Jan 21 2010
REVIEW: The Brazilian’s Blackmailed Bride by Michelle Reid
Dear Ms. Reid:
I’m a big, but recent, Harlequin Presents fan. When the blogger bundles came out and one of them was a collection of Harlequin Presents, I couldn’t resist the lure to buy them (plus, they are $9.99 at the Kindle store which comes to about $2.50 per book). Although I’ve only read two of the four included books, I already feel like I’ve gotten a bargain in the bundle. I have enjoyed most of Anne McAllister’s works but you were a new to me author and after reading The Brazilian’s Blackmailed Bride I went on a Michelle Reid tear, buying every ebook out there. Note to Harlequin: Please digitize more.
TBBB isn’t even my favorite Reid, now that I have gorged myself on your backlist, but it invoked a strong emotional response from me.
Anton Luis Ferreira Scott-Lee grew up believing he was “the adored only child of Brazilian beauty Maria Ferreira and wealthy English banker Sebastian Scott-Lee.” After the death of his father, Anton took over the reigns of the family banking business and continued to flourish. Until the letter that arrives from the solicitor of Enrique Ramirez in which the deceased Mr. Ramirez claims to be the biological father of Anton. In his will, Mr. Ramirez bequeaths a large fortune to Anton along with the promise that should Anton fulfill a few requirements, he will be provided with the names of his two half brothers, other illegitimate progeny of Ramirez’s.
Anton burns to know who these men are but the requirements are steep. He is to make reparations to a woman that Ramirez believes Anton abandoned six years prior. He must do this within the next six months or forfeit a meeting with his brothers. This incenses Anton because he was not the one who did the abandoning. Instead, he fell in love with a beautiful Portuguese woman who broke his heart and refused to marry him because she did not want to sully her bloodline with a half blood Englishman. In some ways, Anton is excited to go back with his money and his pure blood lineage and rub it in this woman’s face, this woman Anton has not managed to forget in six years.
Cristina Marques is the woman Anton cannot forget and the woman that Ramirez believes was abandoned. The truth is that Cristina did say horrible hurtful things to Anton to make him believe she no longer loved him, to make him leave her. It was no misunderstanding and it wasn’t that Anton had treated her badly, but her words grew out of an angry, hurt, and immature side of her.
When Anton comes back into her life, he is rich and she is poor. She is out with the “begging bowl” as she puts it, trying to find an investor for the development of family property to save it from a company that wants to buy it and ruin the natural beauty of the valley. Anton will save Cristina because he desperately wants to meet his brothers, but also because he finds that Cristina is the only one who has ever touched him so deeply. He’s torn between his lust and love for her and his hurt and hatred for her.
Cristina has always and will always love Anton but the same reasons she had for rejecting him six years ago remain true now. She loves him but she cannot marry him. Because I, as the reader, know these two are in love with each other, their painful exchanges and actions toward one another are palatable because I understand their vulnerabilities. I completely enjoyed the fiery Cristina and the passionate Anton (whom Cristina calls Luis the entire time). I also appreciated how the beginning of the story became vitally important to the end of the story. Nice closure. B
Best regards
Jane
This book can be purchased as part of the Harlequin Blogger Bundle II put together by WeWriteRomance.com at eHarlequin (non affiliate link) or in Kindle format (non affiliate link).
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Jan 21, 2010 @ 04:02:19
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Jan 21, 2010 @ 10:18:22
I’m sorry, I looked at the title and all I could think about was the bikini wax job.
Jan 21, 2010 @ 12:39:53
I love Michelle Reid’s books – I’ve been a fan for ages. I enjoyed The Brazilian’s Blackmailed Bride, along with the other 2 books in the Ramirez Brides trilogy. The other books being Emma Darcy’s The Ramirez Bride and Sandra Marton’s The Disobedient Virgin.
I’ll second the ‘please digitize more’ request to Harlequin- I’d love more of her backlist to be available as eBooks, especially Passion Becomes Her, House of Glass and Passionate Scandal
Reply
Jan 21, 2010 @ 15:24:48
@ShellBell That’s good to hear. I was reluctant to try the other Ramirez books but I was curious to know how they ended.
Jan 21, 2010 @ 16:32:32
Love Michelle Reid she’s an auto-buy along with Emma Darcy and Jacqueline Baird who’s book Marriage at His Convenience is on my keeper shelf to be read and reread again.
Jan 21, 2010 @ 16:59:59
She is my favorite Presents author, her work is consistently good. She can’t write fast enough for me. I agree, Harlequin please digitize all her backlist.
Jan 21, 2010 @ 17:03:28
How cool that you found a new author, Jane! I adore the authors in the bundle and have been privileged enough to work with them for a few years now. Their stories are all inspiring and romantic, and will definitely hook you! :-)
Jan 21, 2010 @ 18:06:25
Yay, another Michelle Reid convert! I adore R’s over-the-topness and out-of-control passion. Unfortunately, the bookstore I haunt doesn’t carry Presents any more (sulk) so now I’m often months late seeing the new offerings.
