Acquired Book By: I’ve been hosting for Prism Book Tours since September of 2017 – having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. As I enquired about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors when I’m not showcasing book reviews on behalf of Harlequin Heartwarming which has become my second favourite imprint of Harlequin next to my beloved #LoveINSPIRED Suspense. I am also keenly happy PRISM hosts a variety of Indie Authors and INSPY Fiction novelists.
Unfortunately, this blog tour slipped past me and I missed being able to read and review the novel for the tour itself. I re-attempted to read it a few times shortly thereafter but it wasn’t until this final week of September where I found my ability to focus and herein I am finally able to compose my thoughts about this series which is now concluding. I was thankful I could interact with Ms Faye on Twitter between the first weekend of the month and now, as I have had such a strong curiosity about how the Greek Island Brides was going to end! It was a lovely respite too, to soak inside whilst I was struggling with heat exhaustion due to Summer’s fiery wrath.
I received a complimentary copy of “Wearing the Greek Millionaire’s Ring” direct from the author Jennifer Faye in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On why I’ve been enjoying reading this series:
When I first started seeking out authors via the imprints of Harlequin, one of the authors who stood out to me initially from the Harlequin Romance line (as at the time, I was sampling stories from Romance, Super Romance & Heartwarming – sorting out which of the three imprints suited me best as a reader; as I had already realised how much the LI: Suspense line fit me!) was Jennifer Faye.
In a large part due to her consistency, her continuity when she wrote duologies, specialised focused serials and the ways in which she drew you into her Contemporary Romance worlds within this curious imprint which features pink covers in handle portable sized paperback editions! I liked the convenience of the size, the realistic characters she pulled into her world(s) and the ways in which our contemporary modern lives were explored elsewhere from where we generally live our own lives. It gave a sense of place but also, of how uniquely you can find a Contemporary placed in a setting you are itching to visit such as her Greek Isles Brides series which took me back to Greece.
I’ve enjoyed re-visiting Greece through Faye’s eyes due to how many fond memories I have of corresponding with a friend who lived on the Isles themselves. She truly captured a bit of that kind of lifestyle I had remembered reading through letters & correspondences but also, she brought a convicting narrative together which interlocked three different women in their pursuit at their own ‘happily ever after’.
As you make your way through the stories, you want to cheer on the girls’ – hoping that their true love’s match is worthy of their love and that the partnership they are building with their husband’s to be will not just be a lasting romantic connection but a truly well-rounded union for everyone involved. Faye brings realism to these Contemporary Romances by inserting dramatic adversities and different key issues each of the couples must face, overcome and sort out how to transition through before they can resolve if their romantic connection is one that will surely last. In a way, you get caught up in the hopefulness of the series long before you realise how and why each of their dreams is being fulfilled.
I am truly looking forward to concluding my readings of this series with “Wearing the Greek Millionaire’s Ring” – a novel I was eager to begin reading and if life hadn’t sidetracked me this Labour Day weekend with a bit of unexpected strife, high anxiety and a potential life shift – I would have happily settled my mind into focusing on Stasia’s story! My weekend conclude with needing to battle through a migraine this week and therefore, my reading focus was truly postponed.
Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring
Subtitle: Greek Island Brides
by Jennifer Faye
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours
A convenient engagement…
An inconvenient attraction!In this Greek Island Brides story, widow Stasia Marinakos is learning to enjoy life again aboard a Mediterranean cruise. Her chemistry with gorgeous Greek tycoon Roberto Carrass is a pleasant surprise—until she’s mistaken for his fiancée! Nevertheless, the guarded bachelor asks Stasia to continue the charade to stop his family from matchmaking. As their attraction grows, their fake romance feels ever more real…but what will happen when the vacation ends?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9780263272598
Also by this author: Beauty and Her Boss, Miss White and the Seventh Heir, Heiress's Royal Baby Bombshell, Carrying the Greek Tycoon's Baby, Claiming the Drakos Heir, Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring (Spotlight), Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise, The Prince and the Wedding Planner, Christmas in Bayberry, Love Blooms
Also in this series: Carrying the Greek Tycoon's Baby, Claiming the Drakos Heir, Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring (Spotlight)
Published by Harlequin Books
on 3rd September, 2019
Format: Large Print Edition
Pages: 252
Published by: Harlequin Books (@HarlequinBooks)
Formats Available: Ebook and Paperback
Greek Island Brides series:
Greek Island Brides | Finding love that lasts to infinity!
