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Pregnancy of Convenience
Joanna Strassen knew Cal Freeman wanted a passionate affair. Was this her chance to secretly conceive her much-wanted baby?
Unable to go through with her outrageous plan, Joanna confessed to Cal. Shockingly, Cal went one step further, suggesting a convenient marriage! But Joanna wanted a baby, not a husband....
Unable to go through with her outrageous plan, Joanna confessed to Cal. Shockingly, Cal went one step further, suggesting a convenient marriage! But Joanna wanted a baby, not a husband....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
About the author
Sandra Field
216 books36 followersJill MacLean was born on 1941 in England, UK. In 1950, her family moved to Nova Scotia, Canada.
After receiving her Bachelor of Science with honours from Dalhousie University, she married. She worked at the Fisheries Research Board until her daughter was born. Following the birth of her son, she was employed by the pathology laboratory of Sydney City Hospital and the biology department of Mount Allison University. More recently, she completed a Masters in Theological Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology; her thesis juxtaposed Hebrew concepts of chaos in the book of Job with modern chaos theory.
When her husband joined the Armed Forces as a chaplain, she had to stop working. They moved three times in the first 18 months, the last move was to Prince Edward Island. By then her children were in school; she couldn't get a job; and at the local bridge club, she kept forgetting not to trump her partner's ace.
However, she had always loved to read, fascinated by the lure of being drawn into the other world of the story. So one day she bought a dozen Harlequin novels, read and analyzed them, then sat down and wrote one. Her first book, To Trust My Love, typed with four fingers, was published in 1974 as Sandra Field (she believes she's curiously the first Canadian to write for Harlequin). During the four years she lived in Prince Edward Island, she researched an 18th century French settlement located near present-day Brudenell, resulting in a historical book, Jean Pierre Roma, published in 1977 under her real name. She also started to write in collaboration with other Martimer writer under the pseudonym Jan MacLean. She also used to singed her novels the pseudonym of Jocelyn Haley. Her pseudonyms was an attempt to prevent the congregation from finding out what the chaplain's wife was up to in her spare time.
Before she turned 40, her life was changed, she had lost three of the most important women in her life: her mother and sister to illness, and her seventeen-year-old daughter to a car accident, and she separated from her husband in 1976. One of the lasting legacies of the grief caused by these losses has been the idea that it is impossible and undesirable to live every waking moment in the knowledge that loss can strike at any time.
She's been very fortunate for years to be able to combine a love of travel (particularly to the north - she doesn't do heat well) with her writing, by describing settings that most people will probably never visit. And there's always the challenge of making the heroine's long underwear sound romantic. Her novels has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Yugoslavian, Japanese... and sold in more than 90 countries. Her first collection of poetry, The Brevity of Red, was published in 2003. When her nine-years-old grandson, Stuart, asked him a book for him, she wrote her first Children's book and decided continued writing this type of books.
Jill now lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and she's lived most of her life in the Maritimes of Canada, within reach of the sea. Kayaking and canoeing, hiking and gardening, listening to music and reading are all sources of great pleasure. But best of all are good friends, some going back to high-school days, and her family. In Newfoundland, she has a beautiful daughter-in-law and the two most delightful, handsome, and intelligent grandchildren in the world (of course!).
After receiving her Bachelor of Science with honours from Dalhousie University, she married. She worked at the Fisheries Research Board until her daughter was born. Following the birth of her son, she was employed by the pathology laboratory of Sydney City Hospital and the biology department of Mount Allison University. More recently, she completed a Masters in Theological Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology; her thesis juxtaposed Hebrew concepts of chaos in the book of Job with modern chaos theory.
When her husband joined the Armed Forces as a chaplain, she had to stop working. They moved three times in the first 18 months, the last move was to Prince Edward Island. By then her children were in school; she couldn't get a job; and at the local bridge club, she kept forgetting not to trump her partner's ace.
However, she had always loved to read, fascinated by the lure of being drawn into the other world of the story. So one day she bought a dozen Harlequin novels, read and analyzed them, then sat down and wrote one. Her first book, To Trust My Love, typed with four fingers, was published in 1974 as Sandra Field (she believes she's curiously the first Canadian to write for Harlequin). During the four years she lived in Prince Edward Island, she researched an 18th century French settlement located near present-day Brudenell, resulting in a historical book, Jean Pierre Roma, published in 1977 under her real name. She also started to write in collaboration with other Martimer writer under the pseudonym Jan MacLean. She also used to singed her novels the pseudonym of Jocelyn Haley. Her pseudonyms was an attempt to prevent the congregation from finding out what the chaplain's wife was up to in her spare time.
