Forgiven But Not Forgotten?

DePiero Siblings #2

by Abby Green

"Much as I hate to admit it, you might just be worth paying an astronomical amount of money to bed."

Siena DePiero might have blue blood in her veins, but she's never coveted her family's champagne lifestyle-it's only ever brought her misery. When the family bubble bursts, they are left destitute and Siena's only tradable asset is her virginity...

Andreas Xenakis has waited years to get his revenge and he'll willingly pay to have Siena in his bed and at his mercy. But after just one night together everything Andreas once believed about poor little rich girl Siena is shattered...

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Enemies To Lovers, Harlequin Romance

191 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Abby Green spent her teens reading Mills & Boon romances. She then spent many years working in the Film and TV industry as an Assistant Director. One day while standing outside an actor's trailer in the rain, she thought: "there has to be more than this". So she sent off a partial to Mills & Boon. After numerous rewrites, they accepted her first book and an author was born.
She lives in Dublin, Ireland and you can find out more here www.abby-green.com

Reviews

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply loved this book.

A beautiful, intense and emotional story of revenge, love, deception, treachery, secrets and how the power of love can overcome anything in your life.

Siena DiPiero is seen as a spoilt and pampered daughter of a wealthy man but what no one knows is the darkness and pain that lies beneath what the world sees.

Andreas Xenakis, after being spurned in a rather horrible manner by Sienna, has returned 5 years later to exact his revenge on her. He doesn't care that she’s no longer the pampered girl he first met, that her father has been exposed as an embezzler and dealing with the trafficking of women – nothing will stand in his way. She will pay for what her father did to him.

I fell in love with Siena from the beginning. She showed such courage and strength – her love for her sister and what she does for her was really incredible. And admitting that what she did to Andreas all those years ago was wrong and unforgivable and not making excuses for her behavior, was very admirable. I adored her character.

I did feel that Andreas was cruel and hard on Sienna in the beginning and whilst I felt sympathetic for what he had endured, I did want him to try and move forward and let go of all that baggage. Accept it, learn from it and set himself free. And as I began to understand him better and to see that he had so much more inside him, I became totally enamored with him.

The backdrop settings are breathtaking – Paris, London, Florence, Greece.

They just fitted in so well into the sensual,. passionate and romantic scenes between Siena and Andreas

The prologue not only tells us what a painful and horrific life Siena and her sister had at the hands of her sadistic father but also what really happened when Rocco de Marco, their half brother was so cruelly treated by their father in The Legend of de Marco (another great and loved book….)

I like the interlinks of characters from her other books – really amazing Rocco finally discovering the truth behind his first meeting with his sisters.

This is a well written, sensual story with a great plot and incredibly engaging and well-developed characters and with fabulous and glamorous settings.

This story will leave you breathless.


P.S. Thank you Abby….I took the liberty of using some of your pics from your Pinterest boards….they are so beautiful that I could not resist….hopefully you will forgive me for taking such liberty!!!!!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually a retelling of "Great Expectations." There is Siena a cold beauty who falls from grace, there is Andreas the pure young man who falls in love with an insensitive emotionless temptress, Sienna, and there is even the benefactor who sees Andreas for the good-hearted boy he is and gives him the chance to turn his life around and become a business tycoon.

Like in "Great Expectations" Siena is the hero's inspiration. His work, his success, his ambition is all about her. For Andrea, Siena is the love of his life and he is determined to find and pursue her but this time not as a poor kid working at a hotel she attends for a ball but as a rich man who owns several hotels. When he finds her again she is a penniless waitress. But now all he wants is revenge from the spoilt girl who once broke his heart.

I loved both characters. The hero was hard and powerful and inaccessible but never cruel. It was obvious he never got over Siena and he was just trying to protect his heart from another rejection. Siena was strong and a match for Andreas. She accepted to become his lover for the good of her sick sister even though she thought he hated her and all he wanted was to humiliate her. That took some bravery and emotional strength.

Their journey was so touching AND passionate it melted my heart! Definitely a keeper!

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one reminded me a lot of Bedded And Wedded For Revenge by Melaine Milburne. Both have a billionaire hero who wants revenge on the spoiled heiress heroines who lost them their jobs when they were young. The difference is that this heroine only feels the slightest guilt about the hero's treatment in the past because she clearly sees that it was her father's doing and not hers. In the MM story, the heroine *is * guilty and knows it - and that ups the angst factor.

