Claiming His Pregnant Wife

by Kim Lawrence

When Francesco Romanelli met Erin Foyle, they were married within days--but it took just a month for their marriage to fall apart—

Believing her husband to be nothing more than a cheat, Erin starts divorce proceedings. But though she won't be Francesco's wife, she will never be free of him— she is pregnant with his child.

Francesco discovers Erin is pregnant— how dare she keep it from him? If he has his way, the divorce will never happen. He's on a mission to reclaim her as his wife and in his bed....

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Second Chance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published September 1, 2007

About the author

Though lacking much authentic Welsh blood, Kim Lawrence comes from English-Irish stock. She was born and brought up in North Wales. She returned there when she married, and her sons were both born on Anglesey, an island off the coast. Though not isolated, Anglesey is a little off the beaten track, but lively Dublin, which Kim loves, is only a short ferry ride away. Today they live on the farm her husband was brought up on. Welsh is the first language of many people in this area and Kim's husband and sons are all bilingual she is having a lot of fun, not to mention a few headaches, trying to learn the language! She is a keen gardener and cook and enjoys running often on the beach, as living on an island the sea is never very far away. She is usually accompanied by her Jack Russell, Sprout don't ask, it's long story!

With small children, the unsocial hours of nursing didn't look attractive so encouraged by a husband who thinks she can do anything she sets her mind to, Kim tried her hand at writing. Always a keen Mills & Boon reader, it seemed natural for her to write a romance novel. In 1995, she published her first novels and now she can't imagine doing anything else.

Reviews

[Vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am setting up matchmaking service where the deserving H or h is matched to his or her best sweetheart.

First up, Francesco. He is deserving of a far better heroine than the I’m out in the garden eating worms heroine. I think Lindy from Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress would be a great match. She’s sweet, pretty, fertile and obviously too trusting for her own good as she stuck with that bozo. It’s a tad unfair to Erin, the heroine here, but she’s already expecting an arrogant, self-involved cheater and Asshole Atreus fits that bill nicely.

Francesco and Erin met cute when she got lost in Italy, and assumed he was a pretty but stupid Italian man with no English. True love/lust hits, and they marry immediately. Erin was raised by two narcissists where her father was a serial cheater so all men must be serial cheaters. It doesn’t help that her mother is a five alarm clinging, manipulative narcissist on her own.

Within a month after marrying, Erin sees the H in a somewhat compromising situation and leaves him not believing his explanation. No, he really wasn’t cheating, but he is furious she is so untrusting. He finds out she’s pregnant and hunts her down. Despite his assurances she continues to stay in her garden with her worms and dwell on how all men cheat, and kvetch that he was probably using her to get over the death of his twin. It was more than a little tedious. She’s a nice girl overall, but needs to get her head readjusted.

Anyhoo, the tables are turned a teeny bit, as the H thinks she cheated on him BECAUSE HER MOTHER TOLD HIM THAT SHE DID after she left him. Die, you evil Medea style witch. Unlike the heroine and every other alpha hero in HP Land, the H tries to understand why she would do something like that instead of losing his alpha marbles. Oh, you're such a nice guy, Francesco.

We get to our HEA. Like I said, she’s a nice girl, but eh.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

H/h met and married in five days as the heroine was on holiday in Italy. Heroine had no idea the hero was the owner of an Italian bank, that his twin brother had committed suicide just three months before or that he was head over heels in love with her. Heroine, for her part, couldn't believe that the hero would want to stay faithful to her because her father was a serial cheater.

So both the H/h contributed to the break up of their marriage after one month. Hero didn't communicate well. Heroine was immature, paranoid and prone to self-pity. Reason for the breakup: Heroine saw a leggy blonde kissing the hero at a society ball, thought he was cheating and left the next day.

The hero doesn't follow the heroine to England, but he does call everyday and the heroine's controlling, equally paranoid mother doesn't let the heroine know this. Meanwhile heroine is pregnant and after three months still hasn't told the hero.

So - lots of drama. Lots of misunderstandings. Eventually these two crazy kids do figure it - but not without an accidental fall down a flight of stairs, surgery, a turbulent plane ride, a surprise party and gallery showing of the heroine's photographs. Yup. The author threw in the kitchen sink of tropes at the end, but it was entertaining.