Before she turned 40, her life was changed, she had lost three of the most important women in her life: her mother and sister to illness, and her seventeen-year-old daughter to a car accident, and she separated from her husband in 1976. One of the lasting legacies of the grief caused by these losses has been the idea that it is impossible and undesirable to live every waking moment in the knowledge that loss can strike at any time.
She's been very fortunate for years to be able to combine a love of travel (particularly to the north - she doesn't do heat well) with her writing, by describing settings that most people will probably never visit. And there's always the challenge of making the heroine's long underwear sound romantic. Her novels has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Yugoslavian, Japanese... and sold in more than 90 countries. Her first collection of poetry, The Brevity of Red, was published in 2003. When her nine-years-old grandson, Stuart, asked him a book for him, she wrote her first Children's book and decided continued writing this type of books.
Jill now lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, and she's lived most of her life in the Maritimes of Canada, within reach of the sea. Kayaking and canoeing, hiking and gardening, listening to music and reading are all sources of great pleasure. But best of all are good friends, some going back to high-school days, and her family. In Newfoundland, she has a beautiful daughter-in-law and the two most delightful, handsome, and intelligent grandchildren in the world (of course!).
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 4, 2018
3 Stars ~ Was it destiny that brought Cal and Joanna together? Both had journeyed to Manitoba in the middle of January and in a bitter Canadian blizzard. Cal to deliver a fellow mountaineer's gear to his grieving parents. Joanna to deliver possessions of her late husband to her in-laws. He'd come across her car in the ditch, with her unconscious from a bump on her head. Only a few miles from the Strassen's, he scooped her up, and bundled her into his Durango. And then he looked at her.
Arriving at the Strassen's, Cal is taken aback when they tell him that the woman is not welcome in their home. He learns that she is the wife of their dead son, the gold digging woman who cheated and got pregnant by another man.
Joanna had just left the Strassen house, willing to tackle a blizzard instead of bearing one moment more of their vitriolic attacks. Awakening to find herself back in their home, set off a panic she had difficulty controlling. And to further add to her distress, her rescuer shared her in-laws contempt believing the lies her dead husband had spewed. And yet, Joanna found Cal intriguing, he awakened feelings of desire that she'd thought she'd never feel again.
Both Cal and Joanna had had terrible marriages based on what their money could buy rather then the love they had thought they'd married for. Months after the blizzard, when Cal has an opportunity to ask a fellow mountaineer about Joanna's marriage, he learns that he'd treated her abominably, and sets out to find her.
I'm a sucker for "hero falsely accuses the heroine" plots. Ms. Field manages to balance out the angsty beginning with some rather sweet and comedic moments of Cal trying to woo Joanna. While I think the editor's choice of title is a tad misleading along with the cover synopsis, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this love story.
The blizzard, the cold, the loud whir of the heater fan all dropped away as though they didn’t exist. Cal’s heart leaped in his chest. He’d never seen a woman so beautiful. So utterly and heartbreakingly beautiful. Her skin smooth as silk, her hair with the blue-black sheen of a raven’s wing, her features perfect, from the softly curved mouth to the high cheekbones and exquisitely arched brows. He wanted her. Instantly and unequivocally.
Arriving at the Strassen's, Cal is taken aback when they tell him that the woman is not welcome in their home. He learns that she is the wife of their dead son, the gold digging woman who cheated and got pregnant by another man.
Joanna had just left the Strassen house, willing to tackle a blizzard instead of bearing one moment more of their vitriolic attacks. Awakening to find herself back in their home, set off a panic she had difficulty controlling. And to further add to her distress, her rescuer shared her in-laws contempt believing the lies her dead husband had spewed. And yet, Joanna found Cal intriguing, he awakened feelings of desire that she'd thought she'd never feel again.
Had she ever laid eyes on a man so magnetic, so masculine, so self-assured? So guarded, so reluctant to trust her? Why couldn’t she have been rescued by a country farmer in a three-ton truck, with a plump, friendly wife and a kitchen smelling of borscht and freshly baked bread? Cal was his name. And that was all she knew about him. Except for the inescapable fact that his two brief kisses had melted the very bones of her body. She had to get out of here.
