Review: The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain

The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain by Lucy Monroe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Liked it!
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==> Reread July, 2019
==> Re-read march, 16 2016
==> Read september, 01 2012 (paperback)

“Some days, being a princess is right up there with long-term incarceration on Alcatraz.”

She’d bought into the fairy tale only to discover that love on one side brought pain, not pleasure. The happily-ever-after was only for princesses in storybook land…or those who were loved for themselves, like the two women married to the other Scorsolini princes.

Her love had not been one of his requirements, so he had not dwelt on it too much…until it was gone.

“Even to the point of marrying a woman with all the proper qualifications. You had me investigated, tested and then tested me yourself to be sure of my fit as your principessa and future queen. I am certain you never expected me to be a source of frustration for you.”

There were days she couldn’t even remember what she’d done because she’d spent so much of her time in a fog. The shock was that Claudio had never noticed. If she needed proof that she was nothing more to him than a convenience, that was it.

She didn’t miss the fact that he’d left without bothering to wake her and kiss her goodbye, either.

They were married, but she was no more necessary to his life than any of his other many employees.

“Obviously you do not consider it so, but I do not appreciate my wife letting down her obligations and therefore me.”

I will not tolerate you dismissing your promises or your duty as my wife as easily as you did your duties as a princess this morning.”

He didn’t have time for her unless she was playing her role of princess wife to perfection or concubine in his bed.

She didn’t have a marriage. She had a business partnership where she was the junior partner all the way.

Claudio could not have made it more obvious he did not love her if he had tried.

“We have to divorce.”

But he shook her touch off with disdainful rejection. “You bitch.”

“You will not walk away from our marriage and make me the second sovereign in Scorsolini history to be divorced. Do you understand me?”

She’d been so stupid to think that she meant anything to Claudio on a personal level. His whole reason for wanting to stay married to her had to do with him not being the second Scorsolini sovereign in history to be divorced by his wife.

You left on a selfish whim and my father paid because of it. I made a huge miscalculation when I asked you to marry me,” he said in a final slash of derision.

“You are about to tell me why you want a divorce, are you not?” “Yes.” “Do not.” “But I need to.” “I do not wish to hear it.” “But—” “You can have your divorce, Therese, but not until my father’s health is stable

“You are not the only one who has grown bored with the setup, but I would have done nothing about it which I am sure you think makes me a fool for duty.”

“I never said I was bored.” “But I am.” He flicked his hand in a throwaway gesture that implied their marriage meant that little to him. “The truth is, I am only too happy to give you a divorce, but as I said…it will have to wait on my father’s health. You can live with that limitation, I imagine?”

“You are beautiful, Therese, but a man needs something more than a pretty face and impeccable table manners to ease the prospect of an entire lifetime together. Once you started turning me down in the bedroom, your stock in my life dropped dangerously low. As I said, I would have stuck it out because once I make a promise, I keep it. But I will not fight for a marriage I do not actually want.”

She had believed that nothing could be worse than learning she had endometriosis with a high chance of total infertility. She had been wrong.

“It’s not as if we have a marriage like your brothers. No one expects us to be affectionate.”

She could not remember the last time someone had acknowledged she had feelings. Had touched her to comfort her. Certainly not Claudio. He acted as if her heart was made of iron ore and twice as hard as it should be.

He’d praised her for it, but now she wondered if she had been too enthusiastic. He’d grown bored with her…because she’d been too easy?

What was wrong with her that she did not inspire love in the people who were supposed to hold affection for her?

He did not engage in public displays of affection. His dignity as future sovereign on the Scorsolini throne demanded he be circumspect in his dealings with his wife.

“Please, Claudio, listen to me.” He glared down at her. “You have nothing to say that I would want to hear.”

“I was, but that doesn’t alter the fact that you made it so easy to hide my illness from you. Why was it so easy, Claudio? Why didn’t you care enough to notice that some months it was all I could do to hold it together?”

He had chosen her not based on emotion, but because she appealed to every need he had identified in having a wife meet.

Worse than a fool, he felt like a cruel monster. It had never been his intention that Therese should be hurt by marriage to him.

He had also destroyed fragile bonds that if he did not repair were going to result in the end of his marriage.

She had married him loving him and only now, looking back, could he recognize that.

She probably thought he did not care, but she was wrong.

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