The Italian's Runaway Bride

by Jacqueline Baird

Gianfranco asked Kelly to marry him, after her holiday affair with him left her pregnant! But, once married, Gianfranco was often away on business, and his family made Kelly's life a misery. Then she heard that Gianfranco didn't want her at all -- he just wanted their baby.... Kelly had no choice but to run away... However, one thing was certain. Gianfranco would find her -- but why? Because he wanted to reclaim his bride...or his

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance, Marriage Of Convenience

Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

About the author

Jacqueline Baird was born on the 1st of April at home in a small village Northumbria, England, UK, where she raised. She went to the local village school, and later an all-girls' grammar school where she passed the University of Oxford General Certificate of Education in various subjects. On leaving school she joined the civil service in the then Post Office department.

She met her husband Jim, when she was only eighteen. Eight years later, after working as a hotel receptionist in a five-star hotel in Scotland and traveling abroad for a few years, she came home and married him. They still live in Northumbria and have two grown sons.

Her number one love is writing. She has always been an avid reader, and she had her first success as a writer at the age of eleven, when she won the first prize in the Nature Diary of the Year competition at school. But she always felt a little guilty because her diary was more fiction than fact. Apart from a spell as a hopeful painter in oils, when she actually did have a painting accepted for the Federation of Northern Artists' annual exhibition her real passion was for romance novels. When her sons went to school all day she thought she would try writing one. Jacqueline Baird's been writing for Mills & Boon since 1988, and she still gets a thrill every time a new book is published.

When Jacqueline is not busy writing she likes to spend her time traveling, reading and playing cards. She was a keen sailor until a knee injury ended her sailing days, but she still enjoys swimming in the sea. She visits a gym twice a week now and has made the surprising discovery that she gets some good ideas while doing the mind-numbingly boring exercises on the cycling and weight machines.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

re-read January 2019. Still four stars. Still a surprise when heroine leaves him for *three years.*
Such a fun story.


This story is not only trope-tastic, it's full of conflict until the very end. Just what I like in an HP. When I say conflict, I don't mean bickering. In this story the H/h have conflict that could make or break them every step of the way, but they still manage to angst their way to an HEA.

Let's list the major conflicts, shall we?

Phase One: The courtship
Hero lets heroine think he's a local Italian guy who works on a boat.
Hero is upset when heroine is a virgin and the sex isn't good for her.
Heroine discovers the hero's true identity when she is introduced to him at the opera.
Heroine doesn't turn up for a date after she sees a photo of the H with a beautiful redhead.
Heroine returns to England, is pregnant and decides not to tell hero.

Phase Two: The marriage

Hero hunts down heroine, wants her to marry him.
Hero leaves her with his mother and crazy sister in-law.
Hero takes his mother's and SIL's side over the heroine's
Hero is at a gala when heroine gives birth.
Hero doesn't want more children because he realizes heroine could die in childbirth like her mother.
Heroine overhears him say he'll never have more children to his SIL and heroine leaves him.

Phase Three: The Second Chance:

Three years later hero tracks her down and threatens to call the taxman on the h and all of her friends who helped her if she doesn't return to Italy.
Hero uses condoms because h could have an STD from her loose lifestyle.
Heroine finally lets him have it when she is pregnant again.
Hero then explains what she over heard about not wanting more children. He also refrains from telling her that the man who helped her was an ex-con.
Hero would sell his soul to keep her from dying in childbirth.

So three books in one. Read this when you're ready for a roller coaster ride.

[Vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

The h and H met, sparks fly, and they end up in a very passionate MOC verging on love match. Evil OW and disapproving Italian mother with the hero constantly siding with them drives the strong heroine into her shell.

She flees with her baby and the hero is bent on revenge once he gets her back. Revenge is they have lots of sex but do not communicate outside the bedroom at all.

I dunno about this hero. He raises the bar on cruel slut-shaming and arrogant behavior. I have a very bad feeling that after their brief honeymoon period of true love he's going to go back to arrogant ass-hat.

[Fanniny Moreno Zavaleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first HP. Though it was my second "Julia".
It's OTT but I was hooked into Harlyland and I honestly can't say I regret it.

[Romance_reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars! Enjoyable tale by JB with a good amount of sizzle and charm. The H and the h were imperfect characters, but nonetheless, made a great couple together. Although, to be fair, I probably would have liked the story more had I not been so distracted while reading it.

The h Kelly meets the H Gianfranco while on a babysitting gig/semi holiday in Italy. Being a girl of vivid imagination, she first assumes he is a thief and then; that he's a local peasant. Gianfranco, however, in nothing less than a count and a very rich guy to boot. Nonetheless, he plays along and seduces the h fairly easily without revealing his true identity. The truth does eventually come out and by then Kelly is too incensed at being lied to and they part ways.

