Lynne Connolly‘s review of Sicilian Husband, Unexpected Baby by Sharon Kendrick
Harlequin Modern/Presents released by Harlequin on 1 Oct 08
Emma has walked out of her marriage with the controlling Vincenzo Cardini, after a doctor tells her she is infertile and she fails to tell Vincenzo. But nine months later, she gives birth to a child who is undoubtedly Vincenzo’s. She falls on hard times and ends up living in a small cottage. When her landlord raises the rent, she knows she has to contact Vincenzo, who is incredibly wealthy, for child support and a divorce.
Vincenzo still loves Emma, despite her inability to give him a child, but hates himself for it. After she leaves him, he is so hurt he cuts her out of his life. Although he tries to go on with his life, including his sex life, he cannot forget her. When she contacts him, he uses the child as an excuse to get her back into his life.
Presents/Modern is probably my favourite Harlequin line, and it has some superb writers, writers who know their craft, can pull a reader into a story, and give them a break from their daily routine. It’s about powerful men and the women they fall in love with, women who can match them and steal their hearts. But there are huge opportunities for the story to fall apart. Sadly, this is one of those.
Sharon Kendrick is one of Harlequin’s most seasoned writers, and I’m afraid it shows. Her style is excellent, smooth and readable. Even though she switches point of view quite often in a scene, you are never in doubt as to whose head you’re in, and she never moves away from the hero and heroine.
But I feel a bit like the theatre critic who, desperate for something to praise, writes a whole piece about the scenery. The story would have been great, were it not that Vincenzo and Emma were in it. I started the story more sympathetic to Emma, but as it went on and she meekly submitted to him without telling him what bothered her, I started to feel sorry for Vincenzo. How could he put it right when she wouldn’t talk to him?
And that is surprising, because I found Vincenzo loathsome, the kind of man I would have rather thrown things at than married. I suspect that is partly because we never get to know him properly. If we’d known how he felt when he threw her out, when she discovered she was infertile, we might have discovered that it was the fact that she had lied to him that hurt, instead of her ability to bear him children. Or if he had done a good grovel at the end, but he didn’t have to grovel. Wimpy Emma made it all too easy for him. And during their separation, he had a good sex life, but if she had done anything of the kind, he would have called her a slut and denied her any access to their son.
My biggest problem was with believability. Emma had nothing going for her, apart from her blonde beauty, and even that was the insipid English waif-type, not the full-on Marilyn type. She had no guts, no wit and no personality. I don’t think this marriage is going to last, children or not. Vincenzo is definitely going to stray.
Grade: C-
Summary:
When Emma’s billionaire Sicilian husband found out she was infertile, their marriage was over. Then, back in England, Emma discovered the impossible had happened-she was pregnant! But life is hard, and, unable to pay her bills, she has only one option: Vincenzo. …is blackmailing her back into his bed! Now that he knows he’s a father, Vincenzo will claim his son and if Emma is to stay with her beloved child, she must return to the marriage bed!
Read an excerpt.