All marriages that take place on renowned wedding destination Infinity Island are guaranteed to last forever!
And the picturesque Greek island is about to weave its magic for friends Lea, Popi and Stasia. They dream of finding their own happy-ever-afters… And they’re about to meet three billionaires who will sweep them off their feet—and down the aisle!
Carrying the Greek Tycoon’s Baby (book one) – (see also review)
Claiming the Drakos Heir (book two) – (see also review)
Wearing the Greek Millionaire’s Ring (book three)
Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance & #Harlequin
About Jennifer Faye
Award-winning author, Jennifer Faye pens fun, heartwarming contemporary romances with rugged cowboys, sexy billionaires and enchanting royalty. Internationally published with books translated into nine languages. She is a two-time winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, named a TOP PICK author, and been nominated for numerous other awards.
What I was contemplating as I began reading:
In this final installment of the series, what I am most keenly interested in seeing is if there is a lovely return of Lea and Popi into Stasia’s story – to see the series come full circle before and after we learn the journey Stasia takes herself. I am truly looking forward to finding out a *fake engagement!* can lead to a *happily ever after!* as the premise for me seemed like it would naturally extend itself into a budding romance – as sometimes it takes something unexpected like this kind of circumstance to pull two people together who might otherwise have overlooked each other!!
I have drawn so close to these women’s lives over the course of the series, it will be a bit of sweet sorrow to ‘let go’ of them now as the series concludes.
my review of wearing the greek millionaire’s ring:
Ah, that is the bit of irony isn’t it? Just when you believe you’ve found a way to sort out your life – some new wrinkle of unexpectedness decides to re-shift how your life is going to direct itself? For Stasia, having already known the love of her life and lost him far, far too young; she was ready for a re-invention period in her life. Where she could re-write what she could accomplish as the long years left ahead of her start to close round her shoulders. Xander (her brother) isn’t quite noticing this subtle change in her mood – how she’s not as keen to be the investor he has known and has instead, started to contemplate a different course of action. In her heart, Stasia recognises it is time to move on – seek out new adventures and re-take stock of her life. I’m unsure when that will register with Xander but the fact she’s ready to embrace this part of her transformation speaks volumes about how far she has moved through her grief.
Stasia is attempting to make the best of Xander’s gift – the cruise he felt she needed and the vacation she wasn’t entirely accepting as being a benefit to have at this point in time. Until of course, she recognised someone she knew on ship – the same kind of someone who surprised her for being there and that placed her thoughts on hold as she had been contemplating her future, the plan she needed to ink together and the route in which she could take to separate herself in business from Xander if only to prove to herself she could finally stand on her own. It was hard to re-adjust after the death of her husband but as she walks you through how her life has grown and altered in the wake of that kind of loss, you see her strength and the will to carry on despite the odds she feels are weighing down on her to succeed.
Roberto had a playboy image about him – a causal dater who wasn’t interested to invest in a relationship that would last past a good fling and yet, he had his grandmother questioning his life goals in such a way as to make him take stock of where he was in life. Leave it to a bloke’s Gran to re-align his thoughts off the superficial! He was roped into taking the same cruise as Stasia not by her brother Xander (as she misconceived, I had a feeling that would give some good conflict!) but by his family who insisted that they take a family vacation together! Imagine? He didn’t seem to have the personality to yield to that kind of request but I think (as Faye gives us more clues about him) that we might be surprised to find out he’s a family man and that whatever his family wants of him, he is willing to compromise or agree to the terms they insist upon.
