Review: Seduced by Sunday by Catherine Bybee

Title: Seduced by Sunday by Catherine Bybee
Weekday Brides Series Book Six
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense, Romance
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

She swore off love forever…but he just might change her mind.

The sixth sweet, thrilling book in the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Weekday Brides series from Catherine Bybee.

Meg Rosenthal: Matchmaker by day, realist by night, Meg is not about to get swept away by a charming, darkly handsome businessman in a designer suit. She’s come to a beautiful secluded resort to evaluate the private island’s potential for her agency, not to ogle its owner. But there’s something about the magnetic man that’s hard to resist, even for a woman who refuses to fall in love.

Valentino Masini: A successful and drop-dead sexy businessman, Valentino is used to having the finer things in life. Yet he’s never wanted someone the way he wants Meg, who’s stirring up a hurricane of trouble in his heart. But just as he decides to convince her to stay, someone else decides it might be time to get Meg off the island…permanently.

Review:

Seduced by Sunday is the sixth installment in Catherine Bybee’s enchanting Weekday Brides series. A lush tropical setting is the beginning of the romance for Meg Rosenthal and Valentino Masini but an intriguing mystery also takes the pair to the vineyards of Italy.

When Meg learns about a secluded location that could be a perfect fit for the clientele of the company she works for, she knows she has to investigate to see if it lives up to its stellar reputation. She, along with good friend (and über famous) Michael Wolfe, make plans to spend a week checking out the resort. Valentino (Val) is dead serious about protecting the privacy of his guests so he and Meg get off on the wrong foot when he is slow to grant her access to the island.  Meg’s anger quickly turns to attraction when she finally meets the very handsome and sexy Val, but she is not looking for love. He is also drawn to Meg, but since she is there with Michael, Val keeps his distance from the sultry beauty. But it soon becomes clear that someone is violating the guests’ privacy and in order to protect Michael’s privacy, Meg and Val team up to get to the bottom of the mystery and things begin to heat up between the couple.

Meg is extremely loyal to her friends and the company she works for. She is also feisty and quite fierce about protecting the people she cares about. She is a bit suspicious that the island is not quite as safe from prying eyes as everyone believes but when things appear to be on the up and up, she begins to relax her guard. She is quickly charmed by Val’s sister Gabriella (Gabi) and his mother and she is thrilled to meet blues legend, Jim Lewis. Meg is a little dazzled by Val but she has absolutely no intention of beginning a romance with him.

Val is a shrewd businessman and the success of his island retreat hinges on providing complete and total privacy for his guests. They, along with his employees, are thoroughly vetted and he has yet to have a breach in security. But soon after Meg and Michael arrive, he begins receiving seemingly innocuous photos of him, Meg and Michael. When all remains quiet in the media, Val cannot fathom the motive for the pictures, but he quietly begins an investigation. However when Meg learns about the pictures, she jumps into action to keep Michael out of the limelight.

After Michael and Meg return to their regular lives, puzzling information about Gabi’s fiancé, Alonzo, takes Meg, Michael and eventually, Val to Italy. Things do not quite add up about Alonzo’s winery and Michael is determined to uncover the truth about his business. As the three of them are looking into the winery, Gabi finds herself in a precarious situation and soon everyone is in a race against time to rescue her before it is too late.

Seduced by Sunday is another captivating installment in Catherine Bybee’s Weekday Brides series. Meg and Val are superbly developed characters and there is no denying the chemistry between them. The storyline is a fantastic mix of romance and mystery and the novel’s conclusion is suspenseful and action-packed.   All of the loose ends are wrapped up in a sweet and very romantic epilogue.

Although Seduced by Sunday can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend the previous novels in the Weekday Brides series as well.