Review: Castelli's Virgin Widow by Caitlin Crews

I liked this book lot. Caitlin Crews write some great romances.

This book involves the same family from Unwrapping the Castelli Secret - which involved step siblings having a secret relationship. In this story, the other brother falls for his dad's wife after his dad dies. The wife was one of his dad's many young brides. The situation is strange, and their father sounds like a complete creep. He married her to help her out, but they don't have sex (hence the title) so it's supposed to seem like she's not really a gold-digger. But if you marry someone for money? Anyway.

Luca strongly dislikes Kathryn - his step-mom. But because she was his dad's wife at the time of his death, she inherited a part of the family business and he's forced to work with her and be around her. Soon it becomes clear that the animosity is largely due to his attraction to her.

The chemistry between the two is intense. This book is so sexy, steamy and the story moves quickly. I finished the book in one sitting.

For a moment though, I sort of hated this story. I notice with a lot of Harlequin Presents that their is a very specific formula, which for the most part is fine. But sometimes the "black moment" or the moment when everything takes a turn for the worse and begins to fall apart feels too forced and obligatory. This story was one of those instances. This character who had previously been so kind and gentle upon discovering the woman he was with was a virgin the first time they had sex, morphs into a complete jerk, throwing out wild accusations upon receiving another bit of surprising news. It didn't seem to fit with his previous behavior at all. It simply felt like, "oh this is the part of the book where things have to go badly" so character must act in bizarre way to fit formula. That part of the story made me very angry.

He redeems himself fairly quickly though, so my hatred went away equally quickly. By the end of the book, I was pretty much loving this story again.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. There are few things better than a good Harlequin Presents to provide the perfect weekend escape when you're stuck at home. This did exactly that.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.