Esmerelda Quinn has had a string of hotelier jobs but now
wants to come home and run her aunt's villa in Puerto
Vallarta, only to find that her aunt Constance is recovering
from a bout of cancer. Doctors have advised her to stay away
from Casa Constance business and retire. Taking their
advice, Constance goes away, leaving Esme and Santiago Cruz
in-charge of the villa for six months. From which three
months Santiago will be in-charge and three months Esme, in
running things. Whoever does the best job will get the Casa
Constance.
Due to bad romantic history between them, Esme is not
thrilled to have Santiago, a playboy surfer, there all the
time for six months and in-charge of running the place. Add
to that fact, Santiago's father has been after the Casa for
years, she feels Santiago and his father will stick together
and make the
Casa into one of the Cruz Resorts by the end of the six months.
She cannot allow her only home to be turned into a
moneymaking heartless resort.
Santiago has his own personal reasons for wanting the villa,
not for his father but so that he is not able to get it.
Having Esme there is not a part of his plans, neither is the
emotional involvement. However, to keep Esme from
discovering his plans for the Casa, he proposes her a deal.
The deal has their sizzling attraction coming to the surface
and
the demons from the past and the present come to haunt them.
What
is unexpected is Esme realizing that Santiago has grown in
the years she has been gone, making her fall for him all
over again and Santiago realizing that giving her up will be
the most difficult thing he may have to do to move on.
The characters of this book, in my honest opinion, are not
very defined. The initial conversations and thoughts give a
very different impression then what progresses on. Esme
sounds like a determined woman who wants to save her aunt's
Casa Constance because it is her only home and provided
solace after her parents died and now when she needs a home.
Moreover, she also has an intense dislike for Santiago, whom
she calls Saint his childhood nickname, but feels attracted
to him too. They have a turbulent past that ended in Saint
running away. What exactly happened in Napa, how they got
there, what they were doing there left me confused and
wanting to know more. Small bits are explained in some
flashbacks and conversations but not enough to understand
the underlying emotions on her side.
Saint on the other hand also seems to have definite plans
about what he wants to do but soon after he is proposing and
planning to re-kindle the romance with Esme. When asked
blunt questions by Esme he sounds confused about what he
actually wants or what he has planned. How things
resolve between them, again left me feeling something is
missing. It was too easy considering what Esme was thinking
and saying before. I honestly felt more for Tobias and want
to know his POV in his brief appearance then I did for
either of the main characters. Overall, THE SAINT'S DEVILISH
DEAL is a nice read if you
want a light read.
Esmerelda Quinn has been looking for a place to belong since her parents were killed in a car crash when she was young. The closest thing to home has always been Aunt Constance's villa in Puerto Vallarta, so after a string of hotellier jobs, she's coming home to run the villa. Santiago Cruz has called the villa home for as long as he can remember. In between surfing events, Constance has always had a room for him. Color him surprised when Constance leaves him with a joint interest in the villa - along with her niece Esmerelda. Esme isn't thrilled to share ownership of the villa with the the youngest Cruz brother - especially as the Cruz family has been after the villa for years. But Santiago has grown up while she's been away and soon she finds herself falling for the rich boy down the hall - all over again
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