The Brazilian Millionaire's Love Child by Anne Mather
My rating: 2 out of 5
Isobel Jameson meets Alejandro Cabral in a house party. He is brought to her apartment by her friend who had designs on him. Unfortunately for her, Alex is more interested in Isobel who is also shyly interested. Isobel is a divorced woman whose husband left her for another guy. This was the exchange:
“No, there was no other woman. It was another man.”
“Yours?"
“No, my husband’s.”
I took this to mean that Isobel got dumped for a dude. Anyway, it's been six years since the divorce and Isobel is thirsty. One rainy night, Alejandro goes over to Isobel’s flat soaking wet and she's like, “Let's get you out of these wet clothes,” so one thing leads to another.
Alex was immediately enthralled with Isobel and tried to stay away from her, but he couldn’t. He is arranged to marry a young lady back in his home country of Brazil. But passion takes over and practicality goes out the window when Alex and Isobel get it on. Right after they do it, Alex’s mobile rings and it's his dad calling about an emergency involving the young lady Alejandro is supposed to marry. Unable to turn away from his duty, Alex goes home and leaves Isobel.
Alejandro had every intention of going back to Isobel in a couple of months, but he is involved in an accident that almost kills him. Now he's got a scarred face and a gimpy leg, which he's kind of bitter about. Three years later, his wife Miranda has died from a drug overdose and he has a weird relationship with his mother-in-law who is possessive of him and treats him more like a lover than her dead daughter’s husband.
Isobel comes to Brazil to interview Alejandro’s mother in law, a famous writer. Isobel’s uncle owns various publications in England and sends Isobel to cover this assignment. Unbeknownst to her, Alejandro is the woman’s son in law and hangs around her villa a lot.
Alejandro and Isobel immediately clash because of their past together. Isobel is bitter because Alejandro had promised to return after a couple of months and he didn’t due to his accident. Alejandro fears that Isobel is repulsed by the scar on his face and all over his body, so he tries to stay away.
Of course they can't stay away from each other because of their primal attraction to each other and what they had experienced together in the past. Alejandro can’t forget and refuses to allow Isobel to forget.
What's different about this book is the baby is not secret. Alejandro finds out from the Internet that Isobel has a child and having done the math, figured that he is the father of her baby. He doesn’t deny the baby, either, and wants to get involved in her life.
Isobel is afraid of being swept away again and losing her sense of self since Alejandro is such an overwhelming personality.
Alejandro is convinced that Isobel finds his scars repulsive so she doesn’t actually want him even though she's never said anything to that effect. In fact, the attraction Isobel initially felt for Alejandro is still there and it’s stronger than ever.
There really isn’t a big conflict that would separate these two people. They're both still attracted to each other, they're both unattached, and Alejandro acknowledges that the baby is his.
Alejandro is kind of a whiny baby who’s like, “My scars, my scars!” while Isobel is like “what the hell are you talking about? What scars?”
Alejandro convinces his mother in law to invite Isobel to interview her just so he could see her again. Even the mother in law, who seemed eerily attached to Alejandro at first, didn't even really become a big hassle.
Isobel goes back to England without telling Alejandro and he goes right after her. He tells her he wants her in his life along with the baby and he loves her.
There really isn't much of a drama here. Besides Alejandro whining about his scars, they're both fairly reasonable people and there really isn’t much to argue about.
I liked Isobel because she's not hysterical and seemed level-headed and she doesn’t fight all that much with Alejandro. Alejandro on the other hand is accepting of the baby and Isobel’s circumstances so there isn't this long, drawn-out thing or an anything push-and-pull.
What I really enjoyed was the initial courtship of Isobel and Alejandro. He's a guy she meets at her friend’s party where they kiss (and the friend gets mad) and even though he didn’t really want to get involved with her because of his arranged marriage, he kept finding excuses to see her.
My question is, did Alejandro ever get back his leather jacket?
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