Dani Collins

Ivy Lam’s life is at a crossroads. She’s just broken up with her long-term boyfriend, who strung her along with promises of settling down together for 8 years before admitting it wasn’t going to happen. She’s also making a change in her career (having moved to be near said ex), and calls up an old boss looking for connections. Because they developed a warm relationship while working together, said boss invites her to his engagement party, where rumors abound that a real-life show more billionaire is in attendance!

Ivy could care less, really, as she’s there for professional reasons, but she and said billionaire, Tsai Jun Li, meet by chance and decide to spend the afternoon (and the night) together. Both are clear what they’re getting into: one night, no strings, rebound situation.

Four months go by and Ivy learns that she is pregnant. Since she’s been so busy trying to get her career (and life) on track, she hasn’t had much time for dating, so the last person she slept with – Jun LI – is the father. Having been burned in romantic relationships before, she fully anticipates that he will be Not Be Happy about this. What she doesn’t anticipate is him being so impossible to contact that she basically has to crash a party just to get five minutes of his time. All she wants to do is tell him that she’s pregnant, that she’s keeping the baby, and that she plans to raise it herself. She doesn’t want anything from him – except medical history.

Jun Li is skeptical, for many reasons. As a billionaire businessman, this is not the first time a woman has tried to claim that she’s carrying his baby in order to trap him into a commitment of some sort. He also had a pregnancy scare as a teen, and went to great lengths to ensure it would never be possible to sire a child. Ivy already knows he’s going to ask for tests to prove his paternity, which he does. He accepts that her news is true with relative calm, and because he is a Fixer, he moves right on ahead making plans for how to now accommodate her and his future child into his life. Because he is from a traditional family, he wants to marry Ivy to ensure the health and safety of her and her baby. He sees no issue with an arranged marriage, but Ivy – as a second generation Canadian born to immigrant parents – wants to marry not for security, but for love. As much as she understands Jun LI’s POV, she doesn’t want to feel like she’s obligating yet another man to marry her when he doesn’t want to, for her.

This is sort of a fractured fairy tale. What woman doesn’t fantasize about being swept off her feet by a handsome man with endless amounts of money, who can provide a life of luxury? But fantasy is quite different from reality, and these two are far apart on their views of marriage. They have explosive sexual chemistry, though, which complicates matters. I really enjoyed the push-pull of these characters as they work through their emotional entanglement and the reality (such as it is in HP) of combining lives that are so different from each other.

I also really enjoyed the development of Jun Li and the arc of his storyline. I can list on one hand the number of novels I’ve read with a hero who admits to, explores, and treats his depression. It takes him a long time to open up to the heroine, but he eventually does – and her own insecurities about her past fuck-ups make her very empathetic to him. As much as she wants to hear that he’s fallen in love with her (as she has with him), she doesn’t force the issue, or act jealous or stupid. She’s trying to cope with her own ever-changing reality, and it is a bumpy road indeed that she’s on, trying to come to terms with extreme material wealth.

The only reason I can’t give this 5 stars is because one little loose end that bothers me a lot. Ivy struggles with finding her own place in the world, and yet she allows herself to be swept up in this chaos basically by hand-waving away her previous desire for independence because she discovers that her home is wherever her husband is. She’s left her job, her family, her country to be with this man, basically a stranger, and that was a little hard for me to swallow, even if some of her agency is returned in the epilogue.

I loved these characters, however, and the intensity of the emotional and sexual charge they share. HPs are known for lots of handwaving, so I get it. I’m definitely going to be picking up more of this author’s work, and am very thankful that SuperWendy read and reviewed a previous HP by this author and pointed me in her direction! show less

AUG 9th, 2019 21:32pm - WTH am I reading? I am officially SHOOKETH! Kudos Harlequin and Dani!!

I thought this was gonna be a typical Dani Collins Alpha Hero...subservient, easily agreeable heroine, but Jeebus christie, I am literally on chapter 4, sitting on pins and needles, after Gabriel announces Luli will marry HIM. I am loving this insight into Luli, Lucrecia, and her Venzuelean-inner fire... her badass intelligence and her struggles to come to terms with what her life and the life-after show more Mae's death is coming to mean in reality. Double-crosses after double-crosses; she thought she KNEW how awful her servitude had been, but it's even worse than she thought.

