Italy's Most Scandalous Virgin

3.5 stars<br><br><br><i> <b>‘What did you have to go and marry her for, Pa?’<br><br><br>Dante wasn’t referring to the pain his father’s second marriage had caused.<br><br><br>It was the agony of wanting his father’s wife.</b> </i><br><br><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1593607114ra/29744917.gif" width='1000"height=1000"alt="description"/' class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><br><br><u>Forbidden love</u>, is one of the most intriguing tropes in romance, because it skirts territory that some might find icky, while acting like a magnet to those of us who are drawn to all trainwrecks. <br><br><br><br>In this novel, the MC's are a stepmother and stepson. <br><br><br>She's at least a decade younger than him and they've been burning up for each other, since the first time they met.<br><br><br><br>This is the H, Dante:<br><br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1590003858i/29512494._SY540_.jpg" width='600"height=600"alt="description"/' class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><i> <b>Women adored him.<br>Adored him!<br>It wasn’t just his undeniably handsome looks, with thick raven hair and black, bedroom eyes. Neither was it all about his stunning body,</b> </i><br><br><br><br>This is the heroine, Mia:<br><br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1591309195i/29595164._SY540_.jpg" width='600"height=600"alt="description"/' class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><br><i> <b>She had been branded as a gold-digger seeking a sugar daddy, and it had been a sustained and savage attack.The Ice Queen, many had later called her—the press, his family, the board—for she never betrayed even a hint of emotion.</b> </i><br><br><br><br><a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/25897417.Castelli_s_Virgin_Widow__The_Castelli_Brothers__2_" title="Castelli's Virgin Widow (The Castelli Brothers #2) by Caitlin Crews" rel="noopener">Castelli's Virgin Widow</a> is the only other HP I can think of, that has dealt with this stepmom-stepson coupling. But I can't recall the details of that storyline. <br><br><br>Since this is set in the tamer world of current HPlandia, it's obviously not gonna be a case of sleaze and adultery. Carol Marinelli manages to avoid such pitfalls, by removing the usual taints from a sexy stepmom-stepson relationship:<br><br><br><br>? The stepmother/heroine was never sexually or romantically involved with the H's late father. He'd been using her as a beard for his secret gay relationship with Roberto - his one true love. <br><br><br><br>?The stepmother/heroine had actually been doing a favour for the H's ( secretly ) gay dad, helping him to salvage his manly pride after the H's mom demanded a divorce, so that she could marry her secret lover. <br><br><br><br>?The stepmother/heroine had only agreed to the marriage, because her family had huge medical debts.<br><br><br><br>?The MC's never broke the bonds of decency while the H's dad had been alive. The H obviously loved and respected his father too much, to give into his fevered desires to bang the brains out of stepmommy dearest. And the heroine incorrectly interrupted his attitude as disdain, instead of the lust-filled combo of jealousy, possessiveness and self recrimination:<br><br><br><i> <b>And while he told himself he wanted her on her knees, begging, the deeper truth was that he just wanted her on her knees.</b> </i><br><br><br><br>It's not the best I've read from this author, but I wasn't, at any point in time, bored. There's:<br><br><br><br>?Combustible sexual tension between the MC's. I was surprised that these 2 had been able to keep their hands off each other, while his father had been alive. <br><br><br><br>? Intense and very complicated family drama, exacerbated by a lifetime of scandalous parental secrets and lies.<br><br><br><br>?Repercussions from an unexpected pregnancy; this happened when the heroine's travel sickness led her to puke up the morning after pill, that she and the H had agreed she'd take, after their bout of unprotected sex. <br><br><br><br><b>THE LONG TERM PUBLIC PERCEPTION ISSUES:</b><br><br><br><br>Despite all of this, however, the MC's might always have to live with the public notoriety of being former stepmother and stepson, because the family's secrets were obviously not disclosed publicly. Mia could always carry around that unwanted <i>tainted lady</i> baggage and the H's parents will be revered as *innocent* in a situation, that's entirely of their own making. <br><br><br><br>And, one can always argue that if Brooke Logan-Forrester ( the <i>Bold &amp; the Beautiful</i> daytime soap opera ) can ignore/surmount her well deserved notoriety, then it might be a piece of cake for someone like Mia. ?‍♀️??