equally appalling title (which I'm convinced might be the editorial or the managerial policy at Harlequin), this book drew me in. The reviewers on here wavered between "doormat heroine" and "not submissive at all" and here's what I think: I liked this heroine a lot. She first met our hero, Ari, in Greece through a night out with her older sister and it was clear to the readers that he was head over heels from the beginning. She was young and had a very submissive mother, a violent, unfaithful stepfather who was also very socially ambitious. They and her older sister were keen to get in good with Ari, who was the requisite Greek tycoon-to-be. When he proposed, she had plans to go to the UK and study to become a doctor (yes, I don't know why it had to be the UK. I mean, why not the US if you even had to go that far?). When he announces that she's giving all that up to get married, she tells him later that that's not going to happen. In a fit, he calls off the engagement and is forever in a snit because of this.

Fast forward several years, and her older sister, who used her donated eggs to become pregnant after marriage with Ari's cousin, has passed away. When she hears of the child, our heroine is anxious to meet her. At this point in time, she's already a doctor. She arranges to meet Ari, who asks, "what would you be willing to do to get close to the child?" Well, the child is technically half hers, and because of her fall-out with her family, she's never seen her, so h is anxious to see her. That is when Ari's dastardly plan comes into play.

I think reviewers found Ella submissive, because she didn't argue unduly with Ari. But she wasn't a doormat in the traditional Lynne Graham sense, as in, she tried to reason with him. She tells him frankly that he's terrifying. She's annoyed that he made her sign a contract she hadn't read beforehand and AFTER she had already sold her house. She didn't roll over to play dead. She met the child, and unlike some of Anne Mather's heroines -- who are the unlikeliest mothers in the world, our Ella is concerned and is very attached to the 18-month child, who she noted was not active like other children that age. She tried to spend time between Ari and the child, even though that annoyed Ari to no end. I felt she acted rationally in light of the offensive contract (although technically, such a contract would not stand up in court because of its offensive contents. Contract for sex doesn't hold up. Sorry, Lynne Graham, but it's true.) She felt that Ari's actions were selfish and irresponsible for the child and told him so -- but in a calm manner, unlike many other of her heroines or heroes who shout and yell and have veins popping out for no good reason. I mean, MOST people talk to other people calmly...don't they? Or have I been living abroad in a suppressed society for too long?


When she found out what she thought were disputable facts of his infidelity (walking in on one of his townhouses in a city he had been staying to find a nubile young blond stripping down in the master bedroom), she first yelled at her, and then stopped herself -- because honestly, the other girl spoke truth when she said she was the first one there. She then left to go cool down. When Ari calls and demands to know where she is, she tells him that she hasn't run off -- because she thought to herself that she couldn't because of the baby, I believed her and sympathized with her.


One of the more believable ones. At least in my opinion.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greek tycoon Aristandros and Dr. Ella were engaged but Ella ended it so she could become a doctor and a career woman. Years later he has sole custody of little Callie, Ella's niece. He asks Ella to be his mistress and in return he will allow her access to little Callie.

Heroine was very feisty and strong. She was also a successful doctor. Hero was your typical tycoon but I thought he was very sexy and you could tell he adored Ella! Cute romance!

[Aou · Rating 3 out of 5]

She had come to terms with the fact that she loved him, and that she probably loved him a great deal more than she had seven years ago, which struck her as especially ironic when he had behaved so badly this time round.’
Idiot.

[willaful · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical blackmailed mistress Presents, but better than many I've read. The heroine isn't too much of a doormat (though for a doctor, makes some pretty basic mistakes); the hero is a major jerk, of course, but does see the error of his ways.

The conflict was also interesting: the hero and heroine had been in love seven years previously, but his assumption that she would give up her career to marry him made them fight. His hold over her is her niece, whom she was the egg donor for. (!) Good read for when you're in the mood for that kind of thing.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this book 2.5 stars. I'm not sure why other reviewers describe Ella as not being a pushover. In the very beginning of the book she gives up her career and home at the hero's request and allows him to treat her as his "dress-up doll." I wouldn't describe her arguments with Ari as standing up to him, either, since she just comes across as a emotional ninny. The book does take a more positive turn in the middle of the book, but I think I'm just tired of the "I hate him, but I can't resist him" trope that permeates this book.