THIS is not your typical HQ Presents, nor is this typical Dani Collins. I am already seated perfectly at 5-stars just from this spine-chilling beginning alone...helpfully brought about by listening to haunting cello music in my earbuds...whoa...

Same day now 23:20pm DONE! and still at 5-stars!! - I am still...breathless from this experience. Holy cow! Where has this side of Dani Collins and HQ been? This new faction of Cyber-storytelling is just rocking my socks off...Hackers and super-intelligent heroines who have an ability to kick butt in so many different ways that don't involve physicalities. Granted Luli is ultra-gorge, because her own Mama wanted to enter her into beauty pageants...but lemme say this STRONGLY...Luli has a beautiful B-R-A-I-N that I would love to see more of from new modern, post #MeToo 2019 heroines or just female characters that don't follow our usual cookie-cutter molds.

And DO NOT! DUE NAWT! get me revved up about Gabriel, my first likable diverse male lead in a very long time [Chinese American]. It's been a while since an Alpha male has literally permeated off the pages for me and it's been tasty and deserving of my fine palette. YEARS, I tell you. YEARS! But the sexual attraction felt between Gabriel and Luli...the fortitude it took him to not only HEAR but LISTEN to her admit her vulnerability and her virginity [for 22, not an absolute shocker, but yeah..okay...sure...especially with her strange circumstances in how she came to work for Mae, Gabriel's grandmother] then to put a stop on certain sexual activities until he had her full consent? They went at HER pace, even when HER PACE was that she wanted to DO ALL THE THINGS, but Gabriel was the one to say N-O...putting a kibosh! on furthering her desired experiences inside marriage. My gawd...I was stunned by Dani's slow-burning, even though we did get an early "taste" during intimacy in Paris, in a "plunge pool"...yeah...endless, endless moments of stunned-face joy beyond my own mind.

Again? What am I reading? This is simply a rare and joyous find for me in HQ Presents. And certainly amongst the premise of forced marriage of convenience... show less

Aphrodite in Bloom by Anonymous
A Collection of Erotic Stories

Luscious lusty lovingly told stories that were absolutely lovely. I can easily see this book being kept at the side of one’s bed to read and reread alone…or…with a lover or two or three ;)

What I liked:
* The writing – superbly written, hot, steamy, drew me in and made me care
* The wide variety in the various stories
* That I could actually visualize the scenes and at times felt I could have stepped into some of them
* The show more historical setting
* That there were characters from more than one social class.
* That the lovers were given happy endings even if sometimes unconventional
* Wondering who the anonymous author might be and wanting to read more of their work
* That the stories accomplished their purpose…am sure my glasses steamed up more than a few times
* That each story was complete
* That relationships were consensual
* Everything about these stories was superb

What I didn’t like:
* I usually put this section in but…there isn’t anything for me to say that I didn’t like. The only story that I didn’t relate to quite as well was one with letters and that surprised me since I have always been a pen pal throughout my life.

Did I enjoy this book? YES!
Would I read more by this author? Definitely…if I knew who it was ;)

Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled-Amara, and Insklinger PR for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

I really liked this one. It's my first try for this author. I liked the realistic story line. The heroine had had miscarriage after miscarriage. She had reached a point where she was devastated and just couldn't try any more. She didn't even want the hero to come near her with his private parts. Usually in romanceland the heroine is devastated over one early miscarriage. As I've said before one or even two early miscarriages is fairly normal and while not pleasant, (personal experience) is show more also not all that tragic. Late term of course is an entirely different kettle of fish. But this girl had had many miscarriages that would become overwhelmingly depressing no matter how early or late.

The writing style really worked for me here. There was plenty of POV from the hero which I love. He was arrogant and had taken her for granted and it was fun to watch him realize after she asked for the divorce just how much he loved her.

Sign me up for more by Dani Collins. show less