Review: The Italian by Lisa Marie Rice

Book Blurb:

He's a dangerous man with dangerous enemies...

In Palermo, Sicily, a city of heart-stopping beauty and intense danger, one man stands for justice. 

Stefano Leone is hunting one of the most dangerous men alive. He lives under armed guard, in constant danger. And then a beautiful American woman contacts him and steals his heart. Is she what she seems or has she been sent by his enemy to find his one weakness? 

Jamie McIntyre comes to Palermo for inspiration for her design business and loses her heart to the toughest, sexiest man she has ever met. She falls under his spell and into his bed, until Stefano?s enemy strikes and she is forced to make an impossible choice.

My Review:

In The Italian by Lisa Marie Rice, I was taken right into Sicily and swept up in the hot romance between Stefano and Jamie!  With her descriptive writing, I could easily see what Jamie saw through her designer eyes on her inspirational trip.  She has another goal while in Sicily also.  Her Grandfather has given her something to give to Stefano, a former student of his.  Stefano lives a dangerous life as he hunts for evil.  Wariness is in his nature, but as soon as he sees Jamie she makes him feel things he has shut off for years...and for a little time he thinks only of her.  Jamie too is immediately drawn to Stefano.  For the little while she is going to be in Palermo, she is suddenly seeing not only a lot of the sights, but a lot of Stefano.  They can't resist each other.  But danger doesn't stop for love or lust or anyone and anything else that can be used as leverage.  They soon find themselves in an almost impossible situation...what will give?

I thoroughly enjoyed (loved!) this novella by Lisa Marie Rice!!  I felt like Jamie in particular was very realistic, and while Stefano might not be your average man, his character, his strength and his loyalty was believable.  The immediate attraction was like a zing that went around the room when they met, and it didn't stop.  I loved the maturity of Jamie and Stefano.  They accept without questioning the intensity of the attraction between them and the fast rush of feelings that both of them experience.  I am a big believer in if you know someone is right you just know and should follow that unexpected path presented to you, and Jamie and Stefano did just that in the way they had to do it.  Even though a future together didn't seem likely, they didn't play games, they didn't deny each other, there was no unnecessary and distracting angst.  They just went with it because it was there and it was so strong.

The suspense is thrust on us as the danger appears where and when it's least expected...making you wonder how Jamie could possibly find the right thing to do.  There more than just her and Stefano involved now.

In the short span of this novella this plot and these characters really captured me.  There are great secondary characters who seem to have stories of their own that I hope might be told, but if they aren't it has no impact on The Italian (only my hope for the future!).

A quick read that enchanted me and flowed well filled with intimate romance and a threat of danger, The Italian and the story told in it was perfect in the span of this novella.  I'd recommend The Italian by Lisa Marie Rice to any romance reader looking for a novella easy to fall into and explore a different part of the world fill with sizzle, danger, and love!

5/5 sexy superstars!!

Purchase from Amazon.com