Innocent Wife, Baby of Shame - Melanie Milburne
Harlequin Presents
Harlequin, 2008
ISBN: 9780373127191
N.B The above details refer to the North American release of this book.
My rating
From the back cover:
"For Patrizio Trelini, everything points to Keira Worthington's infidelity. The ruthless Italian throws his temptress wife out - he won't listen to her lies! But, two months later, necessity brings Keira back into Patrizio's life, and into his bed, although his heart remains cold.
With her marriage revived, Keira has one last chance to prove her innocence. But she's just discovered she's pregnant! Will Patrizio accept the truth - that Keira's having his child?"
I am a big fan of Melanie Milburne's books, so I was looking forward to reading this one.
The heroine Keira is trying hard to move on with her life, even though she knows she is the one who ruined it. She is certainly not expecting her soon-to-be-ex husband Patrizio, the hero, to come and see her. Patrizio can never forgive Keira for what she did, yet a situation has led him to ask her for a brief, pretend reconciliation. Keira struggles with her shame over her actions even though she can't actually remember what happened. Patrizio's scorn towards her hurts, but she takes it knowing she deserves it. Patrizio is pretty sure he hates Keira but he can't ignore the fact that he still fiercely desires her. Keira realises that the damage has been done to their marriage, but when she finds out that she is pregnant she is determined to find out exactly what happened. But when she does it is even more heartbreaking for her.
This is a difficult review to write, there are quite a few bad reviews of this book so I started reading this one with a bit of trepidation. This is certainly not a book for everyone. There is a lot of anger and sadness in this book, and that creates a very intense mood. But, I actually liked it. Yes, the hero acts badly towards the heroine, but I think this is totally understandable and realistic, after what had happened between them. The hero is hurting, and I think the author did a good job of showing this. The heroine might seem like she is a doormat, but I thought she was quite mature in accepting the blame. What these two characters go through in this book, individually and together, is filled with despair as well as realism, and the story is a very true representation of what can happen to people and a marriage after adultery.
What let's this book down hugely is the situation that causes the hero to suggest the reconciliation - it is really lame!
A sad and traumatic story about a marriage in crisis that I found absorbing from start to finish.
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Hi. I was took a deep breath before I opened your review on this one. I have read it. I too have seen the many bad reviews on it which then made me wonder... am I the only person out there who really liked it? I liked it because you could honestly feel the pain and despair which in turn literarly had me on the edge of my seat... reading page after page with baited breath that it would all be ok in the end... I totally got caught up in the book and took the heroine's rollercoaster ride to the end. I loved it and would give it a 4 star as well, or perhaps I should give it my own 4.5 because I've kept this one and have re read it many times :)))
ReplyDeleteHi Tash, thank you so much for your lovely comment and it is GREAT to find someone else out there who loved this book (I'm sure there are loads more, but not open about it ;-)) You are so right about the pain and despair in the book, I liked that it was something a little different. You know, I get fed up with those squeaky clean heroines, I want ones that do occasionally do bad things. It's life after all!.
ReplyDeleteThis is def on my keeper shelf ;-)
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