INSTA-LOVE LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN . . .So I get to the hotel and realize I’ve stumbled into the wrong wedding!But before I know it someone stuffs flowers into my hand and puts me on the bride’s side.I’m about to laugh and tell them it’s a mistake, but then the groom looks over at me and I realize I’m not a bridesmaid in this strange, twisted wedding . . .I’m the bride.OMG this one is gonna be … .
I’m the bride.
OMG this one is gonna be fun, don’t you think?
Drama and madness. Twists and turns. Chaos up and down the aisle.
Sweetness and darkness.
No cheating. No cliffhangers. Always a happy ending.
More insta-love, Annabelle Winters style.
more
Interesting book and keeps you guessing. Humor, insta romance and some weird twists. I highly recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Brakos, son of Zeus he says. Bella is late for a wedding. For some reason she does not pay attention and get a car that is not Uber. She knows is after she gets into the car that there are two men wearing sunglasses and driving her to a location that was not planned. She shows up there’s a man, Brakos, standing at the end of the aisle with the minister and she is the bride. Now this is where things get a little weird. Because her she’s an only child and grandma raised her. all those details are definitely in the story how imagination is like crazy. At some point I couldn’t tell if she was in reality or the similes or a comparison to fairytales. But as the story continues, the smoke clears episode it is reality. This is definitely a new twist to a new curvaceous women. I like how the world evolved around her with no cliffhangers.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Not your ordinary Mafia story
I don’t know how she does it, but Ms. Winters can write a really good and captivating book in any length. Bell and Brakos are the main characters in this one, and as you can tell Brakos is Greek. He is also part of the Greek mafia; however, this is not integral to the story but serves to reflect the real hardness of the man. Just for good measure she throws in a little of the supernatural at just the right time.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Annabelle Winters takes on quite the ride in Given to the Groom. All the insta-love steam is there, but so is a sort of dark, twisted reality.
Bellanca, aka Bell, is an unassuming small town curvaceous woman who was raised by her Greek grandmother in middle America. Grandma was not all that Bell thought, and neither is the wedding she is attending. Brakos is a king in his own mind and seems to live up to his own legend. A self-made man, he seeks a partner in life through an arranged marriage. He gets more than he bargains for as he meets his match and his mate.
Filled with life-changing revelations, humor, a little drama, and lots of steamy sex, Given to the Groom delivers the insta-love punch, with an added peak way into the future, that we expect from Annabelle Winters. She takes this one to another level of extreme that is also plausible.
I can hardly wait to see what and who Ms. Winters brings in the next installment.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Was it really the wrong wedding?? I don’t think so. Destiny and fate have a way of putting you where you are meant to be. This was such a surprising story, It started out like he was going to make her his wife in name only until he smells her walking up the aisle to his side. One glance, one tough and he was lost. Bell doesn’t believe what just happened. But there is something there in the way her body reacts to Bracos and that “blood is destiny.” I hope there are more of stories like Bracos. Sexy and hot. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This story is unabashedly over-the-top. From the chaos that makes up the initial chapters to the heat that scorches the sheets to the revelations of the past and glimpse into the future. There’s a bit of a mystic and mythic vibe running throughout but not overwhelmingly so. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
I enjoyed this way OTT quick read. It’s 100% pure fantasy but I thought the story was fun. Bell and Brakos were quite the couple and they create plenty of steam. Their is a whole lot of never happen in the real world craziness, intense, instant emotions and quite a few chuckles along the way.
This was an interesting read. The characters are well developed and engaging and the storyline is well written and has a smooth flow from page to page.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this story. It was interesting and mafia lite with romance. The characters were good, frustrating at times but also funny/snarky.
Bell (Bellanca) is on her way to her friend’s wedding. But she doesn’t end up at her friend’s wedding instead, she ends up at a wedding where she doesn’t know anyone. Bell realizes it’s the wrong wedding but before she knows it someone hands her flowers. All of a sudden she realizes that the wedding is hers and she’s the bride.
There are lots of twists and turns and I went back and forth on who was crazy or uninformed or whatever. It definitely had me guessing. Will it make you guess too, you’ll have to read it to find out! I recommend reading this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A short whimsically dark mafia romance with Bellanca and Brakos. All orchestrated by her deceased grandmother as Bell is swept up into a world of violence and intrigue as she marries a stranger in a trance like state.
I liked the way Brakos started out as cold and unmoved as he vowed to himself to keep the marriage as a business contract only. His intense visceral reaction to her that started with her scent, was unique and erotic in nature.
