Customer Reviews

The Greek's Chosen Wife (Harlequin Presents)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The book appears to be a softer reprise of The Unfaithful Wife (also by Lynne Graham). I like this one better, the story is not dark, and the hero is truly gorgeous. Ruthless, but not mean, nor abusive as The Unfaithful Wife Nik.
Frumpy heroine gets married to promising young Greek businessman -- by arrangement. If she doesn't, her rich and mean grandfather won't pay for her mother's treatment. If he doesn't, his family's business and lifestyle will be gone (think younger siblings that will have to be taken out of posh schools, and parents falling out of status). He gets plastered on their wedding night and spends the next 8 years regretting his behavior towards her that night (or what he thinks his behavior must have been). She nurses her mother, he works hard to pay off his family's debt.
I thought it a lovely story, the way he slowly falls in love with her over those 8 years, and the gentle way he tries to show it. It's not the divorce threat that makes him realize he loves her (the earlier reviewer to state so was wrong). He's been dreaming of settling down with her for a while. And it takes her this long to ask for a divorce because she's been nursing her mother until her mother passed away (the earlier reviewer had it wrong again).
Honestly, it's among the better books of Lynne Graham. Not on par with early Graham favorites (Spanish Groom, Bond of Hatred, Secret Wife), but still superior to work by (all) other Harlequin authors... and to most of the later Graham books. So it gets five stars. The hero is just wonderful. Fingers crossed Lynne Graham just got her groove back.

I should have believed the majority reviews for this book that it was dud. The herione is plain Jane who after so many years apart from her husband wants a divorce. I cannot get over her name...Prudence. Her husband refuses which I dont know why because he has a mistress who is so much more interesting than Prudence. She is the ultimate doormat who runs a shelter for animals. But now she wants to live and love...There was no chemistry between characters or peak in the storyline....just boring.

This book was awful.I actually wonder if I read the same book as the others who gave it a good review. "The gentle way he tried to show he cared about her." This after he threatened to let all her animals in her shelter be put to sleep. Yeah he just reeks of sensitivity. Oh and lets not forget when he realises she didn't have a choice about marry him and after reminding himself he treated her no better than her grandfather thinks to himself a decent guy would let her go but well so much for decent. This book is just plain ugly.

A conveniant marriage that`s never been consumated-until now...
Eight years ago Prudence was forced into a conveniant marriage to Nicolos Angelis (I love you Nik : ) But it was never consummated, and the pair always lived apart.
However, as time`s ticked on Prudence has longed to have a baby of her own; she must ask Nik for a divorce. But he`s horrified: he is her husband and he will be the father of her child!
At first Prudence refuses to try again with Nik-the man who`s known worldwide as the casanova of his generation-but then circumstances contrive to push her back into his arms. She can handle their trial marriage...but having Nik`s child...?

I still drool for Nikolas Angelis...

Nik and Prue have a marriage of convenience. She was forced to marry him to help out her mother and he was forced to marry her to help out his family. On the night of the wedding he wound up completely trashed and passed out. Not to mention Prue had to face seeing him kissing his girlfriend, who'd already cornered her and told her some home truths about how Nik felt about Prue and his plans for continuing his relationship with the girlfriend.

Eight years later we are confronted with Nik leaving the bed of one of three of his mistresses so that he can meet his wife for her birthday. While they lived separately, he did plan that eventually he would settle down with Prue, so of course he's shocked when she tells him she wants a divorce.

Prue has moved on from her infatuation with Nik, her mother has died, her grandfather wants nothing to do with her and she has a friendship with her husband that is only casual. But Prue is now 27 and she wants to have a baby. She plans on going to a sperm bank for her needs but first she's going to divorce Nik so she can go forward.

Nik refuses to allow her to divorce him, after all he'd planned on settling down with her so why won't she give their marriage a chance at least. When she refuses he uses blackmail to force the issue. If she doesn't do what he wants, then he won't help her when she loses her home and all the animals she cares for are put down and the people who live on the property are kicked out.

Prue agrees and their marriage finally starts.


Honestly, without the first part of the book, including the marriage and definitely the other woman who's bed he may or may not have left the morning of Prue's birthday, the book would have been that much better.

Their married life together is well written and fun to read. It lost something to have the complete knowledge that he'd been sleeping with tons of other women, quite openly, while still planning on eventually going back to Prue.

I love this book. Prudence was a girl with honour and self-estreem. She was hard-working and loyal. She deserved a happy ending and she managed to control her emotions in order to protect herself from Nik. Nik was like a little child, a spoilet brat with three mistress. He was insecure and play "alpha male", but really change his heart when he "discovered" what love can be. He only knew about lust and money, but Prudence saved him. At the end, Nik prefered to take care of animals and enjoy all the little things than live give us.

PD: English is not my mother tongue. Sorry for the grammar or typing mistakes.

