A rainy Halloween night. A burned-out attorney driving the dark road leading into St. Helena. A drenched, stranded, Shakespearean actress dressed as a witch, and a whacked-out cat.Stir the cauldron and watch as the spell is cast. Things get serious when DESTINY PLAYS with Christos Santini and Kate Cornell.
Destiny Plays (Santini Series Novellas Book 2)
By lesliepike
I loved Kate and Christos’ story a lot. I loved this story so much, and the storyline of how they met and everything that happened!
Kate and Christos met on a rainy night near Halloween. Kate’s car broke down, and Christos was driving and seen her walking on the side of the road in her costume.
They are the funniest of the 3 couples in this series. I laughed so hard when the cat attacked Christos in the car LOL!!!
Kate is an actress, and needs to get back to work, but now she’s met Christos, what will happen?
When she meets his crazy loud Italian family, they fall in love with her. Christos can’t get enough of her, but knows he needs to let her go, cause she needs to go back to work.
Kate knows she’s falling for Christos as well, but again, she knows she needs to leave, and can’t get too attached.
Sophia has a job for Kate, and Kate ends up loving it. But will it be enough to make her stay?
I loved the whole Santini family and all of their antics.
Destiny Plays brings us back to St. Helena and to the wonderful Santini family! This novella was fun and sexy, but also had plenty of swoons. Though this is book 2 in the St. Helena’s Vineyard Kindle Worlds Santini series, it can be read as a standalone.
A rainy Halloween night brings attorney, Christos Santini, and actress, Kate Cornell, together and the sparks (and claws) fly! I love that our hero and heroine are both a bit older and more mature than the typical couples seen in romance books. They may not have known exactly how to deal with all the new emotions and feelings as their relationship began, but they both recognized that what they shared was special and extraordinary. I really liked both Christos and Kate, individually and together, and was rooting for them to find their happily ever after. Leslie Pike knows how to pull on those heartstrings and she packs quite the emotional punch in this novella.
Though the story focuses on Christos, don’t worry, the rest of the Santini family make appearances too. I especially enjoyed catching up with Nash and Farrah, who appeared in book 1 of this series, Destiny Laughs. The epilogue left me with a huge smile on my face and I’m excited to see what the author has in store for the Santini family next!
*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book*
Back to St. Helena…while I didn’t connect with the main female character, Kate, I definitely connected with Christos! He is Nash’s brother from Leslie’s other book that has released in this series…he is definitely swoon-worthy. I loved revisiting with the family and catching up them. The part when you first meet the cat is hilarious! I could total visualize it happening in my head. Overall, I enjoyed the novella and look forward to more from the author.
Oh how I wish I had a Christos! The Santini family is amazing and I can’t wait to
read more of them.
I fell in love with the Santinis in Destiny Laughs, a novella that was a part of the St. Helena Kindle Worlds series, and was quite anxious to get more of the loud and vibrant Greek/Italian family. As an Italian myself, I could so identify with this family! And getting to know Cristos and the other siblings a little more in this novella proved how lovable this family is.
Cristos is a hard-working, yet somewhat unfulfilled lawyer who encounters Kate on the side of the road while he was on his way to spend time with his family on Halloween. Kate, a woman in her early 40s who is confident in her acting abilities (as she has spent the majority of her adult life playing roles in Shakespearian plays), is a little unsettled herself, as she is getting older and no longer of the age to play many of the acting roles that she has in the past. Sparks fly when these two meet, and destiny certainly plays them!
I loved revisiting St. Helena, California in this story. I loved revisiting this family as well, while watching them begin to fall in love. While at first I didn’t connect with Cristos and Kate- Kate a little more so, it didn’t take long for me to love her, and these two together.
I hope there is more for this nosy family- I’m thinking we may have encountered the next female lead toward the end (at least I hope so; I want to see her settled and happy)!
Finished this at 5am, couldn’t put it down. Loved reading about another Santini brother. Great read and didn’t feel like I was reading a novella at all. Leslie writes with so much detail I felt like I was right there with the characters. Can’t wait to read about the next brother.
3.5*
Destiny Plays, book two in the Santini bothers’ series, is a sweet and sexy story. Christos and Kate meet by chance one rainy Halloween night and find there’s an immediate and inexplicable connection. But they live such opposite lives- he’s an established lawyer in his home state of California and she’s a veteran actress with a well respected career of her own that takes her from coast to coast. Is there any way these two such different people can possibly make things work?
It was really nice to read a story about 2 more “mature” characters. For a minute there I thought this was going the way of so many storylines lately, with the older man swept up by the younger woman. I was glad to see it didn’t!
I appreciated the conflicts Christos and Kate both faced- how just like in real life you can still question what you’re doing with your life, no matter what your age. I liked how much they were drawn to each other, and the romance and sweetness of their story. I liked that that they didn’t waste time and play games. I enjoyed watching them both fall, and dealing with those feelings.
And it was great to see the Santini gang again, what a wonderful family!
Now I just need to transport myself to St. Helena, CA quick, before all the Santini brothers are snatched up! Sadly, with Christos and Nash both taken, the pickings are starting getting slim, but I’m not giving up yet!