Because the hero is operating under a misconception about the heroine's sexual status (she's virgin) her motivations for betraying him (she was protecting her sister) the heroine can feel self-righteous as she bargains to get money out of the hero (for her sister). This heroine has been in survival mode her whole life and it continues as she trades in her father's iron fist for the hero's. It makes sense psychologically - she's used to coming at power not in a directly confrontational way - but side-ways. This leads to a lot of lying, which I can't stand.

I never thought the H/h were equals in this rather grim story. I felt sorry for the heroine, but I didn't like her. The hero was so besotted and she was so full of plans and schemes and thoughts of her sister. I really didn't see the romance. But it was an interesting story.

[KatieV · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this once I realized there was a follow-up to The Legend of de Marco.

This story centers around the youngest of Rocco's two "snobby" younger sisters who infamously stepped over him in the street after their father spat on him and knocked him to the ground - the most humiliating moment and driving factor of Rocco's life which was mentioned several times in the first book.

The truth was that the sisters were terrified of displeasing their sadistic father and not cruel society ice-queens who couldn't be bothered to even look down at their poor illegitimate half-brother.

After the truth about Rocco's father came out and he was financially ruined the youngest sister, Siena, changes her name and moves to London with her mentally ill older sister whom she puts in a treatment facility. She runs out of money though and waitressing isn't cutting it. That's where the hero comes in.

The hero had been caught years earlier making out with the teenage heroine and when her father busted them she claimed he'd attacked her. That wasn't true, but she knew her father would viciously beat her sister if he thought otherwise. He kept Siena in line by beating the older sister, Serena, who he enjoyed tormenting because he thought she was "weak/flawed".

The hero was beat up, fired from his job and blacklisted. So he's very angry with the heroine, whom he thinks is just a jaded hussy who was using him for a good time until Daddy caught her and she decided to save her own reputation, not caring what happened to him. That, of course, wasn't true.

So, the hero is in for making her a mistress and humiliating her for revenge. She goes along for the $ since she needs to take care of her sister. She's very proud and doesn't tell him the truth and often feeds in to what he thinks about her rather than letting him see her true self.

Both have never forgotten about the other, however, and it's obvious there's more to the 'affair' than money and revenge.

The hero can be a real jerk as is typical in these stories, but he begins to see past Siena's facade to the real person beneath.

I was disappointed that we didn't see more of Rocco. We do see him once where he lambasts the heroine for stepping over him in the street which creates yet another wedge between herself and the hero. She is very ashamed of that episode, but doesn't really defend herself other than to say that she was only 12 and things weren't as they seemed. Later we hear that Rocco was ashamed for how he'd treated her and the two have accepted one another as family and Siena is now best friends with his wife, Gracie.

I also wish we'd found out about the father, but he just kind of disappears once it all hits the fan. I thought maybe Green would follow-up with a story about the other sister and address that, but I kind of doubt it will ever happen. Serena is bi-polar and due to that and her past trauma she's had a history of promiscuity and drug abuse. I think it could be a great story if handled well, but it certainly doesn't fit the HP formula.

Spoilery note I was pleasantly surprised that the H/h weren't brought back together due to an unplanned pregnancy, which is an overplayed plot device in HPs.

[Crazy About Love 💕 · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭐️ one star -

I know that I’ve previously stated here on Goodreads that I wasn’t going to review every single Harlequin that I read, and that I was only going to review the ones that I liked, but I LOATHED this one so much that I feel compelled to write it a hate note 💁‍♀️😂✍️

I almost gave this one two stars because the writing is pretty good. I usually like Abby Green’s HQ’s, and I have sought out her hard-to-find titles, but the Hero here is just too awful for me to tolerate.

One key point that I love about HQs, and I’m sure it’s also the one of the main reasons that a lot of you also love them, is the cruel Heroes. I love a good, strong male who gets turned by the love of a good woman. I just eat this trope right up each and every time; and it’s a trope that’s found in abundance in HQs 💁‍♀️❤️

HOWEVER… this Hero here is a big, fat jerk. He is awful, and he’s the reason this goes from what would probably have been three stars, down to two, then finally down to one. It loses the last star and ends up at one due to the Hero’s bumbling of the grand gesture at the misappropriated hea.

