As I've learned to expect, a beautifully written and fun read. Smart writes wonderfully believable stories with flawed but truly good heroes and heroines

A Bride at His Bidding was a good read it was a little slow but still interesting. Carrie was a wonderful woman that just wanted justice for her little sister. Her only problem was that she knew the answer all along but was to blind not to see the truth. Then there is Andreas he is a man that knows what he wants and he knows that his freedom is only a few more months away. It's not that he doesn't love his family but he has put his life on hold for so many years and he is ready to live. So Andreas knew who Carrie was and he was going to have a little bit of fun with her but in the end they both end up falling in love with each other but they are both too blind to see that.

I totally recommend this read!!

Received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an Honest Review

Great story with characters that were different and surprising for a Harlequin Presents book. Both characters were mature and real motivations for what they were doing. My only complaint is that the ending seemed a bit rushed.

I adore Michelle Smart’s category romances. The HP is my romance-ice-cream-tub of choice, so good while I’m reading it and then, disoriented and nauseous from melodramatic hangover. My forehead-slapping reaction: “Did I really just read that?” Yes, dear reader, I read them: the romance guilty pleasure, outlandish, overblown, eye-rollingly breaking every smidgen of feministic progress the genre has made. Some HPs are out there and so badly written, they’re easy to ridicule. Some are written with elegance and humour: I’m looking at YOU, Sarah Morgan. Smart’s HPs usually elicit the latter response, but A Bride At His Bidding? Well, this is one of the strangest HPs I’ve ever read … and that’s saying a whole hell of a lot if you’re one of the category’s aficionados as I am. I’m having a hard time making up my mind whether A Bride At His Bidding is a laughable mess, or brilliant. Maybe both? All I know is that its idiosyncratic narrative and character about-faces gave me reading whiplash, goggle-eyed reactions of gasping disbelief, derision, and heart-clenching delight and enjoyment.

What is this wonder about, you rightly ask? Cray-cray premise and plotting are what it is. Self-made Greek billionaire Andreas Samaras is looking forward to a life of dissipated freedom now that his ward-niece is grown and studying medicine. Unfortunately, a “viper” enters Samaras Fund Management, an investigative journalist, masquerading as his new domestic PA. The “viper” is Carrie Rivers, one of the Daily Times‘s best reporters and a woman on a mission, Andreas in her investigative cross-hairs. Carrie isn’t driven by professional ambition. She comes seeking revenge: years ago, in a bid to protect his niece from Carrie’s drug-taking, promiscuous younger sister, Andreas had Violet, Carrie’s baby sibling, kicked out of their private school. Violet fell into the terrible hands of an older, rich guy, became a drug addict, and things went from one melodramatic bad to worse. For some reason, Andreas became associated with all the unsavory types that’d surrounded Violet … and part of Carrie’s grand revenge plan.

Carrie’s infiltrated Andreas’s life to seek a reckoning … except Andreas knows her game. He plays a gleeful cat-and-mouse game with Carrie and follows it up by blackmailing her into marrying him, ostensibly to do damage control for what she’s cost his reputation and how she’s threatened his success and livelihood. By half way, Carrie and Andreas begin experiencing the BIG-FEELS for each other: the sex is transcendent; their conversation exposes their vulnerabilities, there are many “aw, she/he’s really sweet” moments and sympathy grows as misery-fests are shared. I don’t know why HP authors feel compelled to endow their hero and heroine with lives of screaming tribulation. Is it a ploy to gain our sympathy? Why does it often end in cringing embarrassment? At one point, Andreas’s mother, amongst other hardships (financial ruin, family deaths, etc.) also suffered from NOT ONE, BUT FOUR types of cancer. There’s SO MUCH CANCER between these two that it’s a miracle either one is still standing. This did not endear either to me. I disliked them: Andreas’s smirking, eye-twinkling blackmailing heart had me screaming “cad!” and Carrie’s judgemental hysteria had me yelling “shrew!” And then, it struck me, these two are like Petruchio and Kate: Andreas enjoying bringing Carrie to heel and Carrie enjoying behaving like one.

At some mysterious heart-clenching point and because Smart is a romance-magicianette, I started to like them. And I started to see how there were redemptive qualities to the narrative, like, FINALLY, no make-over. Carrie earns her own way and Andreas’s attempts to throw his money around are rebuffed. She can’t be bought, or charmed, I LOVED that. Both narrative and characters were mercurial, but Smart’s ability to build sympathy on tenderness, humour, and connection, when they kicked in, well, it did me in. I ended up invested in these two who at first I disliked and found myself rooting for and celebrating with them. Frankly, the mutual grovel scene was GREAT, both romantic and practical! Yes, practical, listen to this from Andreas, ” ‘I need to learn patience. You know what I’m like. I want something and I want it now. You need to think things through. I have to accept our brains work differently.’ ” See what I mean about being won over? In the end, Miss Austen and I would say that Smart’s A Bride At His Bidding is “real comfort,” Emma.