Both Cal and Joanna had had terrible marriages based on what their money could buy rather then the love they had thought they'd married for. Months after the blizzard, when Cal has an opportunity to ask a fellow mountaineer about Joanna's marriage, he learns that he'd treated her abominably, and sets out to find her.
I'm a sucker for "hero falsely accuses the heroine" plots. Ms. Field manages to balance out the angsty beginning with some rather sweet and comedic moments of Cal trying to woo Joanna. While I think the editor's choice of title is a tad misleading along with the cover synopsis, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this love story.
October 11, 2020
Heroine has money. Heroine’s dead husband married her for her money and proceeded to spend it all.
Hero makes a lot of money. Hero’s dead wife was also happily spending her husband’s money and plus was a pathological liar to boot.
Heroine’s dead husband was a professional mountaineer and fell to his death. So she wants to steer clear of anything to with climbing and scaling mountains and peaks.
Hero climbs and scales mountain peaks for a hobby.
Heroine was faithful to her dead husband. But the dead husband was not.
Hero was faithful to his dead wife. But the dead wife’s fidelity is not clear.
In a way one can say the author adhered to the rule book as far as the heroine was concerned.
1) Dead husband was unfaithful - It was the Heroine’s fault for not being good enough to keep him satisfied in bed.
2) Dead husband had inferior climbing equipment - It was because the Heroine was being tight-fisted with her money.
3) Dead husband’s concentration was shot on the day of the climb - The Heroine dropped the bombshell that she was pregnant on the husband on the day of his climb.
4) Dead husband fell to his death - He was disturbed and distracted because he thought that his wife was unfaithful to him.
And it continues beyond his death.......
5) Heroine slipped on a patch of ice and miscarried - If she slipped, It was of course the heroine’s fault, but even worse she was accused of having terminated the pregnancy.
Hero, having tried and found the heroine guilty of all the crimes lost no time in attacking her / accusing her all all the aforementioned crimes without any evidence. At this point, the hero fell by the wayside for me and I got more interested in the book as a Travel diaries.
Note to self - Review of the travel diary is pending.
But overall - Enjoyed reading the book.
August 25, 2011
The hero Cal is driving in a snowstorm when he comes accross the heroine Joanna unconscious after crashing her car. When he learns her name he realises that he actually knows of her by mutual acquaintance and knows all about her sordid past. Joanna has had to deal with scorn from people believing that she cheated on her late husband, caused his death and aborted his baby, when none of this is true. But Joanna is now free from the nightmare of her marriage and is getting on with her life. She's upset that Cal believes the lies about her as she felt that they had a connection. Cal can't stop thinking about Joanna after they part and soon learns the truth about her and knows he has to apologise and that there is a chance she may not forgive him. He visits her where they spend time together and asks Joanna to go on vacation with him and his daughter. Joanna agrees and realises that if she and Cal take their relationship further then she has a chance of having the baby she so desperately wants. However she can't deceive Cal and ends up telling him. Cal actually likes the idea, he wants to get married and provide and mother for his daughter and a wife and family for himself. He proposes marriage but Joanna, having had one disastrous marriage, only wants to marry for love.
I quite liked this book. It has a really exciting and interesting start, the characters have a nice interaction and there is enough information left out to keep you reading. I do thinks the book lost it's way after a while, the pace became rather slow and a bit boring. I liked the plot though. My main issue with this book is that it;s style and structure is almost identical to the previous Sandra Field book I read; The heroine had a traumatic past marriage, husband died in freak accident, hero and heroine hate each other at first, hero takes heroine on holiday where they get together, etc. It's a little off putting.
Nevertheless, this is a quick and enjoyable book.
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
I quite liked this book. It has a really exciting and interesting start, the characters have a nice interaction and there is enough information left out to keep you reading. I do thinks the book lost it's way after a while, the pace became rather slow and a bit boring. I liked the plot though. My main issue with this book is that it;s style and structure is almost identical to the previous Sandra Field book I read; The heroine had a traumatic past marriage, husband died in freak accident, hero and heroine hate each other at first, hero takes heroine on holiday where they get together, etc. It's a little off putting.
Nevertheless, this is a quick and enjoyable book.
