Bride, Bought and Paid For

by Helen Bianchin

The billionaire’s price… Romy Picard will do anything to prevent her aged father from being imprisoned. But the only man who can help her is the rich, notorious Spaniard who stole her virginity and her heart three years ago… Xavier DeVasquez could drop all charges against Romy’s father with a click of his arrogant fingers – but he sees an opportunity to have Romy in his bed one more time. This time, though, he’ll make sure that she stays on his terms…

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary, Harlequin Presents, Audiobook, Adult, Harlequin Romance

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2009

About the author

Helen Shirley was born on February 20 1939 in New Zealand, where she grew up, an only child possessed by a vivid imagination and a love for reading. She wrote stories for amusement in her early teenage years, and when she left leaving school, she took a secretarial job at a father-and-son legal firm.

At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.

It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.

With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!

Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.

She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."

Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry I want my couple to remain celibate while apart especially if they have been apart for such a short time. Awful book!

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once you've read a few books by this author then you realise she has a formula and all her stories are basically the same! I didn't like this one. They just have a lot of sex then they declare their love but I never felt them fall in love.

[Leona · Rating 2 out of 5]

This ended up being just okay. Disappointing given the beginning started off with a bang and had me hooked.. This had the potential to be so much stronger, but the author just relied on sexual content to deliver a story rather than plot.

[Julz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

An enormouse amount of sugary sweetness. It was suppose to be a forced marriage angstfest but the hero did so much ass kissing, it was hard to feel anything but bored. Nice try though.

[Su · Rating 1 out of 5]

Their love is not convincing. It was all about boring sex scenes. Why did she leave him just after three months of wonderful (!) relationship and undying (!) love from her side? What about patience and giving chances? After she left he didn't try hard enough to reach her either. Both moved on with other lovers... What was about the other woman who showed up with no real reason? On top all those plot fails writing style fails to convey necessary emotions for a love story.

[MJ4S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a second chance story between Romy and Xavier. These two had a brief affair 3 years ago which ended when Romy left him. She'd said the big words and he'd pretty much told her he didn't do love. And that was it for the next 3 years.
I have to warn people: neither of them were celibate during their separation. I usually don't like it, but I couldn't fault him: Romy had left him, refused to answer his calls and even left the country for the next 3 years. I can't fault him for not reaching out more; he definitely got Romy's message. And Romy was so sure Xavier would never love her, she preferred to leave before it got too hard.
Well, when Xavier and Romy meet again, she needs his help and he sees this as his opportunity to not let her slip away again.
I actually would have preferred him realizing he loves her after they meet again. It's hinted that he realized it soon after she left him that first time, but then I would have liked him to look for her more, despite her making it difficult for him. He was a billionaire, he could have found out her location. Despite this fact, I enjoyed this book and I believe they'll have a solid marriage.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

He is sweet, sugary sweet. He says the sweetest things, he keeps buying her the stuff she only has to look at and he is protective in a good way.

She keeps bickering, she keeps resisting him and she is annoying.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan in the "marry me or else" storyline, though this one was a bit different than the standard "he's a douche, she's so innocent" storyline. She's still semi-innocent, but at least there wasn't someone attempting to squeeze in between the two, and the man actually had feelings prior the to "or else".

[Storm Chase · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this with a pule of secondhand books to see what mass market romance was like. I have to say, "Meh." The forced marriage consisted of him running after her, and her loving him for his clothes and his money. Oh, and because she teaches, selling herself does not make her a whore but a saint. Weird and twisted but probably not in the way the author intended.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen Bianchin rarely disappoints!

[Natha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apa cuma aku saja yang merasa tarik ulur antara sang hero dan heroine bukan saja membosankan tapi juga sangat-sangat menyebalkan? =.=a

Rasanya aku membaca sangat cepat sekali di bagian tengah karena tarik-ulur yang menyebalkan itu.
Sebenarnya di bagian awal premisnya cukup oke buatku, meski aku sudah pernah membaca dengan plot yang kurang-lebih sama, tetapi setelah eksekusinya, kenapa jadi membosankan sekali ya? Aku banyak skip sejujurnya. >.<

[Figlet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Helen Bianchin HPs. I impulse-bought this Kindle because of the price ($1.99), but I knew I had read it before. It didn't matter. I still wanted it. There's nothing to lift you out of the doldrums than a good HB HP.