The separation is short-lived though, as the h finds out she's pregnant and the H seeks her out after being informed of the same. Gianfranco is all sensual and masterful and has no problems getting her to agree to his marriage proposal, and they get hitched soon after without much ado. The conflicts begin right after with the OW, (The H's sister-in-law) who keeps trying to upset Kelly and widen the divide between her husband and herself. To give credit to the h, she does try and communicate her concerns about this 'family member' to her husband instead of just running away at the first sign of trouble. The H - in true HP fashion- dismisses her misgivings and soon, the h has no alternative but to turn into the 'runaway bride'.

This time their separation lasts three long years- during which the h successfully keeps herself and their daughter hidden from the H. However, her 'uncle' Tom (the man who offered her shelter) passes away and before dying; very helpfully, passes on the h's address to the H. The one thing he does forget to mention is the fact that he is Kelly's uncle and rather predictably, Gianfranco - using his HP Hero logic- believes, she had been sleeping with him. He tracks her down and demands a reunion and finally, seals the deal with a quickie on the floor. Our h of the fertile imagination and body gets pregnant immediately and they're soon on their way to an angst filled yet tender HEA. *end of story*

All in all, this was quite entertaining and I really like the chemistry between the two leads. But it's certainly not as exciting as some of the other titles I've read from this author.

[Jac K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never got around to writing this last week, so this isn’t the freshest, but I’ll do my best. I liked it, but more in a trainwrecky entertaining way, than an actual romance. There’s lots of drama, but not much angst. Basically, lots of craziness, but no deep, realistic feels. There’s also A LOT of conflicts/misunderstandings/assumptions between these two for pretty much the entire book. It’s almost like there’re three HP’s in one (mistaken identity/preggers, THEN, MOC marriage w/ meddling in laws, THEN, separation w/ reconnection). So, if you’re not in the mood for a heavy helping of soapy tropey with a large side of conflicts… I’d skip.

Kelly McKenzie (21) meets Gianfranco Maldini (31) when he’s returning something to the family, she nannies for. Their original love match ends in betrayal when Kelly realizes that Gian hasn’t been completely honest...but Surprise... an unexpectant pregnancy leads to a MOC, and another set of issues. Their road to HEA is a bumpy ride with lots of family drama from his wannabe OW SIL, (Olivia) and not super friendly mom.

I had mixed feelings about Gianfranco. He was COMPLETELY clueless to what was going on around him, and sides with his family on many occasions. His inconsideration generates much of the drama, and he borderline treats her like a child, but fortunately Kelly doesn’t act like one. I liked her, she was tough-ish, and stood up for herself most of the time. Olivia is a great crazy wannabe OW; her machinations are quite entertaining, but she doesn’t get any comeuppance which was a major bummer.

Bottom Line- Not bad. It kept me up late, but more in a Bravo channel type of way.

[Jasbell76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

First score in 2009
4.0 🌟

Reread
February 23rd/2022

I just read 1/2 half of the book because it was the part of the story I didn't remember too much. I wanted to check a few details that would help me to post a review.
I almost change my rating from 4 to 2 🌟stars because of Gianfranco's behavior and words towards Kelly, but thanks to Kelly that punched him on the nose made him blooding, I raised my score to 3 🌟. Then he confessed to Kelly all the truth and told he loved her, but omitted uncle Tom's past life (he didn't want to hurt Kelly's feelings), and he proposed her to get married again. I think he redeemed himself well.
Another thing that made me reread this book was to confirm hero's celibacy during their long separation. Well, it wasn't mentioned anything about it, but... I think he was. He confessed Kelly that during their first separation (before they married) he was celibate and that have never happened to him.
I have read almost the whole Jaqueline Baird's books collection, and if he wouldn't have been celibate during the 3 years of separation, he would had mentioned it. Maybe it was up to the reader infer it based on hero's actions, and for me he was. I would add, that one thing I like from this author is that her final declarations of love are the longest in HPlandia and also many of her books have epilogues which I always love💕

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gianfranco and Kelly meet and fall in love too fast after she finds out she is pregnant. But married life is not the fairy tale Kelly imagined it would be. Gianfranco is a workaholic and his family and an evil OW make Kelly's life a misery. When she hears that Gianfranco and his sister in law Olivia had plans to rid of her and take her baby girl she runs away. After a few years he finds her and reunites with Kelly and his daughter but first they have to resolve the miscommunication that drove them apart four years ago.

I loved it! Very emotional heartwarming book. I liked that their relationship, marriage, and estrangement is written in detail by the author and we feel all the emotions the heroine feels: Her love, her fears, her desperation and her longing to be with the love of her love. Also their HEA with their two kids melt my heart and I can't stop swooning! One of my favorite books ever!

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Italian's Runaway Bride" is the story of Kelly and Gianfranco.