<br><br><br>I suppose this might not matter to those who know the truth. But, the long term fallout, which obviously isn't dealt with in this novel, might affect their future kids. However, as readers, we're bound by the limits of what's actually written within the confines of the story and not by any additional supposition or <i>What ifs?</i><br><br><br><br>Nevertheless, sometimes HPlandia fans are often left with the niggling <i>What ifs</i>, if a situation is too complicated for a simple HEA to be the final word. That's the main problem I had with this novel, because I hate to think of future kids being taunted, or bullied, by their peers about the history of their parents' ( MC's ) relationship. <br><br><br><br>I think an epilogue, set 15 years in the future, might've set my mind at greater ease. That way, I'd be able to see how well adjusted were the MC's twins, and any subsequent kids. As it is, the novel ends on their wedding day, when they reveal to their guests, that they're expecting twins. <br><br><br><br>But maybe the author's planning future novels with the H's siblings, so that option might be left open for more details on these MC's future HEA. It certainly seemed as if the H's sister Ariana and a certain hot Italian Duke, might have something going on. I'm just guessing, of course. <br><br><br><br><b>Safety:</b> No cheating and both MC's are celibate during their short separation. Obviously, during the time the heroine had been married platonically to the H's dad, the H had been involved with other women. I don't count that as being significant.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Harlequin.<br /><br />Beautiful Mia Hamilton married a much older man. She entered into an agreement to save face for her husband and also to help with medical bills for her family. With that came a lot of heartache for Mia. She was labeled a gold digger, her husbands family hated her and the most tragic of all was she was attracted to her "step son" Dante Romano. From day one when they first met there were sparks but unfortunately the deal had already been struck for her to marry. She did everything in her power to keep it together and not let Dante or anyone else know she was attracted to him. When Mia's husband dies all Mia wants to do is run away from the Romano family and especially Dante, who she knows just hates her.<br /><br />Dante couldn't believe his father married a gold-digger!!! And what made the whole matter worse is the day they met he was struck speechless by his attraction to her, only to find out she was in a "relationship" with his father. He fought that attraction for 2 years. <br /><br />Dante runs the family business and keeps all his family in line. The hate for Mia is strong but he kept things in check with his family and himself. But now that his father has died he's sure she going to contest his will and try to take all she can for herself. But surprisingly during the funeral and reading of the will he sees that things were not what they seemed to be. He also see cracks in Mia's composed demeanor. <br /><br />Well this is HP land so of course days after the death/funeral Mia and Dante give into their attraction and sleep together. Mia leaves but Dante advises her to let him know if there are consequences as he didn't use any protection. Mia becomes pregnant and at first doesn't let Dante know. <br /><br />Three months later Dante invites Mia to fundraiser banquet that the family throws yearly. He finds he really misses her. He's reassured early in a phone call with Mia that isn't pregnant, she had said she was fine. She can't stay away from Dante, she really misses him and decides to attend, plus she needs to tell him that he will be a Father (she's ready to tell him now but when he called she was still processing).<br /><br />They of course can't keep their hands off each other and spend the night together. But the next morning when Mia lets Dante know she's pregnant he believes she planned all this to trap him. Well everything implodes because the family also finds out about them. <br /><br />The two now have to deal with the outside world as well as family hurling accusations and insults at them. And Dante begins to question his fathers marriage to Mia and begins to wonder if there was some hinden agenda for their marriage. The truth starts coming out. Dante and Mia also work through their trust issues as well as their feelings for each other. Everything is brought out into the open about the past, the marriage, as well as their true feeling for each other. The love between the two prevails and they get their HEA.<br /><br />This had potential but the execution of the characters was poorly done. More so Mia then Dante. She comes across strong and composed but as the story progresses she becomes weak and somewhat of a mess. And there was a situation in the story that didn't sit well with me at all, so that turned me off to the characters as well. <br /><br />