The whole misunderstanding in the beginning brought the story down a star or two. Nik believes that Prudence wasn't forced into the marriage like he was. Yet right from the first meeting she said she didn't want this . . . if there was any other way. He believed he was rough with her on their wedding night and stayed away for 8 years having many other women. Then we are to believe that suddenly he has a change of heart and wants to settle down. He wants to get to the bottom of this misunderstanding, only after he let it go for 8 long years when he continued to live the single life. He thought he had already had a night with his wife which would mean he was unfaithful to her ! If he was so obstinate, stubborn and alpha why didn't he get to the bottom of this before so much time had passed. Why wait? Prudence really needed to develop that backbone sooner. It shouldn't have taken 8 years, especially given what Nik put her through. Also why didn't little miss naïve ask about testing on mr. get around? Who knows what he could have been carrying around. Once you get past this, which comes pretty early in the story, the book improves a lot. Their relationship is good, it was just the beginning portion that could put a lot of people off. Oh yeah and the incident at the end. What he pulls. . . One would think he would want her to feel that acceptance but to speak out in ignorance like he did. . . .

Both Heroine and Hero were forced to wed eight years ago. He assumed that the reason she wed him was that she loved him, which she did but she wouldn't have married him if she wasn't forced to by her grandfather, she needed money to help nurse her sick mother. After seeing him kissing his ex on her Wedding day and their disasterous wedding night not long after she fled to help nurse her mother. Nik thinking that she loved him didn't follow no he spent eight years whoring not caring how humiliating it would be to our Heroine. Eight years down the track with THREE (3) mistresses he meets her for a birthday dinner, she asks him for a divorce, he storms "NO", he wants a to try again. This is what gets me, he has known for eight(8) years that she loves him and he has thrown all his affairs and lovers, mistress in her face and not caring the hurt and pain he has caused her wants to start again because he is getting older and it's time to settle down to build a family. This book has nothing to do with her feelings it's all about the supposed Hero getting what he wants and doing whatever threats etc to get what he wants, and guess what he does. She wants a divorce so that she can have a life of her own, and she deserves that life. I know the author spills it out so that there is a HEA but nothing is disgussed about his women/lovers/mistresses, nothing. The Heroine meets 3 of his ex's and the author has the Heroine actually laughing with one of them, it just wouldn't happen, it's a way for the author to have a sluttish Hero (I think authors make slutish Heros thinking that it will make them more of a man, more virile, more attractive to women readers, yeah right)and make it seem as though the Heroine has accepted his infidelity/humiliation and moved passed it. The Wedding Night : the author expects us to believe that the Hero thinks that he raped the Heroine on their wedding night, he thinks this is why she fled from him, the Hero does have some contact with the Heroine during the years and it has allways been friendly, now if the Hero really raped the Heroine there would be NO friendly contact, it's NOT something that you forget. I know that he turns himself around and seems to love the Heroine and there is a HEA. I'm tired of reading books where the Hero goes of with half the women around and the Heroine, because she has more self respect remains true to the wedding vows and only when wanting out tells the Hero (because the Heroine has SELF RESPECT and HONOUR) before she does anything. Never was the Heroine given a chance of a really marriage he never said to her I want a real marriage or I'll go out and bed anything moving no he just went off thinking he raped his wife and then spent the next eight years bedding anything that moved.Thinking that he consumated the marriage and anything after would be infidelity. If this was a role reversal he would have divorced her so quick, but it's accepted that the Heroine just accept his past knowing that every private moment he shares with her he has shared with all those women, knowing that they know what he looks like naked, knowing that nothing they do together is special because he's done just the same with all his other women,she has nothing special that's just theirs/hers. I just can't imagine comming accross another lover, the Hero knew she would and said nothing to prepare her, he didn't avoid the party and she had to confront 3 of his ex lovers,they asked him what was the difference between them and the Hero said that the Heroine was a Lady, the author had her laughing with one at the end of the party, that was how the author dealt with his past, that is not realistic. I know no male especially one at the age of 28 would come to the Heroine untouched, but Hero was married she should have been given the choice, could not he have been discreet, he seems to think he was but everyone knew he had three mistresses at once. Well thats my rant. It would be wonderful to read about a decent Hero for a change.

I really disliked this book because it had every corny Harlequin-style characteristic you could possibly dig up. An arranged marriage; jittery, shy, insecure "plain" heroine who runs an animal shelter for unadoptable animals (and her insecurity is very annoying); the controlling alpha-male billionaire Greek hero...of course they go up in flames for each other, eventually. Unbelieveably, the heroine waits around for EIGHT YEARS before she gets up the gumption to ask for a divorce! which of course, in Harlequin Presents-world, zeroes the hero's sights right on her (he's like a bull with a red flag waved in front of him: "hmm, have I been missing something all these years?") Ugh, don't waste your time or money.

I don't know what the previous reviewer disliked. I loved this book and most books by this author. Love the alpha males.