Dervla was the nurse who’d tended his wounds when he was injured. He was the sexy billionaire who’d seduced her. She refused to be his mistress, so Gianfranco made her his wife….

He had only one condition when they wed: no children…

For a year they were blissfully happy, making lazy love in the mornings, hot passionate love by night. But Dervla was carrying a secret. She was expecting her husband’s baby…

My guilty pleasure is Harlequin Presents. Anytime that I just can’t decide what to read, I pick up a HP and have at it. I haven’t quite figured out why I like them, considering that the men are usually overbearing neanderthals and the women are, more often than not, TSTL. So aside from that, I lurve them.

This book was everything I love in a Harlequin Presents. I only had one problem with it. The names of the characters. Let us begin w/ Dervla. What kind of name is Dervla? Apparently it’s Irish. Unfortunately, almost every time I read the name, I would think of a Whirling Dervish. The hero’s name is Gianfranco, which I accidentally changed to Giancarlo. Don’t ask me why, b/c I wouldn’t have an answer.

So Dervla was a nurse when there was a terrorist attack in Italy in which Gianfranco’s son was injured. They disliked each other on sight, yet slowly started getting to know each other as the weeks passed. Dervla sort of admired him from afar b/c Gianfranco was a billionaire celebrity (of sorts) and seemingly way out of her league. Gianfranco waited until his son was recovered to make his move on Dervla. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t get Dervla out of his mind. Of course when he found out she was a virgin, he had to marry her. Shockingly enough, Gianfranco wouldn’t admit to himself that it was just an excuse.

So we have a marriage of convenience where the wife is in love with the husband and the husband doesn’t believe in love. Though Dervla has been told she can’t have children, she wants to try a new procedure and wants Gianfranco’s support. He won’t give it to her b/c he doesn’t want any more kids. So what does Dervla do? She leaves him.

Harlequin chaos ensues.

3.75 out of 5.

This book is available from Harlequin Presents. You can buy it here or here in e-format.