Tycoon hero has sex with his father's virgin widow and she falls pregnant. What will they do now?<br /><br />What?<br /><br />Oh, you want to know about the virgin widow: <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="f1535b2f-78b9-469a-a251-d2531ca982f9" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="f1535b2f-78b9-469a-a251-d2531ca982f9"><br /><br />Heroine married the hero's father after her parents were killed in a car accident abroad and her brother was severely injured. Since her brother didn't have travel insurance, the heroine is now broke trying to take of him. <br /><br />Hero's father is gay and his wife wants a divorce. They decided that it would look better if an OW (heroine) was the cause of their divorce and not the wife's affairs and his sexuality. <br /><br />All of their children think the heroine is a gold digger, etc. . . Hero has the most disdain for the heroine since he fell for her the first time he saw her. <br /><br /></label><br /><br />I won't spoil the "how" of H/h's HEA, but Ivy has an excellent review with more details. <br /><br />I enjoyed the heroine's angst in this one. The hero's brutal honesty (so cruel at the beginning!). And the slow unfolding of the backstory.<br /><br />Heroine's angst about her parent's death and morbid concerns about the accident when she was trapped in the car were also interesting. <br /><br />

Heroine takes the morning after pill! I can’t believe my favorite author wrote this shit! Not ok when I am reading a romance!

<img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1609720133i/30636627._SY540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1609720133i/30636628.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br>I enjoyed this <b>misjudged herione</b> story. Dante and the family put Mia through hell with their hate and nastiness towards her. I never saw the secret reveal coming either, so that was a plus. This was an entertaining way to spend my afternoon. <br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1568300539ra/28138088.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

Couldn't connect with any of the characters! Or with the story ! BORING

Untouched, unavailable… <br /><br />And utterly impossible for him to resist! <br /><br />Dante Romano has no doubt Mia Hamilton, his father’s much younger widow, is a ruthless gold digger. Yet the sparks between him and Mia are an inferno waiting to erupt. And erupt it does—into an unforgettable encounter that leaves Dante stunned by Mia’s innocence and his craving for more.<br /><br />Giving in to her undeniable attraction to Dante makes it harder for Mia to hide the secrets she’s sworn to keep. She’s brought enough scandal to the legendary Romano family. And that’s before her shocking bombshell!

I loved it so, so much.<br /><br />Seems like HP's offerings this month are fairly low-angst, which is good for me atm.

I love this author’s books - I don’t think she can write a bad piece of prose and her characters are always well drawn and engaging. <br /><br />I am always unsure about this trope - the ‘step mum as love interest for the step son’. It feels wrong to me . <br /><br />However, Carol managed to get past my reservations and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. As always, Carol writes deliciously sexy and emotional love scenes and they go a long way to powering the romance. Really enjoyable story. <br /><br />I was annoyed with the mother, who despite having been in on the secret reason for the Father’s marriage, had no compunction in bad-mouthing Mia in public. Hypocrite much! <br /><br />Mia and Dante were lovely!

wow I loved this book! I was so afraid I wouldn’t like it because of the taboo topic of the h being married to the H’s father, but it was navigated very well and didn’t feel gross. <br /><br />This book is so steamy, like hot damn???!! Also, the H was the perfect balance of asshole and sweet/head over heals for h. Even their dialogues were so good—the cute bickering and flirting ♥️♥️♥️ my heart ?. <br /><br />Also, while reading this, I really felt like the author put in a lot of thought and creativity to this story, which is something I feel is sorely lacking lately in harlequin romance books. Carol Marinelli really upped her game!