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
Did Not Finish
May 8, 2011oddy boring
December 28, 2024
3.3
While other reader might see a besotthed H all I can see is a user and a leech.
Let's see, he married the OW because he loved her to distraction even if the sex was lousy while he wanted to marry the heroine for a mother to his daughter and because the sex was fenomenal.
He stayed married and faithful to a gold-digger until she died while withholding the love to an heroine that suffered through life in the hands of er previous husband because she just was good for sex and be a mother and doesn't deserved to be loved while he gave easily and freely his love his first wife.
Great, he thought the worst of the heroine felt guilty when found out the truth and what he wanted? Just to go after after to say sorry and because he lusted her to use her for sex and changed his mind that wanted to marry her besides a great sex and a mother to his child. He and the OM were users. He didn't care for the feelings of the heroine, just his selfsh motives. }Through out of the book it's always how he loved the OW but didn't work out but that he didn't love the heroine it's just attraction and wanting, he didn't want to love the heroine until 90% of the book and suddenly he cannot live without her? And that probably he loved her at first sight. Right and I believe in unicorns. He only decided these because he didn't want another women and knew that the sex will be inferior. His friend said that he was a ONE WOMAN MAN, he was right, because the one he truly give his heart withou thought was the OW, he would still with her if she was alive or would mourn her if she were a good woman and truly reciprocated his feeling.
It is much easier to find a faithful H to awful heroine while they used every excuse to cheat on the heroines of this world. There are to standars in the books, one for the OWs and another for the heroines and guess what, the heroines is the loser most of times.
In this book not only the heroine lose to the dead OW but she lose to his hobby the climbing and adventure, he just changed in the end because his daughter didn't want him to climbing and another climber died. And the heroine is the fourth after the OW, daughtet and climbing.
While other reader might see a besotthed H all I can see is a user and a leech.
Let's see, he married the OW because he loved her to distraction even if the sex was lousy while he wanted to marry the heroine for a mother to his daughter and because the sex was fenomenal.
He stayed married and faithful to a gold-digger until she died while withholding the love to an heroine that suffered through life in the hands of er previous husband because she just was good for sex and be a mother and doesn't deserved to be loved while he gave easily and freely his love his first wife.
Great, he thought the worst of the heroine felt guilty when found out the truth and what he wanted? Just to go after after to say sorry and because he lusted her to use her for sex and changed his mind that wanted to marry her besides a great sex and a mother to his child. He and the OM were users. He didn't care for the feelings of the heroine, just his selfsh motives. }Through out of the book it's always how he loved the OW but didn't work out but that he didn't love the heroine it's just attraction and wanting, he didn't want to love the heroine until 90% of the book and suddenly he cannot live without her? And that probably he loved her at first sight. Right and I believe in unicorns. He only decided these because he didn't want another women and knew that the sex will be inferior. His friend said that he was a ONE WOMAN MAN, he was right, because the one he truly give his heart withou thought was the OW, he would still with her if she was alive or would mourn her if she were a good woman and truly reciprocated his feeling.
It is much easier to find a faithful H to awful heroine while they used every excuse to cheat on the heroines of this world. There are to standars in the books, one for the OWs and another for the heroines and guess what, the heroines is the loser most of times.
In this book not only the heroine lose to the dead OW but she lose to his hobby the climbing and adventure, he just changed in the end because his daughter didn't want him to climbing and another climber died. And the heroine is the fourth after the OW, daughtet and climbing.
December 26, 2019
The thing is when you write your characters to the point where they have emotionally and mentally disconnected themselves from having a future with the other character & you have written them as having genuinely irreconcilable differences you have to put in equal work to repair that (by your own words) impossible divide. And this book did not manage to do that. Also, the pacing was really off.
In fact, I think that had the story not been as long as it was, the pacing and the other problems would have been resolved. Having to stretch the story out meant stretching out the drama/time apart/obstacles and that wound up putting too much in the Cons side of the column to be surmountable in the space left.
In fact, I think that had the story not been as long as it was, the pacing and the other problems would have been resolved. Having to stretch the story out meant stretching out the drama/time apart/obstacles and that wound up putting too much in the Cons side of the column to be surmountable in the space left.
December 27, 2012
I could barely make it through this novel and the only reason I rated it two stars was because of the whole baby aspect. I do love these type of novels.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews