I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The bridegroom, duped at the altar, by a switch in the bride to be, takes revenge. But his plans fall awry when he starts falling in love with his timid bride. An enjoyable read

His Shock Marriage In Greece is written by Jane Porter and is published by Mills & Boon Modern. Damon Alexopoulos is a powerful shipping tycoon who has overcome a dark past and wouldn’t let his emotions control any part of his life. His marriage, therefore, was purely business. Unfortunately for him his original bride, Elexis, fled the night before and her sister, Kassiani Dukas, her polar opposite in every way, is forced to be the replacement bride as her family will lose everything if this marriage does not go ahead. Even though Damon realise he has been duped at the church that he has been tricked, he continues with the ceremony. They discover a passionate attraction during their honeymoon around the Greek islands, but due to Damon’s fear of love and commitment can they move beyond just hot sex to a fulfilling marriage?

This could of been the trite swapping brides at the Altar and they automatically fall in love, but it wasn’t. Damon was expecting the traditional society bride: an exuberant, elegant, confident bride, and on the face of it he got the exact opposite when he was tricked in to marrying her sister. The pair go through a journey of self discovery as they honeymoon around the Greek islands and it is interesting to see how their characters and relationship slowly changes.




I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley.

His Shock Marriage in Greece is the third book in the Passion in Paradise series. The series is written by a variety of authors, this one is written by Jane Porter.

Damen Alexopoulos is a rich shipping tycoon who has worked himself up from poverty to where he is now. He had a horrendous childhood which has left him scarred mentally and he has sworn off being emotional about anything. He knows, however, that he needs to marry and who better to marry than a fellow shipping man's gorgeous daughter, Elexis. She will play the part of socialite wife plus their businesses will amalgamate. A plan has been in place for the arranged marriage for a while, but when it is time for the wedding to take place his fiance does a runner.

Damen is not a man to be crossed especially as he has already ploughed a lot of money into the other company. He is fuming when he finds out about Elexis and tells his future FIL that she better be found and at the church the next day. Having no way of finding her, he offers Damen the next best thing, his younger daughter, Kassiani.

Kassiani couldn't be more different from her sister. She is intelligent, and she abhors parties and socialising. Definitely not what Damen wanted in a wife. She also wasn't as beautiful she has always been made to feel dowdy, fat, and second best. Damen has never really paid any attention to her, but that doesn't stop him recognising her despite her thick veil when she is walking up the aisle towards him. Shocked that they thought to trick him, he is about to leave the church when she reaches him, but when she looks at him and offers a heartfelt apology he stays. Why? He doesn't know.

At their reception, Kassiani can't bring herself to face all the people so when Damen finds her crying in a bedroom he whisks her away and onto a boat to his yacht. He can't understand why she would sacrifice herself for the sake of her father, and in all honesty, he isn't at all pleased at the deception. Still, something about her intrigues him. Maybe if she agrees to live by his rules the marriage might be acceptable. Or maybe he should get the marriage annulled. Kassiani didn't want an annulment because despite not marrying for love, she wanted to be away from her father. She wanted to be married and to have children, and she's also secretly fancied Damen for as long as he was engaged to her sister.

They have the length of their honeymoon, sailing around the Greek islands to see if they can make a go of it. Their first night consummating their marriage was a very happy surprise to both of them, so passionate and fulfilling. Sex every time with them was like that. The problem was that every time Kass tried to get emotionally close to Damen they ended up fighting because he refused to open up to her. He was determined to keep their relationship as it was, no love, no caring.

Unfortunately for Kass, despite him being so cold at times, he also was very protective of her, tried to make sure she loved their honeymoon, and she soon found that the man he tried to suppress was shining through. That man, she falls in love with. But he never wanted that, he doesn't want that, and he pushes her away. Will he come to his senses, or will they end up divorcing? Kass certainly knows that she can't stay with him if he will only end up resenting her love for him. Damen is determined that he can't be what he needs her to be.

They are such an amazing couple and their passion knows no bounds. The steamy scenes were written beautifully, so much so that even though no words of love were ever mentioned at the time, as a reader you just knew that there had to be more than just lust there.

I loved the virtual trip around Greece that I had via the honeymoon trip, it was beautiful reading about all the places and some of the history of the places they visited. This book was a wonderful, sexy romance with heartfelt moments and an escape from real life by 'seeing' Greece with our couple.

There was an occasion when some in-continuity occurred which is a shame because other than that the book was perfect. I really enjoyed the story and am happy to recommend it.

Kassiani Dukas is the Ugly Duckling of the family, unwanted and unnoticed. She is intellectual and smart, looking for a way to stand out in her father's eyes. Despite everything she is opinionated and not one to pity herself.
Damen Alexopoulos is self made, independent and unemotional. He has a mysterious past, with a dominating personality.
Damen is supposed to marry the best daughter for merging Aegean Shipping with Dukas Shipping, but instead of his planned marriage to the beautiful Elexis, the bride goes missing and gets swapped by her father with the bride's plain sister, Kassiani.
There is chemistry between the characters and definitely a mystery to why Damen needs to keep his emotional distance from Kassiani. But Kassiani is not a pushover, and will question her way into Damen's heart.
The mystery of Damen's past is definitely unexpected and gives a clearer understanding of why he is the way he is.
This book was received free from NetGalley via Mills and Boon Insiders, but that does not influence my opinions.

