Customer Reviews

The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain (Harlequin Presents)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really enjoyed Monroe's finale. It was touching, and as usual both parties were clueless as to how one felt about the other. I liked the intimacy (besides the sexual) between the couples especially after the medical situation which Therese believed would make her lose her caro, Claudio, is revealed.
However, I would have liked to have seen more of a backstory for Therese and Claudio, such as a scene on how they met, or a moment before their marriage. Flashbacks were given on how the other Scorsolini brothers, Marcello and Tomasso, met their wives, so I was a little disappointed when I didn't see one for Therese and Claudio considering how the couple were mentioned in the first two books.. This by no means detracted from the story however, b/c their history is revealed piecemeal as the story progresses. As hoped Therese learns she is loved and Claudio learns he has nothing to fear from acknowledging his love for his beloved, Therese. The story ended beautifully; love was practically bursting off the page. Wonderful conclusion to an incredible trilogy.

When Therese married Principe Claudio Scorsolini, she did as a duty to the country. When Principe Claudio married Therese he did it because she was perfect to fulfill the role of a princess and provide him with a heir to the throne. But as always fate intervenes and even though Therese falls in love with her "convenient" husband she has been keeping a secret from him that can cost them their marriage, and her happiness. When she discovers she cant bear any children she wants to end their marriage and save him the humiliation his brother suffered. Principe Claudio doesn't know what had he done to make his dutiful lovely bride reject him constantly, then he learns of her secret and decides to teach her that they belong together against all odds. In this Royal family loyalty, love and passion are important. Lucy Monroe once again writes an emotional tear jerking wonderful story based on real life situations that can doom a relationship to end. She gives her characters the strength to fight tooth and nail and achieve the understanding that leads where true love shines to give us the happily ever after! Another great read you don't want to miss!

Lucy Monroe tugs at the heartstrings in a most effective fashion in her latest HP. The final story in this royal trilogy, "The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain" shares the painful story of Therese, suffering from a medical condition that has her making a difficult choice about her future. Therese has loved her husband Claudio, next in line for the throne, since the beginning, but her heart is breaking because he does not feel the same. Knowing she must be honest with her husband and respect his responsibilities, Therese confronts Claudio with the intention of revealing her condition, but a huge misunderstanding ensues and now Claudio is faced with a wife who wants to leave him. Once he discovers the real reason for her withdrawal, Claudio comes to realize just how much Therese has come to mean to him, and he must fight to save his marriage and prove his love to the one woman who was meant to be his.

Oh, make sure you have a box of tissues nearby because this one is a poignant and very sensual story of responsibility, love, and honor. Therese has always been the quintessential lady, fulfilling her responsibilities as princess and making her husband proud of her. But when faced with the very serious reality of her condition, she must make a heartbreaking decision that reveals the passion and love she holds in her heart for her husband and his people. Lucy brings honesty and compassion to her telling of Therese's story, and both new fans and existing ones will applaud the bravery and strength Lucy reveals by being so open about women's issues. I hope she will continue to bring these kinds of topics out in the open and show women that there is no shame or fault of their own for living with these conditions. Lucy not only writes amazing stories, she educates readers and provides them with extremely valuable information. Kudos to her for sharing with others - she's a force to be reckoned with.

The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain concludes Lucy Monroe's breathtaking Royal Brides Trilogy.

Prince Claudio and Princess Therese appear from the outside to lead a fairy tale life. Their marriage of convenience seems to be everything on can ask for but Princess Therese is hiding a terrible secret that she is convinced will turn Claudio away from her.

Claudio is taken aback that Therese asks for a divorce. Before he can get to the truth his father the King has a heart attack. They both decide to table the divorce for now.

When Claudio realizes his wife has a serious illness that affects her ability to conceive he is determined not to let her go. His tender loving care gives Therese hope that all might not be lost in their marriage.

Watching two characters that have married for duty fall in love is a pleasure for every romance reader to cherish. Claudio and Therese have their courtship in reverse. You cannot help to care about each joy and sorrow.

Claudio Scorsolini is the heir of the throne of his country. He married Therese a few years ago in a marriage of convenience. She is the perfect princess, she is beautiful, refined, and comes from an important family. Claudio is hansome, sexy, but he has a problem showing his love.

