August 23, 2011

Sebastian…Sharp. Cool. Controlled.

Ruthless in business, Sebastian is at the top of his game professionally. Emotionally he keeps himself alone, aloof and almost untouchable.

Escaping her wedding, it takes one look at ice-cool Sebastian for Bollywood star Aneesa Adani to be hooked! Letting Aneesa in could ignite the fire that melts even the hardest of hearts…


Title: THE STOLEN BRIDE
Author: Abby Green
Series: The Notorious Wolfes, book 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Presents Line
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Year of release: 2011, August 23
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Source: won an ARC on the author’s website

First line:
Aneesa Adani was stuck in a waking nightmare.

Memorable Scenes:
- Sebastian undressing Aneesa > the buildup of that scene was excellently done
- The scene after Nathaniel's wedding ceremony > very emotional, lump-in-throat moment when Sebastian finally opens up
- The end > the authors of this series have the uncanny ability to write some powerful and beautiful endings to the books


Aneesa Adani is a popular Bollywood star about to get married to a man she doesn’t want or love but at the last minute pulls the runaway bride act. She’s pragmatic, caring, sweet and open. I really liked how throughout the book Aneesa grew from a sheltered naĂŻve young woman to a woman strong enough to defend her views and needs.

Sebastian Wolfe is the owner of a chain of hotels, son of a mentally unstable mother and an abusive father he has always been one to withdraw from others and depend solely on himself. He’s guarded, cerebral and a loner. I loved that Sebastian would apologize immediately to Aneesa when he said hurtful things and not stubbornly hold on to his own opinion.

What I liked most about the romance was how both Sebastian and Aneesa were equally affected by each other and the chemistry between them, even if Aneesa is quite innocent and inexperienced and Sebastian is this smooth, cool-headed man of the world. Watching them fall in love and grow close despite their individual reasons for not wanting it was a joy to read.

Abby Green's writing is enthralling in its simplicity and has a very pleasant pace thanks to the way she applies the main characters POVs. There's a very good balance between action, emotions and characterization and for me, once I started reading I just couldn't stop. She gave me some very pleasurable reading hours with her contribution to the Notorious Wolfes series.

THE STOLEN BRIDE is another wonderful installment in this series. Not only does it fit in perfectly and add more insight the Wolfe-family puzzle, it also offers a unique couple, a refreshing twist on an age-old trope in category romance, a small look into Indian wedding ceremony habits and the right balance between conflict and romance. I now have my eye on Robyn Grady who will be providing the next book in this series and I can’t wait to read that one!

Favorite Quotes:
Coming from a large family of mainly half-siblings, having been born to a man who’d married three times, had numerous affairs and begat eight children, to say that Sebastian had a jaundiced view of the holy sanctity of marriage was a huge understatement.

Sebastian was grateful for Daniel’s solid presence when Aneesa had appeared in the dining room. Or else he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to restrain himself from smashing the heavy oak table aside and picking her up like some kind of caveman to bring back to his bedroom, to ravish her.

“You may or may not have meant what you said last night, but all day I’ve been praying that you did. Aneesa…I’m in love with you. I’m so fathoms-deep in love with you that I’m drowning. I’ve been falling for you since the moment our eyes met that evening, when you looked at me and made my world go spinning in the other direction. But I had no idea what was happening. Not until we came back here…and I saw what love is, and recognized it for the first time in my life.

2 comments:

Leontine said...

Sebastian is so my kind of hero!! The romance sounds really good and the quotes, you know how to pick 'em hon!!

Aurian said...

Nice one Pearl! Glad you enjoyed it.

Nice to meet you!

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Pearl
Netherlands
39, married to my real life romance hero, addicted to TV shows, reading romance novels and Twitter. I'm a chronic (e)book hoarder and my absolute favorite genres within romance fiction are contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but I don't shy away from historical, paranormal or erotic romance either. Even the occasional (urban) fantasy romance, futuristic and sci fi romance may make it to my Mount TBR. This is my corner of the world wide web where I let you know what books I'm hoarding, reading and reviewing.
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2011 Reading Challenge

Pearl has read 10 books toward her goal of 50 books.
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On My TBR Shelf

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  • Crazy for Love - Victoria Dahl
  • Kink - Saskia Walker/Sasha White
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  • The Darkest Secret - Gena Showalter
  • Vampire in Atlantis - Alyssa Day
  • Vampire Dragon - Annette Blair
  • Captive Spirit - Anna Windsor
  • Chosen by Blood - Virna DePaul
  • Rebel - Zoe Archer
  • Stranger - Zoe Archer
  • A Taste of Desire - Beverley Kendall
  • Mistress by Midnight - Maggie Robinson
  • To Desire a Devil - Elizabeth Hoyt
  • To Tame a Dangerous Lord - Nicole Jordan

Digital TBR Next

  • Driven - Jayne Rylon (reread)
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