The Kouvaris Marriage - Diana Hamilton
Mills and Boon Modern
Single title-
Harlequin Mills and Boon, 2007
ISBN: 9780263852974
Reprint-
She Can't Say No to the Greek Tycoon By Request
Harlequin Mills and Boon, 2011
ISBN: 9780263884340
My rating
From the back cover:
"Wanted: to have his baby! Madeleine never dreamed she would marry a Greek billionaire - especially one as attractive as Dimitri Kouvaris. But after a whirlwind courtship and three passionate months of marriage, Maddie is devastated to learn that Dimitri only married her in order to conceive a child. Desperate to escape the humiliating charade of her marriage, Maddie asks for a divorce. But Dimitri is determined to keep Maddie at his side - and in his bed - until she bears the Kouvaris heir..."
I read this book in the By Request omnibus as above. I really like the By Request line as they are really good value and you get to read some older and popular books.
The story begins with the heroine Maddie and the hero Dimitri meeting and then Dimitri following her to England to propose, after what seems like love at first sight. The story picks up three months later with Dimitri being left a note by Maddie saying that their marriage was over. Dimitri tracks her down and forces her back to their marriage with blackmail as her family is in financial trouble. We discover that Maddie had discovered that Dimitri doesn't love her, instead he is still in love with a close friend. The close friend told Maddie that as she is unable to have children Dimitri married Maddie in order to get her pregnant then divorce her, taking the child away from her, and will be able to marry her. Maddie's confidence is also at rock bottom after awful treatment from Dimitri's aunt, who disapproves of Maddie. When they find out she is expecting a baby, Dimitri tries to make amends and Maddie tries to believe that she can make Dimitri fall in love with her and vows that no one will take her baby from her.
First things first, this was a good read and it was the classic tale of each character misunderstanding each other, which could have been cleared up if only they talked to one another, but of course that doesn't happen 'cause they are stubborn! I wasn't too keen on the characters. At first I thought that Maddie was quite strong as she actually got up the nerve to leave Dimitri, but after that tiny spurt of tenacity she seemed to wilt. I do understand that she had confidence issues after being beaten down by his aunts criticism but she seemed to accept all this awful treatment like she was little more than a doormat. In the beginning of the book she had a career that she was excited about and loved, yet after she married it was never mentioned again. She forgave all this awful treatment (from the Aunt and close friend) in the click of finger, which seemed completely spineless. Dimitri was also rather frustrating, he wondered why Maddie was withdrawn around his Aunt when she made no attempt to hide her barbs, he also spoke to Maddie, at times, like a pile of trash. Although his confusion over why Maddie had asked for a divorce was written very well, he thought she was a gold-digger but deep down he knew this wasn't the case!
Like I said, I did enjoy the book, and the misunderstandings, although frustrating, kept me reading. I just wish that the heroine had been more strong as a woman.
Xx
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