If misunderstandings bug, then this probably isn't your book. Otherwise, this was a fun little marriage in trouble story that isn't that angsty because the H/h are still getting to know each other during a very short time line. I wish the heroine's mother had done some groveling. Besides, not telling her daughter about the hero's calls, she told the hero that the heroine was seeing another man during their estrangement. What kind of mother tells lies like that?

[AvidReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming second chance love story.
The thing that stood out (to me) was the MC’s capacity to call out on each other’s errors and accept ones mistakes. An essential thing for any relationship. They both wanted their marriage to work so they didn’t give up. Hero was arrogant but I still adored him. Even when they were fighting he felt tenderness and concern for her. I am also quite proud of the heroine for learning from her mistakes and moving forward. Epilogue drew an extra 🌟 from me. Loved it so much! Especially that they are expecting twins next.
Forgot to mention, both were celibate during separation.
Recommended.

[reeder (reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m giving this a pity score of 3. It’s probably really a 2, but everyone is trying so hard, I’m going to give it an extra star. The problem is that none of the tropes really get enough traction to make a coherent story.

The hero and heroine have a wilderness meet cute while she’s on vacation in Italy. She has no idea who he is, so he slips instantly into secret!millionaire-from-a-highly-respected-family mode. They’re wildly attracted to each other in a bickery way, have the best sex ever, and decide to get married 5 days after they meet. Although she had about a half-dozen clues he was more than a guy with a rusty pickup eking out a living training horses, she doesn’t discover he’s an Italian bank until she reads his mail the day before they’re going to marry. (And this is what I mean about tractionless tropes: this was her opportunity to back out of the marriage or resolve a trust issue. Instead, she just kind of stores it away as ammunition for future arguments. For this to have impact, she shouldn’t learn his identity until after they’re married. That’s when it becomes TREASON! Instead, the heroine just looks lax.)

Anyway, her tragic backstory is that her father is a serial adulterer and her mother is a doormat-slash-drama-queen who just can’t quit him. So fidelity really matters to the h, and she has trust issues. Naturally, the first time our newlyweds attend a posh ball, the heroine comes out of the cloakroom to find her husband kissing (*ahem* being kissed by) a tipsy blonde. Wifey is Not Amused, and runs out of the party in some distress. The H exhibits zero sympathy or empathy. He knows about her father’s behavior, but instead of recognizing that this scene was probably triggering for her, he’s all “how dare you have emotions and a damaged psyche. Get your ass back in that party.” While her husband returns to the drunken smoochy ball, she goes back to the hotel instead and (initially) calms herself down like an adult might. She plans to apologize to her husband as soon as he returns...except he stays out all night and she works herself all the way up to walking out on the marriage and returning to England. They spend 2-3 months in huffy isolation in the their respective countries until the wife files for divorce and the husband discovers she’s pregnant. Well, now there’s going to be a reckoning.

In the hands of Jacqueline Baird, the above scenario is all you need for a really satisfying book. But instead of focusing on the h being overwhelmed by her new social milieu and developing the confidence necessary to handle multiple women sexually assaulting her husband whenever they go out, Lawrence gets distracted by the hero’s tragic backstory which involves ennui (I can’t explain it. He was bored before his brother died, and I guess we’re supposed to feel bad for him because he felt unchallenged by life?) and his twin brother’s suicide six months before he met the heroine. Naturally, the h doesn’t learn anything about the brother or his death until they’re deep in “we will reconcile and live in grim resignation for the sake of our unborn child” territory. As soon as she pieces the timeline together, she decides the hero never loved her and married her as a way of dealing with his unacknowledged grief.

During an argument, the h takes a tumble down some stairs and is hospitalized for days while hubby hovers. Then, randomly, he arranges for a gallery to do a showing of the heroine’s photography, flies them back to Italy in their private plane through some really bad turbulence, and reveals the splendid rustic home he remodeled during their brief separation (himself, with his own calloused hands). This guy can do it all.

And...HEA.

Yeah, that bonus star is looking really generous. But what I didn’t tell you was during the hospitalization, the wife’s lying mother told the hero that her daughter had an affair while they were separated. Even though the hero believed that lie, he still wanted to make the marriage work because he loved the heroine, not just because of the baby. This was a nice example of someone walking the walk re: handling jealousy (though I still think the heroine was entitled to spa-level soothing after the drunken smoochy ball).

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erin and Francesco meet, fall in love and marry all within five days! As a reader, you feel right from the very beginning that they are meant for each other. Their passion and love just screams from the pages. Unfortunately, both suffer from prior baggage that gets in the way of their settling down and enjoying their HEA.