Their mutual attraction and chemistry lit up the pages of my virtual reader along with the mysterious past they both shared.
Short but totally entertaining!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Bella is kidnapped and wed off to a man who claims that the Gods brought them together. WTH!!! Brakos is a Greek mafioso who believes that Bella is his destiny but their story runs deeper than they realize.
The story line was good. The characters were great. I do feel that the story got muddled.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
Bellanca had a wedding to get to. But it ended up being hers to a stranger. Brakos was the Italian mob from the old country and Bell’s grandmother had promised her to him and he had come to collect. But her grandmother had other things in store for Brakos except Bell and Brakos realized they were meant to be.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Original while sometimes it’s a little too much
Short romance that is very steamy, well written, with an original script, even if sometimes some descriptions are just too much.
Bellanca is abducted one evening and married to Brakos, a godfather of the Greek mafia in the process, without her understanding anything about it. She then discovers the supposed past of her family and which led to this situation in front of this powerful and domineering man who did not even think of touching her at first. Yet as soon as he sees her, he quickly changes his mind and loses the control he has had over himself for years.
Great story.
Wow! This story had me hooked from the start & couldn’t put it down. Bellanca & Brakos story its full of intrigue, love, hot sexual chemistry & love even though they knew nothing about each other. They were drawn together by her dead grandmother & what she had planned before she died but their love overcame the secrets & lies.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Spoilers are included.
This book was a fast and fun read. Nearly half is about who Bellanca really is and having to accept that she was given as a bride to Brakos. The rest is then sorting things out between them and figuring out what her grandma had been up to. Of course that’s not counting the sexy times they have. Like I said, it was fast and fun – not meant to be taken to seriously. As a huge fan of Greek Mythology, I got a laugh out of the references made, but you do not need to know anything about mythology to appreciate the book. Anything needed is explained in story, and even then it’s mostly bonus details.
Like I said in the title of this review, this book is wonderfully dark and different. It’s out of my comfort zone but that’s the exact reason I read books by this author. I like to do that every so often and I haven’t been disappointed by this author yet. I’ll keep reading her books. I volunteered to read an ARC of this book and this is my honest opinion which I’m voluntarily leaving.
“Blood is destiny” or is it?
“The only time that matters is now. The only place that matters is here. Because in this place called here and now I’ve found my always, found my forever, chosen my destiny.” Just a sample of the beauty of this narrative. My favorite quote from this book.
I love these short steamy books with insta-lust turns to love and insta-awareness thrown in for good measure. In this one Bell is somehow propelled to her destiny which appears to be beyond her control. When she first sees Brakos, her brutish groom-to-be, she doesn’t understand any of this: how she came to be in this Uber, how she came to accept the bouquet of flowers or how she came to be walking down the aisle toward him??? Scarily amusing when she realizes what has happened.
I love that Ms. Winters includes a little supernatural something in these books too. What was that cool air around Bell’s neck? Where did it come from in this enclosed space?
As always, we have the beautiful curvaceous woman meeting her forever mate and in this case, Brakos. I loved this character: arrogant Greek Mafioso is a lover not a fighter who will kill when it suits him. There was a twist near the end that I surely didn’t see coming. Loved the glimpse thirty years in the future epilogue. All-in-all, I’m glad I got to read and review this book. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through Booksprout and it comes highly recommended if you like short, sweet but naughty stories.
Was not expecting this story. Bell thinks she is going to a wedding from a friend. She gets into her Uber and notices things aren’t as they seem. She gets to the wedding & she is in shock as she is actually the Bride. She is at her own Wedding1 Shocked that she is getting married. Married to Barkos a Greek Mafia Man. Once this arranged Marriage takes place she passes out & things go crazy from there. Now you need to read about the CRAZINESS.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I never fail to be blown away by the intensity of Annabelle’s stories. Brakos and Bellanca’s story was no different. It was fast, passionate, hot and dirty and perfect.
I would highly recommend.
Happy reading!
Rating 5 stars
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
4 stars
I received a free copy of the steamy novella Given to the Groom: Curvy for Keeps Series by Annabelle Winters and this review was given freely.
Dark,twisted, and steamy. A surprise arranged Mafia marriage of convenience and a power struggle that backfires.
Bell learns that her recently deceased grandmother’s ramblings concerning the Greek Mafia are true when she finds herself suddenly at her own wedding to Brakos ,the head of the Greek Mafia who wishes to expand into the US.
18+ recommended.