When Damen Alexopoulos make a deal to marry Dukas' daughter and in exchange he will get to take over Dukas Shipping he gets more than he bargains for when as part of the deal his arranged bride flees leaving her younger sister to either marry Damen or for the deal to fall through. Kassiani Dukas has always been the plain sister, the one who was largly ignored her whole life, who secretly dreamt of more. So when she steps up to the alter instead of her sister, Damen has to decide whether to continue with the marriage or to have the deal fall through. Kassiani challenges Damen's beliefs and works her way under his skin until he starts to question his very being. This story takes both Kassiani and Damen on a journey of self discovery but during the proces they manage to not only save themselves but each other. Will the wrong sister turn out to be the right wife after all?

I enjoyed this book, but I had some issues with the dynamics between the main characters. I loved Damen, he was so broken, cold and broody, and Kass was good opposite him, feisty and unapologetic most of the time. I wished Kass would've felt happier in her skin.

An enjoyably simple tale with heart
4 stars

There’s always something comforting and pleasing about a Mills & Boon Modern romance. You know exactly what you’re getting - an alpha male hero (preferably rich), an innocent heroine, a misunderstanding of some sort and enough exotic locales that you will ache to be on holiday.

We get all that we’re hoping for with this book - all written in a style that pulls you in and makes you care about the story. And you can’t help but care for the characters in this tale, too. Kassiana feels older and wiser than her 23 years. She’s opinionated, feisty and knows what she wants yet she has a lot of hang-ups and insecurities. Her weight is probably the biggest issue that Kass has with herself. It was interesting to hear her describe herself, and then hear Damen’s description of her - and both were so startlingly different yet obviously about the same person. It felt refreshing somehow. And even with her insecurities, Kass never came across as a moaner, or mired in self-pity. I liked her.

Damon is a darn fine example of an alpha male. He’s hard, cold and man does he want to control Kass and the relationship as a whole. But he’s in for a shock as Kass was raised in America and she has opinions and she’s not afraid to share them - whether they’re invited or not. It started to frustrate me after a while that Damen wouldn’t open up (and I know it annoyed Kass!) but then Kass wouldn’t pass up an opportunity for an argument, and defied Damen in areas that I thought went too far. This swapped my frustration to Kass and made me feel more for Damen!

There were a couple of things that stopped me from giving this book 5 stars. The first was the sex scenes - or more accurately, how they were described. We had a good sizzle on the sex scenes in this book and some good interactions between the couple that gave me little butterflies. Damen was as in control in bed as he was in business/life - but the sex kept on getting described as fiery, a little bit dark and daring - with Damen being dominent. A little sizzle - yes. Dark, depraved and kinky it certainly was not. That’s in no way a problem but don’t try and sell me something that’s clearly mislabeled.

The other thing was there were a few inconsistencies in the book which annoyed me. Things such as Damen getting mad because Kass had moved out of the master suite, and then, a page or two later, being told about Kass moving out of the master suite and this being the first he’d heard of it. There were a few things like that that just irked.

But overall, this was a really good version of a classic Modern Mills & Boon tale. I was interested in the characters and their love story - I wanted them to get their happily ever after and I quickly ploughed through this book to find out what happened. I would happily pick up another Mills & Boon by Jane Porter and would also happily recommend this book to fans of this line. 4 stars for an enjoyably simple romance that has some good messages and a lot of heart.

The runaway ride brought them together but the substitute bride determination held them together. The book is really interesting to read but after a while Kassi became really clinging and annoying which put me off the book slightly. Still its a good read.

It all began with a business deal, Kassiani's father made a deal with Damen, where in return for investment in his shipping business Damen would marry his daughter. Thing is the promised daughter, the charming, detached socialite, has run away. Instead Damen ends up marrying Kassiani. He is not at all impressed that his bride was swapped at the alter

Kassiani is smart, curvaceous, not confident and not at all what Damen wanted. Determined to get an annulment Kassiani instead offers him a deal, if she can seduce him then they stay married and her fathers business is safe

Unsurprisingly this deal works and Kassiani and Damen find a burning passion between them, as well as some possible feelings

Kassiani feels a lot, if not too much, having been neglected by her father and wants to get to know Damen, who has been hurt in the past and now shuts off his emotions, believing that the only time he feels in in the bedroom

Will Kassiani break through Damens barriers and make him feel or will it tear them apart?