Jan 21, 2010 @ 18:11:05
@Jane, @ShellBell, @maria — We’re listening! ;)
~Amy
Jan 21, 2010 @ 18:26:28
Michelle Reid rocks. She writes the best Harlequin Presents which is not easy. There are a lot of bad ones out there.
Jan 21, 2010 @ 20:51:36
@AmyW (from Harlequin):
How about Lynne Graham and Carole Mortimer and Penny Jordan’s backlists too. Pretty please with lots of chocolate on top!
Along with Michelle Reid they are my all-time favourite HP authors.
Jan 22, 2010 @ 01:02:53
I’m going to join in the general praise for Michelle. But then I’m biased as she’s one of my very dearest friends. But I loved her books before we ever even met. It was the same with Anne McAllister -another wonderful writer and a fabulous friend. And Margaret Mayo is a writer I grew up reading when I was trying to get published myself. I was at the presentation for her 75th book in September.
I’m honoured to be in a selection of great Presents books with these fantastic writers. Thank you Heather for choosing Twelve Month Mistress as one of the book in yuor bundle.
And Jane, thank you for buying it!
Kate
Jan 22, 2010 @ 01:12:48
PS
Hope you don’t mind me doing this Jane – but I just spotted Linda Rader’s name in the earlier comments – Linda, if you come back can you please contact me – kate AT kate-walker.com – At Christmas you won a copy of my 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance on another site and we’ve been trying to contact you ever since!
My apologies for hijacking this blog for this
Kate
Jan 22, 2010 @ 04:50:15
Thanks for the great comments about my books. You've all taken me by surprise and I'm feeling a bit blown away. –Nice feeling though!
Jane – I wish I'd had you around to write my synopsis for me for TBBB because you've a much clearer view of the story than I had at the time I started out writing it!
A great blogger bundle of Presents books put together by the team over at WWR. Many thanks you guys for including me in it.
Michelle Reid
Jan 22, 2010 @ 10:04:07
By the way, the Blogger Bundles are available at BooksonBoard, too.
http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=searchresults&SEARCH=Blogger%20Bundle
which means non-Kindle formats at basically Kindle price.
I’m not an affiliate of theirs either, I just appreciate the good service.
Jan 22, 2010 @ 12:43:54
@Heather Reed: It was a great surprise. I had bought it primarily because I liked Anne McAlister, but after I finished her book I motored right on to Reid and after that I think I read about 8 Reids in a matter of five days. And then I was sorely disappointed there weren’t more. The
PassionateHot Blooded Husbands collection is a GREAT bundle. LOVED IT.Kate – no worries on the threadjack.
@Michelle Reid: I’m officially a fan. I’m going to a dusty used bookstore to find more of your books. I think one of the best things about digital books is that for fans of series books, we can buy books and you get the royalty. For a long time, the only market for past series books have been the used market.
@Estara: Thanks for pointing that out. I need to do a better job of compiling buy links. I get very lazy about it.
Jan 23, 2010 @ 11:42:47
Jane, How have you missed Michelle Reid? She’s such a powerful, emotional writer. I’m so glad you’ve found Anton’s story and are reading her backlist. That should take you a while! And I echo your sentiments about wanting more digitized copies — not just of Michelle’s but of lots of authors’ backlists. Hear, hear!
I feel like I’m in exalted company in this blogger bundle. Kate, Margaret and Michelle are truly top notch writers in the line and I’m grateful that Joaquin and Molly’s story was included in the bundle.
Jan 23, 2010 @ 20:34:01
@Anne McAllister I don’t know how I missed Reid. I’m both sorry and glad that I did, though. Sorry because I obviously could have been enjoying her work for years now but glad because I can gorge myself on her backlist.
Jan 25, 2010 @ 18:02:27
@Michelle Reid: ANYTIME! You ladies (all of you!) are so wonderful to work with and your work is a joy to read.
Jan 26, 2010 @ 10:01:14
Jane, I hope you don’t mind me mentioning here that Michelle is guest blogging at WeWriteRomance. Here’s the link:
http://www.wewriteromance.com/blog/guest-blogger/michelle-reid-guest-blogger-reflections-on-22-years-of-writing/
And by the way, I really like your site background. :-)
The Book Smugglers » Blog Archive » Smugglivus 2010 Guest Blogger: Jane Litte of Dear Author
Dec 09, 2010 @ 12:41:39
[...] I was first introduced to Michelle Reid’s writing via the WeWriteRomance Blogger Bundle put together by Harlequin Books. In the first volume, the bloggers included The Brazilian’s Blackmailed Bride. [...]