Customer Reviews

Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress. Lynne Graham (Romance)

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

 

 

You always have an idea that there will be times that you'll want to (at least I'll want to) hit him where it'll hurt but in this case... I felt more frustrated at the Heroine. (Please beware I offer examples from the book, so that you get a better idea of its contents, but I wouldn't want to give spoilers without a warning)

Her whole life she has felt inadequate because she is a curvy woman, not a waif-like creature that grace runways, or magazine covers. So I understand she had self esteem issues, but not to the point where she becomes a mistress without even knowing it. I loved her at the beginning as I saw her as a strong woman who very politely informed him that she had not forgiven his awful behavior despite the flowers or the invitation to dinner that he sent.

But that was before their affair started.Atreus molds her into the perfect weekend lover, tells her he prefers skirts on his women etc... and she falls right into it, adjusting things about her life and herself to please him. He never speaks of a relationship, never deceives her, they hook up every weekend and 18 months later it takes another persons observation to make her realize she's his mistress and not his girlfriend.

Then the next time she meets him, he makes it clear he's so careful with contraception because he does not want a child with her. That he doesn't want children until he marries and that he plans to marry a woman from his social circles.Lindy gets upset that he should have told her they were entering a dead-end affair from the beginning, but really was she thinking at all because it was very obvious that's what it was. They break up, he wants her away from him, goes as far as to evict her out of his cottage that shes leasing. She knows shes pregnant when she leaves but understandably doesn't tell him in light of their last conversation.

I don't think there was ever really any real indication that Atreus cared for her, we are jerked around emotionally. After they break up he's a stone throws away from being engaged to his perfect version of a bride,when he finds out Lindy's pregnant he informs her that she has dibs because she's pregnant (no talk about emotions) so I'm calling off the engagement and we can get married.

She holds off his proposal for a while (because she knows its a mistake but then she's right back to drowning in the adoration she feels for this man and insecurities about him wanting her. Well obviously, she never knew where she stood in his life, even after being married.

Then in the last few pages we are told Atreus loved her from the beginning and that he wanted to go back to her, that his ex-fiancee did not hold a candle to her, but it still feels like the relationship was never developed. So I never rooted for Lindy or them, I honestly just wished I could hear more about my other pairs Sergei & Alissa or even Jasim and Elinor; whose books I was able to enjoy.

Overall, two stars seems too harsh of a rating for this book, but three stars is definitely too generous, in my opinion. I tend to stay away from this type of series romance since the books tend to be heavily formulaic (not to mention, many feel rushed and under-developed) but I decided to take a chance this time. Given, I didn't exactly spend a lot of time perusing before I bought this one; literally, I chose the most interesting-sounding one of the three I scanned while at the grocery store.

In this book, we meet handsome, reserved and wildly wealthy Atreus Dionedes. As the head of a Greek shipping empire, Atreus grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, and has always been aware of his position at the forefront of both Greek and British society. Understandably, the guy likes his privacy, so when he retires to Chantry, his country estate, he's livid to discover Lindy, a voluptuous new tenant on his land, skinny dipping in a lake. Tempers flare and clash, but Atreus can't get her out of his head.

Meanwhile, Lindy is a quiet, somewhat plump, former resident of London, who moved to the country to live a simpler, quieter, and far less lucrative lifestyle. She makes her living selling homemade candles, and is quite content until Atres crosses her path and, before she knows it, a fiery affair begins. She values her own privacy, too, and wants to keep the relationship quiet, which is perfectly fine with Atreus who, over the course of the next 18 months, only sees Lindy on weekends when he visits his country home. This arrangement suits Lindy just fine at first, but after months of seeing Atreus in the newspaper society pages with countless women, she starts to grow insecure. When it becomes patently clear that Atreus is not interested in a serious relationship with her, Lindy ends things.

What ensues after this is a series of encounters between her and Atreus that, quite honestly, made me borderline hate the guy. In her characterization, Lynne Graham somewhat hints at underlying emotional issues that cause Atreus to be so cold and unfeeling toward Lindy, but they're not explicated enough for me, as a reader, to forgive/accept his actions. Basically, from about halfway through the book, straight to the end, he's a major jerkface. Like, the kind of jerkface that the heroine usually kicks to the curb in other romance novels in favor of the "true" hero.