This isn't one of my very favorites, but it is the same trope as most of the others so you know what you're getting if you're a longtime fan of HB.

Rated 4 Shared Baths With a Billionaire Stars.

[Alejandra Cotrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como en casi todos los que he leído de ella hasta ahora, realmente no hay un desarrollo entre los personajes sólo cojen y cojen hasta que se enamoran sin si quiera cruzar palabra entre ellos.
Ah! Y también la chica super mala y super perfecta que está obsesionada con el protagonista, pero que no le da bola porque la man es grilla termina con el rabo entre las piernas

[Isabelle | Nine Tale Vixen · Rating 1 out of 5]

My first real adult novel, yay. But honestly the writing was horrid - "stood to his feet"? Really? And seriously, "evocative" is not a word that should be used to describe kissing. Plus, the relationship is unrealistic; I don't believe in falling in love overnight.

[Anupama Kamath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book

The characters are very good. The story flows easily. Nice book to read. Really enjoyed reading the book and highly recommend it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

Great book! No major drama, Just 2 people falling in love! The guy was in love since the first page! I love it!

[Prophetess Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bride, Bought and Paid For

Very romantic and happy story. I had fun reading and I joyed. This was a happy book for me to read

[Mattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like it, both hero and heroine weren't celibate during the separation. I didn't like the plot or characters. Np.

[Mercury & Jupiter · Rating 3 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNING: forced marriage, dubcon

My facebook review:

Bride, Bought and Paid For is explicitly about romantic sexy rape. The hero uses his wealth and power to force an innocent woman to marry him to save her father from prison. She doesn't want to, but he's just so darn sexy and powerful, she has no choice. Gross. It's bad enough when that happens in a historical, but I can't handle it in a modern day story. Also, I put the book down somewhere and now I can't find it.


I eventually found it and finished it. This one was basically just boring. Too rapey to be romantic, but too domestic to be a rape fantasy. I'm never going to be interested in a man who has to control every aspect of a woman's life, anyway.

I gave it an extra star for the heroine's unintentionally hilarious attempts to connect with her students at the inner city high school where she teaches.

-Mercury

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright - nothing that would stay with me and make me want to do a re-read though. I could have lost the bitchy-other-woman-who-wants-my-man plot device. The heroine's instance on teaching in high school in lower-income suburbs was much more interesting and, in my opinion, would have made for a far more interesting plot device if expanded.

[Lb · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had potentials but it failed to up my interest. There are some side stories that are too irrelevant. I'm thinking it's the author's way of engaging readers but it did nothing but annoy me. Sad... this could have been a good read. There were other HQ books somewhat similar to this and came out well. This one... no.

[Kace | The Booknerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

It looks like I’m one of the few who didn’t enjoy this book. I had high hopes to start but ended up disappointed and frustrated for most of the book. This book had just too much sexual content with a minimal plot. And I was a bit turned off by how Romy melts like a ton of bricks whenever Xavier touches her.

[Mspink · Rating 3 out of 5]

....currently listening to this on Audio book... So far so good. Good narrator and the heroine is strong... unlike other HQ females. We'll see how it goes.... I'll report in with a full review once I finish... Hold Please....

[Fanny Roswita Ria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Standarnya HQ dengan konflik yang bagi gw terlalu datar yah, perlawanan sang heroine d bab awal begitu mudah. Lsg menerima begitu saja proposal dari sang hero, dan lsg menerima setiap "hukuman" dari sang hero..yah ga terlalu jelek dan ga terlalu bagus..just so so:)

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I love how strong men have to force women into a relationship because the man loves the woman.
Would recommend to everyone. It is a book you don't want to put down because you want to see how it ends.

[Bookabulary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like reading Harlequin Presents but sometimes, the titles they use on their books is just ridiculous. This book was not an exception. I also like HB but unfortunately, this book just did not do it for me like her usual work does.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know I enjoyed reading this book, but unfortunately, it wasn't memorable. As a result, I can say that it was a pleasant way to while away an hour or two, but didn't leave enough of an impression for me to give it a very high review.

[Xondra Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read. The couple had great chemistry and I liked that the alpha male wasn't too over the top.

[Josie Knipping · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved it.