REVIEW ~ THE MARRIAGE MERGER by Jennifer Probst

Her sisters have found wedded bliss with their wealthy, wonderful dream men, but not Julietta Conte. She’s stayed on terra firma as top executive of the family’s corporation, La Dolce Famiglia bakery. Work is her passion, and her trendy Milan apartment her sanctuary . . . until Sawyer Wells, a masculine masterpiece in a suit, lures her out of hiding with an irresistible offer: an exclusive partnership with his international chain of boutique hotels.

Julietta’s been burned before—and trusting her brother-in-law’s friend, whose powerful gaze alone has her rethinking the best use of a conference room, is the riskiest proposition. But with a once-in-a- career chance to take the bakery global, will she mix stone-cold business with red-hot seduction?

REVIEW

For whatever reason, The Marriage Merger was a hard book for me to get into.  I usually have a clear image of the characters in my mind and I can hear their voices.  I didn't have this with this book, at least in the beginning, thus it caused me to suffer through the first 23% or so of the book.

I found Sawyer's cockiness to be unbearable until I was actually able to see the true man that was underneath his shell.  Strangely, Julietta wasn’t someone I didn’t care for.  I immediately liked her; not that I would have wanted to work for her.  She’s a control freak and has a slight OCD problem.  But she really comes from a good place.  And she has an amazing heart, spirit, drive and determination. Julietta Conte is known as the Ice Queen.  She’s ALL about work and family.  Julietta feels something is wrong with her and has reserved herself to never being able to  make a man happy, getting married or having a family of her own.  Sawyer Wells is TRULY a man with a dark and troubled past.  I mean his past is so bad, I was on the verge of tears everytime he had a memory flashback.  

The story starts off with Sawyer making an exclusive business deal with Julietta to have La Dolce Famiglia provide desserts for his soon-to-be open hotel chain called Purity.  The business meeting is full of sexual tension and innuendo.  Eventually, this business relationship results in a night of passion neither expected or are able to forget.

Sawyer is a good guy who just doesn't think that he deserves to have his own good life and "happy ever after".  A chance encounter with a nineteen-year- old boy, trying to steal his wallet gave Sawyer the opportunity of a lifetime.  Sawyer, seeing himself in Wolfe, offers him a job as his assistant.  These two manage to form a bond that neither seems to see.  Heck, in the end, Julietta and the Conte family all manage to start to pull Sawyer and Wolfe out of the protective shell they’ve cocooned themselves in.

As with most of the books in this series, Mama Conte gets involved and gets Sawyer and Julietta to get married.  Yes, I hate that... But when you find out why she does it, it’s truly touching.  She KNOWS these two people and she knows what they can offer the other, if these two just get out of their own way.  Sawyer is able to give Julietta something no man has ever given her before.  He's able to get her to relax, loss control, and enjoy the moment.  Julietta is able to slowly sneak through the walls that the mysterious Sawyer has had up for a very long time.  

I had a small problem with the BDSM elements in the book.  Maybe that wouldn't have been a problem for me, if I would have known it was in the book going in.  While it wasn't in your face over the top, it just caught me off guard. By the time I was done, I was in love with Julietta, Sawyer and Wolfe.  In fact, I’m secretly (well, maybe not so secretly now) hoping Wolfe gets his own story.  I thought no couple could compete with my love for Nick and Alexa from the first book.  But, Sawyer and Julietta are really up there now.  

The book is full of quotes that I love.  But my favorite is probably this....

“Oh my God, he gave her an airport scene!  Just like in the books I read and all those movies.  He followed her to an airport and confessed his love before she could board the plane!”

Rating: 4

 

Release Date: July 30, 2013

Book Length: 320 pages

Source: Gallery Books via NetGalley

Reviewed by: Kim

Reading Format: Available in eBook and Paperback

Purchase through:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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