A whirlwind second-chance romance, The Bride He Stole for Christmas takes place entirely in a 24 hrs period. Timoney has been terribly hurt by Crete in the past, but plain-speaking on both their parts allow them to find their way back to each other's arms.

Caitlin Crews turns the emotional stakes up to eleven with her latest romance for Harlequin Presents, The Bride He Stole for Christmas.

Timoney George learned a very long time ago that relationships are simply not for her. Having had her heart broken by the man she loved with every single fiber of her being, Timoney had been devastated when Crete Asgar had simply walked out on her without so much as a backward glance. Having lost everything and with her future stretching bleakly and miserably ahead of her, Timoney agreed to a convenient marriage to a much-older man chosen by her ruthless uncle. Timoney had resigned herself to the fact that she will never see Crete ever again – until he kidnaps her and whisks her away to his luxury apartment on the eve of her wedding day.

Devastatingly attractive, immensely wealthy and charismatic, Crete Asgar had had to harden his heart a very long time ago. Crete had built impenetrable defenses around himself nobody had ever managed to breach – until his gaze had fallen on Timoney George. From the very second their eyes had met, the two of them had found themselves drawn to one another and a red-hot affair had quickly ensued. Crete had always kept his affairs short, sweet and without any strings, however, Timoney had awakened a fire deep within him and the more time he spent with her, the more he had found himself falling for her. When circumstance had compelled him to break things off with her, Crete never imagined that he would see Timoney ever again – until he heard about her upcoming nuptials and he had been left with no other choice but to rescue her and bring her back where she belongs: in his bed!

Timoney was flabbergasted to find herself back in Crete’s orbit. Never-forgotten feelings quickly resurface for the two of them, but will they finally admit how they really feel about one another? Or is a future for the two of them simply out of the question?

Caitlin Crews always deliver a hot, passionate and searingly emotional contemporary romance and The Bride He Stole for Christmas is certainly no different. An intense second-chance romance full of drama, heat and heart, Timoney and Crete’s sizzling love story is one readers will struggle to put down.

Written with all the style, class and flair for which she is known for, Caitlin Crews knocks it out of the park yet again with her latest Harlequin Presents novel, The Bride He Stole For Christmas.

This was a fun and fast and cute read perfect for the holiday season and I really enjoyed it. Definitely recommend it to friend

I liked the story but I just couldn't connect with the characters.
It is a quick easy read though and I did like the book but I would have liked it more if I would have been able to connect with the characters.

3/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I have some mixed feelings with this one. I felt frustration with the beginning of the book. It wasn't my favorite way to start. Overall I did enjoy it, it was a second change romance and I really liked their overall chemistry. I would recommend if your looking for something quick and easy, and if you enjoy second change romances.

Thank you to Harlequin for allowing me to feature an excerpt from this title as part of the Blog Tour campaign.
All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I loved this book! I adore this author's writing. The Hero is so alpha, he dumped her but when he finds out she is to marry another, he tries to stop it. The heroine is determined to marry someone she can never love, so she can never be hurt by love again.

I loved Crete's response to her marrying someone he feels is just an insult as a husband. He can cut with a single sentence. He may make me crazy at times, but he knows what he wants and won't stop until he gets it.

Loved it!

It's a second chance romance for The Bride He Stole for Christmas, and the whole thing was thoroughly entertaining. Our heroine has a once bitten-twice shy attitude, and the angst is amped up when the biter is the hero. Timoney is set for a marriage of convenience, and Crete is too arrogant for his own good. (Seriously, Timoney and Crete! Aren't those names fabulous?) The story is over the top, but this couple has great chemistry, and believable or not, I really liked them together. I didn't really get all those warm Christmasy feelings with this one, but I enjoyed the story. It's well written and engaging, angst and all.

A marriage of convenience. Might be a familiar trope but this story is quite a warm one that was quite enjoyable. In this story Timoney George agrees to a marriage of convenience to the one man that turned her world upside down. Will this give her a chance to finally turn Cret Asgar's head once and for all?

Here's the catch. Timoney is about to marry. Her uncle insists on it and she feels she must honor it. Crete just can't stand for it. Not at all. There was a time that Timoney thought falling in love with him would be forever, but he pulled the rug right from under her feet. Now he is back and is pretty much stealing her right before he walks down the aisle.

Crete does not believe in love being forever. He is a workaholic and what he feels for Timoney cannot change his path in life. Not wanting to think about it, the only thing he can do is to stop her from marrying the man she is about to.

I really love the way this story went. Two people fighting to recognize their feelings. For a quick read that examines chemistry, emotions and true abiding love, this is the book for you.

Many thanks to Harlequin Presents and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

So this review is hard for me to write for a few reasons, and the most important one is that I just couldn't connect with the characters. I've had that issue before as I'm sure many have but this time it made the book just drag for me.

