How to Win a Fiancé

Accompanying her older brother Daniel on a trip to Corfu was the perfect opportunity for Marianna Halsey to get rid of her pesky virginity. At twenty four, her seven overprotective older brothers hadn’t made her sex life easy. She sees the perfect man for the task, and when Nico Gallinas rescues her from a pickpocket, she knows he’s the one to introduce her to passion. And two months later, Marianna learns she’s pregnant. BEAUTY AND THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE started off nicely enough with the awkward, clumsy, tongue-tied Marianna and the sexy, confident Nico. Until Marianna learns she’s pregnant. I thought she made the worst decision possible under the circumstances, and I started to dislike her. Lucky for her, Nico viewed the situation the same way. I loved that there was no lies, no misunderstandings at the beginning – that came much later, when an entirely unnecessary source of conflict was introduced. I somehow suspect it was to make Nico unlikable, for a while anyway. Marianna’s linguistic quips were amusing at the beginning, until they started annoying me. I disapproved how Marianna handled the whole pregnancy thing: I felt she was very naïve, with an odd sense of family, and clung to unrealistic romantic ideals. I also disliked her overall attitude, I thought she was extremely pushy, and very selfish if only in refusing to honour Nico’s very simple request – which, it seems, he eventually found lovable. Anyway. I loved Dion, Nico’s friend and business partner; I liked Alethea, Nico’s ex; I also liked Julian, Marianna’s friend, even though I sense that I was supposed to maybe dislike him. Or not, I don’t know. Given the fact that I intensely disliked Marianna, and I never saw anything beyond sexual chemistry between her and Nico, I was never onboard for the “romance”, even if I was told that they loved each other. Overall, I thought the book was sad and depressing, and felt like a throwback to the 1950s. When I looked at the cover of the book, I didn’t like the female model’s appearance: although she’s very pretty, she looks smug; she has this unpleasant smirk. It turns out it was a good depiction of Marianna, because it is eventually precisely how I imagined she’d look. So what I garnered from BEAUTY AND THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE is that sexual attraction, great sex, and an accidental pregnancy equals love. Okay then.

I found this one to be very enjoyable. Mariana turned out to be a very strong woman even though at first I thought she would be weak and timid. Growing up with seven brothers (yikes! I thought three was bad!) she's lived a very sheltered life. When she finally decides to cut loose and experience life on her terms she finds herself connected to a broody Greek billionaire in a most unexpected way. Nico Galinas grew up an orphan. He may not know what a normal family looks like but he's about to learn real fast. These characters were great and the writing exceptional. The story definitely left me smiling. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

Marianna has lived a secluded life. Not having parents to raise her, her seven brothers did the best they could. But they were extremely overprotective! When offered the opportunity to travel outside of Australia, she jumped at the chance. Marianna decided she'd leave the business to her brother while she scoped out Greek men. Seeing a "Greek God" across the street, Marianna decides to pursue him, only to lose site of him. Mistaking him for a pick pocket, Marianna hits him. Realizing she's wrong, she becomes nervous and starts spouting off language facts. Amused by her quirkiness, Nico decides to take her on a tour of his village. Nico, having grown up in less than ideal circumstances, dreamt of having a wife and a family. All his dreams came crashing down under false allegations and life altering decisions. Not one to trust, Nico has spent the last several years building his empire into a successful billion dollar business. Even though he doesn't trust her, he finds her refreshing. Her innocence and wonder have him second guessing himself and his life choices. After a romantic rendezvous and what was the best, worse day of her life, Marianna returns to Australia. Upon discovering she's pregnant, she returns to inform Nico and ask him to marry her. She wants her child to grow up with the love of two parents, something she didn't have. Even though she doesn't know Nico, she feels as though he'd make a good father. Oh boy.....this story! I wanted to smack some sense into Nico-cause bodily harm!!! He was brutal at times. I don't know that I would've been as forgiving as Marianna was. She was truly a remarkable woman. I also wanted to send Jules packing! He intentionally interfered with his best friend's happiness. That's NOT being a good best friend! I found myself jealous of Marianna's vast knowledge of languages. I wish I was able to retain language knowledge as a child, but didn't. I loved when she word vomitted language facts! HILARIOUS! I also enjoyed her placing the cat statue in different places in order to rile up Nico. I used to have friends in college who did that to me! So funny! Sometimes letting go of the past is so difficult it seems impossible. To truly be happy, Nico had to put the past in the past. I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.