The unique bit here is how neither of them are seeing themselves as love lorn romantics who are just waiting to ‘meet’ the person they are seeking as a life partner. Roberto has his company to run with Xander; Stasia already has proven she needs to prove something to herself and to to Xander, whilst at the same time, it would appear Roberto shares her desire to ‘break-free’ and be on his own. I loved how Roberto has his gran nudging him about his love life whilst Xander won’t let Stasia even think of considering going through life as a bachelorlette!
This is why sometimes it is best for you to take yourself out of your routine – go off somewhere new and try to have a bit of an adventure! As the cruise was proving to be the best way for Roberto and Stasia to ‘see past themselves’ and to take stock of others (er, each other!) for a change; which of course is what is getting them into a bit of an interesting situation! It is only when they started to see each other outside their respective images in connection to Xander, did you see how brilliant it was for Faye to place them on this vacationing ship! I also think it pointed to how taking cruises allows different people to meet-up and find themselves able to communicate on a level that is free of barriers that otherwise might have separated them in their regular lives. For Roberto and Stasia were at ease here, giving themselves the chance to embrace the spontaneity of the moment and that is where I think their truer freedom would lie in order to sort out their (potential) romance.
You had to smile. Stasia wasn’t used to feeling anything for a bloke since she lost her husband and Roberto is struggling to understand how he could have feelings for the sister of a best friend!
I loved the meet-cute affections and situations Stasia and Roberto experience whilst aboard ship – they find ways to entreat into each others’ lives, where they can entertain being together without the grip of a real relationship to strain the joy of it. They were each moving through their emotional walls – trying to determine where they stood – with each other, with themselves. It was an interesting way of peering into their internal lives as they struggled for the balance they sought the most in their personal relationships. They each brought baggage and they each had family who wanted the best for them; where would it lead and how would they learn to trust their own heart(s)?
The downside to a cruise is how intimately small the setting is for two persons who are not entirely certain about each other – they have to work through building a relationship on a hyperspeed trial run where everything they start to experience together is suddenly magnified! Emotionally, they are putting each other through the ringer, too! Faye does well at showing how intricately complex a relationship can become aboard ship – where misunderstandings can be higher than off-ship and how when you are cruising with your family, the worst part is the microscope feeling you can’t shake whilst your attempting to put to rights your heart, feelings and whether or not, there is even a potential for future in the relationship which has caught you off-guard.
I felt for Stasia and Roberto – they were in the tides of a beautiful connection but with all the outside influences on their relationship, it was a wonder to me how they had the courage and strength to repeatedly re-sort through their temporary angst and find a path forward. They each came into this relationship from two different perspectives – for Stasia it was a well-loved marriage and for Roberto, it was a string of relationships which never meant anything outside the moments he lived through them.
Faye added the layer of intrigue to the background of the story just as you were starting to root for these characters! She wanted you to see dimensionally how neither Roberto nor Stasia are living outside their families; how they are still connected to the larger picture of how their relationships with family are just as critical to them as any boyfriend or girlfriend could be as they both come from close-knit families. You want them to succeed but with everything stacking against them, it half felt like it might become a bit too impossible to achieve. This is also a story where Faye explores the sense of timing – how time can play a key component in our lives – especially if we are meant to understand the cycles of our lives and how we can be unexpectedly surprised by where our lives lead.
This was a fittingly real and honest ending to the trilogy – I am so dearly thankful I had this chance to take the journey with Jennifer Faye. She put a lot of heart into the lives of her characters, giving those of us seeking realistic Contemporary Romances something to chew on as we lived their lives and were with them when their emotions were affecting them the most. It was the kind of ending you’d hope to receive and one you felt blessed to have found.
on the continuity & styling of the greek island brides:
Rather happily, I’ve re-entered the Greek Island Brides series as if i haven’t left for any length of time – as Ms Faye has a way of re-establishing us in her series with keen continuity and an eye for the details we are most eager to see on the page!
I was quite thankful the details of how Lukos died were not addressed too critically in the story as I tend to shy away from stories involving terminal illness especially Cancer. For whichever reason, those are the stories I struggle to stay involved with and to feel a connection as the heaviness of the story and the character’s journey with Cancer becomes a bit too emotionally overwhelming to process. This is why I am as cautious as I can be about which kinds of stories I do read and which ones I seek out. In a similar vein, this is why I changed my focus when it comes to which kinds of war dramas I am reading these days vs the first few years of Jorie Loves A Story. Sometimes you just have to be honest with yourself and where you want literature to take you.