Erin flees back home to England over a misunderstanding and Francesco decides to brood instead of go after the woman he loves. So now they both have to work at believing it really is love, not just lust, and that together it is worth making their love last a lifetime. You can feel their doubts, their pain, their lack of trust in believing they are worthy of each other.

I must say I absolutely loved Francesco. What a hunk! It was obvious how much he adored Erin. On the other hand, there were times I got frustrated with Erin and felt she needed to grow up and appreciate a man like Francesco. However, she really did have some good reasons for the hang ups so I quickly forgave her and kept my fingers crossed that she would get it right. I loved that Francesco learned from his earlier mistake and was not willing to let her walk away again.

On a serious note, this is a book that touches on infidelity and lack of trust and how it can destroy not only a marriage, but have serious side effects on the children.

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claiming His Pregnant Wife is about two people who had a whirlwind romance and the heroine's insecurity and the effect of her father's philandering ways made her walk out after a month. Though the hero/heroine fell in love with each other they never really got to know the minute details of each others life, plus the heroine was intimidated by his rich lifestyle and combined with her parent's example she messed up and over-reacted. The hero, is delicious, you can see that he loves her and uses her being pregnant to reconcile. Pretty enjoyable though a very insecure heroine prone to interpreting actions in a manner she sees fit. And the separation is only 3 months and the hero doesn't cheat instead he gets drunk.

Not my favorite Lawrence.

Rating 3.5

[Raffaella · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, they meet and get married in 5 days, really? Really! Of course there will be troubles. Big troubles. Because they’re basically two strangers with a past and secrets that will tear them apart. He has just lost his twin who committed suicide because he was bipolar ( since they are identical twin there’s a great probability that he will be bipolar also, but we won’t tell him, no?), she has a weak passive aggressive mother who spent all her life suffering because of her womanizer husband. They manage to stay together for one month, then at their first outing together they break up. During this party the hero is kissed by a drunken friend and the heroine take offense, leaving him alone. He tells her that she’s pushing him in another woman’s arms and spends the night out. When he gets back him she’s gone. One month later he finds out she’s pregnant and tries to win her back. Somehow they talk and learn about each other ( what they didn’t do before) and eventually they understand each other better. He always loved her and was shattered when she left him. Cute book, not great angst because the hero was not a bad man, only a little slow and maybe not so smart, in a hp way. He was innocent and never cheated, he was kissed by a drunken woman but didn’t encourage her. Not his finest moment, since it was the first time they officially went to a party together he could at least take care to be more with his wife and less around drunken women I suppose, to avoid such unpleasant scene. Even a less jealous and suspecting wife would feel outraged and hurt by his careless behavior, they are no teenagers and he should know how to behave. Then when he saw her distress he should have accompanied her home and tried to reassure her, they were newlyweds and this was expected. He was wrong and she was wrong but anyway afterwards they really tried to solve their issues and he was not a vicious man. He really wanted her back and tried his best to help her with her petulant mother, which I appreciate very much. I liked it and I can recommend it as a quick and entertaining reading.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This must be the most insecure heroine I have ever read. She has huge trust issues and her poor husband doesn't deserve her mistrust. I'm speechless about the way she allows her mother to manipulate her. I mean her mother even told Francesco that Erin had an affair. What kind of a mother does this? Francesco was amazing though. He never gave up on his marriage, he loved his wife with all his heart and it was he who saved their marriage in the end. I have mixed feelings for the heroine but I guess her background excuses her behavior in some ways. 4 stars for a delicious hero and a perfect epilogue.

[Romance_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was getting distracted a lot when I started reading this book, so didn't enjoy it much in the beginning. Now, I'm glad I stuck to it. This read is the literary equivalent of chicken soup - all wholesome and feel good. It features a gorgeous Italian guy with mostly great emotional maturity (a welcome change from all the jerks we generally read about in HPs) and the inevitably blind/slow on the uptake heroine who's incapable of sensing his love for her - in other words angst for the sake of angst. Still, a good read, if you're craving that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Not spectacular, but good. 3 stars!

[Cherise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably just me, but I find this one awlful. I cannot stand the h at all and it is super annoying seeing her vacillate back and forth a gazillion times with doubts and doubts and doubts. Honestly with how broken she is I seriously doubt our H has a chance.

