Ruth Cardello

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

Ten years ago, Lance Barrington was a college hottie with business on his mind. He has always been attracted to his sister's friend, Willa. For once, Lance and Willa put caution to the wind and decided to let passion take over them.
Present day, Willa Chambers is determined to find her nitch in life. She is tired of settling and wants to be her own person. Being an identical twin doesn't always work in her favor. Lance has always been able to tell them apart even after all this time.
Willa show more wants nothing to do with Lance, not after all the betrayal. Can she find her will"a"- power and stay away? Will he hurt her again? She can't face that kind of devastation... again. Can Lance prove her wrong?
The book covers are soft, yet blunt and fit this series well. They draw you in like a nice, hot cup of coffee and then when you go to take a sip - you realize it's not the standard cup of coffee, but laced with a fine liquor that leaves your belly burning and wanting another sip. Oh so good!
Ruthie Cardello has done it again folks! She has tied each of these books in her Barrington Billionaire series with the finest silk bow. Reading her books has been such a pleasant and exhilarating ride. She has taken "romance" and morphed it into a million little shooting stars. This series takes you on a journey like no other. It is filled with passion, sex, lust but also carries much weight and depth - family problems, loss, death, abandonment, judgment, betrayal, friendship, mystery, happiness, sadness and other true life altering dilemma's that I will not describe because YOU really should start this series from scratch. I am literally wanting to hop out of my seat with every trickery, turn and discovery that this series unravels. Yes, it is a hot and sexy romance, but you have to read it to see just how much more there is to The Barrington Billionaires.
If you love Ruth Cardello's Barrington Billionaires... then you will be pleasantly pleased that her sister, Jeannette Winters and niece, Danielle Stewart each have a synchronized set that ties into this series. I have indeed read them all and I highly recommend you do too! That laundry can wait to be folded, a dish or two can sit in that sink.... crawl up, with a fur baby or two (if you are anything like me) and start them. I read Ruth's 1-3, then Jeannette's 1-3 and then Danielle's 1-3... NOW they each have BOOK FOUR releasing and I am squealing like a baby getting raspberries on her tummy. Yup, that good! ;) enjoy these gems and shoot me an email because I wouldn't mind some back and forth on what you loved and the secrets within these pages that I will spare you all from if you haven't started yet. You're welcome. 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

Ruth Cardello stepped out of her comfort zone to create a new kind of love story with Always Mine. The characters are bolder, the story sexier and the female lead is a tough cookie. Art imitating life perhaps. Emily was a spitfire. Her determination to keep a promise despite every obstacle Asher threw at her was so out of character for a Ruth Cardello novel. I admire that. Asher is a bulldozer with a cash register for a heart. He measures success by what he has acquired whether it be money, show more buildings, people or material things. Emily is the complete opposite. She measures happiness by the joy brought to others through simple acts of kindness. These two characters never should have fit as a couple yet they do. They not only fall for each other but learn about themselves along the way. They also learn from each other as well. Ruth Cardello took two complete opposites and made a story that turned out to be a wonderful love story and a life lesson as well. Treat others how you would want to be treated and with kindness and determination anything is possible. I received an ARC of Always Mine in exchange for an honest review. show less