I loved the plot development of our heroine being down on her luck, and then having our Hero who hates her step in and move her out of squalor. The Cinderella trope always gets me, and I love it when it’s included in a plot line.

I loved the full back story for our heroine. This is what Green does so well. What I didn’t like is our h’s weak character. She was just a doormat for the Hero, and she continually lets him treat her like dirt. At about two thirds into the story, right after she gets the money for her sister, I just wanted her to leave him and go out and find a new beau.

Since Green stuck with him as our Hero, I was hoping that she would be able to somehow redeem his character, but I don’t think she could; no matter what she did by that point in the story. Too much negativity had already been established; and his personality was already ruined beyond repair. I felt that he was just way too nasty to ever be a decent enough person for our poor heroine.

He even ruined the grand gesture by saying nothing to our heroine as he took her away to what should essentially be the height of romance (a fantastic view of Paris - “belle vue”), but he ruined it with his stick-in-the-mud personality, and by making his explanation all about him. Zero apology.

Siena deserved way more groveling, imo. I had already written him off as the Hero at this point, so all of his poor confessions were meaningless to me.

One star. Do not recommend this as a relaxing romance read at all. Save yourself the time of sourcing this one, and skip it.

See my “harlequin romance” shelf (found here 👉 https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...) for HQ recommendations and pass on this one 📖

[AvidReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fantastically written and I wanted to give more stars. But I hated how they hurt and threw insults on each other’s face in every other page. Just when I thought the issues will resolve , H/h starts exchanging rude comments again. I felt heroine was little worse. She didn’t have anything to be angry with him , still she was cruel to him sometimes. She wasn’t sweet or anything. She was very prickly and defensive. The se**ual tension and chemistry between them was off the charts.And Hero wasn’t celibate during separation eventhough he was sure their paths will cross again. I also detested the minor/ offhanded mention of his past lovers which happened after he met heroine. But still hero apologized for his past hurtful behavior which is something that doesn’t happen usually in HP romance.
I loved the epilogue. And how the whole family came together. I also wanted to ‘read’ the reconciliation scene between Rocco and his sisters.
Still recommended as it was very angst filled passionate romance book.

[Vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really surprised this did not score higher as it has so many tropes worthy of a Harlequin: spurned lover, rotten parent's manipulation, sisterly martyrdom, failure to communicate, virgin, lusty Greek tycoon, insta-billionaire, and a partridge in a pear tree. The two tropes that are missing that I can think of are a secret baby and a mortal illness. Ah, can't have it all apparently.

The H was thrown out of Europe essentially because of a lie the h told. Five years later, yep just five measly years, in which he goes from busboy to billionaire, he comes back and sees the poor little rich girl now a poor little poor girl. He manipulates her into an affair. No, not an affair, she'll be his mistress for a week in exchange for some jewels. Cue mustache twirl.

She is quite an anal little martyred virgin. Once again, the two main characters are so buttoned up, it's hard to see why they would fall for each other as neither exhibits any personality. Or much.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. As I started reading it, I was reminded of another Abby Green book The Kourous Marriage Revenge (TKMR) that had a very similar premise.
- Both heroines (Siena and Kallie) belonged to rich families and were seventeen years when they seduced/kissed their respective Greek heroes (Andreas and Alexandros) whom they'd had a crush on.
-- Because of that kiss, the heroes were abused and beaten by the h's family and banished to a life of hardship. While Alexandros' engagement --that would've have merged two shipping companies and saved his family's company from bankruptcy-- broke, Andreas had been sacked and blacklisted from every hotel in Europe and had to go to America to find a job. He was lucky to find a job with a wealthy hotelier who was nearing death and since he had no family he groomed Andreas to take over his chain of hotels.
-- Few years later, A & A, both, now wealthy guys, run into their respective heroines (even start with saying "Well, Well..." when face to face with them. Lol.) Both meetings were accidental, however, Andreas had been searching for Sienna for the past six months after hearing about the prostitution racket her father was involved in.
-- Both, A & A are hit by instant lust that provokes them into taking advantage of the heroine's current vulnerable state and blackmail them into their bed until they lust for them no more.
-- There's the debutante ball connection too. It was at the debutante ball in Paris that Sienna and Andreas, who was the duty manager, had their first kiss (for which Andreas was beaten for molesting her) whereas in TKMR, Alexandros sets up his first meeting/date with Kallie --when they met seven years later-- at the hotel that hosted the debutante ball every year.
- In both books, the heroines accept the heroes proposition for the sake of a close family member -In Sienna's case, it was her sister who needed psychatric help and in Kallie, it was the uncle whom she was fond of and who desperately needed funds for his business. Both, heroines also keep from the heroes the real reason why they'd done what they did in the past.
- Toward the end of both books the heroes are seen waiting upon the working heroines, like cooking them a meal after work or waiting to pick them up from her work place (Andreas) or preparing a bath for her (Alexandros).
Nevertheless, despite these similarities, the execution did vary slightly. While, in TKMR, Alexandros proposes a six-month marriage because of some shares of his shipping company that his late uncle had left for him with a stipulation that he had to be married for him to get them, whereas Andreas takes Sienna as his mistress for one week.

