The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain by Lucy Monroe

Duty-bound to marry and bear the King an heir…

Principe Claudio Scorsolini had strict criteria when he selected his future wife – she must make a suitable figurehead for his people and provide him with an heir…

Claudio’s convenient union with Therese is hailed a success: his subjects have fallen in love with their future queen, and she’s performed her duties in the bedroom – to Claudio’s immense satisfaction…

However, Therese has secretly fallen in love with her regal, dutiful husband. How can their marriage survive when she knows she can never give Claudio a child?

This is the final book in Lucy Monroe's Royal Brides Trilogy from Harelequin Presents. And it has been much anticipated by me for three full months.

I'm very happy to report that LM didn't disappoint. At all.

Througout the other books, we caught glimpses of Therese and Claudio and we knew something was amiss with Therese, and I for one, had a hard time waiting to find out what it was. Much as it pains me to admit it, however, it was worth the wait.

Princess Therese Scorsolini knows her husband, Prince Claudio - heir to the throne -, married her for convenience and the heirs she could produce for him. She hadn't harbored any delusions about her husband's feelings towards her, and that was why, when she found out she had a disease that was causing her to become infertile, she knew she'd have no choice but to offer him a divorce.

Prince Claudio knows nothing of his wife's health problems, but he has noticed her change in behavior and has made his own assumptions based on them. Terribly wrong assumptions. When Therese explains that they must divorce, he doesn't give her a chance to explain why, simply reacts, assuming he already knows the reason, that she's found someone else. He's pissed about it, of course, and says some things to her that later come back to haunt him, but he swears his anger is justified.

Of course, eventually he learns the real reason she's asking for a divorce and besides having a lot of making up to do, he also has his work cut out for him convincing Therese that a divorce isn't the way to go.

This was a sweet and - for me, at least - a very emotional read. LM is amazing at taking real life issues and bringing them to life in a very positive way. All women face different issues, whether they be physical or emotional and I think LM does a fabulous job of addressing them, without making me feel preached to.

I loved Therese, and I felt that her reasons for insisting on the divorce insecuritiesecurties were totally valid. She stood her ground, too, when Claudio finally came to his senses and didn't cow to him. I love that.

Claudio was an awesome hero, too. I love how amazing Lucy is at making me hate a hero and then fall in love with him. He sayed and did some things when Therese first asked for a divorce that made me so angry I wanted to beat him, but once he realized his mistakes he did everything he could to make up for his earlier stupid actions and make the heroine realize how much he truly cared for her.

I loved the entire premise of the story. The characters were fab, the storyline amazing and I didn't even mind the shortness of the story. LM did an amazing job of wrapping this trilogy up. The only thing I disliked about this book was that it ended. LOL I can't wait to see what LM has in store for us next!

Because of this book, Stacy over at Stacy's Place put up a wonderful, thought provoking post that I think y'all should check out. And Lucy herself addressed the reasons she writes "Issue" stories. Be sure to pop over to her blog and check it out.

5 out of 5

The rest of the books in the series are as follows:

Wedding Vow of Revenge (Not part of the trilogy, but shares some of the same characters)
The Prince's Virgin Wife
His Royal Love Child
The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain