Ruth Cardello

I've been feeling romantic lately and grabbed this book from one of my TBR lists. I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it so much that I've re-read it two more times since the first round.

Abby is my kind of girl who is spunky, responsible and family oriented. She cares deeply for others and tries to do the best for her younger sibling. Most times this means sacrificing the things she wants to provide stability for her sister and her niece.

Dominic, on the other hand, is an emotional black show more hole and tornado all rolled into one very chaotic and miserable package. When he meets Abby sparks fly and they are off to the races in a very intense, yet emotionally revealing, character-driven storyline that kept me riveted.

Would I recommend this book? Yes! show less

The last Westerly heart bites the dust and I have yet to reclaim my own. Runaway Heir is the sweetest ending to a breathtaking series. Even larger than life people are human too. We are not the sum of our mistakes, but the lessons we learn from them. Bryant is the best example of that. He may not be a Westerly, but he has the heart of one. This may have been Nicolette's journey, but it was a non Westerly that captured my heart. The allure of Ruth Cardello is that her tales are a look into show more our souls. She forces us to see the beauty and the pain and teaches us something along the way. If that's not SHOWSTOPPER, I don't know what is. show less

Gabe is the second brother to get his bride in the 7 Brides for 7 Brothers series. I like the idea of 7 different authors with different writing styles writing books for the same series. They are truly stand alone books. From what I gathered each brother will get something from their dead brother that will help in get the woman who is meant for him. In this case, Gabe gets a ranch. He is forced to stay in it for a month and then he may do with it whatever he wants, like get rid of it. Then show more he meets Josephine a woman who intrigues him and can't get out of his mind. He doesn't know that she hasn't even told him her real name. We find early on what she is hiding, but there still more things for us to uncover.

I liked the book. After reading about a heroine with no backbone it was great to read about Josephine. She is brilliant and a strong woman. I liked that about her. I could be recommending the book only because she is in it. Let's just say that I wouldn't want to be her enemy. She might not military or something like that, but I wouldn't want to stand in her way.

Once she stopped trying to get rid of Gabe and his advances, things started to run smoothly. I enjoyed the book and it was a great companion on a hard Monday. show less

This was a fun book. It is the second in a series but can be read as a stand-alone. Characters from the previous book do make an appearance and are easily explained. That said, the first chapter and another near the end are told from the point-of-view of Dominic Corisi. For someone unfamiliar with the Legacy series (I haven't read it) these chapters are puzzling, as is the name of the series. The brothers in this series so far are Romanos, not Corisis. By the end of the book, I did have an show more inkling of the connection so it will be interesting to see where it goes.

This book is the story of Wren and Mauricio. Mauricio is a billionaire with a playboy reputation. He was known to be quite wild when he was younger, though he's been more settled the past few years as he helped with the family business. Now that his brother is ready to retake the reins, Mauricio is at a crossroads, looking for what he wants to do next. In the meantime, he heads to Paris to visit friend and fellow bad-boy Felix.

I enjoyed my first meeting with Mauricio and Felix. Felix is late to a business meeting with Mauricio, who is losing patience. That changes when Felix calls to let Mauricio know that he's in the hospital and won't be released until the next day. The injury seems to be a case of karma, which I found to be satisfying as I learned more. Felix's misfortune leaves Mauricio stuck with helping Felix by finding a way to politely boot Felix's mistress from his apartment before Felix is released.

Wren is in Paris on her first trip to Europe and visiting her friend Cecile. After a lifetime of being the good girl, she's ready to cut loose just a little bit. After a slightly embarrassing first encounter, who better to play with than Felix's friend Mauricio? He's fun and sexy, and what happens in Paris stays in Paris, right?

I wasn't sure I was going to like the book at first. There seemed a lot more action in the bedroom than in developing an actual relationship between Mauricio and Wren. Thankfully it didn't take long for the "no-strings fling" to morph into something much deeper. Both fought it hard, but unsuccessfully. Wren won my heart first with her determination to step outside her comfort zone. She is smart, sassy, and has a terrific sense of humor. Her mixture of innocence and sexiness was fun to watch as it had an unexpected effect on Mauricio. Mauricio wasn't far behind as he quickly began to envision something permanent with Wren.

I loved the development of the relationship between Wren and Mauricio. The chemistry is off the charts, but they connect on a deeper level also. The interactions between them were fun. Wren doesn't have much of a filter, and some of the things she says amuse the heck out of Mauricio. I also enjoyed seeing Wren's reactions to some of his more outrageous claims and how she keeps him from being too full of himself. Each falls hard for the other but says nothing because of their earlier demands of no strings. Just as Mauricio is ready to take the plunge, Wren gets bad news from home and leaves with no explanation. Mauricio is devastated and angry, believing that she did not share his feelings, and goes home to lick his wounds.

Mauricio's family has never met a situation that can't be helped by pulling together. Earlier advice from his father had helped Mauricio identify his feelings for Wren, and now his father is invested in seeing Mauricio happy. Unfortunately, his attempt to bring the two together backfires, with both Mauricio and Wren blindsided by an unexpected reunion. Mauricio has an especially boneheaded reaction before realizing how wrong he was. I loved the help he got to pull off his "cow" moment and the faith he showed in Wren and her abilities.

The importance of family is a key theme in this book. There are the bits with Dominic Corisi that have to do with long-standing issues involving his parents. As an only child, Wren feels responsible for her parents' happiness and well-being, which in turn has affected the way she leads her life. It's that love for her family that causes the misunderstanding between her and Mauricio. I loved his family and the boisterous love they have for each other. I loved their support of Mauricio and determination to help him win back Wren. show less