Seduced for the Inheritance

by Jennifer Lewis

Book Overview

How long could she deny him? She was the cook's plain-Jane daughter. He was the estate owner's privileged son. But now Anna's beloved mother and Reynaldo DeLeon's wealthy father were gone, their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373768303
• ISBN13: 9780373768301
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Harlequin Desire
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 4.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Jennifer Lewis's SEDUCED FOR THE INHERITANCE is a captivating tale from the very first page

4.5 blue ribbons Anna's life is in turmoil! In the past year she's experienced bankruptcy, divorce, and now the death of her mother. She's literally flat broke and her childhood home, the place where she could always run for comfort, belongs to her mother's employer, Robert De Leon. Anna's faced with cleaning out her mother's things, trying to keep her failures a secret and battling her desire for Naldo. Naldo De Leon is a proud man. The De Leon plantation has been part of his family legacy for four hundred years and he means to keep the family name completely free of scandal. That means covering up any hint of the ten year affair that his father, Robert, carried on with the cook, Leticia Marcus, Anna's mother. Only burying this family secret is turning out to be far more complicated than he ever expected. After an emotional day of sorting through her mother's possessions Anna is unkempt and not prepared to see Naldo. He doesn't recognize her and assumes that she's been hired to clean out the cottage. Naldo has his own reasons for needing to be able to go through Leticia's belongings before anything is removed from the premises. Family heirlooms his father gave to Leticia have to be somewhere hidden in her cottage and he intends to find them. It isn't until he hands her his phone number and makes the request that she come back tomorrow to complete her chore that he realizes that the woman he believed to be the cleaner is Anna. He offers his condolences on her mother's death and then mentions that his father died that morning. He'd suffered a massive heart attack and managed to hang on for three days but there was nothing doctors could do to save him. Anna is stunned by the news of Robert De Leon's death, he'd always been such a strong indestructible force that it seems unimaginable for him to be gone. Two days later, Anna is present at Robert De Leon's will reading. Her mother's long term employment with the De Leon family made her part of the select group who would be provided small legacies as a treasured employee of the estate. Anna fully expects her mother's bequest to be similar to the other employees - a monetary sum. The last thing she expects is to be told that her mother was given her cottage and the ground on which it stands, as well as a book of recipes Robert and Leticia had developed together. The De Leon plantation has never sold off or given away any parcel of the estate lands - until now! Naldo is determined to entice Anna to sell her inheritance but he's not above seducing her if he has to in order to obtain his goal. Anna's been in love with Naldo for as long as she can remember. How will she react to learning that his interest in her is solely because of his desire to maintain the De Leon legacy and keep embarrassing situations from becoming public? Or could his seduction be more meaningful then she even dared to hope? Jennifer Lewis's SEDUCED FOR THE INHERITANCE is a captivating tale from the very fi

a passionate love story filled with believable characters readers can't help but be drawn to

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques Anna Marcus's marriage was a disaster and her husband took her for everything they were worth, right before divorcing her. Penniless and heartbroken, now her mother, Letty, has died. Anna returns to Paradiso, the orange estate where her mother had worked as cook for 14 years and the only place where Anna has ever really longed to be. Shocking the entire family, Letty's employer has also just died and breaking with 400 years of tradition, had left one acre of land and the small cottage where she lived to Letty, and through her death, to Anna. Reynaldo "Naldo" DeLeon, heir to the family fortune and estate, is shocked at his father's will and wants that piece of land back. It's a matter of pride now and he'll do anything to win, even if it means seducing Anna into giving up her claim on the land. But he didn't count on falling in love with Anna, who has always dreamed of what it would like to marry Naldo and really be able to call Paradiso home. It also doesn't help that he finds himself following in his father's footsteps by having an affair with the daughter of his father's long-time affair, Letty! Anna has a lot of baggage as a result of her failed marriage and as such, her distrust in Naldo was magnified. I enjoyed the story of her struggle to deal with those doubts and how to overcome them in the end. I did think she was a little bit too stubborn about not revealing her financial plight to Naldo, even while I completely understood where she was coming from. If there is one thing Anna and Naldo both had in spades it was pride! For Naldo, the estate is all about tradition and family and he can't bear the thought of breaking from that tradition. The integrity of the estate is very important to him, so there is nothing he can do but fight to get back what should be his inheritance. This makes him blind to what is really important until it is almost too late. Seeing him finally realize that what really mattered to him was Anna was a wonderful part of the story. One thing I especially loved about Seduced for the Inheritance was the story of Letty and Robert. Though these two passing away happens off screen and is the catalyst for the entire story, they had quite an impact on me. Anna never suspected there was a romantic relationship there so the revelation of their secret bit by bit is quite a blow to Anna. While their love is revealed to Anna, it is revealed to us as well. Theirs is a truly passionate tale and Jennifer Lewis skillfully weaves this into the story. From the discovery of the cookbook to the orange trees they planted together to the jewelry stored in Anna's attic, their love unfolds and I was completely wrapped up in the genuine affection and the purity of their love. Even knowing some of the facts that should cast a shadow on their happiness did not dampen the emotions I could feel where those two were concerned. I was almost more affected by their story than by Anna and Naldo's. Jennifer Lew