And, as much as I liked both books and liked all four main characters, I found Forgiven but not Forgotten had more depth than TKMR.

It was more far more engaging and the emotional level was much higher in this book not only between the main characters but also in their interaction with other characters, be it Andreas' jealousy when he sees Sienna smile at his friend Raphael's flirting, or the meeting of Sienna and her half-brother, Marco, who is also Andreas' friend and Andreas' disgust when Sienna talks ill about Marco which is why he sends her packing before the one week he'd asked from her had been completed. Then, we see Andreas experiencing and seeing things differently while visiting his parents and sisters because of Sienna's presence.

I liked Sienna a lot. Despite all that she'd gone through, she was courageous and wasn't whiny or prickly. Andreas also was overall gorgeous. Loved him.

And, I loved, loved the ending. Proposal at the Sacre Coeur!!! One of my favorite places in Paris. The view of Paris from there always takes my breath away. Moreover, Andreas' proposal was enough to bump up the star rating for this book - not that I had any intention of rating it low. Then, it had a sweet epilogue too.

Looks like AG tweaked one of her own stories to come up with this highly intense, emotional and engaging book.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title semantics: there’s no forgiving until the end, so it would have made more sense if it was Not Forgiven and Not Forgotten, without any question about it at all. Maybe someday the book will be retitled ‘The Greek Billionaire’s Revenge Mistress’ and I can complain about that too.

Once upon a time, Rocco de Marco encountered his father on the street, and was spat on and beaten up. Siena was there. She stepped over her bastard brother’s broken down body and rode away in a limousine. Then at seventeen, she seduced hotel manager Andreas in the hotel boutique shop, and then claimed Andreas had come onto her when her father found them. Such perfidy.

How come every posh hotel has a boutique shop where beautiful dresses and fancy schmancy jewellery can be purchased at any time, day or night? It all seems a bit like a shopping mall. When I am a billionaire, I will only stay at hotels that don’t have shops in them, because I will be so rich that crass commercialism where I sleep will offend me.

Following that incident, Andreas was beaten, lost his job, and could never work again in another hotel in Europe. His young life was permanently destroyed and he went off the rails and everyone he loved died for some reason, and he ended up an embittered homeless bum … no wait a minute. Five years later, he’s a billionaire, and everything’s roses.

He’s still really furious with Siena though, because it’s just unforgiveable when girls freak out because their Dad finds them naked with a guy. It’s just plain wrong to do that to a man, and Siena must be punished. No, I’m sure that he’s not overreacting, or twisting some other emotion into something else: this is all perfectly reasonable behaviour.

I know Siena was seventeen (just) and I really hope that Andreas was only in his early twenties, because otherwise it’s a bit icky. My personal age tolerance bar of guys who get it on with barely legal girls and expect them to act as adults is set twenty-two. Any guy closer to his mid twenties is really pushing it, and once they hit twenty-seven, wrong, wrong, get out of my reading sight.

Siena’s Dad has disappeared in a cloud of complete horribleness. As well as being disgusting to his family, he’d been involved in the slave trade, and now Siena and her sister are poor. Siena is in London working as a cater waiter when she again encounters Andreas. He gets her fired because he’s a jerk, and then they make the classic money-revenge-sex deal.

Siena is after money to keep her sister in care, but she can’t tell Andreas that, because Andreas has been pretty upfront in his dislike of her and her entire family, so he wouldn’t give her money for her noble reasons. In fact, he would definitely like her sister to suffer because he is so mean. Andreas is all ‘nah, I don’t pay for sexy times, but I’ll give you some jewels, you money-grubbing hussy.’

