The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probst

"Sorry, Lily, Aunt Maggie doesn't do diapers.  When you get older I'll teach you how to ride a motorcycle, score a hot guy for the prom and buy your first fake ID.  Till then, I'm out." ~Maggie

WIFE WANTED…

Italian billionaire seeks faux fiancée. Willing to agree to anything in return...

In order for his sister to marry, Italian billionaire Michael Conte has to find himself a bride – and fast! When he learns that photographer Maggie Ryan is going to be in Milan, Michael hatches a plan to introduce her to his family as his “fiancée.” Never mind that Maggie is confident, independent, and a control freak. Never mind that she’s everything he doesn’t want in a wife… and everything he wants in his bed!

Convinced that Michael is in love with her married gal pal, Maggie agrees to keep up the ruse if he’ll keep away from her friend. Besides, she’s not attracted to charming, ridiculously hot billionaires who drive her nuts. Once they’re in Italy, however, everything changes – and the sexual tension between Maggie and Michael goes from simmer to naked nuclear meltdown!
But have they found the perfect arrangement… or are they trapped in a make-believe marriage?

The Marriage Trap picks up from a several months after where the Marriage Bargain left off. 

We met the two protagonist, Maggie and Michael  in Book 1 of Marriage to a Billionaire Series.  Maggie Ryan is Nick Ryan's sister and best friend to Alexa, Nicks wife.  Michael Conte is a close personal friend of Alexa and business partner to her husband Nick.  Maggie and Michael meet in book 1 when Alexa sets them up on a blind date.  After the blind date turns out to be somewhat of a disaster, the two part ways. 

Maggie is an independent women, who is not in need for money, she has plenty of her own.  All she wants is to find someone to share her life with and on a silly, drunken night alone in her apartment, in a Bidget Jones moment, she decides to perform a love spell to attract a man with all the qualities she yearns for in a partner. 

Michael is an enigmatic, handsome, wealthy  man and doesn't want for female companionship.  But Michael is traditional and wants to find true love:) 

When Michael receives a frantic phone call from one of his beloved little sisters about an old tradition regarding marriage in their family, Michael is forced to try and find a solution.  Michael needs to marry first before his sisters will be allowed to marry.  With plenty of lovers but really no marriage prospects in sight, he turns to Maggie to help him with his situation and asks her to pretend to be his wife to pacify his stubborn Italian mother. 

Yes, it is the making for a disaster!  But it turns out to be a sweet, wonderful, beautiful disaster with an ending we romantics love!

Book 3 is coming out this November and I cant wait!  Pre-ordered and all on my Kindle! 

Favorite Quotes/Lines:

"I am having some family difficulties and I am required to marry.  I need someone to go to Italy with me for a week, pretend to be my wife, spend time with my family, then leave." ~Michael
"Why do I suddenly feel like I dropped into the Lifetime movie of the week?" ~Maggie
"What is Lifetime?" ~Michael

 "How is this happening?  I'm trapped in a frickin' romance novel!" ~Maggie

"You will serve your husband dinner tonight Margherita, by your own hand.  And this is not because you are beneath him, or he believes you are less.  It is because you are more.  So much more." ~Mama Conte

But with Michael everything seemed different.  His body heat reminded her of a werewolf in those Twilight films she secretly loved.  

Book in the Freezer Moment:
When Maggie overhears a conversation Michael is having with his best friend Max....

A Girl Like You by Maria Geraci

 

It was a dark and stormy night...

I opened the door to Captain Pete's, the new "it" club in Ybor City, and am immediately reminded of that famous bar scene from Star Wars.  Except in this scenario, I am the alien and everyone else is normal.

 Every ugly duckling is a swan in waiting...

Emma Frazier is smart, hardworking, and loves her job as a journalist for a Florida lifestyle magazine. Emma knows she’s no great beauty, but she’s pretty certain she has a shot with her handsome new boss, Ben Gallagher—until Emma overhears a mutual acquaintance refer to her as the “ugly friend.” In an effort to reclaim her battered self-esteem, Emma decides to impress Ben at work by promising an exclusive interview with NASCAR legend, Trip Monroe.

Emma and Trip went to high school together and although it’s been fourteen years since they’ve spoken, Emma is certain she can score an interview with the elusive super star. But connecting with Trip turns out to be harder than Emma imagined. Her quest for the interview leads her back to her tiny hometown of Catfish Cove, where old secrets and a new romantic interest shake up Emma’s views on life and teach her that maybe the key to finding true love is as simple as accepting yourself for the person you were always meant to be.

 Maria is right when she says she writes "fun, romantic women's fiction! I fell in love with Maria's work after I read Boyfriend of the Month Club and I was so excited when she contacted my book club about reading A Girl Like You. Her latest novel does not disappoint!   A Girl Like You is Chic-Lit at its best!  I was Emma Frazier, I lived her whole story with her!  Emma is a character most female readers can relate to.  She is not perfect, she has her insecurities about not being as pretty as her friends or as thin as those around her but she has a good heart and a good head on her shoulders. Most importantly Emma  is smart, cute and knows she deserves happiness in her life and was taught by her mothers that she shouldn't settle for anything less. 