Our heroine is working as a nanny when the hero appears in her life and literally sweeps her off her feet. Caught in a passionate whirlwind romance which gets her pregnant and culminates into marriage, when the heroine finally catches her breath, things have changed. The hero disappears for days, returning to her warm embrace during weekends. Worse, he leaves her alone with his disapproving mother, and evil widowed sister in law. That is until things go to far and the heroine decides she has had enough..

I enjoyed this book. The heroine was strong but a slave to her passions, the hero obviously enamoured, but very arrogant and blind. All the did was have sex and barely communicated, which ultimately led to the separation. My favorite scene, however, has to be the heroine beating the hero up for suggesting miscarriage. His apology was believable too.

Safe
3/5

[Zubee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reread this one as some friends had read earlier and I was motivated to read again.
The h is lovely; she is vulnerable and brave; she can also see she is changing into a yes woman for her husband but she is going through a difficult pregnancy. But when it comes to her daughter, she walks away and makes it on her own.
H for all that he was 10 years older than her was a selfish, immature Mamma's boy who was happy to have his cake and eat it too; he was also not into rocking the domestic boat and admits at the end that he found it easier to give in to his family and disregard the h and her needs.
I think it was poetic justice that by the time he realised that his sister in law was batshit crazy and h had been telling the truth, h walked away with her baby
Again we have a nasty cray cray OW who gets rewarded; by marriage to a wealthy Swiss banker who has children for her to indulge her maternal side
Honestly, H needed regular doses of of Boog's cast iron skillet; I was ultra happy when she punches his nose .... I wondered why the h even loved him to begin with ...
The little girl was cute and sweet .... and JB is always a good author; this was a longer book and she had the story moving along quickly ... and I cried some honest tears as well ... h was so in love with him and had pinned her hopes on him ...

TBH this one reminded me of many of the marriages in our society; where married couples live in the extended family and regardless of whether we have arranged or love marriages, often times this is a major issue; the husband listens to his family and disregards the wife and her happiness so he can live a peaceful existence; she is often taken for granted ... its close to my heart and ......

[Marajean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly couldn't tell you which was more frustrating, the fact that the hero basically thought the heroine was a liar through the whole book. The fact that he was a snob and condemned her for driving around with her maid. Or the fact that the heroine goes off about his horrible attitude only to apologize when he gets mad and then falls into a let's not fight I love you mode.

BUT, the most unforgivable thing is when practically an entire year of the heroine telling the hero how his sister in law has treated her and what she's doing to the baby, *playing hand that rocks the cradle and feeding the baby from a bottle on off times so the baby would stop breast feeding* and when the other woman finally goes psycho on the hero and wants to get rid of the heroine and keep the baby, he keeps the other woman around for an entire week afterward without once doing anything to protect his child and his wife. Big misunderstanding because she didn't listen to the end of the conversation? Who cares if he told the other woman he didn't want her and wanted his wife etc. It doesn't change the fact that he wasn't doing anything to protect his wife and child from a mentally unstable person who was likely to physically harm one or both of them. Actually the other woman didn't get medical help until two weeks AFTER the heroine left his sorry butt, and she left one week AFTER she heard the other woman making plans with her husband to get her out of the picture and keep her child.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

My immediate impression on starting this book is that it starts in the wrong place. The title and blurb clearly tell us what is going to happen but it is not until 70% in that the actual event took place and it skipped to three years later. I feel it would have been better to have started at this point and have the past explored and revealed throughout the course of the story. As it was, I was reading with a sense of impending doom and frustration as I knew what was going to happen but not when/how.

Because of this, I never really engaged with the story and the plot felt, to me, a little flat. There is plenty of emotion in the book, but the author never really delves deep enough into this to make it a really well thought out story.

Also, the book makes over-use of two very frustrating elements - the evil other woman character and a hero that doesn't believe a thing the heroine says. Add into that a rather whiny 'victim' heroine, it became a little tedious.

This could have been such a great book; the plot is there, the emotion is there, but the execution lets it down. Kept me interested but left me slightly disappointed.

Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the emotion and the plot was great...the first third was better than the last third...great, believable build in relationship, great identity deception. Even Gianni behaving in an arrogant, chauvinistic manner was believable. While archaic, it wasn't as over the top as some others (like The Greek's Forced Bride). It was really unsurprising that a spoiled, wealthy man would not change one iota of his life, and at least he recognizes how wrong he was when the baby is born. But then of course he falls back into the pattern of choosing the sister-in-law over his wife.

That's where the book goes formula...the 3 year separation was almost an afterthought. It felt anti-climactic...as one reviewer points out, it would have been better if it had started with separation and involved flashbacks. The lack of confrontation prior to separation made no sense. It was even odd that they only discuss the original break-up when she first becomes pregnant after the 3 year separation. Ordinarily, when H rejects h I am ok with her running off with baby...but this was kidnapping straight up. She doesn't have nearly enough evidence that he plans to take her child away to hide a loving father's child for 3 years... There were some jarring points--others have mentioned how he kept the crazy sister-in-law around even after he knew she was off her rocker, and ignored the very serious accusation of Olivia feeding the baby to ruin the mother's breast feeding. The elements with his mother seemed rushed and were just odd...she was set up to play a meaningful role and then just faded. The condom usage because of the jail time Tom spent, being mentioned in a throw away paragraph, was just plain wacky and was totally inconsistent with the rest of the story.