Timoney and Crete have a past, one in which she professed her love to him and he basically threw her out of the home they shared for six months, now she is engaged to be married to someone else and Crete wants her back. This story takes place in roughly the span of one day. Crete shows up at Timoney's home on Christmas Eve and tells her she won't be marrying the guy her Uncle has arraigned for her to marry the next morning. Ugghhh, I'm not sure what else to say because this is supposed to be an Uplifting Romance and I didn't see it that way. Timoney's parents passed away and she is left with her Uncle who doesn't want anything to do with her and despises that he has to spend his money on her but she has a trust fund that she will get once she reaches a certain age so why wasn't there provisions for a caregiver to keep her in the life she was accustomed to? Why was she removed from her private school when she should have been able to stay there? Why was her Uncle arraigning a marriage for her when this isn't a historical romance or one in which arraigned marriages are a custom? So many things just didn't make sense to me, could I overlook them yes if it was just one or two but when it's numerous things with both the Heroine and the Hero then it just becomes to much.

I will say that I am in the minority with my rating of this book so check it out maybe you'll like it more than I did....and I hope you do.

Happy Reading!!!

Sizzling with sexual tension, THE BRIDE HE STOLE FOR CHRISTMAS is a fiery romance with characters that will keep you interested from beginning to end.

It's the night before Timoney George's wedding and while this should be the happiest time of her life, it is anything but. After Timoney's beloved parents died, she moved away from her controlling uncle and threw herself into city life where she met Crete Asgar, the only man she ever loved. But when he unceremoniously dumped her from his life six months ago, Timoney found herself back in her ancestral childhood home with her uncle organising an arranged marriage for her. With her heart broken she doesn't see the point in putting up a fight and has agreed to the marriage. After all, her heart could not possibly break any more than it already has, and at least with this marriage of convenience, she will have some security. But she knows that she will never love again.
Crete doesn't understand love and family, having grown up being treated badly by those who should have cherished him. But he sees his hard edges and brutal honesty as a positive, not a negative. So when Timoney confessed her love for him many months ago, he did what he always does and ended it. But something about Timoney has haunted him ever since and when he discovers that she is about to be married to some crotchety older man, he cannot stand it. He must make her see sense, and stealing her away soon becomes the only option. But will Crete finally be able to love her the way she has always loved him? Or will he hurt her even more by ending it all over again?

With plenty of chemistry and enjoyable characters, I easily became hooked on THE BRIDE HE STOLE FOR CHRISTMAS by Caitlin Crews, and finished it in one sitting. Timoney was an interesting character who had changed since she had her heart broken by Crete, and it was refreshing to see her stand up to Crete and recognise that she loved him but didn't need to roll over and do what he wanted all of the time. And Crete is an alpha male character who was used to being obeyed, so learning more about him and watching him understand Timoney better, and recognise his true feelings for her was delightful.

THE BRIDE HE STOLE FOR CHRISTMAS by Caitlin Crews is a searing hot story about passion and letting love in, and I look forward to more from this author.

After playboy Crete broke ingenue Timoney's heart, she agreed to her uncle's demands that she enter into a marriage of convenience with one of his business colleagues. But on Christmas Eve, the night before her wedding, Crete sneaks into her room to convince her not to go through with the ceremony. After a passionate encounter, he steals her off to his mansion to prevent her from going through with the marriage. But can he convince her to give him her heart again?

This book has the intensity typical of Caitlin Crews. She tears down the characters and exposes all their wounds, forcing them to let down their guard and expose their hearts. It's a raw, emotional read with a satisfying HEA.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Sizzling hot second-chance!

Crete has always ended his arrangement with a mistress when she claimed she fell in love with him, and Timoney was no different. Cutting her loose after six months was just his standard practice. Two months later, though, Timoney is about to embark on an arranged marriage and for reasons he doesn't want to examine too closely, Crete simply can't let that marriage take place. Since his attempts to reason with her on the night before her wedding won't change her mind, he spirits her away to keep her from the altar.

The problem is, Timoney can see that nothing has changed for Crete. Taking up with him again is only going to lead to the same end, one that nearly destroyed her the first time. Sure, their physical chemistry is the stuff of legends, but apparently it wasn't enough for him the first time, so why should she expect a second round to be different?

This whole story takes place over a period of less than twenty-four hours (except the epilogue) but there's a tremendous amount of activity - both sensual and emotional - during this time. This novella-length romance is a perfect example of why I love this author's works so much. We get all the backstory we could want, both for Timoney and Crete, and I absolutely adored the exquisite give and take as Timoney stands her ground, forcing Crete to man up and examine all those feelings he's been so good at ignoring for so long.

It's a terrific story with a marvelous HEA, and I highly recommend it. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Too much introspection and too much talking for the characters. Didn’t really care for the hero Crete. Seemed to full of himself. I usually enjoy books by Caitlin Crews, just not this one.

It’s been a long, long time that I loved an HP story so much so kudos to Ms. Crews because I LOVED this story!

Hero dumped mistress heroine 2 months prior because she told him ILY after being together for 6 months. He doesn’t do feelings because of past family issues, so he throws her out like a piece of garbage when she dared to tell him ILY. 😕

Then we have heroine in the present, bitter & hurt of how the man she loved treated her and agreeing to marry an old dude because of family pressure. Hero shows up to convince her to not marry him because the old dude is beneath her – after all he is nowhere near as hot, good-looking and great in bed as him! Lol.

