Holly‘s review of In Bed With Her Italian Boss by Kate Hardy
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin Presents 8 Apr 08

I generally enjoy the Presents line, though I don’t remember reading Kate Hardy before. Unfortunately, this book features one of my least favorite plot devices – the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING – which resulted in the hero and heroine acting like children for most of the novel. I’ll be looking for more titles by her in the future, but I’m going to make sure they’re written around a different plot device.

I liked Gio as a hero. He was kind and considerate to Fran and was close with his family. He had hangups because he feels responsible for his father suffering a heart attack while covering for him at work in college, so he’s turned into a workaholic. He refuses to get involved in a serious relationship for fear he’ll let the person down again. Even though he loves music and is an excellent player, he won’t pursue it as anything more than a hobby, because he feels the need to punish himself for something he had no control over. After awhile, this became very tiresome and I was ready for him to move on.

I really liked Fran. She was adopted as a child and has always felt like the odd man out with her family. She’s witty and efficient and had a great dry sense of humor I really enjoyed. When Gio asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend, she reluctantly agrees, but is surprised at how well she fits in and gets along with his family, and immediately starts feeling guilty for deceiving them. When her flat floods and she needs a place to stay, Gio offers her his spare room and things quickly heat up. But she struggles with keeping it casual since Gio has made it clear he wants a no strings attached affair and her pride and personal insecurities won’t let her ask him if he wants something more. Her constant waffling back and forth about “this means nothing/this means everything” started to bother me after awhile, but I understood her reasons for feeling the way she did.

Up to this point, I was digging the story. Then came the big misunderstanding. With one conversation, both Fran and Gio could have saved themselves a ton of heartache, but instead they clung to their pride and conviction that each were the wronged party, when really it was just their own stubborness that caused problems. Although I felt it ended well, my frustration throughout the last 1/4 of the book came close to ruining it for me.

Grade: C+

Summary:
Having just been fired, Francesca has three immediate requirements: a coffee, an extremely calorific pastry and a new job. Stopping off at her favorite café, Giovanni’s, she manages to pick up all three!

Working for darkly handsome Giovanni Mazetti is fantastic—except Fran discovers the job comes with a tantalizing caveat: pretending to be his adoring girlfriend! Soon their kisses start happening in private as well as in public, and although Fran knows it’s all a game to Giovanni, she can’t help wishing his feelings were for real….

Read an excerpt here.