Maybe the last third needed to be longer and more developed...it felt like a formulaic job because author ran of of time. Still a great, worthwhile read, but frustrating as it had 5 star potential but fell a bit short.

[Ms Fine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was crying at 3 in the morning and I had to get ready for work in a few hours. I couldn't stop reading towards the end. I already knew the reason why he didn't want her to have another child. "If I have to choose between you and another child .... I don't care if I condemn my immortal soul to hell. It has to be you. I can't bear to lose you again."

You have to read it and find out what made Him say those words. And what made the heroine hate him so much..

[JillyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ rounded to 4. Wow this story starts with the h(21)tackling the H(31)when she thinks he is a burglar, and he gets a glimpse up her scanty shorts to confirm that she is a real 👱‍♀️. He likes what he sees and feels😜 and decides to pursue her. She feels the same way and lets him woo her all the way to the bedroom 4 days later. for her it is love, for him it is sex(although I’m pretty sure he is more vested than that at this point). He is ready to rock her world and she is ready to be rocked. He is overcome with wanting and starts rocking and rolling a little too fast and furious for our virgin h and although she derived some pleasure on her part, the soreness probably leaves more of an impression. Our h still manages to say ILY(honey never say it that early) While the H turns on her and berates her for being a virgin.

Basically the rest of the story continues with the h showing some back bone and assertiveness, and the H calming her down with soothing words, kisses, and his tower of power making her forget that she has a brain. The evil ow does her best to drive a wedge between our 2 lovers and succeeds to a certain extent, but I will save that for the spoilers below. This next part is super long with lots of spoilers.

The H vs the h vs the ow or something like that!
1. The hero berates her for being a virgin. Tells her she is trying to entrap him with a possible paternity suit. She is offended by his reaction and realizes what she thought was love is just a fling for him. She is determined to push him away. However, by the time he drives her home he has her in his lap kissing her, promising to take care of her if she is pregnant, and wanting to see her when he gets back from Genoa. The h has hope for a HEA.

2. The h finds out that the H has been lying about his real identity. He let her assume that he was just a commoner, but in actuality he is an Italian count. She finds this out when she runs into him, the mother, and sil(evil ow) at the opera. Her employer fills her in on all the gossip about the count, and our h is resolved to never see him again. He calls her on the phone. Nope she is not giving in. He asks her to meet him Friday after he is back from NYC. Nope she isn’t going to do it. After she hangs up she decides to meet him on Friday, dreams of the HEA is still rambling in her head.

3. She doesn’t show up on the Friday because she sees a picture of the H in the local tabloids with a ravishing red head. She goes back to England as her nanny job is over. The H had already decided if she didn’t show up he wasn’t going to pursue her. (He doesn’t realize he loves her yet!)

4. 3 months later, the h is in England. Working as a chemist and pregnant. Does she tell the H? No way, this h can do the single mom thing. Sometime after this she bumps into her ex employer Judy, and has a definite baby bulge.

5. The doorbell rings and rings and rings, our 5 month pregnant h answers the door to see the H standing there. It seems he was missing the h and found out from Judy that she was pregnant(Judy didn’t know he was the father) The h is reluctant to enter into any kind of relationship with the H but before he leaves her home, she has agreed to quit her job, sell her house, marry him, and move to Italy. IT probably helped that this time the h on the receiving end of La petite mort(the little death) He knew how to rock her world this time!

6. In Italy, the H basically hands the h over to his mama and evil sil. The h is not received warmly. But our H is so pampered by his mama and sil that he just thinks everyone wants what is best for the h. He goes on working as always, and usually makes his appearances at dinner. Most of the conversations they have our between the sheets. The h accepts this and makes no demands.

7. Fashion Fiasco, or no-no to the mu-mu. The h has good fashion sense, which is thwarted by the sil and mil when they take her shopping for maternity clothes. (At the H’s urging, because mama knows best) She is forced into buying tent like dresses to wear to the great reception where she will be introduced to all his friends. Backbone alert: The h dresses in one of her own fashions where her personal maid has helped her look stunning. The H is entranced by her until he finds out that she is insulting his mom by not wearing one of the new outfits. He insists she change. She doesn’t! (👏 heroine) Everything is going fine, his friends like her. Then evil sil “accidentally”spills wine all over the h and the he has to change. Judy is at the party and sees what happens and warns her again against the ow. Meanwhile the ow makes a joke over the pregnant h and her clumsiness. The h changes, into her wedding outfit. No-no to the mu-mu! She comes back to the party to see the h dancing with the sil. For him it was obligatory, for the sil it was a chance to touch all over him. He quickly dumps the sil in favor of his wife.


