Husband by Necessity

The Italian Grooms #2

by Lucy Gordon

At her best friend's wedding, Angie Wendham met the groom's half brother, Bernardo, and fell instantly in love with this gorgeous, brooding Sicilian! Only, he wasn't planning to walk up the aisle himself, events in his past having left Bernardo unwilling to give his heart....

In spite of himself, he became close to Angie -- and now she was expecting his baby! They needed to marry before Angie's pregnancy showed. Bernardo would be more than a husband by necessity -- if only Angie could convince this proud man to trust in love!

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Hqn

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Christine Sparks was born in England, UK. She wanted to be a writer all her life, and began by working on a British women's magazine. As a features writer, she gained a wide variety of experience. She interviewed some of the world's most attractive and interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Richard Chamberlain, Charlton Heston, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Alec Guiness.

Single life was so enjoyable that she put marriage, and even romance, on the back burner, while she went about the world having a great time. Then, while on vacation in Venice, she met a tall, dark handsome Venetian artist, who changed all her ideas in a moment, and proposed on the second day. Three months later they were married. Her friends said a whirlwind romance would never last, but they celebrated their 25 anniversary, they are still married, still happy and in love.

After 13 years on the magazine Christine decided that it was now or never if she was ever going to write that novel. So she wrote Legacy of Fire which became a Silhouette Special Edition, followed by another, Enchantment in Venice. Then she did something crazy gave up her job. Since then she has concentrated entirely on writing romances for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette and has written over 75 books. Her settings have been European and her heroes mainly English or Italian. Christine now claims to be an expert on one particular subject. Italian men are the most romantic in the world. They are also the best cooks.

A few years ago she and her husband returned to Venice and lived there for a couple of years. This proved the perfect base for exploring the rest of Italy, and she has given many of her books Italian settings: Venice (of course), Rome, Florence, Milan, Sicily, Tuscany. She has also used the Rhine in Germany for Song of the Lorelei, for which she won her first RITA Award, in 1991. Her second RITA came in 1998, with His Brother's Child, set in Rome.

Eventually Christine Fiorotto and her husband returned to England, where they now live. She write and he paints, they have no children, but have a cat and a dog.

Reviews

[Leona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book out of sequence...(so maybe that is why it lost it's appeal for me) ....but this book was a disaster and I regret investing the time to finish it.

1) There was nothing redeeming about either the hero or heroine. They were so vacuously written that I could not connect with either of them. Nothing disappoints me more than not being vested in the main characters. I also felt there were too many characters to allow for true development in a category romance.

2) I found the side story between Heather and Renato distracting and added nothing to the story. The author would have been better off combining the two stories into one powerful book and tightening the synergy between the two, rather than casually inserting what was going on with the other couple.

4) The whole marriage proposal was absurd and though I am the first to enjoy a sappy ending, this went a bit too far. Mostly, because he hadn't redeemed himself. I wouldn't have married him in front of a firing squad. It was also too contradictory to the actions of the town and didn't feel credible.

5) There was conflict when there shouldn't have been and there was no conflict when there should have been.

I could go on, but I won't. I regret the time reading this and probably should have stopped after page 20, but I kept hoping it would somehow become more meaningful. It didn't, I would suggest avoiding this one.

[Kiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Husband by Necessity, Book 2 of the Italian Grooms series, was about Dr. Angela "Angie" Wendham and Bernardo Tornese, the illegitimate half-brother of Bernardo and Lorenzo Martelli.
Angie was the best friend of Heather, the Heroine from Book 1 of the series, and was going to be her bridesmaid at the wedding. Eager for a vacation and the opportunity "to get a sun tan, fall in love, sample the local delights and act outrageously. Otherwise what’s the point?", she had no intention of "behaving". Angie could be considered the female version of the historical romance novel's male rake, for she had "a string of intense, short-lived relationships which had caused Heather to describe Angie as a serial flirt...But appearances were deceptive. Dr. Angela Wendham’s love affairs were brief because her true, enduring love was her work.".
On the flight from London to Sicily, Angie questioned Heather about Lorenzo's two brothers. Having already heard about the older brother, Renato, she was more interested in the half-brother, Bernardo. Upon seeing him at the airport when they arrived in Sicily, her interest was even more piqued.
Angie noted how determined Bernardo was to maintain a familial distance from the Martelli's. He made a point of letting everyone know he was the "half-brother" of Lorenzo and Renato and kept a respectable distance from their mother, Baptiste. She had raised him with her own two sons when her husband and the man's mistress, Bernardo's mother, both died in a car crash when he was only twelve. In fact, one could say he carried his illegitimacy like a shield to keep everyone at arm's length purposefully.
Angie was slightly offended by Bernardo when she told him about her medical training and he asked her if she was a nurse. She hastily corrected him by informing him she was a doctor. He caught the offense and immediately apologized for his error.
Bernardo carried hidden emotional scars, both from the death of his parents as well as bearing the stigma of illegitimacy, and he unwittingly revealed that to all those around him. One of the scars he bore was that the villagers had considered his mother to be a prostitute because she had carried on an affair with a married man and bore him a child out of wedlock. He wanted to erase that stain and force people to remember her in a different way.
The more Angie got to know Bernardo, the less she knew herself, for she had thought she had love pegged but she was beginning to see that she had never truly understood it. She had looked at love as a game to be played. She told Heather, "I was the one who danced into romance and danced out again when it suited me. It was a game: flirtations, all played with men who were playing the same game, and no hearts broken on either side. Or at least...not on my side, at any rate". She had finally fallen...and fallen hard...and was only just realizing how she had treated all those men in her past was wrong, for she was now experiencing what they surely must have at her hands.
When Heather's wedding to Lorenzo fell through, Angie went with Bernardo back to his home for a respite...only for him to learn that she came from a very wealthy family, and things for them started falling apart, even though they had both expressed their love for each other. Bernardo couldn't get past the fact she was from a rich family and that she, herself, was rich in her own right. Though he had intended to propose, the fact that she was wealthy prevented him...and he told her so. He was afraid she couldn't live the life he did in the mountains of Sicily and that, if she returned to England, he would follow and, "I think I might follow you...Don’t you understand?... That’s how much I love you, enough to stop being a man and become a beaten dog, trailing after you, begging you to let me stay with you on any terms. I might turn my back on those who need me, and try to lead your life, hating and despising myself more with every day.’"
Angie accused him of being ashamed of loving her and when he tried to deny it, she was adamant that she was correct, "‘It’s not what you meant to say, but it came through. You want to love me just so much and no more, counting every grain to see if you’ve given me more than you think I deserve. That’s not what I understand by love. I’d have given up everything to be here with you, and been proud of loving a man who was worth the sacrifice...'".
With nothing left to be said between them, Angie returned to England where she joined her father's medical clinic. She and Heather stayed in touch, talking frequently by telephone. After some time had passed, Heather told her that she had decided to accept the marriage proposal...from Renato...and asked her to return to be her bridesmaid again. She accepted. When she walked down the aisle in front of Heather, Bernardo's look was most unwelcoming as well as wooden. He was not happy to see her. In fact, at the reception/dance, he told her she should not have returned. She did her best to try and convince him that they could build a good life together, but he was just as certain she didn't know what the h*ll she was talking about. He didn't believe love was enough. "'How quickly do you think we’d come to hate each other if we tried to live together? You couldn’t live my life and I couldn’t live yours. We’d destroy each other. Why can’t you see that?’"
