Romanticizing emotional manipulation isn't really my cup of tea....
I gave it multiple chances, waiting for it to get better, but it didn't.
Mirabella was the most self-centered character I've ever read, she kept saying she loves Lincoln, but deep down the reason she was pursuing him for, many times I might add, was that she needed a baby daddy.
The man kept rejecting her, and was trying his hardest not to panic all the time, when she didn't seem to get the hint!!
Lincoln was having his best time when he was alone and away from all persistence, he was forced time and again to forget his emotional baggage and childhood trauma, which was sickening to read, most of the book consisted of both of them panicking.
The ending was spectacularly forced, it felt like the author had a decision to give a happy ending, regardless of the fact that it may not fit.
I really wasn't a fan.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher*

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't love it right away, but once I got swept away to the Whitsundays...I was sold. I loved seeing the undeniable connection between Mirabella and Lincoln. Can another man's baby come between you and your first love? That's what Mirabella and Lincoln need to work through. My biggest complaint with this book was that it was too short. I felt like the pacing was off. The beginning happened way too quick and I felt like the ending did also. I wanted more of Mirabella and Lincoln!

Complimentary copy was given for my honest review and open. ARC copy provided by NetGalley. Mirabella and
Lincoln both suffered from heartache. When Mirabella finds out she is pregnant, Lincoln doesn't think he can raise another man's baby. Coming to terms with his past, Lincoln learns that love isn't connected to DNA.

This is a second chance romance, about two people who went to school together and meet again years later after a lot has happened in that time, struggling artist Mirabella and millionaire business man Lincoln have a lot of emotions that they are holding in, will they be able to get over them and find happiness?

Mirabella has just found out she is pregnant to her boyfriend but when she arrives in Sydney to tell him the good news she is shocked to learn that he is already married and he wants nothing to do with her, can she manage as a single mother? While at the airport waiting to return home to Melbourne she runs into Lincoln the guy she has never forgotten and on a whim goes to The Whitsundays with him.

Lincoln’s marriage has just ended and he is now thinking that a life filled with adventure on his own is what he wants when he runs into Mirabella and maybe being alone is not what he wants he convinces her to run away with him to the Whitsundays for ten days where he has to cope with emotions that he has not felt before.

I loved the setting in this story it was beautiful the descriptions of the things they did but sadly I wasn’t pulled into their story, they seemed to go over their pasts way too much instead of looking forward to the future, I did understand that theirs pasts played a part in the worries they had for their lives. But yes they did get to a lovely HEA and I was very pleased to see them find it.

My thanks to Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

I wasn’t all that taken with Reunited with the Millionaire. I liked the second chance at love trope on which this story is largely based and I liked the Whitsundays as a setting for the story. I wasn’t so taken with Mirabella as a heroine. She seemed overly neurotic about the possibility that Marc, the father of her child, who is married and already has two children and who told her to “get rid of it” when she informed him of her pregnancy, would fight her for custody of her baby. Lincoln, who was her fist love when they were teenagers, is more likeable though I was unconvinced by his reasons for not taking a chance with Mirabella. The story itself was OK without setting my heart on fire though I thought author Rachel Armstrong could have been more creative with her vocabulary. The use of the word “slipped” really grated on me after a while: she slipped out of the bathroom, slipped on her shoes, he slipped his phone into his pocket, etc ... I really wish I could have liked this story more but I’m afraid this one just wasn’t for me.

I was very conflicted with this book. I was curious to read it as I knew it won an award. CW's aren't really spoilers as we know this information straight up.
CW: Adultery. Heroine has an affair with a married man without knowing he was a cheating douchebag.
CW: Pregnancy from relationship with married man. Seriously poor taste in men.
CW: Abortion debate internally by heroine in early part of the book
CW: Query Adultery. Hero separated from his wife only two months ago so cannot divorce or remarry for another ten months by Australia Law.
CW: Infertility. (must be something in the water because this makes two in a row.)

Now I know a lot of readers won't be bothered by some or all of the list of CWs I've placed there. They are however things that I find difficult. It's a credit to the quality of the writing that I managed to get through the early part of the book where all these things were hammered home.

Now to the story. Mirabella is an artist working in Melbourne where she met douchebag while he was on a temporary secondment from Sydney. We are meeting her on maybe the third worst day of her life. Depending on your point of view. 1. would be losing her dad. 2. would be losing her high school sweetheart from Sydney when she decided to study in Melbourne 3. Being greeted by her douchebag boyfriend's wife when she turns up on his doorstep with the news that she is preggers.

Lucky for her, she bumps into the aforesaid high school sweetheart at the airport on her way home.

Lincoln Crawford is on his way to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) for what was supposed to be a second honeymoon to try and save his marriage after failing to get his wife pregnant. Now he's on his own because wifey has called it quits because if he's unable to give her the children she wants, all the other sacrifices she was making are too much.

On impulse he invites the despondent Mirabella to join him and in a moment of impulse fuelled by nostalgia, she says yes.

Twelve days on the Great Barrier Reef are bound to cheer you up and we have the ubiquitous only two beds in one room trope.

We get to enjoy a lot of the fun activities available on the resort and it's certainly on my list of somewhere I'd like to holiday. That was one of the strengths of the book along with the good solid writing. You want a vicarious holiday, this is a great story.

It's pretty much closed door in terms of non existent sex, despite them sharing a room. This was a plus for me considering the heroes uncertain marital status at the time.

What I did find a little confusing was the closed door food porn. Some potentially delicious food was mentioned and I understand there are some fabulous eateries on the island but I never got to taste them or even see them in most cases. And seriously, who would choose cauliflower over Tiger Prawns?

As I mentioned earlier, all the conflicts were pretty much laid out in the first chapter or two. This meant there was not a lot of tension later in the book when those conflicts came into play. No new conflicts were introduced or even any unexpected responses to those conflicts.

What you have is a solidly written story about two nice people figuring out whether they can make a new start and if some deeply held and possibly erroneous beliefs are valid reasons for not taking a chance on a future together.
Bonus holiday on the Great Barrier Reef. Good for Finding Nemo fans.

The synopsis sounding promising for Reunited with the Millionaire by author Rachel Armstrong - a second chance reunited lovers story. However, the story fell short fast. Not at all what I expected, nor a story I would willingly revisit.
Review copy received from Escape Publishing via Netgalley

Simple story of two people who once loved each other but went their separate ways. When they meet again, she's pregnant and he's infertile but doesn't think he can love another man's child. The pair meet up and go on a vacation together, rekindling the old relationship. While pregnancy and infertility are sensitive issues, the story line lacks any other plot, which makes the discussion repetitive and draining.

ARC via Net Galley. My opinions are my own.