Siena agrees the deal, and does her version of being a money-grubbing hussy, when she remembers. It’s so alien to her nature, but it seems to make Andreas bitterly happy, although he is doing some ‘something’s not adding up in the hussy space’ thinking. The sexy times are the best he’s ever had, so it’s all going great for Andreas, the lucky thing.

The deal is for a week. There’s clothes, the jewels, a trip to Paris, and going to posh functions. The trip to Paris is a return to the scene of the crime, which is a bit crass, especially when Andreas is all ‘oh yeah, I totally didn’t think about how I own that hotel now, and it might look a bit revenge me bringing you here, especially while there’s a deb thing going on, which is an exact replica of that time you destroyed my life.’

The story is heading towards the satisfying ‘when he discovers her true goodness, everything will be super,’ conclusion, which is always lovely. There are a few tweaks along the way to make it not simply a do-over of every other time that story’s been told.

[Desere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood is thicker than water, and revenge is sweet. Bring the two together and what do you get, two people both willing to give what ever it takes to reach their ultimate goal.

In the latest read from Abby Green I was introduced to a world of past mistakes and hidden secrets overshadowing the future.

The read is about Siena she has want for nothing, her father's wealth ensures she has it all, or so it seems to the outside world.

One night for one heart-stopping passionate moment she lets down her icy rich lifestyle guard and looses control with I-want-you-in-my-bed-simply-because-I-know-I-can-have-you-under-me-in-seconds Andreas. Her actions however sets of a series of events that years later come back to haunt her.

Yes ladies you guessed it, Andreas makes his return and he is out for revenge, he wants her just as badly as he wanted her years before and this time he will have her, and when he is done he will discard her with just as much icy cool as she had him, the shoe is after all on the other foot this time around.

The character of Siena was one I fell in love with from the very start of this read. She is compassionate, strong and a fighter. But most of all I loved the true sisterly love she shows for her sister, right throughout the entire read the author showed just want sisterly love can and will endure. The fact that she cannot forget what she has done also showed that she has true heart, and courage when she reaches the point of no where to turn, as reader I completely adored her.

The character of Andreas was one that in the start I felt sympathy for but not so much as what I felt for Siena, he made a mistake but one that he gets back up from, but instead of moving on he clings to revenge and bargains that it will set his restless soul free. As we all know revenge is never good and in his case it did give him the boost to the top he needed but, it also made him a cold hearted hero, that I honestly was not liking too much, but once the author peeled back the layers to this man I very quickly fell for him and I fell hard!

The backdrop settings were exquisitely described by the author each setting matched the emotions of the character with perfect precision from hot and steamy passionate encounters to dark,gloomy life changing confessions, and in the end it was all brought together in one of the most romantic settings in the world, that left me with that perfect feeling of pure romance I have come to always expect from this author.

As reader I was given terrific moments of conflict, secrets of the unspeakable kind being revealed and moments of pure frustration but also of pure joy as the author truly let the power of love and family ties shatter the emotional hell of revenge.

The author also incorporated lines and scenes from two very popular romance movies, and no I am not telling you will have to read the book to find out which two, all I am saying is very nicely done Abby you had me at opera!

From this read I am not only taking away the message of you need to let go of the past and focus on the future for somewhere amongst all the heartache lies a love so pure and so strong it can never be broken, but also a message of never judge someone purely from what you can see on the outside, the image given is sometimes the only way for that person to survive their surroundings.

I highly recommend this read for all romance fans of romance reads with a emotionally thrilling sexiness that will leave you breathless!

5/5 star review
"Revenge opens the doors to forgiveness"

[Carol Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a better than average Harlequin Presents. Siena and Andreas make a good couple, even though she's so wimpy and polite for most of the book it's hard to believe he can imagine she's a shallow, gold-digging slut.

There was a very old-fashioned vibe to the set-up: years before she enticed him and then her father ruined him and random goons beat him up. So Andreas vowed revenge! Funny how in Presents novels any jilted male can become a millionaire just by getting really, really mad and bitter about how life has treated him. Half the men I know are like that and none of them are millionaires! It's like Cartman used to say on SOUTH PARK, "If drinking Scotch was a full-time job, Kenny's dad would be a millionaire!"