8. He goes out of town(again) leaves his mom and sil in charge of the h. The mom is called away which leaves the h with the venomous sil who wastes no time in calling her a gold digging slut. Then she goes out of town and the h is left alone(she is happy with this) However, when H comes back the ow informed her that the h was traipsing all over the city with her best friend the maid and tow and shockers of all shockers went to the local bar for a lemonade. The h informs him that she was left alone, he calls her liar. He finds out later that the h was on her own and apologizes while divesting her of her nightgown. All is forgiven. (What’s funny is the h has never lied to the H yet he constantly takes the ow’s word on everything. ) He has to go to Rome the next day.

9. The next day, after visiting her friend Judy, she is almost run off the road(by who we never know). She starts bleeding. Doctor gives her conditions for the remaining 2 months of her pregnancy. No sex for sure. The H comes home from Rome super angry. He yells at the h for her stupidity as the sil said she warned the h not to go traipsing about. He is so loud that his mother comes to the h’s rescue and tells her son to simmer down. He moves out of their bedroom to give her peace. I suspect and it was later confirmed that he moved out because he couldn’t trust his own reactions to the h. Once again, this shows a lack of selfishness on his part. IT’s the h’s first baby, she just had a scare, and he really can’t hold her in his arms at night without penetration? Has he never heard of helping hands? Sorry, I digress.

10. The lethargy stage: Heroine basically checks out. Her only concern is the baby and getting the baby safely delivered. The hero is in Rome, and the Ow happens to be there at the same time in the family apartment. No problem, I will focus on the baby.

11. 8 months pregnant and she breaks from her lethargy stage. She dons the mumu which actually looks good on her very pregnant body making the hero drool. He is actually counting the days that he can be with her intimately again. He informs her that there is a big charity gala next week where the family must attend, but she should stay home. The evil sil offers to stay(knowing full well she wont be expected to, but it makes her look good) The H assures her that the h will be safe with her maid. He doesn’t realize that next week is also her birthday, and our silly silly h thinks that he will realize it and cancel going to the gala.

12. The gala: The h is 8 months pregnant with her first baby, at home, alone on her birthday. Of course she goes into labor. Is rushed to the hospital and gives her birth to a baby girl. Up to this point I didn’t hate the H. I mean I felt that he loved the h but he was such a spoiled indulged man that he had no clue about give and take in the relationship. Yet leaving your 8 month pregnant wife alone so you can attend a gala because it was you always do was MY breaking point. Plus, you don’t know when your wife’s birthday is? Anyhoo he gets to the hospital. Falls in love with his baby girl and finds out that she bled a lot during the birth, that her mother died giving birth, and that it was her birthday from the hospital staff. Finally the H realizes what a slime ball he has been after he is overwhelmed with love watching mother and child. But does he express this love? Nope because we have 60 pages to go and some surprises ahead.

Let’s take a break from the the hero and heroine. The evil ow, Olivia wants a paragraph. First, she informs the h that she failed has a broodmare “we wanted a boy.”(we?) Then she goes home to find the nursery decorated by the ow who put in a Miss Muffett theme with a giant black 🕷 (Um thanks?)Then Olivia informs the h that she needs to put the baby on a bottle so “anyone can feed her” The h has already refused having a nanny. 4 weeks later, unable to sleep, she walks into the nursery where Olivia is bottle feeding the baby. The h is like WTH? Olivia tells her that she is doing this so when the h goes away the baby will be used to it. She’s like stay the MMMM away from my baby. Our OW informs her that the H plans to divorce her once she is done breast feeding. Why does the h think their marriage was only a civil one and not in a church?

The heroine tells the H about the bottle feeding the next day and he dismisses it. He is still sleeping in the other room until she gets the all clear from the Dr. About six weeks out, she is ready for her check up and the H can’t wait. He reminds her to get on birth control. When she comes back she happens upon the H and ow in a clinch and hears him tell the ow that he will not have anymore children with the h and the ow tells the H to get rid of the wife now as she will love the baby herself.

BACKBONE fully assembled, the h pretends she cant have sex yet with the H. He has to go to NYC and she wants to visit Judy. All is approved. The h takes this opportunity to disappear from the H’s life for 3 years!!!!

3 years later he finds the h, thinks she has been loving it up with the guy that recently died(it was her moms ex lover) They have a rather quick violent coupling where even all the clothes haven’t even come off. He tells her they will return to Italy. She says no. He says then you and your friends will be arrested for tax aversion(she has been living off grid) She can’t do that to her friends and the H has already told the child that he is Daddy! Back in Italy the mom is more friendly and the ow is gone and married to a guy in Switzerland. They resume their sex life, but H uses condoms as he doesn’t know where the h has been.

