Customer Reviews

One Night...Nine-Month Scandal (Harlequin Presents)

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

 

 

I didn't care for this book at all. It was lane and I kept flicking pages on my kindle at the speed of light. Alekos, if you can get pass the unromantic ugly name is an ass. Four years ago he left Kelly at the alter and just moved on with his life. Kelly puts her engagement ring for sale on ebay. It's a rare expensive diamond heirloom and upon seeing it Alekos buys it for four million dollars. He shows up in person to get the ring and Kelly literally falls on the kitchen table with her legs in the air. I guess some people can just forget humiliation faster than others. Anyway, a couple of months later he sends for her in Corfu with his private jet and a suitcase full of new clothes. She actually goes because she's a little pregnant. Pregnancy / not wanting kids was the reason he had left her at the alter the first time- this is the conflict. Unfortunately it's the ONLY conflict in this boring book. There were a few lines of dialog and pages and pages of her stupid thoughts. I couldn't take it. I skipped a few chapters and just read the ending- torture over. I can't recommend this book unless you are short on sleeping pills.

Four years ago, Kelly was set to marry Alekos after a whirlwind "relationship." But the groom did a runner! He never showed up for the wedding, no call, nothing. He left her to deal with the media fallout like "tossing raw meat to sharks". It was like he didn't even care. He had no inkling of what she went through and didn't know until the doctor told him so . . . four years later! Now Kelly is putting up a ring that he gave to her on Ebay! Alekos hasn't kept track of her nor contacted Kelly in the last four years but he is informed about the ring going up on the internet auction site. He MUST bid!

Alekos doesn't want to make the hard choices so he runs to avoid dealing with them. Instead of being honest with Kelly and saying he doesn't want kids he keeps mum and then runs (why in the world didn't he just get clipped?); now what he doesn't want has become a reality he . . . runs; when he opens up a bit he can't handle it so he runs again! The only good thing is that with each runner the distance that he runs grows shorter.

Alekos tells Kelly's 8 year old class, "When something is important to you, you go for it. You don't let someone walk away from you, and you don't stand outside a door waiting for permission to enter. You just do it." She claims that he doesn't give up, he has an unstoppable tenacity, he has a goal and he pursues it, plowing down everything in his path. Yet he doesn't do that . . . nope he runs when faced with adversity. Too bad he can't follow his own advice!

The hilarity ensues with these two: he fixes a pipe at the school, I'm sorry you don't need a degree to fix a leaking pipe. You need a plumber! LOL!! Then he picks Kelly up and carries her out of the school ala An Officer and a Gentleman! Wow she can just leave her classroom like that? Wonder who took over teaching the kids? She doesn't know how to purchase a plane ticket to return home? Yet she did to fly out there four years ago. He asks her how she handles two 8 year olds that fight so that he will know how to deal with two ADULTS that don't seem to get along. The whole story seemed like a comedy. It was so funny and I just couldn't take it seriously! : )

Alekos doesn't want to be like his father yet he seems an awful lot like his father as well as Kelly's father. He comes across as being selfish and self absorbed, (the dress thing - really if they were so popular he should have known someone would have recognized it), he doesn't stop to think about things (denying the child) or how his actions can hurt another person (the runners), and he is disrespectful (when he sends an employee to bring her to him). Kelly tells him how she had waited for her father and he never showed. This makes his runner on their wedding day even more painful! (If she talks about everything why wasn't this revealed sooner too?) Then he wants to blame Kelly's father on her inability to trust him. (um no I think that is a result of your (runners") I don't think Alekos would have searched for her if she didn't put that ring on Ebay. I think he took that as an assault to his ego. It was okay for him to walk away and act as though their relationship meant nothing to him but how dare she place a gift that he gave her, a family heirloom even, up on auction for a stranger to bid on as though their relationship meant nothing to HER!!

I really liked the book though. I liked the chemistry between Alekos and Kelly, the unbelievably funny things that they did and said and the fact that Alekos did grow through the book. He started out as very immature with his constant running away but he finally stayed. She finally got him to open up some and he did admit that he doesn't always say what is in his heart but he does love her.

very very good one, Sarah.

This was charming, utterly charming. I loved it. It made me laugh. It made me sigh. exotic location, likeable sexy hero, likeable heroine,very funny and smart plot....thank you very much.give us some more PLEASE.

Heroine is supposed to be the most honest, open-minded, easy-going, forgiving - I can go on and on. Her traits seem to justify why she lets the hero walk all over her time and again. But all it does is create a very annoying plot where a jelly spine woman lets her ex come back into her life whenever he wants. I like the author and usually pick up her book without questioning what it's about. Not sure if I will again.

Mix together a third grade teacher and a shipping tycoon who has no experience with kids and you find a story filled with emotional mayhem, chaos and quite a bit of humor.

I had so much fun reading this story mostly because Kelly is such a funny person. She's got these habits that would drive some people nuts but she's such an endearing personality that you can't help but think she wouldn't be the same without them. She's just being herself. Her comeback quips to Alekos were sometimes so off the wall that they left me chuckling. And he was left bemused and perplexed and a bit bowled over because Kelly is so different from anyone else he'd ever met. In fact, the opening chapter is what sold me on this story in the first place. The interaction between Kelly and her best friend, Vivien, showed two characters that really were great buddies and had a fun George and Gracie type dialogue that flowed back and forth between them. It provided a warmth and sincerity to the tale. The author never let me down; that quirk in Kelly's persona shined throughout the book. She's not all sunshine however, she's got one heck of a temper but even then, she bleeps. It's one of the best scenes and elements in the story and remembering it puts a grin on my face every time. Thing is, can such a sunny disposition even have a dark side? Only a reader will know.

Alekos is a complicated man. Self made, he has a take no prisoners attitude for business and he applies that to all elements of his life. His first big scene in Kelly's classroom had me giggling. I knew right away that here was a man that needed balance and a healthy dose of feminine chaos to spice up his life and Kelly fits the bill marvelously. He is so self controlled that I also knew that he was hiding something. Sure enough, Kelly and I find out that inside this handsome and compelling man is a depth of feeling trapped inside with no way out. As a reader of romance books, I knew a catharsis was going to hit the fan eventually and I enjoyed how Ms. Morgan handled it. The scene with the gifts was tender and actually highly emotional. I do believe I sniffled at that part. Alekos is a wonderful tortured hero who needs saving.

As for secondary characters, Vivian is the most important and relevant in the whole story. Kelly and Alekos are so interesting, they pretty much carry the book by themselves.

When the hero and heroine come together in the physical way it's very romantic, passionate and steamy. There are moments of heated sensual buildup and explosive culmination sure to please the palate of romance readers especially those who thrill to those alpha Greek men. Ms. Morgan didn't disappoint there either.

One Night ...Nine-Month Scandal was an absolute joy and pleasure to read with characters I delighted in reading about with depths that made me care about their happiness and well-being. I thought the ending was perfect and in Kelly's words, made me feel `warm and fuzzy'. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to romance readers who like laughter and sighs mixed in with their oooh's and aaah's as they read a good book because Ms. Morgan delivers on every count.

To use the adjectives amazing, marvelous, incredible doesn't even describe One Night......Nine-Month Scandal. Alekos Zagorakis is unlike any Greek alpha I've read about. Yes he's typical with the wounded past, he's tall, dark, handsome and very very rich but he just can't seem to get it right when it involved Kelly Jenkins, the woman he left at the altar four years earlier.

Now Kelly was doing the unthinkable, she was selling the fabulous heirloom diamond ring he gave her, his grandmother's ring, her engagement ring. And she's selling it on EBay! Kelly was like no other heroine, she loved this man, she spoke freely, she was sweet, kind, adored children, was a teacher and charmed all people she met. She only loved one man, a very confusing Greek man and he left her at the altar, humiliated her in the press, yet four years later she still loved him. However, what she didn't understand was how he could hurt her like he did but it was time for her to move on, so she decided to sell the diamond, not so much for herself but for closure and yes to make a statement, because the man she so loved was publicly seeing a famous Greek dress designer and it looked serious. And it hurt!

Of course, this proud Greek alpha buys the diamond for four million dollars and came to collect it himself! Call it what you want, lust, passion it leaps off the pages between Kelly and Alekos and when they returned to her home to get the ring they acted on their passion in a most irresponsible way. In the end a pregnancy! A pregnancy Kelly wanted very much and one Alekos did not!

Kelly drove him insane, so much so that he ended his relationship with the Greek designer and sent for Kelly on his private jet and brought her to Corfu. Kelly tried to tell him why they failed, as hard as it was for him, he tried to open up and share why he left her at the altar because he actually didn't want children. There was a good reason for that because when he was six years old his parents made him choose who he would live with and it took its toll on him. As for Kelly, well she knew what it was like to hope her father would make time for her but he never did.......she was always waiting, hoping and she didn't want that for herself or her child.