Anyway, five years later, Siena is working as a waitress (Presents heroines are always doing that, like you can't be helpless and downtrodden in a cubicle) when Andreas offers her all the money she wants for like, five days of sex. And of course she says yes. But he soon finds she's not the cold, shallow society girl he remembers. And the sex is so good that at one point Andreas says she's "blowing his mind." Really. Since when to Presents heroes talk like Jimi Hendrix? After that I kept waiting for him to start chanting "are you Experienced . . . smack! . . . Get experienced . . . are you Experienced . . . smack! . . . Get experienced . . ." Really I don't think Presents heroes should talk that crazy slang like the kids were using, oh, fifty years ago!

So then, after blowing his mind, timid, fragile Siena goes on a wild spending spree, and buys a bunch of jewelry with Andreas' money, but the touching thing is that she only keeps one piece, which has the design of a gold bird cage. As in, "only a bird in a gilded cage," but Siena insists that to her it represents "freedom." Right. Or as Brian Jones used to put it, "I wear a Nazi uniform to show I'm anti-Nazi." And I won't even mention the classic Star Trek episode, DAGGER OF THE MIND, where everyone at the evil insane asylum wears a caged bird being set free patch on their coveralls!

So wearing the cheap bird cage shows Andreas that she's for real, and he takes her to meet his big Greek family, and of course his mother adores Siena, so everything works out okay, and oh, Siena did take an office job and hold it for about, five minutes, just to show she's not totally helpless without Andreas to pay her bills and buy touchingly offbeat jewelry.

Really I enjoyed this book a lot, just when you try to describe a Harlequin Presents it always seems a lot dumber than it really is. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Greek heroes, sex, money, and jewelry that looks like a birdcage.

[Melanie♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read an Abby Green and I have several waiting on my overflowing TBR but I picked this one up when it was mentioned as having a virgin in a newspaper interview and was drawn in immediately. I love the world she creates and I love that we catch glimpses of people from her other books and in this case an upcoming book.

I loved the heroine Siena who is down but not out, rebuilding her life and that of her sister after an immensely privileged but abusive childhood. Five years ago Andreas was collateral damage, a young man Siena was so drawn to, she forget everything for those few moments until her father arrived.

Now Andreas is back for revenge for the way his life was ruined by her father in retaliation for touching his daughter, supposedly against her will. He has never forgotten her.

Siena too has never forgotten Andreas, the burden of guilt she feels for lying about what happened never resolved.

I loved how these two interacted. The sizzling chemistry between them is off the charts but there is more to it than just the smexy. This was a very emotional read and managed to get me all choked up so I gave it the five stars.

[Heidi Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lush, glamourous and darkly sensual story of love and revenge from the wonderful Abby Green.

Greek hotel tycoon Andreas Xenakis has been hunting down the spoilt debutante who humiliated him as an impoverished young hotel manager five years before and made him lose his job. Since then he has risen to dizzying heights while the fortunes of young Italian heiress Siena DePiero have plummeted - her father exposed as an embezzler and her and her sister Serena cast out of polite society. Now trying to make ends meet living in a dingy flat and working two jobs, the last thing Siena needs in her life is a drop-dead gorgeous tycoon determined to make her pay for what happened between them what feels like a lifetime ago.

Siena of course, is not what she seems to Andreas. She's not spoilt or shallow or indeed as sexually experienced as that one encounter led him to believe. But what really grabbed my attention about this story is that Andreas is not what he at first appears either. While he has hunted Siena down, and eventually offers her a small fortune to be his mistress for a week - he really hasn't done it to exact revenge. He's been successful, that night and the result set him on a path to career success and he knows it (and acknowledges it). No what has really compelled him to search out Siena and 'take her' at last, is the torch he has been carrying all this time for a woman who he believes to be a figment of his imagination. Siena is a weakness he wants to overcome, but of course once he begins to discover the truth about her character and her path, it forces him to look at his own path and the life he has chosen for himself, which while full of glamour and power, riches and success is also devoid of love and companionship.

Watching Andreas struggle with his emotions, and Siena learn to overcome her guilt (and her vulnerability towards this man and the way he makes her feel) is a journey packed to the gunnels with raw, runaway emotions, darkly compelling sexual attraction and gloriously high-stakes drama. Basically what the Presents brand is all about. I devoured it in two days! And you will too. But be warned, do not read it on the bus to work, or you are liable to miss your stop!!