They seem to be starting over. Then the h finds she is pregnant, again. (It was that angry coupling episode) The H tells her she will be getting an abortion. She is vehemently opposed to that. Now everything comes out(I will skip over this as this is usually my favorite part to read). All of the misunderstandings are cleared up. And we find the depth of his love for the h(he doesn’t want her to have another baby because of her mother’s death and her bleeding at the first birth) He cannot live without the h, and if this pregnancy could cause her death then he doesn’t want her to go through with it.

We end up with a HEA, a new baby, and a church wedding!

There are lots of things that happen along the way(evil ow machinations, clueless spoiled hero gaffs, lack of communication, misinterpreting situations, and running away)before these 2 can have their HEA, but the HEA was very satisfying.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hero has a holiday fling leaving the heroine pregnant, he insists they marry. He takes her home to live with his mother, and his dead brothers wife ( why is she still living in the family home) and who by the way is obsessed with the hero. At every turn he takes his mother and sister-in-laws side. He’s the biggest ass ever.

[MissKitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was well done, it had a lot of story compared to several of the newer harlequins. It reminded me of some vintage ones that actually do have a storyline.

The Hero in this story is very self-centred, he has been spoiled by a doting mother, and grew up in wealthy background indulged by everyone including all the women he has associated with so far. Though he is not consciously mean to the heroine, this, in my opinion, is what leads to his neglectful attitude towards her.

At the start of their relationship, he deceived her about his identity, even after several dates and even after he has slept with her. He is annoyed when she is angry and finds out about this. She breaks a date w him, so he decides not to pursue her. He only comes after her when he finds out she is pregnant.

He marries her, so he can take care of her and the baby, anyway the sex between them is hot. He brings her to his family home, which is run by his mother and evil sister in law, then he totally neglects her. He allows her to be bullied by his family, he never supports her and he goes on with his life. For the heroine, it is the loneliest and most stressful months ever. Especially having to deal with the insane sis in law who takes every opportunity to demean and threaten her. The Hero is much more indulgent to the her than the heroine. He allows her to stay in the master suite (she is the widow of his older brother) instead of moving his wife in there. He allows her to decorate the nursery, instead of his wife, since the SIL said it would be a surprise.

The heroine ends up giving birth alone, the servants were the ones who brought her to hospital, on the day of her birthday. The whole family including the Hero were at a party, but they didn’t bring her since she was heavily pregnant. The Hero does get a bit remorseful about this, but upon coming home one day the heroine sees him in the arms of the SIL, and overhears him telling her that he will not have any more children with the heroine.

The other woman SIL had been threatening to take the baby away and marry the Hero after he divorces the heroine. Up until this point, the heroine had not believed her. Her husband had constantly denied there was anything between him and the SIL and gets offended that anyone would even suggest such a thing. Finally, she runs away with her baby to Cornwall, where the Hero finds her three years later.

The last part of the story is a mini blackmail revenge plot because the heroine dared take his baby away from him. He threatens the livelihood of her friends so she is forced to go back with him to the family home. The mother in law is no longer hostile and evil sister in law has married someone else so does not live with them anymore. However now, their marriage is cold and unforgiving but still with a lot of sex.

The heroine gets pregnant again, and then the whole story comes out. When the heroine gave birth the first time, the doctor told the Hero that her own mother died in childbirth. The Hero was so freaked out that he decided not to have anymore children, to spare her life. This is what the heroine overheard. The Hero had truly not realised how much he loved the heroine until he was faced with this and when she left. The SIL was truly insane and she had a nervous breakdown. The Hero never knew she was implying to the heroine that they were lovers.

The epilogue is the couple having a church wedding, one more regret the Hero had, since he married the heroine in a register office. They have two kids and are finally going on an extended honeymoon.

[Penny Watson]

Did not like this one. Found the misunderstandings too frustrating, and the hero was over my "HP JERK" threshold. Hee hee!

Note to self: DO NOT REREAD

1-2 stars? Meh.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoa whoa what just happened? The poor heroine fell for the wrong dude! She did the right damn thing by bolting the hell away from him, too bad he found her again. Jerk. This guy just cannot get his life or 'love' together. He lies about who he is, wrote off the heroine because she couldn't make a date(she was sick I think), finds out she is pregnant and demands they marry, drags her home, allows the in-laws to badger her about clothes and walking in a village, all the while not believe the heroine when she tells him such things are happening, says that she is acting crazy because of hormones, the sister-in-law starts getting nuts(again blown off by him when told), MISSES THE BIRTH OF HIS CHILD(!!!!), abandoning the heroine in a crucial hour because she had complications after giving birth cause he was out partying, can't even find his wife and child on his own without a friend of the heroine's help, blackmails the heroine to come back to Italy, makes huge financial purchases for their child without consulting the mother, suggests more than once that the heroine slept around and probably has an STD, oh and yeah demand that the heroine get an abortion!!!!!!!! No thank you, sir. Keep your money, you're an ass.