Michelle Smart’s A Bride At His Bidding is published by Harlequin Books. It was released on January 16th and is available at your preferred vendor. I received an e-ARC from Harlequin, via Netgalley.

DNF @ 44%
I really tried to like this book, but I just can't get into it.

Carrie Rivers applies for a job work for Andreas Samaras as is PA . What she really is doing is using her job as a journalist and going undercover to expose Andreas Samaras for what she believes he has done. Problem is Billionaire Andreas is aware from the beginning of who she is, and puts her through some smile earning things as he insists his PA serves all his needs. Ms. Smart writes such wonderful stories and this one will have you smiling and laughing out loud at parts but you will also be sighing at the love scenes. A romance readers heaven.

They last met when attending a meeting with the Headteacher at the school the teenage girls in their care attended. That meeting had very different consequences for the two girls and Carrie is out for revenge! She’s now a renown undercover journalist and she’s applied - under her real name - to be the personal PA of Andreas, never believing he’ll recognise her . . .  but he does and seeks revenge of his own!

This is a story packed with intrigue, lies, secrets and revelations. The main characters share a past but both experienced it in totally different ways and it is only when everything about that time is revealed that they will stand any chance of finding their HEA together, despite their mutual attraction. The story starts with a slow pace but soon speeds up and keeps the reader enthralled in wondering just what will happen next. It is well written and I found it an enjoyable read. I hadn’t read anything by this author before but I’ll certainly look out for more by her in future!

I requested and received a copy of this novel, via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

This was an awesome read for me. Both H & h were likable with great chemistry and many great feels all around!

Carrie Rivers specializes in undercover journalistic stings. Rich, corrupt men are her usual targets but when she sets her sights on Andreas Samaras she's met one rich man without a skeleton in his closet. When he catches her redhanded, how far will she go to make things right for him?

A Bride at His Bidding (Harlequin Presents)
by Michelle Smart

A very enjoyable read. I found the characters to be good and the plot line different than I expected. I must say I liked the writing style. At the first part of the book I was unsure I would enjoy it for it seemed slow. Then it picked up and I just wanted to keep reading. It has a good romance and nice intrigue which made it a very good read. I will look for more from this author. I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna Swedenmom

This is what I am looking for in a Harlequin Presents. The intrigue was interesting and the romance believable. The characters had real-life problems that don't have easy answers. Just the presence of Carrie's sister in their lives is a trial until she gets her act together.

This is a thoroughly delightful romance story and I enjoyed every moment of it. The author subverted so many tropes and specifically addressed a lot of the issues I've had in the past with romance novels, it's almost uncanny how this seems to be written specifically to please me!

Our hero and heroine are a perfectly matched couple - both are strong-willed and driven to succeed, devoted to family and have in common that they were forced to grow up too soon and take responsibility for their loved ones. Unfortunately they start off at odds as Andreas was blamed for ruining Carrie's sister's life, and given how dedicated they are to protecting their respective families, this leads directly to conflict!

The synopsis reveals that Andreas sees through Carrie's undercover ruse, but I didn't realize that he would pinpoint her as a spy right from the very start. This cast a refreshing new angle on the 'assuming a false identity to spy on the love interest' trope and allowed him to have a great deal of fun at Carrie's expense! It also meant we were spared the usual lashing out due to feelings of betrayal as he wasn't ever taken in by her guise; I always dread this confrontation, so it was a big relief to have that out of the way. That's one of the choices by this author that I really appreciated - instead of picking the safe well-trodden path, she develops the narrative in unexpected directions and keeps me guessing. ^_^

I really adored their growing fondness for one another and how playful their interactions became once the truth was out in the open, quite a few of their exchanges had me chuckling:

--
"I should have guessed that what happened to my parents would make you angry. You are a one-woman crusader against injustice."

"I'm surprised I didn't already know about it." She swallowed before giving a small, apologetic smile. "I did a lot of research on you."
---

The main thing that pleasantly surprised me was how the main couple actually behaved like the mature and responsible adults they are! I frequently nope my way out of romances where the heroine acts like a spoiled brat or the hero like an alpha asshole, but Carrie and Andreas were so likable and compelling. Even when they confront each other about the truth of what happened in the past with Carrie's sister, they still remain coolly rational while flinging vicious accusations back and forth, rather than turning on the histrionics or becoming violent.

