The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain

Therese knows that she was chosen as the wife of Principe Claudio Scorsolini because of her suitability to marry a crown prince. She agreed to the arranged marriage because she loves him, and so far they have been happy. The time has come for her to conceive an heir, but she discovers that she has endemetriosis and is infertile. How can she stay married to the crown prince if she cannot provide him with children?

This is the third book of the Scorsolini Princes (or Royal Brides) series, and is the best so far. Unfortunately that's not saying much because the previous books were pretty terrible.

Ok, let's get this infertility thing out of the way. I really hate how so many category romance characters interpret low infertility as infertility. Therese discovers that she only has a 10% chance of conceiving naturally, and a 70% chance of conceiving through IVF. She interprets this as her being infertile, and rather than tell her husband what is wrong, she tells him they have to get divorced. Claudio has noticed his wife pulling away from him, and jumps to the conclusion that she must be cheating on her which is confirmed in his mind when she asks for a divorce. She tries to explain to him why they need to break up, but he doesn't want to listen because he doesn't want to hear her tell him about her lover. This whole cheating/divorce thing was ridiculous, and I think it was only done to give Claudio a reason to be truly nasty and say very cruel things to Therese. Therese has been rejecting him sexually because it's physically painful for her. She doesn't have a problem with saying no to him, but she does have a problem with telling him why? Huh? I get that they don't have a loving relationship, but they've been happily married for three years, so it's pretty ridiculous that she can't even tell him that it's painful for her. She needs to have an operation (which doesn't even require an overnight hospital stay) but she doesn't want to arrange it because... well, I really don't know why. Considering it's only a day procedure, I don't see why she couldn't have organised to have it done secretly like all her other medical stuff. I wasn't impressed with Therese at all. She doesn't try to fight to save her marriage. She just sits around and decides a 70% chance of conceiving through IVF is not enough, so she'll have to leave. Considering money is no problem, I'd say 70% chance is acceptable. They could at least try it a couple times before giving up. Anyway, once he finds out the truth, Claudio shines. He doesn't want to let go of Therese, and he is determined to make her realise how much he loves her. He basically manages to save the story, and of course we end up with a "miracle" pregnancy with Therese conceiving on their first go at IVF.

After reading The Greek's Christmas Baby and Blackmailed into Marriage, two brilliant books, I have been on a Lucy Monroe marathon. After the last few duds I have read of hers, I think I'm going to move on to another author now.