Although her marriage was not based on love, she soon fell in love with Claudio. She is sad because he doesn't love her back, but now something terrible is happening and she is sure that her marriage is going to end. Therese is sick, and she is very unlikely to mother Claudio's children.

This wonderful story is so real, especially Therese's problems with health. When Therese finally decided to tell Claudio, she did not chose the right words, and now there is a huge misunderstanding. I don't want to ruin the suspense, just read it, for what it will follow will take your heart away.

Read this book, you are going to love it! It is dad to see the Royal Brides Trilogy go, but I am sure I will revisit soon.

If you love Lucy Monroe, this is one of her best. The only conplaint about this book that I have is that it took Therese so long to tell Claudio the truth about her medical condition. It was a little too drawn out. The love and the passion in this one was great, with just enough emotional angst to make it interesting.

This is not worthy of having Lucy Monroe's name on it. I generally enjoy her books, but this is a big disappointment. Therese continues to go through a debilitating disease without telling her husband, who doesn't even catch it, despite the fact that she usually is in extreme pain. And he quite obviously doesn't trust her, because he thinks that she's been sexed up by a secret lover when he's not around. That is not the kind of marriage I want to find in a romance novel. Her husband is a prime idiot. When she has a kid, because her inability to produce an heir was the reason she wanted to divorce him, everything is ok again. Don't read it, it's not worth the time.

Of the 3 book in the Royal Brides trilogy, I felt this one was the best and most realistic.

When we meet Therese and Claudio, they have already been married for a while. Claudio, next in line to the throne, chose Therese as his bride as he felt she had all the necessary attributes to be the future queen and even had her fertility tested so make sure that she could provide him with an heir. Their's was a marriage of compatibility, not of love. But over the years, Therese comes to realize that she has in fact fallen in love with her husband.

Claudio decides that it's time for them to start trying for a baby so Therese goes off the Pill. But heavy bleeding and intense pain gets her a diagnosis of endometriosis which has rendered her infertile. The endometriosis also makes sex painful so she starts turning Claudio down when he wants sex. Knowing her diagnosis will mean the end of her marriage, she puts off telling Claudio. In the meantime, Claudio begins to suspect the reason his wife has been turning him down is because she has found someone else. Between the decrease sex life, her zoning out, and the fact that he realizes that she no longer loves him, in his mind, he has been usurped by another man.

Claudio's treatment of Therese when she asks for a divorce was actually hard to read. My heart went out to her. But then Claudio finds out the reason for her request and insists than they stay married. But Therese is insistent, especially after she witnesses the way her brothers-in-law treat their wives, she knows Claudio does not love her and believes he only wants to remain married out of misplaced duty.

As with most Harlequins, there is a lot of miscommunication and missed meeting of the minds. My one (and I think only) problem with this book is Claudio's about face. One minute he doesn't love her and the next minute he is desperately trying to convince Therese of his love. I'm glad she didn't believe him. I wouldn't either. The same thing happened to Marcello and Danette (in His Royal Love Child - 2nd book in the trilogy). In both instances I felt as if there was something missing, as if the editor cut out some important paragraphs to fit the word count and messed up the story. You can't have a 180 degree change of heart in the blink of an eye and expect to be taken seriously.

However, his capitultion really was touching, and the book had a sweet ending.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would give it 10. I have almost a dozen books from this author and this one is by far the best. As usual the hero is a guy who starts out as idiot who doesn't know the difference between his heart and his foot, but he totally makes up for it at the end. There are a few points where the story drags because there is so much internal dialogue with the heroine, but it's important to creating the story. This book made me cry, laugh and shout out loud to cheer on the characters and their happy ending. Please, please, please read this one.

I was amazed to read the positive reviews of this book! Lucy Monroe sometimes writes well plotted and even moving love stories, such as her most recent, The Virgin Bride. This, however, is a very short story in search of a fix and Monroe's fix was to create a pathetic heroine, Therese, who when faced with an illness, asks her husband (whom she purportedly loves) for a divorce, sending him into jealousy, rage, confusion, etc. Then Therese walks around in a self-created brain fog for 80 or 90 pages--it's one way to fill a book, I suppose, but incredibly annoying, boring and repetitive to read--and to think I paid $4.50 for this! Yuk!