When she stands her ground and tells him to shove off and go take a flying leap, well…what’s a hot, selfish & totally in denial dude to do when he wants his woman back? Yep – he kidnaps her. 👏 👏 👏

This story takes place within 24 hours and what I loved is that heroine doesn’t roll over and think with her lady parts and all is forgotten (well…not all the time 😛). She lets him have it and forces him to tell her why he is the way he is! (Ha! Ladies, pay attention. We should ALL get straight answers that way!)

This story is unique because it wasn’t just sex and nothing else. They really talked and Ms Crews allowed us to see why they were perfect for each other.

Anyhoo, some folks will criticize and have a lot of negative things to say like what a douchebag Hero was and how stupid heroine is to take him back and blah, blah, blah. But for me, I am not looking for RL stories. I want fiction & characters that entertain me and boy did these two do that!

So thank you & great job Ms. Crews! If you continue to write like this, you may now become one of my favorite old time authors, so bye-bye Diana Palmer!

Safety: No OW. OM in the sense of ex fiancée old dude that she doesn't want at all. Celibate during separation & HEA with kid on the way.

I was expecting good things out of The Bride He Stole for Christmas, as it is written by Caitlin Crews and she wrote one of my favorite Christmas Harlequin Presents (Unwrapping the Castelli Secret), but I really loved this novel. Though it takes place during only two days (Christmas Eve and Christmas), the author did such great work building the story and the characters so that everything that happens seems believable and true for them and the progression of their relationship. You can feel Timoney's pain and numbness at first and the reasons why she made difficult decisions in the beginning and, later, changing those decisions to better suit her own needs. You can also feel and understand Crete's reticence towards having deeper feelings.
Truly great novel.

5 stars

Rating 4.75

Caitlin Crews has such a gift and talent. I love the way she writes, eloquent and heartfelt.

This is a little different HP romance from the norm as it pretty much takes place in about 24 hours.
We are given a background at the beginning about what transpired. The heroine's internal dialogue gives us the essence of their romance and how it all began.

Christmas Eve and Timoney is at a party celebrating her forth coming marriage. Not to the man she loves, who broke her heart and devastated her, but to the man (20 years older than her) of her Uncles choosing. Her heart is stone cold and she doesn't care anymore who she marries, she will do what her Uncle has asked.

Crete, broke Timoney's heart 2 months ago. They had been in a relationship for 6 months and she finally told him she loved him. Well that wasn't part of the deal as far as Crete was concerned. He proceeded to tell her to pack up and leave, he doesn't do emotions and love. Timoney was shattered and came back to her childhood home, a home her Uncle now owns. Not your normal loving sweet Uncle, but a cold and calculated business man. He shamed Timoney's for her public relationship with Crete and proceed to tell her she needed to be married off. She was numb and didn't really care anymore so she agreed to the arrangement, business was what it was all about.

As the party is in full swing, Timoney decides she's had enough and leaves. She heads for the garden area for some alone time. She is sitting contemplating her past, her love for Crete and how it has drastically changed her and her life. That is when she senses him, and sure enough Crete appears. What transpires is a conversation that is shocking and infuriating to Timoney. They both decided that the discussion could not be conducted outside with the possibility of being found. Timoney takes them to her secret haven, the conservatory her mother created for them both.

A good part of the rest of the story takes place in the conservatory as the two talk and push each other to be more open and honest. It's a very emotional, heartfelt and sad conversation that takes place between the two. I mean I felt their emotional rollercoaster and was so engaged in them working through their issues. But at one point Timoney was so stubborn, hurt and apathetic that she decided to continue with her looming marriage to the creep her uncle choose. Well thank goodness for our wonderful alpha hero, Crete, he takes control of the situation and kidnaps Timoney and takes her to his apartment. They continue to delve into their past pain and figure out if or where they go from here.

Crete was cold, closed off due to his childhood and how he was used by his family and parents. Timoney was sweet, naive and had a sunny disposition when the two met. But after Crete broke her heart she became cold and closed off. But each pushed the other to open up and figure out why they imploded and are at the juncture they are. Crete is one stubborn hero, he just didn't want to acknowledge he was in love with Timoney. And Timoney is closed off and mad because of all the hurt he's caused her. But they push through and when Crete finally got to the point where he realized he might really loose her, he new he couldn't do life without her by his side or in his life. He came through big time in showing her he finally got it and really loved her. Love what he did for her.

We do have an epilogue of sorts. Last chapter is their wedding one year later and it was very sweet(and a growing family on the way too).

As I stated I really enjoy this authors books and writing. I was glad she pulled this off and well too. Lot's of heart and emotion in this couples road back together.

I have one issue though. Their first time meeting just didn't really work for me, it could have been written different. Couldn't see it happening with who Timoney was her whole life. And the first couple pages or chapter isn't a lite read. You have a lot of inner dialogue going on so I needed to reread it again to not miss anything.

Just a little sidetone. Caitlin Crew has a Pinterest and has a board with who she envisioned for this couple. Beautiful imagery and models, loved it.