[Jasbell76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Updated
May/27/2015
From 1 to 10 (My personal rating scale): 7.5
This story wasn't memorable for me. I can't remember anything about the book. It needs a reread :)

[MBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Greek Tycoon’s Blackmailed Mistress by Lynne Graham is a reunion romance built on a volatile mix of betrayal, revenge, and unresolved passion. Ella’s world is upended when the only way she can gain access to her baby niece, the child born from eggs she donated to her late sister, is by agreeing to the demands of Aristandros Xenakis, her ex-fiancé and the child’s guardian. Seven years earlier, their engagement ended in bitterness and heartbreak, and now Aristandros sees her return as an opportunity to settle old scores.

Aristandros is thirty-two, sleek, controlled, and every inch the ruthless tycoon. He is a man who exudes power, and his brand of attraction comes laced with dominance and a need to win at all costs. His memories of Ella are coloured by anger and a sense of betrayal, making his manipulation feel like justified retribution. Yet, beneath that cold, calculating exterior, it is clear that his obsession with her never really died.

Ella as a dedicated medical doctor, is worlds apart from the glamorous socialites Aristandros is used to. Seven years have done little to dull the impact he has on her, but she is determined to hold on to her self-respect, even while making the sacrifices necessary to be near her niece. Their shared past fuels every interaction, the tension between them sparking from the first page and only intensifying as old wounds are reopened.

The dynamic is classic Graham; an alpha hero using leverage to get what he wants, and a heroine forced into close quarters where attraction becomes impossible to ignore. The writing does have moments where it feels a touch stilted, which I have come to observe from some Graham novels. However, the emotional beats do give that punch you are looking for, particularly as cracks appear in Aristandros’s armour and his reasons for holding on to his bitterness come into sharper focus.

What I enjoyed most was the slow shift from hostility to something warmer, as Aristandros begins to see Ella for who she is now, rather than the girl he believed wronged him. The resolution is satisfying, and the epiloguish ending delivers a welcome sense of closure for both the romance and the family at the centre of the conflict.

Recommended for: readers who enjoy intense reunion romances with a powerful, revenge-driven hero, a resilient heroine, and the high emotional stakes of Lynne Graham’s signature style.

Final Verdict: Tense, passionate, and steeped in emotional history, The Greek Tycoon’s Blackmailed Mistress is a good mix of drama and redemption.

Rating = 4/5

For more reviews and quotes, please visit A Maldivian's Passion for Romance

[Kate McMurry · Rating 4 out of 5]

2009, "enemies to lovers," HP romance, with an early 1990s style alphahole, billionaire MMC

Seven years ago, Greek billionaire, Aristandros, fell in love with Ella when he was 25 and she was 21, and in the middle of studying to be a doctor. She was madly in love with him as well and was delighted when he asked her to marry him. Until she realized he expected her to give up her studies and never become a doctor. He dumped her when she refused to do that, but he blamed her for his own misogynistic action, and he swore that someday he would get even for the humiliation he felt that she had caused him.

Several years ago, Ella donated an egg to her sister, Susie, who begged her to do it because she had fertility problems and wanted a child that would look biologically like her. Ella, having a very soft heart, in spite of warnings from her BFF, a fellow female doctor and her roommate, that she might regret this choice someday, generously donated to her sister, and Susie gave birth to Ella's biological daughter. Prior to the birth, Susie had sworn that she would allow Ella to be a loving aunt to the baby, but after the baby was born, Susie refused to allow Ella to come anywhere near the baby and broke all contact with Ella. Quite recently, when the baby was 18 months old, Susie and her husband, Timon, who was Ari's cousin and lifelong friend, died in a car accident. It was only then that Ella discovered that Susie's cruelty toward Ella had extended to creating a will in which she and Timon named Ari as the baby's sole, designated guardian and left Ella out entirely.

