High-Society Secret Pregnancy

Park Avenue Scandals #1

by Maureen Child

Manhattan millionaire Max Rolland didn't do relationships…until his one-night stand turned up pregnant. Blue-blooded Julia Prentice may have been a lamb by day, but she'd been a lion in the bedroom. And when the expectant socialite showed up on his doorstep, Max knew the baby couldn't be his. But he offered marriage anyway.

For one year. He'd get his heir and a sexy bedmate. But before the prenup ink was dry, Max was wondering if he'd want more from Julia than just a business deal.…

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Harlequin Desire, Silhouette

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published July 8, 2008

About the author

USA Today best selling author Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. Maureen is a five time nominee for the prestigious Rita award from Romance Writers of America.
One of her novels, A Pocketful Of Paradise, was made into a CBS-TV movie called The Soul Collector, starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis.
Over the years, she’s written under lots of different names and she prefers the term ‘pseudonym’ to ‘alias’. As Ann Carberry, she wrote western historical romances. As Kathleen Kane, she wrote not only Americana romances, but western paranormal romances as well. As Sarah Hart, she wrote one really spectacular western paranormal that is still one of her favorites. And once, Ann Carberry even wrote a Victorian historical which she absolutely loved doing.

Under her own name, Maureen writes short contemporary novels for Silhouette Desire—books she loves to write because of their fast pace and condensed story telling. Maureen is also writing funny, contemporary paranormal romances for NAL and darker paranormal stories for Silhouette Nocturne.

Maureen writes paranormal romance novels under the pesudonym of Regan Hastings

Reviews

[Tonya Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Rolland is a self made billionaire. One that always got what he wanted, except for a child. When blue blood Julia Prentice sets his blood on fire, he wants her spend more time in his bed. Still, months after their one night together, finding out she is pregnant doesn't change his goals. Even if he knows she is lying about him being the father.

[Mattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one was horrible, the hero didn't believe heroine til last chapter and only because he checked doctors records he didn't believe heroine at all not once but believed his known liar of an ex wife. Then also he never even thought to use protection with heroine so I can only assume that he has been sleeping with all women since without protection because he believed he was infertile (who knows how many kids he has over course of however many years since he was divorced). It didn't even make sense for heroine to lie since her parents didn't approve of him at all. Then for heroine to just let him treat her like a liar and marry and sleep with him anyway was so pathetic. Also for her to be so scared of people's opinions were she to be a single parent seemed so pathetic as well. P.

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot of this book is H and h have an one night stand. The h is pregnant and is being blackmailed. The H believes himself to be infertile but wants a heir. He is of course a self made billionaire. The H refuses to believe h and then the whole book comes to an abrupt halt thanks to his epiphany when he has a conversation with his lawyer friend. He doesn't even grovel enough.
The title is definitely misleading as there is nothing secret about her pregnancy. The whole building where she stays knows all about her pregnancy and her rushed marriage. The whole blackmail thing with some murder thrown is not even mentioned enough to make it interesting.

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Max Rolland and Julia Prentice had a one night stand that was electric. Both of them felt an instant connection. But then Max followed up with how he wasn't looking for a long-term relationship and Julia bailed, knowing that she wasn't cut out for a solely sexual relationship. But two months later, Max hasn't stopped calling and Julia is ignoring him - mostly trying to figure out how to tell him that she's pregnant. But she shouldn't have worried because when she tells him, he doesn't believe her. But then someone tries to blackmail high-society Julia with news of her pregnancy and she goes to Max for help. He offers to marry her, adopt her child as his heir (still believing it isn't his) and get rid of the blackmailer for good.

Eh. The whole "I-thought-I-was-infertile" trope is kind of weak. Especially the way this was executed. What is it with HP ex-wives that they have to lie to the hero about them being infertile? And why is the hero so willing to believe his bitchy, scheming ex-wife over the seemingly honest heroine? That made no sense. Especially when time and again, some character in the book suggests that Julia is probably being honest about the baby being his. But there's no way that's possible, since he knows he's infertile since his lying ex-wife told him. SMH. And Max has a faulty truth detector. At least twice in this story he based a decision or opinion that we are supposed to believe, on the evidence that, he knows when someone is lying. And yet, he doesn't realize that Julia is telling the truth. And so he's no longer credible and his opinions aren't worth anything.

Beyond that, I didn't like the characters. I despised how easily Julia just gave in to Max's demands and how she stuck with a guy who CONSTANTLY let her know that he thought she was lying. She even asked him, why he wanted to be with her if he didn't trust her, but she didn't get a good answer and the doormat heroine let it go. I didn't care for her. I didn't care for Max either. He was a borderline asshole and he had a one-track mind...alright two. Sex and Julia's lies. And so by the end of the book when he's realizing that he has loved Julia all along, I didn't buy it. I hadn't felt anything emotional from his POV for the entire story and suddenly he loves her? Nah. All of it was just insta-lust.

[Roub · Rating 1 out of 5]

light n boring ! nthg much happening, the author tried 2 add some spice wid the blackmail threat n the suicide storyline but 2 no avail. i did not feel concerned abt either of these bad happenings bcoz it did not affect max or julia one way or the other. i hated max's attitude; he condemned julia without knowing her and based on no evidence. she deserved the benefit of the doubt ! he cud easily have gone 2 a doctor 2 get the fertility tests done. instead, he thought julia was a liar all through the book, when it was not obvious at all why she wud lie abt her child's paternity !! max preferred to believe his ex wife over jules. yes, he preferred 2 believe camille, a woman he knew 2 be perfidious, mercenary n a lying bitch !

[Alyssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The editing job for this book was sloppy. There was a whole section of the book that was copy and pasted twice. Also, there was never an answer to the whole mystery of the blackmail. It was just there for the sake of being there, but it was left unsolved and forgotten.

The emotions in this story were good but could have ran deeper. The love between Max and Julia was pretty sudden and I think they were pretty hasty to call it love too, just because they had the physical attraction and cared for one another.

This story is really short, undeveloped, and leaves a lot to be desired.

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta lectura la definiría como veraniega; de hecho he leído el libro ¡en un día! No diría que es un best seller ni mucho menos, ni la mejor prosa quizá, pero es muy entretenido y he disfrutado mucho leyéndolo. Es verdad que todo ocurre muy rápido, tanto, que quizá no te da tiempo a asimilar todo lo que ocurre, pero desde luego se lo recomiendo a aquellos que quieran una lectura rápida y entretenida (el libro tan solo tiene 188 páginas

[Mιss •kαthєяίиє• Τhε Emεrαℓd Pяίиcεss® · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pure luck that I found this book and what surprised me even more was the fact that the only other book in this series I've read was the heroine's best friend's, Amanda's. Well, it was an ok book and the only fact that made it a little bit interesting was the cold treatment of the heroine's parents....

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 2011.

I thought the book was alright, the storyline wasn't super creative and the hero was a bit of an arrogant ass. As mentioned in other reviews, the editing wasn't done correctly. Other than that, I enjoyed the novel.

[Bookabulary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was an all-around okay book. Aside from the fact that Max could've gotten answers to his questions sooner rather than just "accepting" the child Julia was carrying even if believing it wasn't his, I liked this book just fine.

[Wendy Keel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another good story from Maureen Child. I look forward to reading the othhers in the series.

[Sherry]

The second book....

[Ladyacct · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good story from a great author.

[Cecelia]

Pretty good, not what I usually read but pretty good

[Jen Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay, but not the best I've read from this line of books.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit it. I read it. I was on vacation. It was GREAT!!

[Desi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leído el 22/02/2011