Kept me sufficiently entertained from start to finish. I enjoyed how Michael and Maggie kept challenging each other to break through the issues that personally stopped them from loving and being loved.

~3/5

This book was just meh.

I wasn’t impressed with the writing or the characters, and none of it made me want to keep reading. It was cheesy, and the sex was just okay. I was annoyed with the characters a few times, and more annoyed with some of the plot points. The alpha role got on my nerves.

I didn’t mind some of the family elements, like his big family, and I did like the plot regarding his little sister. I don’t know if it’s enough to make me want to pick up that book, but still.

I was more disappointed by the end of the book than anything, and it doesn’t make me want to pick up another one. And at this point it was rather forgettable. Meh.

[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]

Michael has worked hard for his family's company, excited to finally open a bakery in the US, but an emergency at home in Italy means he is suddenly in need of a bride. Maggie does not like how Michael has wormed his way in to her family, in fact she's convinced that he is in love her best friend, but if she can fake a love for him for two weeks she'd do it for her family. They had one disaster date a year ago so neither Maggie or Michael expected anything to come from their fake relationship, but just like before neither can deny the sparks flying between them. When their relationship starts to become a little too real Maggie has to try and open her heart to a happily ever after. Can Michael convince her that he's the right man? Enjoyable read, does well as a stand-alone. I would have like a little more emotional development between Maggie and Michael but overall enjoyed the spicy read.

The story was a little flat in this one. Good steamy scenes, but I didn't feel much for the characters.

Read more of my reviews and ramblings at Ana's Attic Sexy Tales

The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probst is the second in the Marriage To A Billionaire Series. The first was the sweet, but forgettable The Marriage Bargain. I enjoyed the first book a lot, I just felt there was nothing unique about it. I enjoyed this one a bit more because it took place mostly in Italy, with an old fashioned Italian family. This is a sweet, fun, fairytale-like traditional romance novel.

Maggie is Nick’s little sister and Alexa’s best friend (Nick and Alexa are the couple from the first book, but are barely in this. It can be read alone). Michael Conte is one of Nick’s best friends and is working on bringing his family’s bakery empire from Italy to America in Nick’s waterfront project. Michael has become so close to Nick and Alexa that Maggie thinks he is secretly in love with Alexa and is going to tear up their marriage. Maggie also seems to dislike him because they went on a blind date the year before, and he rejected her after.

Michael is Italian through and through. From a big Italian family, Michael swore on his Papa’s death bed that he would take over the family business and take care of his mama and sisters. He takes this responsibility very seriously. His younger sister is in love, and wants to marry. But some old family tradition says that she may not marry until the eldest son marries, and her mother promises to disown her if she marries first. Michael, always being the one to solve the family problems, promises he has a wife so his sister can marry and be happy.

Maggie is a fashion photographer, but not just any fashion, men’s designer underwear! (Where can I sign up for that job?). She is scheduled to go to Milan the following week anyway, so Michael jumps at the chance to get her to pose as his fake wife for his mama’s sake. He knows she dislikes him enough that she wouldn’t expect more. He promises to stay away from Nick and Alexa if she helps him out.

“The whole crazy plan hit her full force as soon as his private plane shot into the air. What the hell had she agreed to? And what was it about the Ryan family that necessitated fake marriages?”

Maggie grew up wanting for nothing, except love. Her parents had money, but she was given no love or affection, and had no extended family. So coming into Michael’s big, loud, boisterous Italian family was a big shock to her. Usually uptight and distant, Maggie was pulled right into the family drama, and while part of her liked it, part of her was completely freaked out.

The attraction between them was undeniable. Michael was smokin’ hot, and had every quality Maggie secretly wanted in a man. But she never learned to accept or show love, so she was a tough wall to break down.

Likes:

-I absolutely loved Michael’s mother.
-I liked the whole Italian family.
-Michael: sexy, italian, dominant, rich, long hair….total romance book hero.

Dislikes:

-Carina, Michael’s 23 year old little sister was portrayed like a 16 year old. It was crazy! She had a pink frilly room and couldn’t date. This may be old-fashioned Italy, but that’s ridiculous.
-The entire premise of the story was overdone (fake marriage turns real? AND they are close with another couple that had the same situation, AND there will be one more???)
-Completely predictable.

Rating: 4 stars 3.75 for Heat.

I really enjoyed the story. I read it in one day. I have to say, it was a ridiculous, overused plot, but done a bit differently, and done well. It was a fun, sweet, fluffy read that you knew would end happily. Sometimes I like the sweet fairytales, and this one worked well for me.

“Oh , my God, this is insane. How is this happening? I’m trapped in a frickin’ romance novel!”

Ha! Well at least the characters knew it! lol. I will absolutely read the third in the series about the innocent Carina and Max, The Marriage Mistake, coming November 6th.

2.5 Spanitalian Stars

First and foremost, I'll have to address something that really, really, really bugged me: the author's confusion/ignorance of Italian with/and Spanish. For example: at 72% the author uses "loco" which is Spanish for crazy, the Italian is "pazzo". 73% "Mia amore" is incorrect! It should have been "amore mio". The male character, Italian millionaire, Michael - such an Italian name - NOT, uses the word "dios" again and again. WRONG! That's Spanish for "god". The Italian is "Dio". Also, "bambinos" at 91% is Spanish for children/babies, in Italian they call them "bambini".
I find it inexcusable that the author and/or the editor(s) could not be bothered to do a simple Google search. That just annoys the hell out of me.
Since I'm on the language bandwagon, I found it very incredulous that Michael's entire family was so perfectly fluent in English, even his mum and the priest, and the nephews. If one visits Italy, one will discover that the majority of the Italians are not fluent in English, you're lucky if they speak any English at all.

Besides the language issues, the book was all right. That is if you don't mind the clichés, and the marrying to fool the family thing, that's been done to death in romance books. So while I was reading this book, I had lots of "yeah right", "WTF" and eye rolling. The male and female characters were Ok, but we've met them before in other similar books.

Okay, so I'm flying through this series but pretty much only because on the great romantic tension and the trope of fake relationships. Since every book in this series kind of hangs on this trope, it has a tendency of blending together and the characters are becoming alike. Still flying through it though I can't lie.

As others have pointed out before me, it's an enjoyable romance to read but it's not something to be rocking your world. It's your nice dose of sweet and mushy to read when you want to get the happily ever after that never seems to happen in real life.

I was in the mood for fluff, and this book did not disappoint. Great little afternoon read...nothing heavy just a fun filled romp fest.

I honestly didn't expect to like this book as much as I did! I connected with Maggie so much. A fun and light hearted read!