Our H is pretty decent. He loves his wife, very obvious to us readers and everyone else except her, and with a good honest excuse he is forcing her hand to try things out with him again. He really has a patience of a saint here as h really tries anyone's patience. His fault I see here is really he is being a man used to having his way, very insensitive at times with the gentler emotions and not mindful that his words, though direct, might be taken the wrong way and be hurtful to his emotionally fragile h. I also think he is a bit too cavalier regarding all the deceptions he has made, as that indeed is one of the major red flag that just got our h's back up.

Our h is a piece of work. Like the H has said, she is so afraid of being happy with him she is expecting, even pushing for, the axe to fall. While I try to understand her hesitancy, it also puzzles me a lot as in her encounter with our H, she seems to be a lot more feisty, assertive and interesting than the latter her. I just get v annoyed in the end with all her doubts, especially when it all is in her head and she doesn't even do anything about it, just mop and then went into a rage for all the imaginary wrongs the H has done. And not bothering with trying to solve their issues by admitting to being in the wrong or anything. I seriously find her martyred attitude annoying especially when she seems to strive to wallow in it.

The way this book was written also isn't my cuppa. I was bored with the beginning so much it took me 3 times to get this going. I especially didn't like the lengthhow we met part, as I just wasn't interested to be honest, I am more invested in knowing what now. There really isn't much to the plot in terms of happening, just a quick meeting or two before end of the book, with 50% of it being h's doubts doubts doubts and accusations, the background story and their talking through things so their marriage can have a chance.

The whole theme of this story is probably the because of their whirlwind romancw, they lack communication, understanding and also trust, of each other. Wagon before the horse and all that, which is understandable but not really very entertaining.

[MissKitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well...I’m a sucker for second chance stories so this one did it for me. The couple are separated just after a whirlwind romance and just a month of being married. It’s quite believable since neither of them knew the other well enough and was ripe for a major misunderstanding.

The heroine catches the Hero being kissed at a party and she flips her lid!! Hero tries to explain that the girl was drunk, she kissed him and it was just all in fun as she is a friend. When they first married, Hero kept the fact that he was a billionaire from her, plus some other details of his life, so she thinks he is lying again. She leaves in a huff and the idiot Hero stays out all night to spite her. So she packs her things and leaves him.

It’s been three months and the Hero finds out that she is pregnant. So he goes off since he refuses to have his child born into a broken home. They need to fix their issues since now the heroine thinks the Hero only wants her back for the sake of the baby. The Hero has to overcome her trust issues... It was well done.

No OW/OM angst. Except for the kissing incident and a bitchy friend at the party. It was really as the Hero explained it and the heroine was just too insecure so she also over-reacted. However that being said, I didn’t think the Hero should have allowed himself to be kissed in a manner that was easily misconstrued.

[Shatarupa Dhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a wonderfully sweet read but at certain points, the book did seem to be a bit of a stretch. But in the beginning chapters, the almost role reversal in terms of dialogues of H/h was just hilarious!

[lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

These 2 killed me but I loved them.

[Melissa Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book might have gotten a four star had it not been for the fact that the epilogue was perfect. Erin and Francisco had a world wind romance and married in five days of meeting one another. But insecurities on both sides, Erin's mostly, drove her away. His pride prevented him from chasing after her until he got the divorce papers along with info about her looming pregnancy. The story for me was a slow start. I wish it would have started with the meeting of them and their romance first then led to the leaving. I would not have been reading it waiting for the ball to drop so to speak. It ended well with a great epilogue.

[RomLibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Francesco Romanelli met Erin Foyle, they were married within days--but it took just a month for their marriage to fall apart-- Believing her husband to be nothing more than a cheat, Erin starts divorce proceedings. But though she won't be Francesco's wife, she will never be free of him--she is pregnant with his child. Francesco discovers Erin is pregnant-- how dare she keep it from him? If he has his way, the divorce will never happen. He's on a mission to reclaim her--as his wife and in his bed.... (less)

[Natalia Vaeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart touching novel

I haven’t read a romantic novel in a while which also meant that my faith in romance and men has declined a little, but upon reading this book I am refreshed, I am new person!

[Shanelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I nice feel-good story. Two people who just weren't that good at communication and got married to soon.

