He’s afraid of commitment. She yearns for a family of her own. How can they turn a marriage of convenience into happily-ever-after? To Damian Vaughn, image is everything. As CEO of the family business and heir to a fortune, he lives his life above reproach, not wanting to repeat his father’s mistakes that almost brought the company to ruin.Gabriela Romano has discovered she’ll never be able to … has discovered she’ll never be able to bear children. Distraught and still recovering from surgery, she leaves for an extended vacation in the Azores Islands, far away from her family’s prying eyes and the constant reminders of what she’ll never have.
When social services drop off a baby they say legally belongs to Damian, he knows it’s not true, but the media will be quick to judge if the news leaks. Desperate to avoid a disaster, he takes his lawyer’s drastic suggestion and proposes to Gabriela, a woman he’s just met. She has her own reasons for accepting, and as long as she guards her heart, she’s confident she’ll be fine.
But as sparks start to fly, Gabriela begins to wonder—how can she turn this marriage of convenience into her happily-ever-after?
The Romano Family series follows the stories of the Romano cousins of northern Portugal as they find love and their Happily-Ever-Afters. Each book may be read as a stand-alone.
Books in the Romano Family series:
– Book 1- Hold Me At Twilight
– Book 2- Meet Me At Sunrise
– Book 3- Love Me At Sunset
– Book 4- Keep Me At Christmas
– Book 5- Kiss Me At Midnight
– Book 6- Marry Me At Dawn
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Family history has shaped Damian and he will avoid all relationships in an attempt to avoid being anything like his father. So when he receives a call from Social Services saying that they have a baby with his name on the birth certificate, he knows that it is a lie. However, to prevent the baby girl from disappearing into the system, he accepts responsibility for her, vowing to get to the bottom of the mystery. Gabriela, on the other hand, would give anything to have her own child and when that option is permanently torn from her, she goes into hiding to deal with her pain. When Gabriela rescues Damian from a crying baby, he recognises an opportunity when he sees one and offers her a marriage of convenience, little realising that he isn’t the only one to benefit from the deal. The story is clean, sweet and heartwarming. Living together with the baby girl as their only point of connection, proves difficult, especially when Damian and Grabriela start forming an attraction for one another. The story is well written, a standalone and comes to a surprising conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.
A wonderfully written clean romance.
I really enjoy the marriage of convenience plots, Marry Me at Dawn exceeded my expectations 🙂 very pleased with the story line and development!
“Too bad nobody today had handed him the manual for Marriages of Convenience in the Twenty-First Century. He truly had no clue what he was doing.” I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too 😉
Beautiful end to a wonderful series
Wow, I love the Romano family and it is kind of sad to see the series end. I enjoy marriage of convenience stories, but I hate the holding back feelings part of the tale. I get it, because I’m a complete chicken and would have a hard time telling someone I love them without knowing how they feel too. Damien and Gabriela’s story is so unique and interesting. Claire and other secondary characters added to this fun story. I loved Gabriela and really felt for her. Damien at times drove me mad and I just wanted to shake him. Thankfully there were others around to do that for me. This is a beautiful story with some crazy twists. The only thing I’m sad about is I wish there had been a little more Romano family involvement in the story, but the epilogue does a nice wrap up of the series.
This is a well written book with strong characters in Gabriela and Damian in a marriage of convenience love story. The author does a great job developing their story and brings it to life with her detailed and perfectly painted scenes. They have a few hurdles to overcome along the way in order to trust each other and move forward in their relationship. The story flows fluidly , is an entertaining story and had me hooked from start to finish reading. I highly recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
Story: 5
I really enjoyed this sweet love story of two people who were likable, unselfish and put the well-being of a baby ahead of their own comfort. The care these two took of one another’s feelings and the gentleness they both displayed was touching.
The love story was clean and yet there was attraction and passion.
*spoiler*
There is a love scene, but it is of the ‘behind closed doors’ variety and clean.