Through Timon, Ari already knew about Ella donating her egg, and the baby looks just like her. He considered it as an insult on top of previous injury that, rather than marrying him and having a child with him, she had allowed her sister to produce her biological child. When it becomes clear to Ari that Ella desperately wants to raise her biological daughter, he uses that as a weapon to finally get his revenge. He tells Ella that the only way she will get access to the baby is to become his mistress, totally at his beck and call for as long as he wants. In the process, she must walk away from her medical career, as he had demanded that she do seven years before. Ella is so determined to be with her biological daughter, at any cost, with huge trepidation, she gives in to Ari's (classic, HP, blackmailing) demands.

The MMC, Ari, is a typical, HP, controlling alphahole at the beginning and through a lot of this book, but he has an excellent, believable growth arc into a loving husband and devoted family man by the time the HEA and a truly lovely epilogue occur.

Another reason I enjoyed this story is that one of my favorite romance tropes is when the FMC becomes the adoptive mother of the child of a sibling or other relative after that person dies.

I also really enjoyed the fact that Ella is a brilliant, highly educated doctor. There have only been less than five books among the over 130 romances that LG has written in which the FMC has more than a limited, secondary-school education. This is a terrific change of pace.

🤩👍

[LilyRosa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow I've read some toxic heroes recently but this guy was positively radioactive. Controlling, narcissistic, mean. He used women for sex and then would throw them out like yesterday's garbage soon after.

He clearly wanted to crush the heroine to be a complete slave to him. I could not believe he wanted revenge on her just because seven years ago she wanted to complete her studies to become a doctor instead of giving it all up for him. Seriously, what loathsome douche. He was also a rotten father to her child.
He used her child to blackmail her and then made her sign a contract with explicit details of her sexual submission and everything she had to give up for him.
Nothing redeemable about this POS whatsoever.

I liked the heroine for the most part. Even though she gave up so much, she did it for the love of her child. What was pathetic though was she was so enraptured by his physical beauty and the sex that she could no see the overwhelming ugliness in the soul of this man. Made her seem exceedingly shallow.

His family background reads like the broken dysfunctional families of the uber rich like the Gettys and the Onaissis, full of infidelity, substance abuse, damaged children and sheer misery. So that's all I can imagine for these two after their lame HEA.
Honestly, I felt sick with revulsion after reading this. Not the feeling I want after reading a so-called romance.

[Kesha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but why does the heroine ALWAYS give in so fast. At least attempt to give the fool a challenge. So hard to believe that a surgeon would give up everything to just become a nanny/mistress to your own child/ex fiancée. Why does the hero always have to put sex in the "deal". Anyway, like I said it wasn't a bad book. Very quick read.

[Mareli · Rating 3 out of 5]

for once the heroine is not a doormat, or not so much. I loved she remembered to have a backbone and acted consequently. I hated the hero used her niece to blackmail her and the contract he made her sign was horrible. I'm glad he admitted he was an a@@ in the end.

[Mili Teveez · Rating 2 out of 5]

uno peor que otro... la falta de comunicación hizo que él lastimara a la persona que más amó..
pero en fin, novelita del año del coto, machismo puro y una protagonista con menos amor propio que un cactus.

Y no, no dejaré de leer novelas Bianca... porque amo criticar

[Lakshmi C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my earliest & favourite mills & boons.

What works

1 Elle & Ari are similar creatures - Deep, deep down.

Both of them are sailing the High Seas of Oblivion and never get the other person's POV. Sometimes it takes weeks for both of them to grasp a concept, sometimes they forget it & move on.

Both of them are very stubborn and dont realize it

2 Both of them have the same goals.

Ari calls Elle a strident feminist while she calls him a caveman or hyprocrite or something along those lines.
Both of them have different approaches to their personal life Ari wants an old school family where the wife stays home. Elle is trained medically and believes that a balanced approach is better.
They clash often over gender roles.

3 They are determined to prove each other wrong.

Ari wants to prove that she was wrong to end their engagement.
Elle wants to prove that they can never work.

4 They have their priorities in order

For Elle - the baby, Callie is sacred. For Ari - the contract is sacred.