Angie's response, "‘Because you’re everything to me...And maybe love has made me stupid-stupid enough to believe we can make anything possible if we love enough. But I’d rather be my kind of stupid than yours, believing nothing is possible and love isn’t worth fighting for.’" But her words didn't reach him, didn't change his mind at all.
But...Baptiste, his stepmother, had overheard their conversation, and when Angie told her that Bernardo "thinks I’m only a bird of paradise...but I wanted to be an eagle.’", she responded by saying, "‘Then be an eagle,’" But again, when Angie asked, "‘How can I if he won’t let me?’", Baptiste got in her face and replied scathingly, "‘Let?...Are you that kind of woman, the kind who waits for a man to “let” her? I expected better from you. Do what you believe in. Don’t ask his permission. Weak women say, “if only”. Strong ones make it happen.’" When Angie said that was what she wanted to do but didn't know how, Baptiste said, "‘But I do...and I’m going to show it to you.’"
With Baptiste's help, Angie was able to get certified and licensed to work as a doctor in Sicily, and she bought the practice and home of the local doctor in Bernardo's mountain village. When he learned of it, he was angry and told her to go home, that she didn't belong there. He was even angry that Baptiste had interfered. But as Angie told him, "‘Perhaps she felt I was entitled to prove myself. Because actually, Bernardo, your attitude to me is pretty insulting. You decided I wasn’t good enough for you...". He tried to deny it, though she cut him off, "‘That’s what it amounted to. Not good enough for you, not good enough for your home. Just a bird of paradise who’s always had a cozy nest. You dumped that on me, never mind whether it was true. Well, now I’m dumping myself on you, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it...I’m a good doctor and I’m going to be good for this place." She then told him what all she had brought with her and what she intended to do for the area, "To start with I’ve imported some very modern medical equipment, the kind of thing I’ll swear Dr Fortuno had never heard of, and he certainly couldn’t have afforded to buy. But I can, because I’ve got all that disgraceful money that you think puts me beyond the pale. Take a good look at this place and see what my wicked wealth has bought. With Sister Ignatia’s help I could even do operations, although I devoutly hope I never have to.’" But no matter what Angie said, Bernardo had an argument for her in return, anything to dissuade her from staying. However, Angie got all the angrier and told him, " ‘I’ll tell you what I know,’ she said furiously. ‘You made a decision. It concerned me, but you didn’t involve me. You decided for both of us. Now I’m telling you, it’s not on. You don’t decide for me. And you really have a problem with a woman who won’t accept your edict, don’t you? Boy, are you a Martelli?’" Oh, but he did not like that! ‘Don’t say that!’ he said harshly." And all she said in return was, "‘I will say it. It’s true. If you don’t
like it, tough!’" This girl had backbone!
To say Bernardo was stubborn would have been an understatement. But months went by and life settled into a pattern that made life somewhat bearable and soon, the people of the village and region started to accept her, though she did still have some issues...especially with Bernardo.
On the day of Baptiste's birthday party, Bernardo stopped at the clinic to pick Angie up, but she told him she wasn't going because she was afraid of getting stranded in the valley when the snow hit and didn't want to leave the village without a doctor. They argued profusely and then he asked her, "‘What happens when you get fed up and decide to leave for good? What do they do then?’" Angie responded, " ‘Maybe I won’t leave.’" But Bernardo had to continue the argument, "‘You will-in the end. And how can anyone afford to buy this place with all the new equipment you’ve put in?’" The only thing she could say in return was, "‘They probably couldn’t. So I’ll have to stay.'" He left. The snow came and she knew she had made the right decision to stay in the village. However, late that night, Angie heard a strange noise and, looking out into the snowy night, noticed something moving. It was someone struggling in the snow. She went to assist, only to realize it was Bernardo. She helped him back to her place, though he argued he needed to go home. He was hurt from turning his ankle and falling. Apparently, he had been walking for hours trying to get back up the mountain. And finally, after he had recovered enough, they managed to consummate their love...if only for a moment. Whatever ghosts still haunted Bernardo had not yet been dealt with. When Angie tried to get him to talk to her about the ghosts, he refused. So she started pulling away, much to his dismay. But she told him she was tired of him shutting her out, that she couldn't do it any longer. She had done her best, but it wasn't good enough for him. When he told her he didn't want her to be a doctor to him, but he wanted her to love him, and when she said she did love him, he told her, "‘Oh, yes, but it must be on your terms. You have to own a man’s soul as well as his heart. I was right to be wary of you.’". She then said them making love the night before should never have happened. "‘I don’t really know much, do I? You won’t let me. You talk about love on my terms, but what about yours? You want to give just so much of yourself, and no more. That isn’t love.’"