There were so many twists and turns to this romance, so many ups and downs I just kept reading all through the night because One Night......Nine Month Scandal literally captivated me, kept me holding my breath, had my heart racing and all I wanted for this couple was that happy ending! You won't believe the ending Sarah Morgan gave these lovers, it was simply amazing!



Book Description:

She sold the Zagorakis diamond...but he'll buy her back!

A sleek Ferrari in the sleepy English village of Little Molting was always going to create a stir - but for schoolteacher Kelly it only means one thing. Her ex, Alekos Zagorakis, has stormed back into her life the way he left it: completely on his own terms.

Four years ago Kelly stood, bouquet in hand, realising that her gorgeous Greek groom wasn't walking down the aisle to meet her. Now he's come back to claim what's rightfully his - and that includes one night with Kelly...

...with a nine-month consequence!

Behind the Book

The idea for One Night - Nine Month Scandal came to me while I was on holiday on the beautiful Greek island of Corfu last year.

Corfu is one of my favourite places - sparkling turquoise sea, golden sand and the most breathtaking sunsets. It's the perfect setting for a sizzling hot Presents romance.

One hot morning we hired a boat and sailed around the coast to deserted beaches that couldn't be reached on foot. While we were swimming off the boat, enjoying the clear water and the marine life (my family were watching the marine life, I was looking for sharks because I'm a writer and that's how my brain works.....) another small boat sailed into the bay and a young couple swam from the boat to the beach.

Later, talking to the locals, we realised that the beach was private and belonged to a rich Athenian who had a holiday home on the island, tucked away out of sight.

I started imagining what would happen if an ordinary English girl on her gap year just happened to innocently swim to the private beach of a Greek billionaire. Soon the story was racing ahead in my mind. I decided that this relationship would be passionate and intense right from the beginning - that my heroine Kelly would be completely swept away by her handsome Greek lover, Alekos. Under the red glow of that romantic sunset he would propose marriage and Kelly would dress for her wedding, sure that she would be with this man for the rest of her life. But on the day of the wedding all her dreams would collapse..........

As I played with the idea I realised that the real story would begin afterwards, when they'd been apart for some years. Bringing them back together was easy - I've always wanted to do a scene where the heroine sells her ring on eBay and this was the perfect opportunity. When Alekos sees that she's selling his ring he explodes right back into her life. The intense passion is still there, but this time they are forced to dig deeper and get to know each other and, as they unpeel the layers of secrets, they each make shocking discoveries - Sarah Morgan

To read the opening chapter of One Night - Nine Month Scandal, go to my website [...] and click on Browse the Book or the Coming Soon page. Hope you enjoy!

I do believe that this is the 1st Sarah Morgan book that I have read that was not up to her usual "leave you holding your breath anxious to read what happens next" book. Kinda weird that Kelly was such a "scatter" brain and Alekos being a high power Greek tycoon was ok with it. Although the bedroom/kitchen scenes were passionate! This ebook was not too bad but well.....I don't know if I would recommend this or not.

There is one problem with kindle books, is that 5 minutes into the book and your already on page 500. Both Amazon and Kindle need to be more specific!!! So when you purchase a kindle book that says 2,643 pages under Amazon, it's actually more around 100. I had this problem with another book I purchased, which was only 50 pages and the rest filled with erotic pictures.

With that being said, I must say I really enjoyed the book. There were times where phrases were repeated like 200 times in the book and it kind of got a little annoying. Instead of manning up, both characters would run or throw fits, this also got pretty annoying. I wished the book would've delved more into the characters and not just SEX< SEX> SEX<... The sex scenes were cute and when either of the characters mentioned it, it was also worthwhile. But Kelly was always irrationable and claiming that he only wanted her for sex, and that's all she kept claiming was that he just wanted sex. Enough of the bull s**** this was nothing of a romance, it was more a teacher and an a***. I loved the chemistry other then the tantrums.

I was hoping they would get more into the pregnancy not just two months in and I also would've like more characters invovled. Also in the book, it says that she got preggo after 3 weeks... WTF????? man that must be and Edward and Bella situation.. hahahah

All in all a good read, but I was wishing a sequal were coming with more pages, more dialogue and less thoughts from Kelly!