Liviania’s review of The Executive’s Pregnancy Ultimatum by Emilie Rose
Contemporary romance released by Silhouette Desire 1 Feb 10

After limecello got onto me for reading specific titles she recommends by the author she likes instead of picking any book by the author, I pretty much chose to read The Executive’s Pregnancy Ultimatum by Emilie Rose because I know limecello likes Emilie Rose.  But hey, living dangerously paid off.

Renee Maddox just discovered her divorce papers were never filed.  She also wants a baby – the same baby she always wanted, from her husband Flynn.  He agrees to giving her his sperm, but only in a direct manner and only if she tries to live with him, with the baby, for a year.  Rose doesn’t make the mistake of dragging out the secret to the couple’s split up to where the reveal seems silly.  It’s explained within the first several chapters that Renee and Flynn agreed they wanted three or four children before they married, but Flynn’s new job after his father’s death kept him away from home.  He gave Renee neither attention nor a baby.  She communicated that she really wanted a child and split when he refused.  Renee had another complication: she began drinking heavily, like her alcoholic mother. She managed to stop after leaving the stressful situation.

I loved Renee.  She’s a successful business woman who doesn’t give up her job for her man.  She’s unafraid to be a single mother and has the courage to stand up to her hideous mother-in-law.  Then the Renee I fell in love with disappeared toward the end.  Suddenly, she isn’t communicating with Flynn.  She’s running from telling him that she isn’t really an alcoholic but has the potential to be . . . as he knew since her mother was an alcoholic and Renee chooses to avoid alcohol now in order to avoid temptation.  She also brings it up as a risk to their children, despite the fact she’s been planning to have children since before the book began and it isn’t an issue until the end.  It’s odd.

Luckily, Flynn’s characterization stays steady.  He messed up by taking Renee for granted, but now has his personal and professional life in balance.  He’s caring and thoughtful.  He stands up for Renee and respects her dedication to her business.  It’s no wonder that Renee falls quickly back in love with her husband.  It is a wonder that she thinks he’d hate her because she isn’t actually an alcoholic but showed the potential during their impending divorce.

I enjoyed Emilie Rose’s writing.  I liked the hero and the heroine.  I just wish there wasn’t a manufactured conflict, because the story would’ve worked much better without it.  It undermined a lot of what Rose was doing so well.  I am still likely to pick up one of her novels in the future.

Grade: B-

Summary:
Flynn Maddox, the driven vice president of Maddox Communications, thought he was over his ex-wife, Renee. But when he learned that they were still married—and that she was trying to have his baby—he realized he had never stopped wanting her. It was time to put his fierce negotiating skills to good use. He would give her the baby she so desperately wanted…but not without getting her to sign off on some terms of his own.
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