[Soleil · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf

[st23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
Claiming His Pregnant Wife by Kim Lawrence
📚 Contemporary Romance / Second Chance / Secret pregnancy/ Alpha Male
This is a lovely, emotional romance between Francesco and Erin. They meet and have an instantaneous connection—truly love at first sight. Within five days, they're married. Within a month, the marriage is over.
Erin’s insecurities lead her to believe Francesco has cheated, and being the proud, Italian alpha male that he is, he flat-out refuses to explain himself. They separate... until he finds out she’s pregnant. 🔥
In pure Francesco style—angry, proud, and determined—he tracks her down. What follows is a passionate, intense journey where both need to let go of their secrets, face their own flaws, and discover the love they still have for each other.
It’s a sweet, emotional, feel-good story that hit all the right spots. I loved Francesco—what a beautiful specimen of a man! ❤️😍Can I please have one just like him?

📝 Note: I lost my physical copy of this book some time ago and went looking for a Kindle version—only to discover that the only one available is the comic adaptation. Honestly, I really can’t stand the Harlequin comics. I know some readers enjoy them, but I must be in the minority. I gave up comics hundreds of years ago! 🙈
If anyone knows how I can get the original novel version on Kindle or as an ebook, please let me know. I’d love to add this sweet, wonderful romance back to my favourites.🌹❤️💋

[Anuradha · Rating 2 out of 5]

More than half the book is covered with sex scenes, where the leads keep DOING IT for no rhyme or reason. Where there's time left, their mind voice keeps chanting - "Oh, she is so beautiful" , "Oh, what a handsome hunk he is" !!!

In the measly pages remaining, the events keep jumping from present to flack back incoherently. Head spinning stuff really !!

And to fill the so called emotional quotient, you have her clingy, possessive mother and his dead brother. Both underdeveloped, meaningless characters.

Not that the lead characters are better developed. They just come across as excessively horny, unbelievably dumb and quite reckless.

Sorry, dint enjoy this one. Dint want to trash it as 1 star.

So 2 stars.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francesco and Erin met and within days were married, so fast was the marriage that secrets were kept till they exploded in Erin's face. He was not what he seemed when they met. And now she has left him. When he finds out her secret he is after her to come back. This is a typical HEA story by HP standards. I enjoy Kim Lawrence books and will look forward to more later.

[Cathy Singleton · Rating 2 out of 5]

To wordy

Had such great potential, But I was really disappointed there was too much talk I lost interest in it I found myself skipping because there was way way to much detail, I totally lost interest in the story because of it

[More Books Than Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite HP writers so I’m rounding up the stars. I thought the last minute insertion of h’s mom’s nasty lies was unnecessary although it sealed the deal so h knew beyond doubt that H loved her.

[Betsy :D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED the epilogue with Erin and Francesco there baby boy Rafael and there unborn baby twins on the way. I wonder it they are boys or girls or 1 of each?! :D

[Wangxian]

awesome

[molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

cornos quase²

[Islenia Jáquez]

Me gustan que la novelas empiecen, desde el principio y no recordando en cada capítulo un pedazo de cómo se conocieron. Y muchas cosas no tuvieron sentido porque no tenía una buena narrativa.

[Nubeluz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

[Mili Teveez · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reunions. That is all.

Francesco Romanelli is one of those Italian alpha heroes who have the face of an angel and a body made for sin....expect all the cliches. He's recently been through a traumatic loss. Erin is an ordinary girl, a professional photographer from a dysfunctional family.

They meet while Erin is on holiday and sparks fly (note all the cliches). It's so intense that in five days they are married. And a month later, after seeing Francesco in a clinch with one of the numerous lovelies he may or may not have "enjoyed" in his bachelor days, Erin packed her bags and went home.

Only thing is, she took something with her. No, not Francesco's heart, apparently, but a piece of his DNA. Not that she's telling just yet. She wants to get the pesky divorce out of the way first because she knows Francesco would NOT divorce her if she carries his child.

So...finally we are at the beginning...Francesco is on his way to confront Erin about the baby. Not for a reconciliation. Definitely not. Not at all. Really. He pauses only to save the cat...er...a young woman being pestered by drunks and to tear up the letter asking for a divorce.

Erin doesn't want to see Francesco. She definitely doesn't. She was relieved he didn't follow her home to beg forgiveness and take her into his arms. Absolutely. So being tricked into meeting him was totally not fair. Because he is just as gorgeous and desirable and bedworthy...especially bedworthy...even though she definitely hates him. Mostly.

This was a fast moving story once Francesco and Erin met again. They both had baggage but it was Erin's family history that had the most impact. Overall I enjoyed the story. It focussed on the hero and heroine and resolving the issues of lack of trust exacerbated by the rushing into marriage. The ending was very sweet.