[Bubu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what to think about this book. This 2 are a disaster, not in a million years I will believe they love each other. How? They don't have one meaningful encounter. When the author remembered that she was supposed to write a romance gave them a sex scene. This story is about everything else but romance, the h and H are cameos in their own story.

[Kellcifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, this book was all over the place. One minute the heroine loves the hero, the next she doesn’t trust him, the next she resolves to get over him, the next she loves him, the next she...etc. And the hero just sucks. He sleeps with the heroine and then immediately yells at her because he’s “angry at himself for not sexually pleasing her and that she didn’t disclose that she was a virgin.” He completely dismisses the heroines complaints about some pretty shifty behavior towards her from his sister-in-law, blaming hormones as though hormones make women hallucinate conversations. He’s a complete shit head most of the time, and there is no real reason that I can see other than being handsome and good in bed that the heroine even “loves” him. And after he heroine does what she does, there is no real explanation for why he hero declares his love for her, either. By all accounts these characters should really wind up acrimoniously divorced.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read. Passionate. But there are a few dislikes for me, that’s why it’s only 3 stars.

The h and the H are too fertile. They get pregnant far too easy. I dislike the pregnancy trope. Unfortunately nowadays it’s in almost every HP.

I also don’t like that the h was so passive. Why didn’t she learn Italian? She is in Italy living with her rich Italian husband and his Italian family.

She doesn’t have a job, she doesn’t have to do household chores, she doesn’t have to cook. All she does is sitting around waiting for her husband to get home from work and feeling sorry for herself.

And she is also passive about birth control. She is living with a man and not even once does the thought come to her mind that she could start using the pill and not let the responsibility of birth control depend solely on him. *facepalm*

[Melluvsbooks]

DNF - 1% - I was trying to give this author another chance… but alas… it won’t be with a gymnast chemist ninja moonlighting as a nanny wearing shorts that display her pubes (she’s a natural blonde! 😍) to the hero who she has bested in a brawl. Nope. Not today, Satan. 🤡

✌🏻

[Shatarupa Dhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all, anyone would run away when faced with a prick as big as Gianfranco. The gall of him, forgets everything to do with his wife, Kelly, doesn’t trust her, doesn’t respect her, doesn’t communicate with her properly (and thinks only of sex, instead of being there for her when she needed him), and then goes on bashing her whenever he feels like it, blaming her for every other thing.
There is a three year leap which comes at the last quarter of the book before which poor Kelly has to suffer throughout at the hands of Gianni’s widowed sis-in-law, Olivia. But thanks to her Uncle Tom, she lived a safe and content life for three years till his death brought Gianni again to her door.
Eee...he got punched in the nose (he did say some horrible things, and she without knowing the reason whine them, gave him one.solid.punch - ahh, he had it coming, after all!). A bleeding nose later, all misunderstandings cleared, they got their HEA (with two kids in tow). 1 extra star for the punch. And also for the author, who wrote a wholesome story. What did this story not have, a complete emotional wringer, I dare say?

[minnemoo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, Gianni the NOT hero makes Jed Sabbides (of The Sabbides Secret Baby) look like an amateur. Major asshole and manipulative douchebag. Never emotionally supported the heroine against all the lies conjured up by the evil sister-in-law. Didn't even know his own wife's birthday (major red flag right there). Self-admitted to partying while she was in labor. Threatened that he wanted to kill her(!!!) when he found her again three years later after the second time she left him. Never bothered explaining himself and his actions until the big stupid groveling scene...and I still don't buy it.

This is no romance hero, folks.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this heroine was no push over. She beat her hero into submission. It was great!

[Chalice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The couple: Gianni and Kelly

Romance trope: Runaway wife
Series: Harlequin Presents
Length: 192 pages

Plot: Kelly is a part-time nanny for a (kind of) friend of hers in Italy, and while her employers are on vacation, she meets someone (she initially thinks he's breaking into the house) who lives in the area. He isn't completely honest about who he is though; he's actually a wealthy playboy Count who is inexplicably attracted to this English commoner. They spend time together, but he is shocked when he finds out that she is a virgin and then has to deal with the repercussions. They marry and as you might expect, not all is well in paradise.

Commentary: Classic Harlequin with the hyperbole right from the beginning: Kelly almost knocks Gianni out at the beginning because of course she's a kickboxing champion! It's never "I took some kickboxing classes" - it's "I'm a world champion!!" Anyways...

When I checked the publication date, it made a little more sense - 2001. There are cell phones, but the heroes in Harlequins are still as chauvinistic as possible, and the more European, the more chauvinistic. Gianni knows that Kelly knows nothing about him, but when she insults him, he's all "how dare she insult my honor" as though she should know he would do/say/think that. He's a classic snob, and the fact that he lets Kelly name their child after the maid is only due to his guilt over not being there when the baby was born. But this is my favorite about his snobbery:

Surely he deserved a hearing, or was she the inverted snob he had intimated?

