Can one week in paradise…
…heal ten years of heartache?
When the elite M dating agency sends wealthy Freddie Highgrove to the Seychelles for a weeklong “date,” the last person he’s expecting to be matched with is Jasmine Walker, his first love and ex-fiancée!
Ten years ago, his family’s expectations for a high-society marriage sent housekeeper’s daughter Jasmine running.
Can one week in paradise bring them back together?
| Title: | Surprise Reunion with His Cinderella |
| Author: | Rachael Stewart |
| Series: | Billion Dollar Matches (Book 2) |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Harlequin / Mills & Boon |
| Trope(s): | Second Chance Romance |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | Seychelles & Edinburgh, UK |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 8th July, 2021 |
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Second chances in the sultry sun
I adore a second chance romance and what could be better than one written by the brilliant Rachael Stewart? Turns out, not a lot!
We start off with a prologue set 10 years past, witnessing the beginning of the end of Freddie and Jasmine’s young love. With him being aristocracy and her the daughter of the hired help, the pair are world’s apart.
10 years later, Jasmine and Freddie are world’s apart again – but a week long date in paradise set up by a matchmaker brings our two lovers back together once again. But are they doomed to repeat the past or is this the start of a new beginning?
Jasmine is an extremely likeable heroine both when we glimpse her as a shy teen and as a more confident, assured adult. She’s got guts and smarts and is no longer afraid to ask for what she wants – and go after it. But that’s not to say she’s not as normal as you or me. She blushes easily, worries often and is still conflicted over the feelings that the past has brought up. I loved her for all her strength as well as all her relatable insecurities.
Now Freddie… Freddie was a hero I can 100% get behind – and not just because he was a hot Scot! Young Freddie was playful and sweet while older Freddie more mature, more stoic and a little cold. Or at least he was before Jasmine comes back in his life. I love, love, love it when a man can’t help but show his feelings. Even if he’s learned to master his emotions and is now something of a ruthless businessman, Freddie is overcome by Jasmine and he is almost tortured by his feelings for her. And I do so love it when an author tortures a hero in the quest for true love.
“…what could be better than [a story] written by the brilliant Rachael Stewart?”
And I guess that’s one of the reasons why I adore a second chance romance – there’s always that underlying chemistry, passion and love all just waiting to burst through once again, and Jasmine and Freddie are the perfect example of this. They re-click almost immediately and you feel every moment. There’s an underlying simmering of emotion throughout the whole book which is subtle but packs a huge punch. It’s not too much that you’ll be a blubbering mess, but it touches you and makes you feel for these characters and will them to get it right this time.
Rachael Stewart was one of the stand out stars of Mills & Boon’s now defunct Dare line and she brings her passion and storytelling perfectly to the Romance line. There’s still sex in this tale and it is perfection – probably in part due to the emotions between our couple. Maybe not as spicy as in a Dare, but still wholly satisfying.
In terms of the writing – as per usual – Ms Stewart is on point. It’s not often I actually stop reading a book simply to exclaim to myself over the wonderful intricacy of the writing. And the author herself will probably belie this fact – but it’s just so effortlessly done. It’s so smooth and readable and I’m a little (okay a lot) in awe.
Wherever you are, this story will transport you to an island paradise and give you that satisfaction of true love winning over all. You will devour this book and – I warn you now – you’ll want to buy up everything Rachael Stewart has written once you’re done. 5 stars.
Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.
She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.
A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.
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Billion Dollar Matches Series:
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