The Billionaire's Betrayal -- Amalfi Night Billionaires Book 3--NancyRobards Thompson

Smooth. He was very smooth.

The man was used to getting what he wanted, but he was smart, cloaking his iron fist in a soft velvet glove. He was promising no business talk, but really, what else would he want?

As Lena lifted the glass to her lips and sipped the effervescent nectar, the vision of her naked body tangled with Matteo's danced through her mind, nearly taking her breath away and making her choke on the champagne. For a split second she fought the urge to run because he wasn't interested in her. He wanted the chance to subversively work on her and potentially wear her down to sell back her shares.

Since she planned to hold on to her shares of dei Fiori Enterprises, she needed to find out how Matteo De Luca operated..

In business, that was.

Lena Von Lienz has returned to Venice to attend the opening of an art gallery and to get answers to questions regarding the details of her husband's death. Anton Von Lienz, his friend Enzo De Luca and their female companions were killed in a car crash. Lena loved her husband and is haunted by the thoughts that he might have been unfaithful to her. Enzo's son, Matteo De Luca  and Lena shared a steamy kiss at the funeral services eighteen months ago. Matteo has spent the past year rebuilding his familys business and thinking about that passionate kiss. 

The Billionaire's Betrayal is the third book in the Amalfi Night Billionaires series and can be read as a stand alone.  The story has complex characters, a lush and romantic setting and provides a peek into the world  of the rich and famous. Matteo has been attracted to Lena for years. He didn't act on his feelings  because she was married to his father's friend. Lena owns 15% of dei FIori Hotels which Matteo is determined to purchase from her. Can Matteo charm Lena? Will she sell the shares to him?

Matteo arranges a private dinner for two on the rooftop of Lena's hotel. He thinks of everything-- champagne, flowers and a gourmet meal  The couple is able to talk and take in the stunning view of Venice as they share dinner. The attraction between Lena and Matteo builds as the story progresses. Is Lena falling for the charming Matteo?

The last two chapters of the book are well paced and full of romance and intrigue. To keep Lena safe, Matteo takes her to his family's private estate where she meets his Nona. Their conversation provides Lena and the reader with insight into Matteo's character and his determination to rebuild his family fortune. There are a few interesting twists in the storyline which were very surprising and kept me reading. I enjoyed that the author Nancy Robards Thompson provides subtle clues as to the storyline in the next book and at the same time wrote a fabulous conclusion to her own story. 

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

Book purchased by the reviewer on Amazon.

If You Only Knew Dinner & Book Signing with Kristan Higgins.

It's me, Celeste!! And I have exciting news!

Guess what??

Lisa and Susan won a fun contest and got to meet author Kristan Higgins  (Did you know Kristan Higgins loves dogs?) for dinner and go to a book signing for her new book If You Only Knew!

Lisa's story
On Wednesday, September 9, I drove to downtown Phoenix. We met at the Blue Hound Kitchen.
We were a group of 7. Two of the ladies were old family friends of Kristans. They live here in the Phoenix area. One of the ladies was a mother of 8 children. Another had a bunch of very good questions to ask Kristan. You could tell she had put a lot of thought into them ahead of time. It was a lovely time, though not long enough. Kristan was very friendly and generous with her answers. Telling us about her family and childhood. Along with all of our questions about her books.
At the end of dinner, I asked for everyone to stand for a group picture. I snagged a young man to snap it for us.

Then everyone separated to make their way to the book signing. It was hard to find and no parking. So I was late getting there. She had already started her reading. But I saw a couple of the ladies from the dinner had made it.
It was a wonderful evening I will never forget. I have never heard of writers doing this. So  feel especially lucky to have gotten to enjoy the experience!

Susan's story

I love contests! I have been so fortunate to win books, necklaces and totes from authors. I never imagined that I would win the Dinner With Kristan Higgins contest. I crossed my fingers and said a quick prayer as I sent the email!! And I won...so exciting!

I drove to The Melting Pot restaurant in Framingham, Massachusetts to meet author Kristan Higgins and five other lucky readers for dinner on September 14th. The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant and it was perfect spot for dinner as we had to decide on the fondue selections and share the cooking space. We shared two different kinds of cheese fondue and dipped fruit, bread and veggies into the cheese as we talked. Kristan is warm and funny just like she is on social media. I asked her about the characters and settings in If You Only Knew. Everyone talked about how much we loved Jenny and Leo. We ordered dinner which was a surf and turf combination and cooked it on the cooktops on our table. Kristan spoke to each one at the table and knew two of the ladies  Suzy Duffy and Lisa Olech, who were also authors.

I asked Kristan about the Blue Heron series (which I love!) and she mentioned that the last Blue Heron book will be published in December. Kristan thanked me for my review which was published on Fresh Fiction. We had chocolate fondue for dessert and it was fabulous!

The book signing was at the Bacon Free library in Natick and was well attended. Kristan answered many questions about the book and read a chapter. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to meet Kristan! I gave Kristan a small gift for her dog from Celeste-- a Humarock dog bone!  

Dinner was so much fun and the book signing was enjoyable, too!!

Such a fabulous night!

Link to Lisa's Lady Celeste review.
Link to Susan's Fresh Fiction review. 

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins-Audio Version

If You Only Knew

by Kristan Higgins

I listened to the audio version of this story. Starting there,

it has to be noted that the narration was fabulous. It's the

story of two sisters. In brilliant fashion, they used two

narrators, Xe Sands and Amy Rubinate. This only added

to the pleasure of listening. They did a terrific job.

Having read a number of Kristan Higgins stories, I have

to start out saying, this one took her out of her own

comfort zone. Don't get me wrong, I love her comfort

zone. Her comfort zone is often my comfort zone.

 But this story strayed off from her normal style. At least,

it did for me. This is harder real life. The real life that

we normal people live. With deceit and anger. Not sure who

to trust. Low self esteem. Then, of course, you have your

sister. The one person on the planet you can share

everything with. Everything. The person you are always

sure it doing better than you are. The person you want to be

more like. Only of course, you find out their life isn't all you

thought it was. There is Kristans beautiful comedy too. You will
laugh as well as cry and worry.

This story took me up, down and all around. There

were moments that you could not figure out what she is

thinking. And you could not wait to find out. Jenny and

Rachel have a very interesting mother. We all know

someone with a mother like this. We also know people

that stay friendly with their ex husband. Everyone knows

that some people have the perfect marriage.

And then, none of it is true or good after all.

I highly recommend this story and especially in

the audio version. Such great writing

from Kristan Higgins to send off to the

fabulous narrators.

  And I will never look at a tree the same.

This review written by Lisa Hutson.

I bought the paperback and 

audio versions of this story.