What also bothered me was that these characters kept have the SAME freaking argument over and over again, only in a different context, each time. The same problem that caused their break-up halfway through is STILL being harped on, and repeated until literally the last pages of the book. On top of that, the entire book had a very out-dated feel to it; it reminded me of that formulaic "hide-the-male's-feelings/motives-until-the-last-chapter" set-up that you see in a lot of romance books/novels from the early 1990s. Like, we don't really get a feel for the guy's thought-process, motivations, or even a full picture of his background until the end of the book. And even then, all of that stuff only comes out as a way to "explain" why he was acting like such a cold, distant jerk for the first 90 percent of the book. And, finally, the major faux pas committed in this book, as the closing scene rehashing of everything that had gone on throughout the book. I hate when characters do that in romance novels; basically, have an explanatory conversation that goes something like, "Well, I did that because I..." or "I know I said I didn't love you then, but that was a lie. Really, I just wanted to you think I didn't so I could go and..."

Ugh.

And, overall, even though I can't fault the actual writing (besides a sad lack of commas throughout), it was really missing that emotional punch you'd expect from a romance--particularly one where the hero and heroine spend a good deal of time at odds. Don't get me wrong, after the first 60-ish pages, the pace was perfectly fine (to an extent), it's just that I found my mind wandering because I simply felt detached from the characters and their story.

All in all, though, I guess this is a decent, "something to fill in a few hours" book, but beyond that...don't get your hopes up.

I always buy Lynne Graham books and look forward to reading them. But in this case I did not enjoy the hero at all. Usually in her books the hero can start off like an egotistical jerk, cold, etc but usually as the story develops we get to see how the hero grows as a person and is made better by the love of a good woman. Not in this case. This guy was cruel and unkind throughout--I would say that he was warped even. I am thinking that possibly Lynne was tired of creating her usual type hero and decided to make this one like a dose of strong medicine--leaving a bad taste in your mouth after completely offending your senses. Maybe this is what creative freedom is all about. I look forward to your next one Lynne.

"Ugh!This book was one of the worst books I've ever read! It was not fun to read! The hero did NOT love the heroine, I don't care what he said in the end. I don't believe him! After all he did and said to the heroine words alone didn't cut it! The author did not make him show his love for the heroine through out the whole book, but instead told her that he would never want a baby with her and he would never marry her because when he was ready to get married, he would find someone else to marry! Indeed, he didn't want to marry a poor candle making over weight woman without pedigree! Believe me, it wouldn't have been such a slap in the face if this was when they had just met, it would have just made it all the more exciting to see the hero get bitten by the love bug, but this was 18 months after he was positioning her ever which way in bed! You would think the dude would have had some feelings for her by then- but no! She got pregnant by him even though he always used condoms with her. It was no moment of passion mistake! Not once did this guy prove in any way that he was falling in love with her. It never happened. Why can't authors understand that what readers want is to actually see how the couples fall in love and not told! Action not words! He married her just because he got her pregnant and nothing more! This is not one of those book that's so bad it's good either, it's just so bad it's depressing! If anyone see me reading another pregnancy HP- shoot me, please!

Lindy pretty much told Atreus that she didn't want everyone to know about them. So he didn't take her out in public. Then she got mad when he didn't take her out in public and he didn't introduce her to his family.

Artreus knew that she didn't know the rules that he played by and that she would probably get hurt. Yet he continued to see her. He didn't know what he really felt for her because he didn't even acknowledge it until later and maybe because he really didn't have a basis to figure it out to begin with. Seemed the way he was raised, wasn't a very demonstrative type.

Ben seemed more interested in having Lindy around to cater to his ego. The fact that she had taken up with Artreus and it seemed to be serious, at least on her part, seemed to knock him off balance. So he seemed to relish in pointing out that she was just Artreus' mistress.

When Artreus tells her he didn't want to have a child with her, that she was just entertaining, and he was looking for a wife from a similar background as his it did come across as rather cold. How could he think this wouldn't hurt her, knowing he was her first and that she didn't play by his rules? How could she when she really had no experience? It wasn't her fault that he was hurt in previous relationships. He shouldn't have painted all women with the same brush and most especially Lindy given the innocence that he knew she possessed.

The last straw was when he basically had her kicked out of her home. Sure he didn't intend for it to happen the way it did but he did want her to leave for his peace of mind.

He tries to move on to find that perfect wife that he thought he wanted and of course Lindy moved on with her life too. He does manipulate Lindy into believing that he was going to marry Krista and I suppose he was but he didn't have to see Lindy again when the news of her pregnancy broke he could have sent someone else.

