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A review by katiev
Blackmailed Bride, Inexperienced Wife by Annie West
4.0
Several tried and true tropes done well.
A stipulation in the will of Alissa's evil Sicilian grandfather means she will not inherit his estate in Sicily unless she married within a certain amount of time and remain married for six months. The twist is, she doesn't care about the estate. After her grandfather's abuse she has no intention of putting herself under the power of a man. Then her sister gets sick and needs money for treatment and Alissa will do anything to save her younger sis. She has no choice but to wed Dario Pariso, a ruthless, arrogant tycoon whose family once owned the Sicilian estate she is to inherit and despises her family because granddad swindled the estate from them and had refused to sell.
There are misunderstandings galore on Dario's side. He believes Alissa is a gold digger, a former drug addict, and promiscuous. Typically, he's a real asshat. However, he's attracted to her despite these "facts" and decides the marriage in name only isn't going to work for him. Alissa, however, wants to stick to the original plan: 6 months of platonic marriage and then a divorce in which she will sell the unwanted estate to Dario and fund her sister's medical care.
Dario ends up blackmailing Alissa into bed by denying her an advance on the divorce settlement. She needs that money for her sister who cannot wait 6 months, so she has to go along. Dario is horrified at himself when he realizes Alissa was a virgin and learns the true reason behind her need of funds.
The rest is a nice look at two people getting to really know one another, put aside their misconceptions, and fall in love. Of course there are insecurities and misunderstandings on both sides about the permanency of the marriage.
A stipulation in the will of Alissa's evil Sicilian grandfather means she will not inherit his estate in Sicily unless she married within a certain amount of time and remain married for six months. The twist is, she doesn't care about the estate. After her grandfather's abuse she has no intention of putting herself under the power of a man. Then her sister gets sick and needs money for treatment and Alissa will do anything to save her younger sis. She has no choice but to wed Dario Pariso, a ruthless, arrogant tycoon whose family once owned the Sicilian estate she is to inherit and despises her family because granddad swindled the estate from them and had refused to sell.
There are misunderstandings galore on Dario's side. He believes Alissa is a gold digger, a former drug addict, and promiscuous. Typically, he's a real asshat. However, he's attracted to her despite these "facts" and decides the marriage in name only isn't going to work for him. Alissa, however, wants to stick to the original plan: 6 months of platonic marriage and then a divorce in which she will sell the unwanted estate to Dario and fund her sister's medical care.
Dario ends up blackmailing Alissa into bed by denying her an advance on the divorce settlement. She needs that money for her sister who cannot wait 6 months, so she has to go along. Dario is horrified at himself when he realizes Alissa was a virgin and learns the true reason behind her need of funds.
The rest is a nice look at two people getting to really know one another, put aside their misconceptions, and fall in love. Of course there are insecurities and misunderstandings on both sides about the permanency of the marriage.