The Marriage Arrangement

I loved the author’s Marriage to a Billionaire Series, so I already knew I was going to enjoy this novella! Although this book is part of the series, it can be read as a complete standalone.

This sweet and savory novella is full of swoon-worthy and passionate romance that will make you fall head-over-heels for Rip and Cat. Their instant chemistry and connection brought out a soulful and heartfelt aspect to the storyline. Both characters’ past experiences with love left each of them with a bitter taste in their mouths. Betrayal and heartbreak have molded them into the people they’ve become. But after a “chance” meeting, they realize it’s their past that makes them stronger. And with each other by their side, worries and fears melt away to create the possibility of a more loving and stronger future together.

The author gives her fans another taste of this amazingly written series with The Marriage Arrangement. And it’s the perfect novella to pick up for new readers who love stories built on love, fate, and HEAs!

4 Stars!

THE MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT is the first book that I have read by Jennifer Probst, and it will not be the last! The writing really pulled me and kept me entertained with the interactions of the characters and the atmosphere of the story. The characters were likable and the situation, while being done before, was a refreshing take.

Caterina Victoria Windsor ran from her home to Italy to find herself after the humiliation that she underwent from her then fiancé. In Italy she found more than herself, she found her strength. But then a mysterious man appears and gets her heart to start yearning again. But all is not right in her world, and when she finds out that her mysterious Lee is none other than Ripley Savage, the man that her father has setup to be her new husband so that he can take control of Windsor Winery. But not everything is as cut and dried as Cat seems to think, and Rip is no longer after the winery. Now the end game is Cat’s hear and Rip will not fail in this mission that has become the most important one in this word.

This was a quick and cute story. The characters were likable and the writing was very well done. I liked reading how Cat was able to find herself again and take the reins of her power back. Rip, while initially I didn’t care for him, become someone that I really started to like and see in a new light. The more I learned about Rip, the more I began to understand him.

All in all, I liked the story. It was cute and had engaging characters. The story was well written and enjoyable.

eARC through InkSlinger PR

The Marriage Arrangement is a novella in the Marriage to a Billionaire series by the very talented Jennifer Probst. I am a big fan of Jennifer and this series so I was excited to get more! Ripley Savage is running the Windsor Winery and it’s his life. He’s saved the business, but then he finds out he has to marry the owner’s daughter if he wants to keep it. It needs to stay in the family. Caterina ran away from the family business over a year ago after a bad break up. She just couldn’t be there. She’s been in Italy trying to decide what to do with her life. Rip needs to bring her home and marry her to keep his job and what he loves. Cat doesn’t trust him, but she loves her dad and her legacy. When they are forced to work together all day, the sparks fly. Will Cat agree to marry Rip for more than just the winery? Will Rip win over her heart? I loved this story. It’s short, but it packs in all the feels. I laughed, cried, had to fan myself and didn’t want it to end. Jennifer always delivers with her deep characters, wonderful writing and fun scenes.

“Carbs. There’s something sexy as hell about watching a woman eat a piece of bread.”
“I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

“I think you’re beautiful,” she whispered.
“Keep looking at me like that and there’s only one place we’ll end up.”

“What did you think when you first saw me? Please include the word hot in there somewhere.”

After years of working incredibly hard and singlehandedly saving Winsor Winery, Ripley Savage expects that when the owner and his mentor steps down, Rip would inherit the company. But there’s a catch. Turns out the family run business can only be owned by a family member. Willing to do whatever it takes to get what he feels like he’s earned, Ripley seeks out Caterina, the runaway rich girl daughter of his boss. Ever since being cheated on by her fiancé, Cat has been hiding out in Milan, unwilling to return home to the life she felt boxed into. But in order to get the winery, Rip doesn’t just have to convince Cat to come home, he also has to convince her to marry him, making him a part of the family.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like Caterina, but it turned out that her character was fabulous. She had so much more depth to her character than I’d expected. In the beginning, Ripley painted her as just an awful socialite who ran away to Europe to spend her ailing father’s money. So as the story developed and we learned more about Cat’s backstory and why she has the emotional responses to situations that she does, I just grew to love her more. Sure, she didn’t always make the best decisions, but I understood her motivations and when the time came, she made smart and bold choices that I respected.

But it was absolutely the reverse of that when it came to Ripley. I really liked him at the beginning- I had a lot of respect for him working so hard and being so devoted to his adoptive father figure. And I understood his motivations for wanting to do whatever it took to obtain what he felt like he deserved from the winery. But here’s the thing. You can’t just lie and deceive someone for the vast majority of the book and have me still think you’re the good guy at the end? From the book blurb, I anticipated that Rip would track down Cat, convince her that a marriage arrangement would be mutually beneficial to both of them, and then they’d eventually both realize that they had feelings for each other. Fake dating, forced proximity, all of that is very much my cup of tea. But what really happens is that Rip basically stalks Cat and when they finally meet, his entire introduction to her is essentially a lie. He then spends most of the book falling in love with her and letting her fall in love with him, but without ever telling her the truth about his name, what he does, or that he’s only in Milan to convince her to move back home and marry him. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he constantly struggled with all the lies, but still continued to do it, even breaking his own rule of not sleeping with her until she knew the truth. He had a hundred opportunities to do the right thing, but instead everything fell apart when someone else let the truth slip. By this point, I was really rooting for Caterina and struggled to have any respect for Ripley after that.

The one thing that really held my attention and kept me reading until the end, despite my utter dislike for Ripley, was Probst’s writing style. I may not have been hooked on the characters, but I absolutely adored the setting. Probst did a great job of describing the sights, and more importantly, the tastes of Milan in a way that just made me desperately want to book a flight there and just eat all the food.

One of my favorite series of all time is The Marriage To A Billionaire series by Jennifer Probst. It’s one of the first ones I started reading right after I got back into reading romance books. I fell in love with the way Jennifer can tell a story and make you care so much for her characters. This also started my love for story line theme where the couple have to marry for a certain reason and then the hero realizes he loves her and has to win her heart. The Marriage To A Billionaire series has this premise in each book and Jennifer nailed it every time. I do a lot of reading for the blog and for my own personal enjoyment but this series is one I revisit every year. I don’t do that a lot and there are only a hand full of books that are on that list.

“All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” ~ Mitch Albom

While this is the series that made me fall in love with her writing this isn’t the only one that I enjoyed. She is an amazing writer and she shows with each one of her books. I hope you love this one like I did. This novella sets up the series and show the ones that already read it just how it began.