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The loved and the feared
232 pages
A sweeping, moonlit Roman romance steeped in vintage melodrama, glamorous secrets, and intense power dynamics.
What it feels like
Reading this vintage 1970s romance is like stepping into a lush, melodramatic time capsule. The atmosphere is thick with the glamour of the Italian film industry and the shadowy, almost gothic tension of a household built on secrets. It moves at a brisk, breathless pace, pulling the reader through a maze of intense power dynamics, sudden betrayals, and sweeping declarations. The prose is unapologetically emotive, leaning into the dramatic contrasts between a naive, earnest heroine and a ruthless, enigmatic hero. It is a book that thrives on angst and misunderstanding, wrapping its central love story in a web of jealousy and hidden motives. Fans of classic, old-school category romances who love alpha males and high-stakes emotional turbulence will devour this passionate, moonlit escape.
- Mood
- glamorous
- shadowy
- angsty
- romantic
- Tone
- melodramatic
- intense
- earnest
- dramatic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- power dynamics · innocence and experience · jealousy and obsession · hidden motives · fated encounters
- The writing
- Lush, slightly purple, and highly emotive, characteristic of 1970s category romance.
- The arc
- Moves from a sweeping, moonlit infatuation into a tense, confusing web of secrets, culminating in dramatic revelations and passionate surrender.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave the unapologetic drama, alpha heroes, and glamorous, slightly gothic tension of vintage Harlequin romances.
Content notes
- outdated gender dynamics
- controlling behavior
- emotional manipulation
About the book
The world-famous film star Serafina Neri made slaves of the men who surrounded her. Yet her life was hedged about by fear, and a strangeness that made her rely on the companionship of the ruthless Rick Lordetti day and night – or so people said. And it was Rick whom Donna Lovelace had met in the moonlit Colosseum on the never-to-be-forgotten night; Rick with whom she had fallen in love. But then, when she took a job as Serafina’s secretary, Donna met him again, only to find that he treated her as a stranger...Was that one night of romance all that Donna would ever have of Rick?
Description from Open Library.
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