5 Call the hero out

Ari's grandfather lets him know that he is handing things badly & the grandfather makes his disapproval obvious.
Elle's best friend has a wonderful list of adjectives for him.
No one thinks Ari is perfect and that was a very good thing.

6 Aristandros really cares

He goes out of his way to hide it & be indifferent, but it comes out.

7 The best thing about this story is, it's high drama, low angst. I would've loved to see this play out in a full length novel.

8 Backstory is the villain and it's convincing.

What doesn't work

1 The abrupt end. Even 3 - 4 happy scenes would have helped since they spend most of the book in a state of war.

2 The 7 years apart.

[Michaela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a train wreck. Aristandros was a manipulative emotionally abusive man and yet even though she says he's manipulative she doesn't leave. I mean if she wants he 'daughter' that bad why didn't she just take the contract to the courts and say he's blackmailing her because no way are they going to let him keep the kid with that. Also his sudden turn around at the end was ridiculous and unbelievable.

[Roub · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely loved it! it was obvious dat ari was very much in love wid ella. they were both wrong 7 years ago and it took all this time for them to catch up. ella was very naive where her sister was concerned. she acted foolishly and had to pay the consequences. luckily for her, ari did love her, had been in love wid her all along!

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is another trashy romance and just what I would expect from Harlequin. It was a fun read. But was very unrealistic and put the woman in the role of a submissive pushover. I am not sure if I would recommend it because I am embarassed that I have read it : )

[NatalyaVqs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Predictable and unrealistic, what lady MD after ten years of schooling would think signing such a contract is ok, and jump in head first selling her place and quitting her job to be someones plaything for the sake of a baby she has never seen?

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read.

Originally published in 2009. Seven years before the h(21) & H(25) fell in love but the h didn't realize she would have give up her dream of being a doctor so the H dropped her like a rock & never saw her again. Now seven years on the h's sister & the H's cousin have died & left their daughter to the H. The h having been shunned from her family for not marrying the rich H years ago is desperate to see her niece(as she had donated her eggs to her sister)......so the H decides on a little revenge to get her where he wants, in his bed.
Sometimes these plots seem outrageous but I think they do happen out there in the world just not with a HEA ending. A good entertaining read, lots of passion & a woman that does stand up for herself after giving up so much to claim her child, she deserves a happy ending.

[Crisy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book a few months ago and after reading it, i felt so gutted i couldn't even read for a couple of weeks. This book absolutely made me feel so truly and utterly drained -that had it been a paperback i would have gladly torn it up and burnt it to be rid of it. This is the only book of LG that I've read and can say without any regret that it's horrible and should have never been written.

The hero Ari is beyond overbearing, his an arrogant pompous ass of a man. The title "man" is even to good for him. This man maximized his power over his ex- fiancee of seven years ,my gosh the woman was a mere teenager back then, but- holding a grudge much. He exacted punishment where he knew it would be most effective...... making a true sadist proud.(disgusting)

Filth! truly undermining business - every sordid detail was placed in a legal binding contract drawn up by his lawyers and the worst part of the affair was that she was not even granted custody of her daughter. In my opinion there was no redeeming quality in the hero (abandon ship). he humiliated her every opportunity he got. The only thing he did not do was physically hit her, but he might as well because he was no better than her coward- violent weasel of a stepfather.

This heroine was a true doormat - compared to other stories and spineless heroines this one was the worst Elle was absolutely USELESS. Gosh she should have just had another child this time on her own but no if that happened there wouldn't be a story -well sorry it would have been better if she didn't allow Ari to humiliate her one minute and sleep with her the next - she might as well have been his high-end paid whore. Cause there is no other way i viewed this character. She allowed his threats to demoralize her ever value for the sake of her kid.

Truly horrible
CHARACTERS: ELLE: 0 ARI: 0
BACKSTORY: 1 0
PLOT: 0000000000000000000


WARNING : DON'T READ THIS BOOK ..... unless you can stomach this filth.
this was not romance , i have come to expect the betrayed aspect of either characters and revenge or blackmail in one way or another but this story was not enjoyable at all.