Lol, there's no such thing as an inverted snob. Being irritated by rich people who treat you badly because you're not rich is not being a snob, it's being someone who doesn't like to be treated badly.

His family undermines her right away, so her worrying about snobbery is not an errant thought. The mother doesn't welcome her into the family and the sister-in-law whispers cruel rumors and plans in her ear every chance she gets. When Kelly brings this up to Gianni, he blows her off. In fact, he blames her for whatever the problem is. He will apologize and tell her she's right only after his mom tells him that Kelly was right. I would have blown up at that moment.

The best part though is when he finds out she is pregnant again and has some advice for her. Her response:

He was still talking, and Kelly saw red. Her fingers curled into fists and her free hand swung though the air. She punched him straight on the nose. ‘Take that, you no-good scum of the earth,’ she yelled; it had hurt her hand but it was worth it, as Gianfranco reeled back, letting go of her arm in the process.

Finally!

His grovel was okay - it was more of an explanation, as there was a reason behind his behavior (well, the reason that he gave and his general arrogance). They seem like they'll actually make a good couple if they just remember to communicate.

Also, I never could figure out what the deal with the spider painting in the nursery was. Kelly acted like it was significant but there was no explanation.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelly was acting as a nanny for her friend when she met Gianfranco Maldini looking into the window of her employer’s house with a tire iron in his hand. She of course thought he was trying to break into the house. Not asking any questions she attacks him, but ends up being overtaken in the end. Very quickly these two are making out – yep look past that part because if she truly believed that he meant harm then why would she be kissing him?

Kelly is supposed to be a smart girl, well book smart at least, and Gianfranco is a very wealthy man. He introduces himself, but Kelly didn’t let him finish and she thinks his name is Gian Franco. They begin dating, chemistry sparks, they end up in bed and he discovers she is a virgin. He gets angry that she didn’t tell him that she is innocent and believes that she is just trying to trap him. Kelly has no idea that Gianni has money . . . he failed to mention that. Seems like they are both even on the score of keeping things back, huh? Apologies are made for this and he still wants to see her, but he still hasn’t revealed his true name to her. When she discovers that he is COUNT Gianfranco Maldini she is not happy at all. This gets smoothed over until she sees him in the paper with another woman and off she goes – no questions asked.

It would seem that Kelly does jump to conclusions several times and Gianni doesn’t always correct her on these assumptions of hers. They do end up marrying, because she gets pregnant, but there are even more hardships in their relationship and she eventually runs again. This time she did so after eavesdropping on a conversation between her hubby and another person. She feels she needs to protect her child. Kelly jumped to conclusions once again w/out seeking answers.

For the most part I liked the story. I liked that their relationship, marriage, and subsequent estrangement takes time to build and resolve; it wasn’t a quick month type situation. I felt that he had good reason to believe the other individual that was tattling on Kelly and stirring up trouble. Kelly was pregnant at the time and she does have a tendency to jump to conclusions. Gianni seemed to deal with facts when he thought the worst of Kelly. He had the other person that she was living with investigated and it appeared that that individual and gotten around a lot. I have to mention that towards the end of the story Kelly actually punches Gianni in the nose, but he deserved it.

[Raffaella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely book! Gianfranco meets Kelly, they have a ONS and she’s pregnant. They get married but he leaves her alone with a manic SIL and his mother. Misunderstandings and miscommunication lead Kelly to leave his husband. Three years later he finds her, they reconcile and she’s pregnant again! This was a nice novel about two people who makes mistakes but are linked with a strong passion and eventually discover that they love each other very much. Kelly is not a spineless heroine, Gianni is a little dumb as heroes use to be but is not a bad guy. He loves her and is afraid to lose her. I loved the scene when he suggests her to have a termination and she punches him hard, that was so fun! I recommend it.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for the second time and I still hate the hero. Olivia the demented sister in law wannabe OW tried to run over the heroine too. I know that. Plus he didn't believe her ever. I hated him so much at times. I am not sure he was celibate but I don't really want to know. He was a jerk and I never liked him. I gave it three stars simply because the heroine was smart to leave him and his sick and twisted sister in law. I am sorry he found her. Maybe I will feel different tomorrow but I don't know. And the three year old spoke way to well for a three year old. I will finish this tomorrow.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong writing, characters (for the most part) you care about. The alpha H, like many men was totally clueless about the short comings of his mother and sister-in-law. This was to the point that he sided with them, took their word over his wife's and generally treated them better than the h. Many of the misunderstandings that led to a crisis could have been avoided with improved communications.

Although she had a lot of insecurities, the h was a survivor . She put up with more than many wives would have (but this is Harlequin).

I enjoyed this author's writing and will seek out more of her books.