365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #279

The Salvatore Marriage Deal - Natalie Rivers
Harlequin Presents
Harlequin, 2008
ISBN: 9780373127351

N.B The above details refer to the North American release of this book.








My rating

From the back cover:

"The ruthless Italian tycoon and his pregnant mistress… 
Powerful and arrogant, Vito Salvatore thinks Lily Chase is different from the women he normally beds. But when she tells him she's pregnant, he calls her a gold digger and throws her out! 
A marriage by arrangement! 
But now Vito needs a Salvatore heir. So he'll take Lily as his convenient bride!"


This is another book that I have had on my kindle for a while and never got round to reading. This is my first Natalie Rivers book.

When the heroine Lily tells the hero Vito that she is pregnant, she is shocked that his reaction to the news is to throw her out. A couple of months later Vito sees Lily again, working once more in the job she gave up to be with him and not looking well. Despite the fact that he believes she slept with another man, he can't get her out of his mind and he still fiercely desires her. Vito's beloved grandfather is seriously ill and Vito knows how much he wants to see Vito settled. He asks Lily to marry him thinking he will be able to kill two birds with one stone, and after his grandfather passes then he can divorce her. Naturally he doesn't tell Lily this, and she thinks he has finally realised that she is carrying his baby and she is happy that they are going to be a family. Everything seems fine at first, the passion between them is still as hot as ever, but as the months pass Lily begins to realise that Vito doesn't ever want to talk about the baby and refuses to open up to her. Which hurts her as she has given everything of herself to him.

I enjoyed this book, it has a nice, well written story that maximises the use of many traditional plot elements. The hero is a well developed character; complex and interesting, as well as caring. There is a lot of passion between the hero and heroine, and it really suits the mood of the story. The pace is just about perfect for the story, and it allowed the relationship to develop gradually, which felt very natural. There is a nice bit grovelling from the hero at the end, and that is always good!

A good read.

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