This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨.5

First Impressions
The Temporary Wife is a story that was teased in the first book "The Wrong Bride" and I was very intrigued to see where the author would take this book and how it would be developed. I honestly went into this one pretty blind and I am happy that I did because this book while not quite as good as the first book, was such a win of a read and I couldn't put it down. I had such a blast with Luca and Valenina and their chemistry was off the charts. Its definitely a story that will intrigue you as its very unique in its set up and has a blend of both arranged marriage and marriage of convenience and once you read the book you will understand how it has both. haha There is such beautiful banter between Luca and Valentina and whenever you get such strong personalities, you just know that both will clash so quickly with each other. Its also such a well developed story that quickly had me all in for this pair.

First Line
There's a bead of swear forming on the forehead of the man sitting in front of me, despite the chilly temperature in my office.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Luca
An alpha, commanding, CEO of his family's finance company, and prideful

The Heroine: Valentina
Determined, will fight for those she loves, and is efficient and strong willed.

What I Loved
The Temporary Wife is a story that I loved up and down. The first is the banter between Val and Luca. They are on fire together and from the beginning you know that there is definitely more between them than a love/hate relationship being forced to work together. They have worked together for years, so there is that sense of knowing each other and how the other works. They like to play some tricks on each other but its pretty low key. What I really fell hard for was the pining that they both have with each other. They just don't want to admit what they are feeling for each other. And it isn't until Luca gets engaged, that their feelings for each other actually come to the surface but they don't even admit fully what they have together. It takes some craftiness of their family, for them to truly admit what they are feeling for each other. The heroine especially is in denial. Luca is pretty clear on what he is feeling for the heroine. But Valentina is so determined not to love anyone and Luca is one determined man. He isn't an alpha male for no reason. He stays the course and fights for the woman he loves. And Luca is definitely my favorite hero so far that this author has written.

What I Struggled With
I will be honest in that I think the heroine took matters a bit too far in her resistence against Luca. She also is a ice queen and too stubborn for her own good. I do wish we could have seen her show her vulnerabilities and heart to Luca a bit earlier in the book.

Overall View
The Temporary Wife is a powerful story that held my attention from the very beginning. Its a story of family, fighting for what you believe in and sacrificing it all for love in the end...

Favorite Quote(s)
"You were never a pawn," he says, his voice soft. "You were always my queen. Everyone knew it but you."

The man holding my hand… he isn’t the cold and indifferent Luca I know. I don’t recognize this version of him, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me, because this version of Luca? This is a man I could lose my heart to.

You brighten up my darkest days, and you give me purpose when everything feels hopeless. At the core of all that I am, there is you. Until I breathe my last breath, that will be true.” He takes the ring out of

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance
Character Types: Billionaire, Ice Queen
Themes: Book Boyfriend, Angst
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Marriage of Convenience, Forced Proximity, Boss and Employee

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Hopelessly Devoted To You

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes Read in Order if Possible but can be read as a standalone ( )

The Temporary Wife is the second in The Windsors series. The Windsors are a wealthy family with a tradition of arranged marriages. When its Luca Windsor’s turn, he balks at the idea of marrying his grandmother’s choice and decides to marry the one person his grandmother might forgive, his secretary, Valentina.

Eight years ago, Luca’s grandmother hired Valentina to work for Luca. Luca was unhappy with this arrangement and did everything he could to make her life miserable: pushing her to complete impossible tasks and learn difficult skills. However, Valentina soon became indispensable, and Luca could not imagine his life or work without her.

However, after Luca’s grandmother arranges his marriage to a wealthy heiress, Luca and Valentina’s relationship crumbles and Valentina quits. Luca will do anything to bring her back and get out of his arranged marriage. So he proposes a marriage of convenience.

The rules are simple:

1) Don’t fall in love
2) Keep their marriage a secret at work
3) Share a bed every night

Both sides quickly discover that there might be more to this marriage than convenience. However, their past, family, and insecurities continue to get in the way. Will they rise above and find their happily ever after… well, I guess you will just have to read to find out.

Like most @catharinamaura novels, this book looks at fraught family relationships, rising above challenges to find love, and finding new family ties when your old ones have let you down. However, I especially loved the ending for this one. Whatever you do, do not skip the 10-year epilogue. That alone made this one of my favorite books by this author. ( )