BECOMING DANTE – Day Leclaire
The Dante Legacy , Book 9
Harlequin Desire #2200
ISBN: 978-0-373-73213-5
December 2012
Series Romance

Seattle, Washington – Present Day

The moment the woman walks into Gabe Moretti's office, he feels an intense connection to her and an inner voice telling him that she is “the one” for him. But when he recognizes Kat Malloy, Gabe recoils, because she's the last woman on earth he should be attracted to, because she slept with his late wife's then fiancé and ruined the man's political career. Yet Kat stands there, informing him that she has access to the one thing he wants, but that he must pretend to be engaged to her in order to get it—a priceless necklace that once belonged to his late mother. His first instinct is to say no, but then how can he deny the burning sensation that grips him whenever his hand touches Kat. Has he been inflicted with the legendary “Inferno,” a signal that he's met his one true love?

After her disgrace, Kat moved to Europe, but now she's back, wanting to repair her relationship with her now ailing grandmother. She's willing to part with the beautiful necklace in order to assist in this task, even though her grandmother has promised it to her when she dies. In exchange Gabe will provide Kat with respectability. But Gabe counters her offer with a request that they “consummate” the deal…meaning Kat agrees to sleep with him. She balks, because if they do have sex, he'll then learn more about her than he ever expected. Gabe is persistent, and they finally reach the terms of their “engagement.” How long will it take before Kat and Gabe are sharing a bed? And what about the Inferno…are they truly meant to be together?

After learning about the true identity of his parentage years ago, Gabe has hardened his heart against the Dante family, despite the fact they're his relatives. Gabe had to sell a prized necklace given to his mother by Gabe's father in order to pay for her medical treatment, and now he wants it back. He married Kat's cousin Jessa after discovering Kat naked in Jessa's fiancé's bed, but he barely felt grief for Jessa by the time she died in a car accident. For Kat to show up in his office and offer the necklace in exchange for him acting as her fiancé….is the woman nuts? Yet he can't ignore the persistent throbbing that intensifies when he's around Kat.  He knows she feels it too. The Dante legacy is the Inferno, and now it's inflicted him. Is Kat the woman who is meant for him? How can he love a conniver like Kat?

Kat was young and unable to defend herself back then from the hateful accusations. But fear of never reconciling with her grandmother has her back in town and willing to do anything to make it happen. Surely getting the necklace back will make Gabe push aside all that's happened in the past? Once he agrees to her proposal, he embarks on getting to know his family. The Dante's are a powerful family and long have denied him acknowledgement, but hopefully they will if Gabe makes the first step. Readers who have followed the Dante family saga in Day Leclaire's series will once again meet the head of the clan, Primo Dante, as well as the rest of the Dantes. The confrontation soon turns into a realization of who he is as Gabe experiences BECOMING DANTE.

Day Leclaire delivers a powerful, passionate read that is about redemption for both Gabe and Kat. Gabe finds a family he was denied at birth, and the scandal that splinted Kat from her grandmother is resolved. In between all this in BECOMING DANTE, the Dante legacy of the Inferno brings Gabe and Kat together in this tale I highly recommend.

Patti Fischer