Narration: 5 stars
I’ve listened to this whole series narrated by Ms. Conlon and just love her voice. Her men sound like men and her portrayal of soft-spoken Portuguese women is lovely. She reads with excellent expression, rhythm, cadence and accent!
*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special
I listened to the audio version of this book. This was a marriage-of-convenience book set in modern times that actually worked. Ms. Whitney made it work by setting it up brilliantly with showing the emotions of Gabriela and her set of mind at the time she encountered Damian and his baby. I liked Gabriela and Damian. Neither pretended to be something they weren’t. The slow burn really worked well in this story.
The narration by Mary Jane Conlon was very good. The accent she used for Gabriela and her family certainly added something to the story that I feel would be missing by just reading the book.
I was given a complimentary copy of this audio book. All thoughts are my own.
I really enjoyed this story. To have been through both physical and emotional pain that Gabriela had gone through took a very strong woman. Damian was in a very difficult position.
The push and pull of the feelings Damian and Gabriela had for each other intensified their attraction. They go to his grandmother’s house I thought it was funny how she called it like she sees it! There are a lot of bumps along the way for these two. Which, of course, makes the story enjoyable.
The twist at the end is fantastic!
“Marry me at Dawn” by Lucinda Whiney narrated by Mary Jane Conlon
An excellent listen for someone who loves a really good love story with emotions you can feel right along with the characters in the story. The narration took me away from my world and into the worlds of Damian & Gabriela. This is a worthy read, if you like clean sweet contemporary romance stories; you do not want to miss this story. Happy Reading !!
I adored Damien, though maybe he was too good to be true. His character was absolutely dreamy, mostly because of how truly and noble kind he seemed.
Gabriela was the ideal heroine, worthy of Damien, yet identifiable in her pain and trials.
There was so much chemistry in this story, not simply romantic tension but the instant bond between Clara and Gabriella and the open hearted kindness of two generations of mother-in-laws.
The narrator was also perfect!
This review is for the audible copy of the book. I enjoyed this story very much. The beginning is a little sad but true to what can really happen in life. I loved the relationship between the characters especially the grandma who doesn’t mince words. The narrator is very good also. This is my voluntary review.
** Audiobook review** I was given a copy of this audio book for an honest review. This is my first book by the author & narrator. Absolutely LOVED this story. Narrated beautifully by Mary Jane Conlon. Lucinda delivered a sweet love story! The scenes are strikingly sharp with abundant details & colorful descriptions so rich & lively that they blend and flow smoothly. I will definitely be reading the rest of the Romano family series and other books by this author.
All the Romano cousins have gotten engaged or married because they fell in love, except for Gabriela. Hers is a marriage of convenience. Well at least it started out that way. She and Damian did things a little backwards–they got the baby, then they got married, and then they fell in love.
When we meet Gabriela she’s at a posh resort recuperating from emergency surgery which has left her unable to have children. She’s been there less than a week and though her body is recovering well, emotionally she’s still coming to terms with the fact that she’ll never be a mother. Until she meets baby Claire. Without a nanny Damian doesn’t quite know what to do with a baby that, although not his, he’s suddenly responsible for. He should thank his lucky stars that Gabriela happened to walk through the open gate to his patio–she was like Portugal’s version of the Supernanny.
Once Gabriela and Damian are married and back in Brooklyn, NY (where Damian lives) with baby Claire it doesn’t take long for them to be feel a mutual attraction for each other. They had to pretend to be married in front of Damian’s mother and sleep in the same bed, so it didn’t take long for each of them to wish the “no-benefits clause” wasn’t in their marriage contract. Of course neither of them is going to bring that up (my cheeks flush thinking of that conversation). Once Gabriela and Damian admit their mutual attraction the swooniness goes through the roof, especially after the reception Damian’s mother throws for them. *swoony*
I thought the author completely understood how it would be to suddenly be a parent to a three month old baby–the changing of outfits, the crying at inopportune times, being spit up on, teething, middle of the night feedings, etc. To me, handling all of that would really show the true character of someone you didn’t know well. I liked both of the main characters–they were good people who each had issues they were dealing with and thought they had to deal with them alone. It took awhile for each of them to realize that sharing your burden helps you deal with it better and in a marriage–even of convenience–it can bring you closer together.