Still love me some LG any how just not a fan of this.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

7 yrs ago 25 yr old tycoon Ari (aristandros Xenakis) asked Ella a 21 yr old med student to marry him, she says yes, he announces that she is giving up medicine, she says no to that and he dumps her. 7 yrs later she's still a virgin and he's been sowing his oats, proving to her that he wasn't the faithful type. (She thought he would cheat since her abusive stepfather always cheated on her mom). She donated eggs to her sister and his cousin, who die leaving Ella's biliogical child Callie to Ari as guardian. Ari forces 28 yr old virgin Ella to leave medicine and become his mistress in exchange for the chance to meet and spend time with her biological child. Humiliates her with legal contract detailing her duties andd his power over her. Includes in contact that she can't question his "personal life" so she has jealous moments...but he never cheats ..he never intended to cheat in spite of agreement "that was just me beating my chest like a gorilla to ensure you had some healthy respect for me". He's with other women during estrangement but not when back together, but he allowed estrangement to continue so probably wasnt ready to settle down at 25. or was too proud to compromise. there is some mistress/whore treatment by him and reference by her family to losing face because of her lowlt status, but also some recognition that is wacky in this era. His grandfather chides him for disrespecting her. Well-written, very alpha hero. annoying that she keeps conceding that a man like him doesn't expect challenge but at least book illustrates his power as a billionaire. (book illustratesthat with more realistic references to his status as a billionaires...he's one of those yacht owning tycoon billionaires where jewelers board his yacht and with with security guarding him at parties), but she's not a total doormat, even though he has upper hand. Ultimately, his blackmail started as revenge but was an expression of his love....he wanted her so much he had to have her back.

[Mattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not get over how awful hero was 7 years earlier as well as the beginning of book. I did not like that he broke up with heroine originally because she wanted to be a doctor and he just wanted a wife and would not compromise or even have a conversation and just left and immediately had a cruise and stopped in every port sleeping with woman after woman within days of breaking it off (7 years earlier). Now at beginning he blackmailed heroine into being his mistress for her to even meet her biological daughter and he made clear he would be able to sleep with other women. Heroine was in a tough spot and I get that, just didn't like her giving up her career. P.

Also did not like that heroine gave her eggs to her sister and the child is biologically her daughter and the hero's cousin, I wish it could have somehow been a twist that hero had to donate his sperm as well and that child was theirs biologically.

[Tonya Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Ella Smithson had believed in her sister, not knowing that the jealousy inside her had already cost Ella the love of her life. Susie had come to her and asked her to donate her eggs so that ?Susie and her husband could have a child. Now, the child she had never been allowed to meet, is an orphan in the hands of the man she had loved and lost.

Greek tycoon Aristandros Xenakis is definately one to hold a grudge. Having his engagement ended by Ella just after it took place so she could become a doctor was not acceptable. Knowing he had sole custody of little Callie, he would use it to his advantage to get her back. Get her back, in to his bed, always.

I really liked this one. Fast paced, you had to pay attention to the little nuances that gave insight to the reasons for the original breakup and how they really felt.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whaat? Whoa, that's was all kinds of lame. The hero did two bad things and a third to mess with the heroine's family and did nothing to make up for ANY of his behavior. Anytime the heroine decides 'I need some space' or 'I've had quite enough of this' the author makes her decision to stand tall out to be a mistake...not something I can root for. Bad hero, underwritten heroine. And that poor child!!! She had a shitty guardian dragging her around and never being raised stably. Seriously, that baby deserved better.

[Giovanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have give a solid 5 stars...if it's not for the anticlimax ending.. hmph...

and with the ridiculously high expectation, a strong heroine and that, well, it kind of disappointed me more.

an okay read.

[Namiria · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated what Ari did. He trapped her. Physically, moraly, and with her heart. She was like an animal in cage. Couldn't talk back, couldn't respond, couldn't run. She never stood a chance. I hate him.
Whatever excuses he gave, i don't believe him.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read at two in the morning when I could not sleep.

And at least Lynne Graham let this heroine keep her career after marriage.