REVIEW: Claiming His Wedding Night Consequence by Abby Green

Claiming His Wedding Night Consequence by Abby Green is a sexy marriage of convenience romance set in beautiful Sicily.

Chiara Caruso has just suffered the loss of her parents in a car accident and now may lose her ancestral home as well. The family castello is set to be repossessed by the bank as her father had many debts and had been borrowing on the estate. Unsure what to do next, the choice becomes clear when a visitor shows up at her home, claiming to be the rightful heir to the property.

Nicolo Santo Domenico has long known that his family’s ancestral home was taken from them during World War II. He arrives at the castello, showing Chiara the long abandoned graveyard on the property whose headstones prove his claim. Nico has a proposition for Chiara. He needs a wife at his side to improve his reputation among his conservative peers who see his playboy ways as distasteful. In return for marrying him, he will ensure she maintains a right to the only home she’s ever known, and one their children (should they have any) will inherit. Chiara feels she has no option but to agree to Nico’s deal. A quick marriage ensues, and a wedding night beyond either of their expectations. But Chiara finds her husband cold and calculating even after what for her was a transcendent experience and she runs away. When Nico finds her several months later, he discovers she is pregnant and this changes everything. Can their marriage become a real one after all?

I enjoyed the setting of this story, with coastal Sicily and the castle built on its shores the backdrop for the majority of the novel. The heroine Chiara comes across initially as weak and a bit of a pushover, though this is because of how she was raised alone at the castello, home schooled and without any friends. Her parents were her life, and now that they are gone, she is unused to taking care of herself. Nico offers her what she hopes could be a real marriage, but she is quickly disillusioned by his lack of reaction to their lovemaking. She finds some backbone when she decides to run away, and later when she is back with her husband, she finds herself willing to defend him publicly from an ex-girlfriend who would slander him.

Nico is hard to warm up to as his sole purpose in marrying Chiara is just to get the land back. He is attracted to her but is able to keep his emotions in check – until he discovers she is pregnant. The thought of an heir softens him, and when the child is born, he shows his true colours. Chiara is the first to admit that her feelings for him have become stronger and she tells him so, but Nico is slow to return those feelings. It’s not until he could lose her and the baby that he can admit the truth. There is a lovely happy ending and sweet epilogue. Fans of classic HP romances will enjoy this marriage of convenience and unexpected pregnancy romance!
 

Book Info:

Publication: Aug 21, 2018 | Harlequin Presents | Conveniently Wed

Nicolo’s discovered his runaway bride… And the secret she’s kept from him!
Nicolo Santo Domenico’s marriage to heiress Chiara is purely for convenience…until their explosively passionate wedding night! But when Chiara realizes that Nico’s reasons for seducing her are as cold as his heart, she flees their fledgling marriage. Months later, Nico tracks down his errant wife, only to find she’s expecting! To claim his baby, Nico must make Chiara his–for real!