Italian tycoon Vito Zaffari is waiting out the festive season while a family scandal fades from the press. So he’s come to his friend’s snow-covered English country cottage, determined to shut out the world.

Until a beautiful bombshell dressed as Santa literally crashes into his Christmas! Innocent Holly Cleaver sneaks under Vito’s defenses—he wants her like no other before, and decides he must have her.

When Vito finds her gone the next day, he’s sure she’ll be easy to forget . . . until he discovers that their one night of passion has a shocking Christmas consequence!

Titles in the Christmas with a Tycoon duet include:  The Italian’s Christmas Child ~ The Greek’s Christmas Bride ~

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Title:  The Italian’s Christmas Child
Series: (duet) Christmas with a Tycoon #1
Author:  Lynne Graham
Published:  November 1, 2016
Publisher:  Harlequin Presents
My Rating:  4 stars

Frankly, it matters little to me as to when a story was published.  What draws me into a romance is the couple, their interactions, even their location… and every one of those requirements was wonderfully met in The Italian’s Christmas Child, the first title in the Christmas with a Tycoon duet.

Vito’s hiding out.  There’s no denying that fact.  Since the family scandal broke, he’s been a mix of anger and incredulity at his father’s actions.  Although he really shouldn’t be so surprised.  That’s why being able to just be on his own at his friend’s cottage for the holiday was such a relief.  To say he was caught off-guard and surprised by the pounding at his door in the middle of a huge snow storm would be an understatement… as would his reaction to the Christmas Elf on his doorstep asking for help.

Holly had planned to spend Christmas and her birthday, Christmas Eve, with her former foster mother, whom she adored.  Perhaps she should have checked with her first, since she’s just discovered that her foster mother has gone on holiday, and now Holly is heading back home in a blizzard.  When her car ran off the road into a ditch, well, that was just the icing on the bitter cake of this day.  Decked out in her Christmas outfit, lugging the food and items she deemed important to this special day, she headed toward the cottage ahead with high hopes of shelter and a tow truck.  What she found instead was a man with a devastating smile and an open door to wait out the storm.  She never expected that this chance encounter with a stranger would change her world forever.

I had such fun with Holly and Vito in The Italian’s Christmas Child (and being introduced to Pixie and Apollo, who will be up next).  In a typical for the time period HP, this one has the richer hero, the poorer heroine, the fast sensual connection, the unplanned baby, and the happy ending.  That’s said in kindness because, obviously, I do enjoy those types of stories, considering how addicted to Harlequin romances I am.  Aside from the family scandal that Vito is dealing with, there is no overly hyped drama, simply two people who felt a connection, acted on it, and somehow signals got missed, misunderstandings happened… yet, eventually they dealt with that and still came out in the end as a loving, committed couple (family). 

I enjoyed their journey to a happy ending.  Holly and Vito’s romance is well-written (as always with this favorite author), passionate, with just enough edge to keep me on my toes, wondering how they’ll ever get to that future happiness.  If that’s the type of romance you enjoy, then you’ll have a good time with this one, and look forward to The Greek’s Christmas Bride with Pixie and Apollo.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.  (So glad to see more Harlequin titles in KU these days!)

If you enjoy this author’s work, please be sure to visit our Lynne Graham page, where you’ll find other titles that you might have missed over time, and a link to the author’s website to discover even more titles.

This title is available at Amazon