My main litmus test for whether a romance has potential to be enjoyable or not is whether the hero is the type to 'silence a woman with his lips' and I'm so thankful that at no point did Andreas manhandle Carrie, even when he had the balance of power in their relationship. His respect for her throughout the story was one of the most attractive things about him, honestly. I skim through sex scenes most of the time, but the emotional resonance in the love-making here actually kept me reading once the relationship turned intimate because it wasn't simply a generic 'insert tab a into slot b' scene, but actually showed character growth and deepened my understanding of these characters. 

---
"Don't say it. Please, don't say it."

He gave a short, sharp shake of his head. Even if she hadn't asked, he couldn't look at her and smugly say, See, I knew you wanted me.

That had been the most erotic, mind-blowing and...touching moment of his life, and he would never diminish it.
---

My heart! <3 Considering the circumstances under which their relationship began, I love how these two can show such compassion and vulnerability to each other, there are so many touching moments where each shows support to the other and it's wonderful to watch as they fall in love!

I did have a few minor quibbles that kept this from being a 5-star rating, for instance, the impetus for marriage felt rather weak and towards the end, the last couple chapters did take a turn for the cheesy and overwrought tropes that were avoided for 95% of the story, but overall, this excelled at what it aimed to achieve and was thoroughly entertaining. I'd definitely recommend to romance lovers!

Andreas just can't take his woman's sexiness at times, ‘Later,’ he whispered hoarsely. ‘You can do whatever you want to me later but right now I need to be inside you.’ I liked this book.

Loved the spin on the revenge storyline, where usually its the hero out for revenge. I loved the humour of the heroine playing skivvy and the hero chuckling away about it. I really liked the back story of how the two knew each other and their road to love. Another Michelle Smart winner.

I loved that Carrie was tough and ready to slay whoever hurt her sister. She was going to take on Andreas who’s the kind of person she hates most. He’s super rich, handsome and her sister told her he’s the one who turned her on to drugs. She never questioned her younger sister and was going to take Andreas down by using her journalism power to ruin him. The only problem is the they are so attracted to each other that I thought my kindle would burst into flames. Those pages were hot hot hot!! My only complaint is that the ending felt rushed. I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.

This HP was an exceptional read. I found both characters to be mature and very likable.

Carrie is a successful journalist and her specialty is undercover work to expose crooked and illegal businesses and the rich CEO's who run them. Andreas is CEO of Samara Fund Management, he's a successful business man who runs a ethical business.

Brief synopsis of the two characters and back drop of the story, and then I want to go into why I loved these two characters and their love story.

We open with Andreas looking for a domestic PA, one has applied that catches his eye. She seems familiar and there something about this particular applicant that draws him. He does some digging and realizes that three years ago they had briefly met and under not so pleasant circumstances. Andreas niece and Carrie's sister had been friends and became involved in drugs and trouble. Andreas made sure that Carrie's sister was punished as she was the instigator. Carrie on the other hand believes two men destroyed her sister life, a life that spiraled into sex and drugs. Carrie had already exposed one man's corrupt business and life style. He had an affair with her sister and introduced her to drugs and since he was friends with Andreas (that's what Carrie was told and believed incorrectly) she believed him to live the same lifestyle. She was now going undercover, under false pretense (she lied to her boss on her reasoning for going after Andreas), to take down the second man who ruined her sisters life.

Andreas hires Carrie knowing it's under false pretense. He's determined to find out why she's after him and expose her. Andreas has Carrie with him doing menial jobs and with him at all times. Carrie senses that he's on to her and is nervous. But as the two spend time together, they find a spark and attraction that each is fighting (Carrie believing he destroyed her sister and Andreas believing she's a sneaky journalist). A little time goes by and finally Andreas confronts Carrie. Some truths are exposed and each learns things that they admire and respect of the other. Andreas's plan is to have Carrie marry him for six months so his reputation isn't damaged (she's a respected journalist so she wouldn't marry a crooked CEO). ~This is the weak part of the story and plot line, in my opinion. ~

Wow, this was a sweet, sexy and emotional romance. I loved Andreas. He was a strong Alpha, but their was a tender and loving side to him. He was portrayed a funny, fun and sweet too. And man was he sexy and romantic too. Author did an exceptional job with this hero. Carrie was also portrayed as a strong individual, who was smart and loyal, but loving and sweet. Her response and interaction with Andreas was poignant and intense/emotional. The chemistry and sexual tension was off the charts. And the emotional connection that was portrayed during their sex/lovemaking scenes was one of the best I've read in a long while.

The progression of their relationship was done very well as well as the development of their characters and relationship. The story's of their families and life experiences was poignant as well and was a nice addition.

This is Andreas and Carrie’s story. She was an investigative journalist and he was a Greek tycoon. She had a vendetta against him because his colleague had made her sister a drug addict and she thought Andreas was involved. She pretends to be an applicant for a personal assistant job. He sees through her disguise. Damage is done to his reputation, they must marry for six months. There are many misunderstandings. True love conquers all. I thought this story was great.