Little by little, Angie heard Bernardo pour out his secret ghost, the one he has held close to his chest for twenty years...the fear that he was the cause of his parent's deaths. A secret he had hidden even from his stepmother for fear that she, too, would blame him for the death of her husband...and that his half-brothers would blame him for losing their father. After he had spilled out all the horrors of a twenty-year-old secret, they made love again, then fell asleep, only for her to awaken the next morning to a goodbye note.
Two months passed, and still no word from Bernardo. Lorenzo returned from a trip to America and decided to visit, Angie, who invited him to stay for dinner. While they ate, Angie dropped her fork, bent to pick it up, and got very dizzy. As they sat at the table talking, a man came to visit Angie. Apparently, he had been there several times over the last two months trying to push her into selling him her medical practice...at the behest of Bernardo, apparently. He made an observation that Lorenzo figured out, and the determined that he needed to deal with Bernardo personally on behalf of Angie.
Bernardo returned and confronted Angie with his suspicions...and she confirmed that she was pregnant but that it changed nothing between them, only for him to argue that everything had changed. She said the only thing that had changed was the attitude of the villagers towards her for, apparently, the man Bernardo had sent to force her to sell her practice to him and spread the word that she was a wh*re and was pregnant. But Bernardo said the way they would correct the villagers' perception of her was to marry. She asked him why they should do that. He said because they were having a baby. She said, no, SHE was having a baby, he only fathered it biologically. "...You wouldn’t marry me for love, but now I’m a brood mare, that’s different, isn’t it?’"
But Bernardo was confused and said the wrong thing, "‘I don’t understand anything you say. You’ve won, isn’t that enough?’" Part of her response was, "‘You’ve spent the last twenty years rejecting anyone who tried to get near you, and now you can’t see a pair of open arms without turning your back. So go ahead, turn it in again. My arms aren’t even open anymore, because there’s no point.’"
As the villagers connected the dots and realized Bernardo was the father of Angie's baby, they started shunning her for not marrying him, and once he realized that SHE was being shunned but HE was not, he got very angry...at HER...and he turned his cruel words on her. "‘Why should that worry you?’ he asked coldly. ‘You don’t depend on this for your bread.’" (Because she was rich, she didn't need the villagers' money.) But all she did was agree. When Bernardo realized how bad things had gotten, and what the villagers expected, he broke down and went to Baptista for help...and the months passed, and suddenly, Angie's patients quit coming to her clinic. The villagers were all acting very strangely...then a procession headed towards her...with Heather and Baptiste being wheeled on carts, followed by others from the village. When they stopped by her home, they were grinning at her. When she asked what was going on, someone stepped up to her and...it was her father. When she asked him what he was doing there, he simply stated, "‘I’ve come to your wedding, my dear,'" and that her brothers had sent their love but couldn't come on such short notice.
When she informed her father she wasn't getting married, the mayor of the village told her that everyone in the parade was there to convince her that she must get married. Then she looked around and saw Bernardo flanked by his two brothers.
After the wedding and during the reception and dancing, Angie convinced Bernardo to talk with Baptiste and tell her the truth. What she had to say to him in return was a shock to him and at the same time, a pressure release from all the anxiety he had ever felt towards her, his brothers, his father, his mother, and even himself.
This book was so full of angst and drama that they were overwhelming. The humor that was present wasn't quite enough to quell the tension that wove its way throughout the story. It couldn't really qualify as a romance novel since it actually focused more on the drama of Bernardo and how his twelve-year-old self became trapped in the body of a 32-year-old man. It was all about how the two had to find a way to live together inside the one body...kind of like a few movies, eh? The emotions of the story were as wide as they were plentiful and never disappointed.
The characters were well-developed, with Angie being the more mature of the two main characters. She was strong, independent, wealthy, and definitely not a doormat. Bernardo, on the other hand, had many issues that needed to be worked out before he could be considered strong or mature. It was an unusual swap for an author to throw at the reader. Normally the weaker character in these types of stories would the heroine, and the alpha male would be the stronger of the two. Not so in this book, which gave an added interesting twist to the story. I almost didn't give this book a good rating until I made that realization, but afterward, I decided it was a nice change for an author to make. So, having said that, yes, it deserved a five-star rating and to be added to the Keeper for the Shelves collection.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Italian Grooms series
1. Wife by Arrangement
2. Husband by Necessity
3. Bride by Choice

