ARC Review: One Night in Santiago by Audra North

I’ve read Audra North before and really enjoyed her writing style and her story. Her story, “Falling for the CEO” was very good. I loved the characters and their chemistry. However, “One Night in Santiago” fell short for me. I thought that the characters did not mesh well. Even though the meet under an unpleasant situation their conversation seems forced and awkward. Lily seems, almost immature. Although I think the conversation where they meet is supposed to be light hearted and funny it was uncomfortable and strained. Some of the scenes seemed overly dramatic. Lily is going through a lot of emotions. She is on a trip that was supposed to be her honeymoon. She gets stranded there because of a terrible storm and misses her sisters’ graduation. Although it’s understandable that she is under emotional stress after she discovers her fiancé was cheating on her with her friend. Lily seems to be all over the place. She goes through a lot of different emotions in a short period of time… she can’t wait to rip Bruno’s clothes off and then she is weeping on his chest after speaking with her sister. She makes the statement to Bruno that she is “the worst sister in the world”. The set up the story was interesting. Both Lily and Bruno are stranded at the Ritz and there is only one room available. They fight over it and eventually Bruno, chivalrously, lets Lily have it. But then they fight again about why she is letting him share the suite… Even though both characters attribute their bickering to their mutual stubbornness, it doesn’t play out well. Instead of chemistry it comes off as petty and trivial.

As Lily and Bruno Komarov spend the night in their shared suite they get to know each other. Bruno despite his last name comes from Chilean heritage. Lily also finds out that Bruno is inheriting a very profitable wine making company. Lily in her own right owns a consultant company that is also successful. Lily decides that she is not going to let the opportunity to be with Bruno pass by. She throws caution to the wind and makes it clear to him that she is interested. After a very hot and steamy night together they have to part ways. Lily gets up the next morning and goes to the airport. When Bruno wakes up he does not find Lily but only the note she left. Realizing that the still has time to reach her he goes to the airport to find her. Novellas are tough because the author has a hard job, make the characters relatable and the reader interested in a small number of pages. I definitely plan to read more by this author in the future. I really like that her characters are very unique and different.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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