Cassandra (Cass) Rich recently got a new job (which she adores) as a gardener, working on a grand and beautiful estate in Tuscany, Italy. She's helping out during the planting season. She loves working with plants, and enjoys this much more than her previous job, working the tills in a supermarket in England. One day while she is in the garden a helicopter shows up and the owner of the villa, Marco di Fivizzano appears. Marco is surprised to see such a young gardener, he expected an old bearded man. As he gets to know Cassandra he finds she is perfect for the job. Marco also finds himself attracted to her. He admires her grit, spunk... When a bad storm hits, though afraid at first, she sets out to help his home from the flood/storm, protects his carpets, she's like no women he's ever met! She doesn't mind getting dirty, and she speaks her mind.

Eventually Marco asks Cassandra if she would accompany him to Rome as his date to a charity event he hosts every year (his original date had to cancel). While in Rome Marco and Cassandra become lovers. After a disagreement they go their separate ways but a few months later Cassandra finds out she's pregnant with Marco's baby.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked the sweet and strong heroine Cassandra. Her dad was a very popular and infamous rock star and her parents had a rocky marriage. When she was a small child she was found wandering around her home alone, surrounded by drug paraphernalia, while her parents were found dead, drowned in the family swimming pool after a drug-fueled argument. This sordid story has stuck with Cassandra through the years so she tries to stay out of the limelight. She was then raised by her wonderful stepmother.

Marco came across as cold and unfeeling, but he had some problems in his childhood which gave him bad views on women. His mother married a wealthy man when she was pregnant with Marco and she let the man believe Marco was his child. Years later, when the man found out the truth he threw Marco and his mother out on the street and disowned him. His mother was a drunk and died young. Marco believes no one ever really loved him (his mother, his father, etc...) so he's hesitant to get close to anybody and keeps people at a distance. Sometimes he acted like a total jerk/idiot towards Cassandra, but he made up for it in the end. I liked the part in the book when Marco surprised Cassandra by buying her the sketch she loved at an auction for her stepmother, that was sweet.

This was an enjoyable read with sexy love scenes, wonderful locations, and a satisfying epilogue! ( )