This story actually addresses a rather complex RL issue... domestic abuse. The ML is pretty arrogant and unforgiving until the heroine finally confides in him, admitting that both she and her mother were physically abused (and that for the sake of her brother, her mother is still there). Once he realizes that, he becomes her knight (although he could have handled the 'why didn't you tell me' part way better). I rather liked it, although I didn't like the BBV ( Bed Before Vows). It wasn't necessary for the plot, but provided the means to amp up the 'angst and despair all alone' angle through the loss of her child, but it also left me a little confused. Just how did her father know? That might have been among the details inevitably lost in adaptation.
Surrendering to the Vengeful Italian