 This book is hilarious, like laugh out loud not caring who is around funny!  It has twists and turns that  keep you glued to pages to see what shenanigans Emma will come up with next!  Right when you think you know where shes going, Maria throws a curve ball at you and it is not what you expect.  The outcome I saw coming was not the way Emma finishes in the end.  It was a delightful read, one that I am going to read again. LOVE IT!  Cant wait to see what Maria has for us next!

Favorite Quotes/Lines from book:

"Yuck!  This is Richard, I tell my girl parts, since they appear to be confused." ~Emma

"Emma, I like you just the way you are. Okay?" ~Nick

"It's like the Friday of my life had finally arrived." ~Emma

Fate by Elizabeth Reyes

Vince: (In Iraq)

"Run!" a solider who jumped over him yelled.  He turned one last time, his terrified eyes meeting Vince's for an instant as more soldiers began running past him.  "Fucking run!"

Rose:

She was glad that the day she'd found out he went to Iraq she shredded every single one of his letters without even opening them.  She wouldn't put herself through reading even one more word from him.  She had to move on.

I must admit I have had this book queued on my Kindle since the day it came out.  I wanted to read it soooo bad!  I had been waiting for it for months!  But I didn't.  It stayed unopened for days, weeks even. I didn't want to read it!!!  I was scared!  I didn't want to read it because I didn't want it to end. Does that make any sense to anyone other than me?  Or am I the only weirdo?!?!  I love Elizabeth Reyes Moreno Brothers Series, and I mean LOVE THEM!!! Angel,  Alex, Sal, Romero, & (Noah and Gio) were my boys of summer! (I loved her 5th Street Series too!)  I read them all this summer and of course fell in love with Rose and Vince's blossoming romance in Making You Mine.  I couldn't wait for Fate.  Then when it was staring at me on my Kindle Fire the day it came out, I couldn't bring myself to read it knowing I was going to be sad when I finished. 

Staring at me every time I flipped though my carousel,  I broke down and finally read it, and of course I loved it!   I love how we were able to visit with all the Morenos again, even if it was just for a little while.  I like the way Elizabeth weaves from "Now" to "Then" to fill in pieces of the story that we missed when we met them in MYM.   Rose is a great character, she is a strong, smart girl who loves passionately those who are dear to her.  It is a good quality to posses.  Vince is a typical alpha male (love those Moreno boys!) who is so easily tamed by the girl he loves.  I really enjoyed how they took things slow, very slow in building their relationship. And because I was so convinced that their love would stand the test of time, I was sad when Vince messed up and put the relationship he cherished so much on the line and I was devastated when he and Rose had to part ways.  I love this book!  It was so good!  Now I am sad, like I knew I would be but I am again anxiously awaiting the next installment in the Fate series and waiting for Hector book 3 in Elizabeth's 5th Street Series.  Poor Elizabeth, cant write fast enough for me! 

Favorite quotes:

"You own me body and soul, Vincent.  There'll never be anyone else for me ever."  ~ Rose

" You own me, Rosie, body and soul, now and forever." ~ Vince

Book in the Freezer moment:

 The book in the freezer moment for me was (and there were a two) when Vince was busted in another girls room. (I wanted to cry!)  And when the bomb hit Vince and Will in Iraq (I did cry.)

Review by Austenite:

Margie *o*

Gabriel's Inferno

"This is -- complicated.  And dangerous." Julia willed herself to forget the feeling of his lips on hers and to focus on their insurmountable problems.  But is was impossible, especially since the memory of the sounds he made while kissing her still echoed in her ears. ~Gabriel's Inferno, pg. 239.

Synopsis:
Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well-respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.

When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.

An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel’s Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man’s escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible—forgiveness and love.

What I Loved:
This book is beautiful.  It is lyrical even.  The words flow through the pages like a song.  I can't remember when I loved a book this much.   Gabriel's character is well written, well developed and well done.  Julia is adorably shy, smart and strong.  Her meekness is endearing because we see underneath her timid exterior is a survivor, a strong independent soul with a heart of a tiger. Their love story is classic.

I loved all the art, music and literature mentioned in the book.  It gave the book substance and educated the reader in the process. 

Favorite quotes:
“So drop the Mr. Rochester-Mr. Darcy-Heathcliff British stuck-uppity and treat her like the treasure she is” 

 “When a man kneels before a woman, it’s a gesture of chivalry. When a woman kneels before a man, it’s unseemly.” 

 “Addictive personalities can latch on to anything: drugs, alcohol, sex, people…what if you become addicted to me?”   
“I am already addicted to you, Beatrice. Only you’re far more dangerous than cocaine.” 

 “Please let me love you."
"As if I could even contemplate living without you.” 

Book in the Freezer moment:
The part in the book that made me stop take a breath and collect myself was the morning Julia leaves Gabriel's apartment after she rescues him from Gollum.  I was so upset with Gabriel for being so blind and cruel to Julia.  I had to stop put the book down for a bit and tell myself that everything was going to be OK :)

Favorite Scene:
My favorite scene in the book was the confrontation during the Dante Seminar.  I love the passion in their fight!