LynneC’s review of Master of Bella Terra (The Italian’s Blushing Gardener) by Christina Hollis
Contemporary Romance by Harlequin Presents 4 Jan 11
I’m not sure I like this growing habit of giving a book two titles. It means I’m in imminent danger of buying the same book twice.
The cover of this book says, “Once she was a Cinderella, now she’s his bride!” Well no, not in this book. One of those two statements isn’t true, but I won’t tell you which, because of possible spoilers.
On the whole I enjoyed this one. Kira is a gardener, having fled from a scandal in England to the relative safety of Italy. Although the reason why her scandal was splashed all over the papers, wasn’t entirely clear, since it didn’t really involve anyone prominent or anything the papers would jump on. Her family background is a little vague, but there’s enough of it to be comfortable with, though I would have liked more.
Stefano was a child from the streets, whose story unfolds during the book. He keeps buying houses, in the hope of making them homes, but they are only showhouses. He doesn’t have the knack (he should have asked me – I can make any room a complete tip in a couple of hours – very homely!) He backs away from relationships, but that wasn’t entirely clear to me, either.
The story starts in Tuscany, where Kira is waiting for the new owner of the estate on which she owns a small villa. Of course it’s Stefano, and he arrives piloting his own helicopter. Although they are attracted to each other, they back off, neither of them wanting to respond to the powerful attraction between them.
Stefano gives Libby a contract to create gardens for him. Before she signs the contract they succumb and sleep together. Then he flies her off to the Caribbean.
Stefano was an odd mixture of humour and loneliness, and it didn’t really come off for me. He was a loner, and he had girlfriends in the past, the usual Modern male, but it didn’t really come together to make a complete, assured person. And while I assumed he was in property, I didn’t know how he’d manage to move from being a child on the streets to such a huge success. I’d have liked to know more. Like Kira’s slightly sketchy background, his didn’t add up to the one person.
The best thing about this book is the descriptions of the gardens, and the way Kira creates them for her clients. She’s obviously competent, but prefers her solitude. The book is leisurely, with long scenes broken by chapter breaks, especially at the beginning, and I liked that, too, the way they came to know each other. The lovemaking scenes are vague, like the Modern/Presents books of yesteryear. In the first scene, I wasn’t sure if he’d made love to her or not, because it happens in the fuzz of description, rather than a more sharply focused scene.
But it made for a pleasant read, and it’s different enough to be interesting.
Grade: C
Summary:
Kira Banks far prefers plants to people. After a heartbreaking affair, she lives alone in the beautiful Bella Terra Valley. But when restless billionaire Stefano Albani helicopters into the estate, Kira’s peaceful existence is shattered for ever…
Notoriously charming but guarded, Stefano is fascinated by cautious, hidden Kira: this seduction will be unforgettable! But his polished routine goes awry — could it be that the tycoon who can have anything he wants might need someone for the very first time…?
Read an excerpt.