I loved that we got little updates on the other Romano cousins in this book, especially since this is the end of the Romano family series, which I didn’t realize while I was reading it. I have all the books in the series and a lot of them as audiobooks too, so I can visit the Romano family whenever I want. I love the author’s writing style and look forward to reading her new books, whatever she chooses to write about. If you haven’t read the Romano family series you should check it out.
Amazing author, great read, likable characters, appealing plot.
I love this series.
This is a 5-star story.
I love this Romano Family series by author Lucinda Whitney. I think this one might be one of my favorites. (I also might say that every time.) I just love marriage of convenience romances and this one was so romantically sweet.
Gabriela has just had a devastating change in her life plans. Coming to terms with the idea of never having children is hard to say the least. Why wouldn’t she jump at the chance to be a mother to a sweet baby girl when the opportunity is practically placed in her arms? Gabriela is so classy and so gentle. I loved her devotion to mothering. It really connected me to her.
I also loved the sparks between Damian and Gabriela. They were yummy. Feeling the attraction was never a problem with this book. That makes me happy because I want to feel the zingies too. (yes, I’m aware that zingies isn’t a real word but it describes what I want to say.) The story is more than just Damian and Gabriela, it’s about Damian trying to find answers about the baby too. It all just felt happy around my heart.
Lucinda Whitney does not disappoint with her newest release from her Romano Family series, Marry Me at Dawn. This sixth installment is such a romantic and sweet story between Damian and Gabriela. I love how the two bonds over baby Claire. All around, this is a beautiful story of overcoming heartache and getting second chances. I highly recommend it.
Five stars stars.
I received this book from the author, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
I felt for Gabriela Romano, who spent so much time on her career, thinking she’d have plenty of time to find the right guy and settle down and have a family only to have that choice taken away. She might not have been so attuned to baby Claire’s distress nor felt such an immediate bond with her if she hadn’t gone through that. It doesn’t take long before she falls completely in love with her and can’t help, but feel attraction for her sexy father Damian Vaughn. But they agreed to a white marriage of convenience to end a year later and there are plenty of secrets and misunderstandings that come up to muddy the waters of their relationship. I loved Claire who was the reason Gabriela and Damian got together. His grandmother is a riot with her bold questions. It was great to catch up with other members of the Romano family and hear about the changes in their lives.
Marry Me at Dawn (Book 6) is my favorite book and the final one in the Romano Family series! The story is a page-turner, which gets so intense toward the end that my heart was pounding! It’s a well-thought-out marriage of convenience that had me rooting for both Damian and Gabriela. The characters are memorable, even though I did want to hit Damian upside the head when things started going downhill. Gabriela and Claire are wonderfully written. Baby Claire is a good introduction for soon-to-be parents with all the sacrifice and joy that babies bring. Luke is an awesome friend and he needs his own romance story!
It was good that cultural differences and challenges were briefly noted. There were a couple of quick scene changes, but one was particularly abrupt when Damian’s mom takes Gabriela shopping. I was hoping that Gabriela would be able to put some of her advertising expertise to good use in helping Damian, but things never went that direction. I would have liked to have seen more of the Romano cousins. The epilogue felt a bit rushed with naming off Romano family members.
Even though this is a clean romance, there is sexual tension between Damian and Gabriela. Those parts were fun to read, but I would suggest that it’s better suited for older teenagers and up.
I received an ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.
This was definitely a unique storyline! I really enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed that the H was so clueless when he did some of the things he did. That trip to L.A. was quite bizarre and unrealistic. That’s why I only gave 4 stars. Still worth reading.
I absolutely loved this book. At first I felt bad for Gabriela, then she turned my thinking around and I was so proud of her like she was my own family. I loved how Damian stepped up and made the right decisions. Such an excellent read.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.