[bombay_sapphire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't care for the hero. His attitude was what stopped me from giving this book a higher score. He was an ass and really should have done more to redeem himself to Siena. He treated her like a prostitute for most of the book (he even basically called her one when deriding her for "prostituting" herself to him for a week when she tells him why she wanted the money- it was to help her sister who has severe bi-polar disorder). Which brings me to my next point, his reaction when she tells him why she did what she did was what really made me hate him (something to the affect of you ruined my life for your sister?). The woman has severe bi-polar disorder, had no way of getting help with an abusive father who loved tormenting and punishing her, especially when Siena was bad or stepped out of line. Being caught in the act of having sex with a hotel employee wouldn't have gone over well and when the sister is suicidal and everything is going to hell, what was she supposed to do?! For a guy who claims he understood how severe mental health issues are, his reaction was grossly underwhelming. And even in the end, his crack about how his family and how she doesn't fit in- yeah another tick in the ass box until he finally thinks it's ok to tell her he loves him. I also didn't care for the scene where she meets Rocco (remember him from Abby's other book, "The Legend of DeMarco?"). This was all about the daughter paying for the sin's of the father when everyone could kind of see, he was evil. I struggled to finish the book. I ended up glossing over a lot of it, got kind of hard to read.

[Dalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
AG is one talented author. She has the ability to take some well- used tropes and create something fresh and new. Thanks to a powerful and elegant writing style, to all the tension, the angst and the intense emotions and to well- developed and very likable characters with well- thought of backstories.
Siena is a wonderful heroine, strong and vulnerable at the same time. Andreas is the super alpha, sometimes even ruthless, but he has a soft spot for 5 y for Siena bordering on obsession so I think I can forgive him anything. And the proposal scene was just perfect. He redeemed himself completely.

[Cady Lorenzana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You’re in my head and my heart and my soul, and you have been for five years—ever since I first saw you. First you were a fascination, then you became an obsession, and now...I love you. The thought of you being in this world but not with me is more terrifying than anything I’ve ever known."


Crying because of too much feels!!!

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this one. I found the hero at times to be intentionally cruel, too cruel but he eventually makes up for it. I love harlequins like this for their own special HEA.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply captivating! LOVE THIS so much.
Setting: London, Paris
Plot: Burned by the alluring heiress Siena five years ago, Andreas - a lowly assistant manager at that time - built himself an empire, vowing to extract a revenge against the ethereal and bewitching but now a penniless ex heiress who managed to captivate his heart (despite his unwillingness to admit).
He coerced her into becoming his mistress for a week, in exchange for the jewellery that he would pay her. Disgust ensued, he confirmed his perception of her; cold, gold-digging, pretentious rich girl. Surely a week would satisfy his pheral animal lust. He was so far from the truth.
Siena had been working two menial jobs to save her sister.
She behaved the way she did all her life ... to save her sister from being beaten by her father.

Characters:
Siena
Ex-heiress, beautiful, blond, ethereal, innocent yet strong, seemed aloof yet passionate. I loved her character; the way her sharp tongue dared to answered back to Andreas.


Andreas
A greek god, tall and muscular, black hair, utterly handsome, obscenely rich. I loved his hard exterior.


The only drawback was the ending, it was quite abrupt. Would loved to see the hero grovel a bit more and apologized. He never apologized for what he had done.

[Susan in Perthshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally loved this one. This is Siena's story and initially, it seemed as if she was not going to be a sympathetic heroine but of course, she was, as we learned her backstory and the reasons she had sacrificed Andreas to save her sister being beaten by her father.

Andreas appeared to be simply seeking revenge but the story was much more interesting than that and I really loved how the story developed to bring them to their happy ending.

The author writes beautifully prose and the plot was brilliantly executed. Amazing dialogue and fantastically emotional love scenes make this read simply amazing.

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile" · Rating 3 out of 5]

H not as jerky as some in HP Land. h and twin sister are emotional and physical abuse survivors. Father is wealthy and disappears to avoid prosecution leaving them without resources, funds, and subject to society ridicule. h's twin suffers from bipolar disorder. Even with the heavy themes this is a Very light and easy read. 3 stars

[Harlequin Books]

"Green's tale of deception and treachery is flawless. Her heroine is the perfect mix of sultry and sweet, and her hero is all arrogance and ego - yet both exhibit astonishing honesty, especially in their fiery love scenes." RT Book Reviews, rated 4 1/2 stars

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upon rereading I liked this better and have added a star.