Stubborn self-sufficient English doctor meets equally stubborn, brooding Italian male. One of the surreal scenes in the story was the marriage proposal made at the behest of the town mayor, priest, mother superior, stepmother of the hero, father and brother of the girl. The guy practically came with a town deputation.

What irks me about the heroine: she was “wronged” so she will deny her unborn baby its father’s presence. Her slighted feelings take precedence over the needs of her unborn child. It’s “I’m having a baby” not “we are having a baby.” Way to act mature, doc! (end sarc)

What irks me about the hero: give it up already with the brooding. His resentment for being the bastard son of a rich man and his mistress is so immature as well. Just be thankful that the rich man’s wife immediately took him in as an adoptive son and treated him kindly and no differently from her natural sons when she didn't owe him anything.

Irritating book.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Husband by Necessity

It takes a village to get this misguided couple to the alter. In the beginning he was introduced as the half brother of two brothers. His mother the mistress of their father. He has a huge chip in his shoulder. And she fell for him. But things happen and h he leaves her alone and pregnant. In an Italian village where things like being an unwed doctor, even a well liked one can be shunned. Will he ever accept that life is not always black and white? Will she accept him?

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. At one time I was at sea as to what the problems were with this couple, even that the elder brother would be the better half. I was pleasantly surprised by the eventual slant the author took with the characters and happy in the outcome of the storyline. I wonder what Lorenzo's story would be and what of the mysterious Helen. Hummm, I wonder what's her brother's back story and his future storyline would be like, hmmmm ...

[Tetty Marlinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

#85 - 2024
Genre: Romance, Harlequin

[Natasja❤️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bernardo’s baby, Bouquet 2287

[Gramedia Pustaka Utama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angie datang ke Sisilia untuk menghadiri pernikahan temaannya, tapi ternyata Angie mendapati dirinya jatuh cinta pada Bernardo, kakak tiri Renato dan Lorenzo. Tapi Bernardo selalu menganggap Angie sebagai gadis kota yang tidak dapat hidup susah di gunung. Apalagi Angie adalah seseorang yang berasal dari keluarga kaya raya.
Tapi Angie berusaha membuktikan pada Bernardo dengan pindah ke Montedoro, tempat Bernardo tinggal selain untuk menggantikan dokter setempat. Dan hasilnya Bernardo terus berusaha menjauhi Angie, apalagi ketika Angie hamil.
Angie benar-benar harus membuktikan cinta tulusnya pada Bernardo dengan sekuat tenaga, mengingat Bernardo adalah seseorang yang selalu menolak kehangatan sebua keluarga.

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a good novel in a continuing series, for me it wasn't as good as the first. Also why isn't there a third book or fourth for Lorenzo and the mother who finally gets to marry her love. I was disappointed when I realized there was no more. Overall the novel was pretty decent if not a bit forced.

[nurmawati]

perasaan baca buku ini udah ampir setaon gak tamat2 hehehe....

[Wellga · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Angie so much, with her stubborn. She show everyone that she can survive. even in dangerous zone. Bernardo, you must be very...very lucky man
love the ending!!!