The kind of book you kick yourself for leaving so long to read. The kind of story which has been sitting in your tbr pile and youre genuinely gutted you didnt read it sooner and the kind of story that is the reason why i love this genre. I also loved the unique occupation of the heroine.

Readers can always count on Sharon Kendrick for a sexy, steamy and scintillating romantic read and her latest novel for Harlequin Presents, The Italian’s Christmas Secret, is certainly no exception! A sensational page-tuner readers will not be able to put down, The Italian’s Christmas Secret is another first rate read by this talented storyteller!

Chauffeur Keira Ryan cannot afford to mess her latest job up: chauffeuring Italian billionaire Matteo Valenti and ensuring that his every whim is catered for and that he has absolutely no cause to complain. With her boss’s warnings ringing in her ear, Keira vows to do the best job possible – unfortunately she hadn’t counted on adverse weather conditions causing her to drive into a snowdrift and ending up trapped with an irate wealthy Italian businessman on Dartmoor in a dingy hotel room having to share a bed on Christmas Eve!

Matteo is absolutely incandescent with rage! He was meant to be at a glitzy party in Italy with a gorgeous woman on his arm not stuck in a grim B&B with no phone reception or WI-FI connection. To make matters worse, he finds himself unable to keep his hands off his chauffeur Keira and when giving into temptation proves inevitable, he seduces Keira and spends a night of wild passion with her. When the snow melts and Matteo makes his way back to his old life in Italy, he consigns his night with Keira to the past, but little does he realise that the woman he spent the night with is pregnant with his child and carrying his son and heir!

Keira was determined to raise baby Santino on her own without any help from anyone. But denying her son a father is something that weighs heavily upon her conscience. When Matteo finds out about Santino, he cannot believe that Keira kept her pregnancy a secret from him and he whisks her away from her life in the suburbs to his majestic estate in Italy where he is determined to give his son the best possible start in life. Although Matteo is a man who has absolutely no qualms about sharing his bed, commitment has always been strictly off the agenda for him. But as he will do anything to claim his son, he realises that he has got no other option but to marry Santino’s mother, so he proposes a marriage of convenience to Keira.

However, convenience quickly gives way to a passion that simply cannot be denied and Matteo and Keira find themselves wondering whether they will find the courage to claim this unexpected chance at happiness…or whether there are simply too many obstacles standing in their way for the two of them to ever have a future together…

Sharon Kendrick never fails to deliver a first-class tale packed with passion, emotion and desire and she has outdone herself with The Italian’s Christmas Secret. Sparkling with searing intensity, nail-biting drama and red-hot romance, The Italian’s Christmas Secret features a wonderful heroine readers will love and a gorgeous, brooding and sexy Italian hero who is sure to make women everywhere swoon!

A gripping romantic read from a fabulous storyteller, The Italian’s Christmas Secret is a terrific tale that should not be missed!

This book is just pure escapist fun. I really like that the female lead, Keira, had a job that I don't normally read about, she's a chauffeur who has been given the job of a lifetime, to drive around the fabulously wealthy and poweful Matteo something-italian-sounding. She would never normally get this chance, but all the chauffeur's were on other jobs.

So with some anxiety she drives, but as the weather turns more and more wintry and her client ignores her warnings, a situation arises.

I just love this kind of story, two people with so little in common thrown together by a weird and dangerous accident. While I found the seduction to be less than thrilling, it was about as swoonworthy as a microwaved potato with cheese, the aftermath more than made up for it.

Matteo is a pretty thoughtless and socially inept man. How else to explain leaving a wad of cash for the lady chauffeur you just deflowered in a crappy B&B? This part was kind of hysterical, as was the bit where Keira trash talks him to a reporter.

Anyways, this book gave me a few hours of escapist enjoyment and for that it is wondrous.

If your looking for a charming Christmas romance to read then this is a contender.
Once again Sharon Kendrick has written a sexy, but heartfelt story. Challenged by her past, Keira is an upbeat young mechanic who is working as a chauffeur when she meets sexy, confident but aloof billionaire Matteo on a driving job.
This story definitely had some funny situations. I enjoyed Matteo being brought down to earth a bit and Keira was entertaining too.
The Christmas backdrop and the different locations really made the story engaging. Well worth reading.

Keira Ryan has been driving or working on expensive cars for a long time. When her employer assigns her to drive billionaire Matteo Valenti to various upscale hotels he's considering, it's just another job. Until the snowstorm sends their car into a drift and they're forced to walk back to the country B & B they just passed. One room and one night later, Matteo disappears from Keira's life leaving her with one tiny surprise - his unborn heir.

One year later, Keira's life has taken a nosedive. Forced to live with the aunt and cousin who never did approve of her, Keira's exhaustion finally catches up to her. She makes a call to Matteo, telling him that since he's her son's father, she would appreciate some help. He arrives on her doorstep to sweep her and her son into his life.

Can the two of them possibly have anything in common - the wealthy hotelier and his chauffeur?

I like Sharon Kendrick's books and this one was especially well done.

In a time of crisis when books are not the escape they used to be, thank god for the consistency of Harlequin Presents.   Two strangers, one poor and struggling and the other a tall dark and handsome Italian millionaire.  On a snowy night, the two are stranded at a country inn with one double bed, the outcome is inevitable.  A bit weak on the character development but a nice week night escape.
It's the night before Christmas and through a series of unfortunate coincidences and the weather Kiera and her billionaire passenger are stranded. When the only alternative they have is a shared room in a nearby bed and breakfast the outcome is inevitable even if they've been striking sparks between them all day.
The morning after leaves Kiera alone with a wad of money.  As she gathers the tatters of her pride, she donates the money and has a tearful conversation with an opportunistic reporter. Months later jobless, almost homeless with a tiny baby she gives in and calls the billionaire father of her baby son who swoops down to collect his son and heir.
Matteo is a bit obnoxious when the book starts out and Kiera comes across as spineless but they grow on you. While the author could have done more to develop the characters the book delivers on the Harlequin promise.

Wonderful story about 2 people that are total opposites and yet find a way.

Any book which doesn't have the H be a manwhore & faithful to heroine (even when they are no longer together) is a must read for me. I don't care if the characters & storyline is underdeveloped, I will sill love it - and I did. My only wish is that heroine had a little backbone, otherwise it was a great read! Thank you!

3.5 stars

Keira’s job as a chauffeur for wealthy clients is a job she loves. Her life has been a difficult one so this job means much to her. When she gets trapped in a snowstorm with an Italian businessman, their night of passion takes an unexpected turn with repercussions. So once again life has become difficult for Keira, but she is determined to make a better one for the child that results from that union.

Matteo is not a likeable fellow although his attitude is somewhat understandable given his background and family situation. He has never really known someone genuine like Keira, always expecting women to just be after his money or social status. Now they attempt a relationship in order to provide for their son, but there are many obstacles to overcome, especially Matteo’s harsh view of married life.

Keira as a heroine seemed a bit weak considering all she has been through and survived. I expected more toughness from her as a woman working in a man’s world as she also was a car mechanic. Matteo’s attitude and inability to see beyond his previous Spencerian only looking out for himself means there is much for him to overcome to deserve having Keira and their son in his life.

If you like this type of Cinderella story complete with a nasty step-mother, then you will be well satisfied.

This was a great Cinderella story and I loved it. Keira and Matteo both had lonely childhoods and had painful past but together they were perfect. Breaking through Matteo's cold heart wasn't easy but worth it. They had great chemistry and passion, I couldn't put this book down and finished it in one night. I recommend this book highly.

For me, this book just seemed to follow the usual formula of Presents. It started out interesting and different, then just went downhill from there

Sharon Kendrick is always a favorite of mine. This story was very cute.

I liked this story. I wish it had a bit more body to it but it is in true Harlequin form. Not much to do with Christmas.

Now this one was not a favorite of mine. I have come to expect a certain degree of excellence from Ms. Kendrick, I adore most of her books. Keira the heroine, was feisty but I just felt a disconnect between her and the hero.

He was way over the top arrogant and completely dismissed her position as his chauffeur. Matteo was just plain spoiled and needed to be knocked off his pegs a bit. The ending seemed a little rushed to me.

This is Kiera and Matteo's story. She was the chauffeur assigned to pick him up. They got caught in a snow storm and had to stay at a bed and breakfast. They had sex but she became pregnant and had to tell him. They come from different backgrounds. He wants them to marry to legitimize their son. There are many misunderstandings. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Although the story does mention Christmas, I do not think the title fits this book properly. I liked the story between Keira and Matteo; it is sweet and even when Matteo makes some mistakes he also makes a very nice comeback. I did not like that the title is a little bit misleading because I was looking forward to the Christmassy part of the story and it was disappointing to have it very short. However, if you are looking for a sweet HP book with a spunky heroine and a distracted but likable hero, this is a good one to read during a weekend evening.

Matteo is one bossy man, ‘yes,’ he said firmly. ‘And you need to sleep . So why don’t you do that? Lie back and let yourself drift off.’ I liked this book, matteo just needed to open his eyes a little more and see what was around him.

3.75 Rating.

Kiera Ryan was the chauffeur for billionaire Matteo Valenti during his stay in London for several day. But during one of the drives in the country (checking out property) they became stranded in a snow storm. Thank goodness there was a B&B they had just past that was able to accommodate the, even if it was only one room with a double bed. Kiera was shocked by her attraction to the billionaire and did all she could to hide it. Matteo had the same struggle he was experiencing with Kiera, especially as she was not what he normally drawn too. The close proximity of that bed and time together melted all the walls and the two gave into there mutual attraction. But Matteo disappeared the next morning, leaving a note and some cash explaining that he wanted her to get her wish (he asked her if there was anything she could have if money wasn't an issue and she shared that she would love to stay in a expensive hotel and lay in bed and watch TV). Kiera was heartbroken and humiliated. She returns home and walks by a charity for kids shop and gives them the money. As she leaves in tears she bumps into a woman who sees she's upset, she offers to buy her a drink and then asks why she's crying and Kiera spills her story to the stranger. Well the stranger was a reporter/journalist. Kiera receives a call from Matteo who believes she gave their story to this journalist for money and he would not be blackmailed. He never wanted to speak to her again.

Ten months later we find Kiera pregnant, living with relatives and unemployed. She's desperate and calls Mateo, she tried before when she found out she was pregnant but he never answered her calls. But this time he did and she asked for his help, for their sons sack.

From there Matteo takes her to his home in Italy. The two work through and negotiate the direction of their future as well as their sons.

Enjoyable to an extent. Pacing of the story was good but found I had a difficult time with some of the obstacles and conflict the two encountered. Obvious where the strange woman scenario was headed. The other problem I found was the development of the heroines character. To me she seemed weak and was underdeveloped and had much more potential. She was sweet but yet not as strong as I would have liked to see IMHO. Matteo was a much more charismatic and interesting character, I found he was the star in this story. I so appreciated that he wasn't a manwhore and more selective and celibate!!! But still came across as alpha and strong too. Very nice change and need more of these type of hero's.

It was a nice read, all in all.