Pretty nice poor little rich girl story. I did like that he had been so hot for her 5 years ago and still wanted her.

[Penny Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute perfection! A new favorite HP.

[Debby · Rating 2 out of 5]

When she was 17, she made out with the H (whom she barely knew). When her father found out about it, she lied to her father that the H had attacked her.

She was afraid her cruel father would otherwise punish her and her sister, so she just threw the H under the bus. The H lost his job because of her and her father.

Now years later the H and h meet again and the H wants revenge.

In their first meeting after all those years I was waiting for the h to say sorry to him for what she had done and explain herself, but she didn’t. That made me not like her.

I didn’t feel their love for each other. But seeing all the great reviews from other people, it’s probably just me not feeling it.

By the way, I couldn’t stand all the references the writer makes to the h’s blonde hair.

[Riz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

[Ivana Lukanic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nista spektakularno zanimljivo i lako citljivo.....stivo za opustanje.

[Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I soooo love this book.❤️

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what to say or how to review this because I don't really have a lot to say or thoughts aside from that it was another enjoyable and solid read by Abby Green. There was plenty of passion and heat between Siena and Andreas. Plus there lots of lovely angst that I always enjoyed in a romance. It was good.

I wished that Siena's abuse at the hands of her father and the effect they had on her was explored more instead of glossed over or barely touched. It was rushed. More focus was put on her sister and the effect it had on her. Now her sister did get the brunt of it and combined it with her issue I can see why it was highlighted and why Siena wanted to protect her sister. And came to understand why she did what she did. But I just wanted to see how effected her personally and emotionally. And then I wanted to see more of a tender scene between Andreas and Siena once he found out the truth.

In fact I would have appreciated a couple of more tender scenes between them instead of them to revert to sexy times. Don't get me wrong I liked the love scenes but it would have been nice to see some sweet and tender scenes to balance it out. Show more of their romance come to life.

Their chemistry was off the charts. It was the highlight. I could feel the heat and the passion ooze off the pages. There love scenes were scorching hot. There was such an intensity whenever they came together. I felt it. It felt real and never felt forced or contrived. It was just natural, and a natural progression, which was good. That first time scene. Holy cow. Had to fan myself to cool myself off. It was that hot. Wish there was a sweeter and slower love scene. Just a tender scene but overall I liked the love scene.

I really enjoyed the angst in this story. And there was a lot from the moment they reunited and just kept up until they gave into their passion with that first time scene. All the angst had to deal with their complicated past. Their passionate back story full with intense emotion surrounding their past. It created that obstacle between them causing the struggling in their romance. It caused the back and forth. Plus because of the back story just added all that lovely tension. That was really good and made the story interesting. So it was good on back story. And good on angst. I enjoyed that very much.

There's not much more to comment. It was good and I enjoyed it. Wished there were more tender moments between them. Just wanted to see a bit more on an emotional level. I think it could have been dug a bit deeper. But again it was not a bad story and there were no major complaints I had. It just was a nice easy read that I got through in one sitting.

[Kace | The Booknerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I was hooked on this book from the moment I started it, and I could not put it down until the end. An angsty, unconventional love story and such a roller coaster! How it's possible not to love everything Abby Green writes. I love her writing, and this book does an incredible job showing how talented an author she is. She has the ability to take some well-used tropes and create something fresh and new.

Andreas was such a very compelling hero. I actually liked that I started not liking him. I mean, he didn't start as the most charming fellow; he's domineering, arrogant, cold-hearted, but over the course of the book, I fell in love with his character. You just had to feel away from his layers. Though I wouldn't say I liked how he blackmailed her, I understand why he did that. Obviously, he never got over Siena, and he was trying to protect his heart from another rejection.

"You’re in my head and my heart and my soul, and you have been for five years—ever since I first saw you. First, you were a fascination, and then you became an obsession, and now...I love you. The thought of you being in this world but not with me is more terrifying than anything I’ve ever known."

Siena's character was written so well. Her past could have easily characterized her, yet to me, and she wasn't. Like everything in this book, she was complex. She surprisingly inspired so much sympathy in me, and my protective instincts kicked in multiple times. And I'm glad that in the end, she got her much-deserved HEA.

Overall, Forgiven But Not Forgotten? was such a great, emotional and wonderful story. It's fast-paced and emotionally charged. Fans of The Legend of De Marco will definitely enjoy this book!