The Italian Boss's Secret Child

I don't normally read these short Harlequin books but the title intrigued me and I picked it up at the grocery store along with another. There is much to like and dislike in a book like this. Being rather quick reading and short, there isn't much in-depth character development but you do get an inkling of what they are like. I judged it more against other similar books rather than a longer length historical or contemporary novel. My likes: The way our couple (Damien and Philly) met was interesting. I liked that he actually thought of her as being very professional and wanted her to work on a project with him [before realizing she was the woman he romanced at a masquerade party]. The sex scenes were sensual and just intense enough. I thought that Damian's distrust of Philly was believable and I liked that there was a gradual realization that he cared for Philly and not just the expected baby. My dislikes: A little too much tragedy. Both Damian and Philly suffered such horrible losses and sometimes the sadness was overwhelming. This one weird and stupid little moment at the beginning bothered me - if Philly's brother, his wife and 10 day old son were killed the day after getting professional pictures taken, how could Philly and her mother have one? Who would have picked them up? Philly's mousey to glamorous transition was not believable. Damian's protection of Philly when her ex-fiancé Bryce showed up was out of character. All-in-all, I enjoyed this book. There were a few secondary characters that were great, especially Enid - Damian's personal assistant. I liked that she would stand up to him! A quick afternoon read that I can recommend