Not For Sale (Mills & Boon Modern) [Paperback]

Sandra Marton is one of my favourite's her books are always full of passion romance with hot leading men and sexy heroines,Not for Sale is certainly in that catagory. lucas Vieira is multi billionaire a man who had tough time growing up in Brazil he has fought his way to the top, he is also ruthless especially when it comes to his women, he does not trust them due to his experiences as a child with his mother. He has a big business deal going through with a Russian he needs an interpreter, but he also needs them to pretend to be his girlfriend, he has his own reasons for this,having just split from his current woman, he is desperate. Until one of his male employees suggests a friend of his Dani. Lucas is assured that she can speak russian and she is also beautiful having little choice Lucas goes for it and leaves the guy to set it up for him, trouble is Dani cant make it so gets Caroline Hamilton who Dani knows only slightly through college to fill in. What follows is a whole lot of chemistry between Caroline and Lucas, misunderstandings to sort through before they can have their HEA. This is a really good read, and if you are new to Sandra Marton check out her book The Bedroon Business, Brilliant!!!

This book is a classic Sandra Marton - a self made millionaire who rose from the slumps of South America and conquered the world against all odds, meets am unknown woman on a date, they are drawn together by the irresistible attraction and chemistry between them, and end up in bed together. He totally misjudges her and when he loses her through his thoughtless actions, he realises he is deeply in love with her and has to grovel seriously and move mountains to get her back. This story followed this usual MO of SM. Despite that, this book is engaging, witty and refreshing and that is what makes SM such a great writer. The Story of Caroline Hamilton, the heroine and Lucas Veira the ruthless billionaire hero is one that will pull at your heart strings. The characters are well matched, the banter is hilarious and the drama is high octane.
My one criticism of the book is actually directed at Mills and Boon for repeating the same cover for Bella's disgrace on Not for Sale by flipping the images. Did they think we would not notice? I remember I was reading both books the same weekend and someone asked me if this same girl was in both books. We tend to associate the characters from the books with the cover picture and I did not think that Bella Balfour and Caroline Hamilton shared the same characteristics from their given descriptions. One would think that each book cover should reflect the personalities described in the book, but M&B are either taking a leaf out of the chancellor's book on spending cuts or they are loosing their artistic flare for excellence. All the same this is a great read and deserves its five star rating.

Not for Sale was just another stunning romance by Sandra Marton.

The first chapters reading about the ruthless billionaire Lucas Viera had me chuckling as Lucas was in a bit of a "predicament". He really wanted a particular deal he was working on with a Russian billionaire and his voluptuous Russian wife who was acting also as his interpreter. However, Lucas had a problem, the woman was playing footsie under the table, and he could not afford any mistakes. On top that his mistress had up and left him and he needed not only an interpreter himself, he needed a woman to pretend to be his girlfriend. One of his sleazy managers said he knew someone who fit the bill. Lucas was skeptical, but could not turn down the offer, as he needed her professional services immediately. The manager called his female friend who was a high paid call girl plus the fact she was also learning to be an interpreter. However, she had a hot date so she remembered a young woman who was in her class, called her, convinced her to take both jobs and off Caroline Hamilton went to meet her future employer.

I loved the fact that Caroline was not only independent; she was excellent in her profession as an interpreter. Things were not easy for her and she really needed the money. However, what she did not count on, really neither of them counted on was their immediate attraction to each other. Therefore, Caroline pretended to be Dani Sinclair, the woman he believed he hired, the woman he was paying $1,000 to be his girlfriend and help him seal this very important deal. Lucas wanted this over, signed, sealed, and delivered. He was impatient and shortly after they determined who each other were, they got off to a bad start. Words were fired back and forth and then, she agreed to the girlfriend and interpreter arrangement. Success in more ways than one, a billion dollar deal and the woman he had wanted all night in his limo and kissing her senseless, still believing she was Dani Sinclair.

Lucas Viera was a man of mystery, a hard man, a self-made man who grew up poor in Rio, a mother that had abandoned him and he grew up living in the streets and eating out of trashcans. A man who a couple ended up taking him to North America. However, that did not last and he ended up making his way on his own. In short, he was the only reason he was such a success. However, he was not the only one who was a mystery, so was Caroline who was known to him as Dani. The same woman he made love to, the same who left his home during the wee hours of the morning after hours of lovemaking. Can you imagine the surprise when he tracked down Dani Sinclair and found out that she was not Dani; she was in fact, Caroline and was receiving her payment. Only to discover that Dani was a call girl and so he believed Caroline was in the same profession as well. He was furious because he believed she traded sex for money yet weeks later he could not get her out of his mind!

Lucas would make her pay and so he hired an investigator to get info on Caroline and found out she had an undergraduate degree and was working on her Masters in Russian and Slavic Studies. He was going to find her, confront her and vanish her from his mind. Well it all backfired, her shabby apartment had been vandalized, a man had tried to rob her, and so Lucas made the decision to take her back to his place but not before meeting her shabby cat, the one she rescued from the streets. It was an interesting time for them both as they resumed their relationship. However, one thing was for sure, Caroline did not want to end up like her mother, going from one man to the next hoping to find Prince Charming. As for Lucas, he still believed she was earning her money on her back. Not waiting tables as she had before moving in with him.

He didn't understand any of it, his desire, his feelings and what was happening in his life. Why he was taking time off from work to be with her, what was happening here? So much emotion see-sawing back and forth for Lucas, because he figured it out while standing in her shabby apartment, he wanted her and only her. However, in the back of his mind he wondered what she was doing with the money she earned on "her back"? Why did she have nothing to show for it? Why did she live in poverty? But he was determined to spend time with her so he took her to his home in the Hampton's. However, like all good things, sometimes they have to come to an end and while reading this incredible love story I held my breath wondering what "monkey wrench" would be thrown into this romance and cause heartache?

Reflecting back, Caroline remembered one thing for certain, she would not end up like her mother. So when Lucas offered her money and an apartment, she was determined not to take it, in fact she took offence at his offer. She had made it on her own and she would continue to do so, would look for a job, be a teacher's assistant so when that didn't happen and Dani offered her a job interpreting for another Russian at a New York hotel, reluctantly she took down the info. However, not before Lucas overheard and conversation and jumped to other conclusions. What a mess! This proud, hard alpha put his foot in his mouth, causing heartache for them both. Reading the last twenty pages was like going on a roller coaster ride as only Sandra Marton can write. I thought it was brilliant how she tied Lucas, the "cat from Hell, Oliver" and Caroline together yet I was very sad at the same time and cried my eyes out. Because in the end, Lucas realized what a mistake he had made, that he had pushed her away, had believed her to be something she wasn't. It had taken a simple gesture on her part, a small "autographed" gift to make him realize his mistake.

Not for Sale, to say the least was a remarkable love story, maddening at times but the ending spectacular showing that to love was not a weakness, it gave one strength and lasting happiness, especially one so deserving for Caroline and Lucas.