Set in Italy, at Niccolo and Sienas’ wedding Marisa Rossellini (the virgin) and Federico Esposito were both in attendance as Rico was was the bride’s brother, Marisa’s sister’s husband the groom’s brother. At 25 Marisa is still a virgin, is a devout Catholic and lives at home helping her family take care of her father. Rico is the stereotypical Italian millionaire male. Women flock round him and he he is used to women saying yes.
He and his brothers make a bet that he can sleep with Marisa, but during their 4 month romance they fall in love. Will the relationship and their HEA collapse when she finds out the truth?
I liked that although this book can be read as a standalone novel, it also carried on storylines and included characters from the previous novels. There wasn’t just brief mentions of the characters, they weren’t just an afterthought to link the books but had definite parts to play in both their own and Rico and Marisas’ story. The novel also set the scene and introduced the characters for the final novel which I thought was an interesting way to get readers attention and preorder it (as I have done). The letters between Rico and Marisa was a nice touch.
Both characters are relatable and likeable. Marisa’s family has both financial and health issues and she works a normal job whilst helping her mum care for her dad. She is a very strong character capable of saying no and walking away, which is unusual for a romance novel. Rico is the stereotypical Italian male who meets his match and loses as by the end it is Marisa that is in control of the narrative of how their storyline will end which again does not follow the formulaic storyline but makes the book more fresh and new.
Despite the lack of sex for the first half of the novel, there was off the scale chemistry between the two main characters. I also enjoyed that although Marisa was described as a devout “unicorn virgin” she is a very strong character, who by the end of the novel could have easily walked away.
I was gifted this book but this does not affect my review.
I have not heard of The Martinelli Wedding Series, but the third book does sound interesting! That is also great you can read it as a standalone!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting post! Your review makes me curious how the relationship of Marisa and Rico turns out. It’s really awful to start a relationship the way theirs started out, and I would hate to know my boyfriend was only interested in adding me as another prize on his belt. I wonder how Marisa feels when she finds out, because I know she eventually does. Hopefully his experience with Marisa teaches him how to treat women better, but the only way to find that out is for me to read the book! lol. Thankyou for sharing this review!
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