Overall, both Artreus and Lindy were very proud, strong characters. Sure Lindy had some hang-ups about her body but it seemed only when comparing them with Artreus' usual women otherwise she held her own. Even though she knew she was in love with him she did walk away and was really trying to forget him. She didn't move on to another man but that wasn't her style and she was still in the early stages of pregnancy. When Artreus re-enters her life she did seem like she had found some contentment . . . at least in her career. If they had opened up to one another sooner and shared their feelings with each other then they wouldn't have stuck to their own sides for so long. But given the fact that both characters seemed so prideful it would stand to reason that they would fight against that lowering of their shields to reveal the softer side of themselves. Not your usual Harlequin in that respect. But I liked the fact that we got a heroine that seemed just as strong as the hero.

Lynne Graham has created the perfect ending to her Pregnant Brides series with Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress. It was brilliantly crafted with emotions running high between Atreus and Lindy.

To this reader it was evident that the Greek billionaire shipping magnate Arteus Drakos was going to have a problem with the sweet Lindy he found naked swimming in the river on his property. He was a private man who didn't like his privacy invaded nor did he like to be inconvenienced and this woman was trespassing on his property and her curves and her body kept him sleepless for days. He was used to dating petite blonde models and was never in a long term relationship. And then he finds out she is his tenant, more to drive him crazy.

Lindy was an inexperienced young woman, a very sweet one who worked hard to support herself. Of her two college friends who were featured in earlier books, she was probably the most naive and she certainly had never met a man who made her feel like she would like to spend time in his bedroom. During her college years there had been one man she had a crush on and now he was just her friend. However, he was a critical one pointing out flaws he thought Lindy had. And there was her new landlord who she found conceited and rude and she almost wished she could move because he irritated her. And then the most unexpected thing happens, she sees his mansion on fire and goes to warn him and almost dies in the fire herself saving a trapped cat.

Arteus only spent the weekends at his country home. When he saw a woman he couldn't seem to get out of his mind rushing into his kitchen which was about to collapse, he saves her and then the most remarkable thing happened, he kissed her and everything changed for them both. It was a series of events, taking her to a hotel because the power is now out in both their homes, then acting on their passion, she fascinates him and he's not ready to let her go. She was a breath of fresh air, she was strong, discrete and honest qualities he valued. So their sensual affair began only on weekends when he came back home to relax from his busy business and social life. He made it clear that he didn't do love, absolutely didn't want children and secretly he was determined that when he married it would be to a woman from his social circle and that she would have as much wealth as he did.

Lindy's in trouble in more ways than one. She's in love with Arteus, she's insecure because she read about him in the gossip magazines and he was seen with beautiful models. It got to the point where Lindy didn't feel he valued her because he didn't take her out in public, they had a fight and she realized all she had ever been to him was a mistress, not someone he actually cared about, just someone for the weekends who catered to his every whim, every need, who arranged her schedule for him. And they part in a bitter and very heated argument.

Then a series of events happen; his business manager demands she move out for back rent, she finds herself pregnant with no where to live and to add to the entire mess, his name appears in a newspaper on the arm of a beautiful Greek woman with the hint of an upcoming marriage. It's like a domino affect and could it get any worse? The only stable thing in her life were her two friends, one of them offers her a cottage on their estate to live in and also run her business from, plus have the security to know that she and her baby would survive without him, because she was a survivor. She was a young woman who watched her father die in a fire, she had to drop out of college to take care of her ailing mother until she passed away and her little business was thriving. She would get through this ordeal as well because she loved her unborn child and had the wonderful support of friends.

Arteus was furious, he was so mad he couldn't see straight because a story had broken just when he thought everything in his life would work out as planned, a story which claimed his ex-mistress was pregnant which caused a scandal for him and his Greek family. He couldn't believe it even when he confronted her and it became messy. So much of his past as a child had shaped him to the man he was today; his parents behavior, the way he was raised not to feel nor show emotions. While reading about his struggle and taking into account that he was going to be a father was very emotional to read. The ending chapters were brilliant, how Lynne Graham tied all "The Pregnant Brides" together....the three friends, their husbands and their second chance because from the beginning I knew it would have the perfect ending, from this very amazing author!

A USA Today Bestseller

Book Description:

Lindy was amazed when shipping tycoon Atreus Drakos made her his mistress. Her--with her fuller figure and lowly lifestyle making candles and potpourri! However, Atreus seemed enchanted by her curves when he made passionate love to her at his country retreat.

But Lindy came down to earth with two bumps, first when Atreus revealed she was just his weekend mistress; his bride would be selected from the upper echelons of Greek society. The second bump she wouldn't be able to hide...because she was carrying Atreus's baby!

with this book i couldn't put it down it was that good. i love it so much. a book you have too have