High drama. Vitriolic, conclusion leaping hero. Heroine fell in bed with him at first sight and now 5 years later, she doesn't melt at his touch! What's up with that? I enjoyed how she didn't just tumble back t into his arms. He says hateful things to her and she defends herself and doesn't let him touch her even though she is very ill. The end bit was a bit contrived since only a true moron would say what he did to her after finally getting her in bed. But he does a bunch of grovelling so it's all good.

( )

This book was as fantastically awful as we expected. I only read it because we found it at work and the title was too much. Baby of Shame? Really.

The heroine, and I use that lightly, is quite frankly a moron. We start out with a disjointed scene where she is waking up in a hospital after being in a hit and run. We find out(flashbacks) that five years ago she has a (stupid) plan to accost a business tycoon (Alexis Petrakis) at a charity dinner with a business plan only to fall into bed with him. And, of course no one uses protection. And surprise! Out comes Nicky.
While she is in the hospital a social worker going through her things finds a note saying that Alexis Petrakis is her son's father and contacts him to take over his care. Um, wtf? Social workers CANNOT go through your shit, and none of them would believe a random note clipped to a birth certificate saying Baby-Daddy. But whatever. He swoops in and collects the child and the mother and wisks them away to his private island in Greece. Which could totally happen. There he is super nice to Nicky and a cruel abusive bastard to Rhianna. And she's annoying. At times spineless at others a "venomous snake."

The story was repetitive and predictable. The author uses the same descriptions over and over. Neither of the characters is likable, and very little of the story is believable even if you stretch your imagination. The title never really comes into it either. There was very little shame. I feel cheated. Oh, and I'm pretty sure he's related to the 50 shades guy. No bondage, but he was a brooding ass with a 'tortured' past who's mommy didn't love him. ( )

Secret baby, tortured alphahole, martyr heroine, one Big Misunderstanding one after another...typical HP in other words, and exactly what I was in the mood for.

Bonus points for the heroine actually recognizing that she's beautiful and that men like her for it, because what usually happens is that we get a pages long description of a goddess and then are told that the heroine is completely unaware of how gorgeous she is. I also really liked that she knows how to hold a grudge when it comes to the Alexis, and she regularly tells him off for his behavior and assumptions about her. She's a martyr is many ways--she becomes destitute because of choices she makes to help the father who abandoned her when she was a child, FFS--but her spine makes its presence known when the hero oversteps.

This book would have been 3-4 stars but the misunderstandings were too much. There was enough drama without them, and they made both characters look stupid. ( )