I found this book pretty satisfying once I got into it. Something about it just worked for me. I liked both the stoic grumpy hero and the fairly sunny resourceful smart heroine. The mystery that started in the first book is filling out here and making more sense. I liked how the hero fell under the heroine's sway without really knowing it. Good solid writing and nice emotion when the hero admits his feelings. Quite the bonding moment between them near the end. Can't wait for the next one. ( )

It's pretty rare for me to skip to the good parts of a book and then like it so much that I have to go back to the beginning to read the full story. I won't make the mistake of skipping through another one of Christina Dodd's novels. They are delicious. ( )

This is the second book in the series. I liked the twists that have emerged in this story line. The book flows at a fast pace keeping your interest. The 3rd book Betrayal at Bella Terra is due out April 3, 2012.

Ruthless Eli Di Luca hides the torment of his past beneath a façade of iron control. No one suspects the anguish he suffers, or the reasons why he has sworn never to marry. Only blackmail could change his mind...
Beautiful young author Chloë Conte's first book zoomed to the top of the bestseller lists. Now, struggling to write her second mystery, she retreats to an isolated cottage in a private vineyard. But with his magnetic appeal and his fascinating tales of Bella Terra's violent past, Eli Di Luca proves an irresistible distraction, and Chloë finds herself falling in love with a man she hardly knows. Soon she discovers that Eli has been keeping secrets from her, and the truth will bring more than heartbreak...it will put them both in mortal danger.
When murder and peril threaten, the only way Chloe can survive is to trust the man who has betrayed her...and that's a price her stubborn heart may not be willing to pay

( )

I really enjoyed this book. Three brother rised by the grandmother, Nonna. 1st book is Rafe, the security expert and Brooke, the Di Luca family resort consierre. This book is Eli Di Luca the oldest and the wine maker of the family. Silent, loner who's account embezzeled his fortune. Make a deal with Chloe, rich father to save the winery. Pink diamonds, a wine bottle which contains the diamonds store in there many years ago. Good read. ( )

Revenge at Bella Terra is a fast paced romantic suspense novel, the second in a series. I love the fact that Ms. Dodd has incorporated two tried and true romance concepts- secret baby and marriage of convenience-into a book you cannot put down. Eli DiLuca is in between a rock and a hard place when it comes to his family winery. He needs 4.5 million dollars and if he marries Chloe Robinson, her father, Tomasso Conti, will give it to him.
In the typical forced marriage novel, the heroine is a shy, retiring, young thing who can’t attract a man and whose father finds her a husband. Chloe is feisty, independent, and fully aware of her father’s plots. She and her father have only met recently and he is old school, wanting to plan her life. Eli is closed emotionally and focused only on work. He has a conscience, which makes him hesitate to follow through on the marriage, but circumstances force his hand. The chemistry between Eli and Chloe is combustible (in more ways than one). There is just the right amount of backstory to make both characters believable. The supporting characters are fleshed out as well, so all of the interactions add to the plot moving forward rather than distracting from it.
The first book introduced a mystery plot involving a feud between families and a missing item that seems to be a key component to the feud. In this book the mystery is unraveled a little more, but there is still enough left to keep your interest peaked. The set up for the third book made me want to read it NOW, not wait for several months. I will definitely be in line to buy it when it comes out. ( )