Instead, Ms Faye did a wicked wonderful job of placing the perspective on Lukos’s death on the shoulders of his widow, Stasia. We hug close to her as she walks us through the process she undertook to walk through grief and how she was choosing to rebuild her life afterwards. At the same time, she also owned the truthfulness of how Cancer can erode itself into your life, taking you off-guard and the ripple effects of what happens after a person learns the truth from their doctors. There is a strong foundation of what those steps are for the families and how afterwards, putting the pieces back together is not a clear-cut option for those left behind. I appreciated this route she took because it owned to the realistic manner in which this Romance explores about ‘second chance’ love and the ways in which relationships must be openly honest and forthright in the beginning if they have any hope of succeeding in the long term.
Roberto knew Stasia prior to meeting her on the cruise but it was what he learnt of her whilst he travelled next to her which spoke volumes about how they both were at a crossroads in their lives without recognising it ahead of time. The fates allowed them to pursue each other at a particular time and place where they could live outside of themselves and push forward in a way that might not have been as plausible if they were in their ‘regular’ lives. Taking the journey with them was sweetened by how Ms Faye anchoured this novel with updates about the rest of the sisters & their families.
This blog tour is courtesy of:
Special Announcement:
As you know, this is a giveaway-free book blog – as I do not host giveaways here on Jorie Loves A Story (per my Review Policy) however, there is one exception to the rule – I love to talk about and happily promote authors who are hosting a giveaway on *their website or blog!* whilst my review is posting via a blog tour! For this reason, it is with a joy and pleasure to bring this to your attention:
All you have to do is go to Jennifer’s Contact Page
and let her know your physical mailing address*.
NOTE: Please state the quantity you desire and which bookmarks/titles you are interested in. And remember you can order extra to share with your favorite bookstore, library and family/friends. *for readers in the continental USA
You can have your very *own!* Wearing the Greek Millionaire’s Ring bookmark if you follow the steps outlined the author provided to receive one! I realise my blog is read internationally, but this is unfortunately only for those readers and visitors of mine stateside. I truly think you will be charmed by the eloquence of her bookmarks and the way in which they are lovingly sturdy and the perfect length for keeping your spot in whichever book your #currentlyreading!
This book review is cross-posted to LibraryThing.
{SOURCES: Book covers for “Carrying the Greek Tycoon’s Baby”, “Claiming the Drakos Heir” & “Wearing the Greek Millionaire’s Ring”, the bookmark giveaway banner, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Jennifer Faye, the tour host badge and Prism Book Tours badges were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Review Banner using Unsplash.com (Creative Commons Zero) Photography by Frank McKenna, and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
Hi Jorie. 🙂 I haven't had a chance to read this book. Sounds very good! Hope you have a great day!!!
— Jennifer Faye💖#BluestarIsland 🏖️#LoveBlooms🍹🚲 (@JenniferFaye34) September 11, 2019
Thank you! So far it's been sun shiny week. 🌞 Hope it stays that way. Off to write some words. Happy reading! 🙂
— Jennifer Faye💖#BluestarIsland 🏖️#LoveBlooms🍹🚲 (@JenniferFaye34) September 11, 2019
Meanwhile, on #JLASblog
Happily re-entered the Greek Island Brides – as @JenniferFaye34 has a way of re-establishing us in her series w/ keen continuity & an eye for the details we are most eager to see on the page!
👉#WGMRTour | #ContemporaryRomance
👉https://t.co/ycF708a0Ud pic.twitter.com/SbrcCf7Fft— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) September 27, 2019
Comments via Twitter:
I appreciated how you finished this series; you truly honoured each of the girls' by giving them realistic hurdles to overcome, honest heartaches in relationships & for the reader esp – the ending befits the whole journey we took into the Greek Island Brides series! Bless you!🤗
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) September 27, 2019
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Thanks so much for hosting my book! :-)