I struggled with this book a bit, I think it's because I couldn't really gel with the main characters. I did go through times when I liked Kassiani especially when she is fighting for her marriage but she fluctuated in my opinion between likeable and 'go and do it yourself instead of waiting around'. Damen on the other hand I spent most of the book trying to find something in him as a character that didn't get revealed until late in the story, after that I could bond with him and he became much more likeable

I did love the emotion that is shown by Kassiani in her arguments and her determination to not be a doormat, and fighting back at Damen with his various rules including not to talk about any kind of emotions. In these exchanges I was able to bond and understand a lot more about her

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy their stories with a bit of fight and drama in a beautiful setting

Providing you can see beyond the rather contrived titles of Mills and Boon romances, which don’t seem to keep pace with the 21st-century covers and themes, they are very readable, and a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours.

‘Marriage of Convenience’, and ‘Mistaken Identity’, are the predominant tropes in this story, which involves Kass agreeing to be the last minute, stand-in bride, to save the family shipping firm, when her socialite sister runs away.

Ignored by those who should love her, Kass wants to escape, and realise her inheritance, which she only gets if she marries, or on her twenty-fifth birthday. She is naive, but knows what she wants, and hopes to improve her life, even if her husband to be doesn’t want to cooperate.

This is a passionate romance, dark and troubled because Damen has a tragic past that he tries to overcome, through anger and control. Kass is courageous and clever, and you cannot help, but empathise with her wish to help Damen become the man he should be.

A darkly dangerous romance that focuses on abuse, not a usual theme in this type of romance. It is sensitively written and provides strong conflict, to the happy-ever-after, the couple seeks. Naturally, this is Mills and Boon romance, so there is a hopeful, positive ending, which this enjoyable romantic story deserves.

I received a copy of this book from Mills and Boon via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

An arranged marriage and business deal goes wrong when the bride disappears and it's left to her sister to be the one who has to complete the deal.
A seductively sexy ride of discovery follows, where old feelings are challenged, to give way to new understandings of true love and happiness. With a happy ever after ending in this romantic story.

Another lovely romance from Mills & Boon, you know what you get with these books and it’s great. You are guaranteed a happy ending, an emotional read, and a wonderful journey along the way. Kassiani Dukas agrees to replace her sister when she disappears hours before her wedding to Damen, desperate to escape her controlling family and life. Kass soon realises she has left one cage for another. This is a lovely story, well written, with a suave romantic male to fall in love with, a great heroine you can’t help but love. This a definite happy summer read.


Thanks to netgalley and Mills & Boon for a free copy for an honest opinion

A Not so Convenient Bride, 4 Stars 🌟

Kassiani Dukas has always been rejected by her family; she is ordinary and studious unlike her beautiful, charming and glamorous sister and brother. But when her sister Elexis disappears hours before her wedding to Greek businessman Damen Alexopoulos her father thinks nothing of replacing Elexis with her younger sister Kassiani. Kassiani only agrees to his plan as it means she can escape her father's house; but Damen is no fool and is about to walk out of the church when Kassiani's whispered "I'm sorry" see's Damen agreeing to the marriage, although he is adamant it will be on his terms. But can Kassiani's sweet innocence chip away at Damon's resolve and see this hardened businessman embrace her love and a well deserved HEA for them both!

Ms Jane Porter is a prolific writer with an extensive back catalogue of over 40 romances and a five-time RITA Award finalist; her books are always well written with passionate storylines and emotionally engaging characters. Her latest book His Shock Marriage in Greece doesn't disappoint and is a definite must-read for all fans of romance.

For your information, I received my copy from Netgalley and Mills and Boon via Mills and Boon Insiders however, this does not influence my opinions as all opinions are my own.

5 - "No more looking back..." Stars!

Jane Porter delivers up the full Mills & Boon reading experience with His Shock Marriage in Greece, expectations were met (and exceeded) with the story-line and the characters, brooding Alpha Gazillionaire versus Innocent, yet feisty Heiress, and I loved every minute of Kassiani and Damen’s story.

"I’m not one to forgive and forget…"

After Kass’s sister up’s and does a Houdini the night before her arranged marriage to shipping magnate Damen Alexopoulos, their father takes desperate steps and forces Kass to step into the wedding dress her sister was supposed to be filling. Being of a curvier persuasion said dress needs a few alterations before it fits the bill, and although Damen knows his bride isn’t the one agreed upon as she stumbles down the aisle on the three inch heels towards him, he goes through with the ceremony.

She belonged with him. She belonged to him. For the first time in her life, she belonged somewhere…

Kass see’s her marriage to Damen as a way to escape her life with her controlling family, it doesn’t take long for her to realize that she has left one gilded emotionless cage for another when Damen tries to lay out the ground rules of how their marriage will work. Doesn’t take long for them both to start crossing the lines though, but Damen’s dark past is something that still hold him in its grip, and unless he can deal with his demons their marriage is doomed.

"I think I push you too far… I fear I am too much for you sometimes."

You know what you are getting with a M&B title, Jane Porter delivers it up in spades, I loved the whole book but the last couple of chapters were what tipped it into the five star rating, I even had a little sniffle!

Love healed...
Love hoped...
...and love endured.

ARC generously provided via Netgalley, in exchange for the above honest review.