The Unwanted Wife

2.5 stars

I read this book because I saw multiple reviews mention that it had some great grovelling. However, it felt a little flat for me. Even at the end, Alessandro was still a little too alpha for my tastes (probably a reflection of the time this book was written). Additionally, I felt like too much of the book was spent on their sexual chemistry and the rest of the relationship-building was glossed over. For example, after Alessandro wrangles 2 hours from her, I would have loved it if the author had spent a lot more page-space giving us examples of the quality time the two of them spent during that time. It was cute but ultimately a little disappointing.

I have to confess that I'm new to the concept of ‘angsty romance', that I came across here. But I think it conveys the message for Theresa and Alessandro. Also, I'm a sucker for stories of arranged marriages that turn into real love, (sue me) and this is a good example of why.

I would give this a 5 for groveling, 5 for addictiveness and plot line but a 1 or 2 for subtlety, consistency and Alessandro's depth as a character.

This last point might be my fault because I'm now very spoilt by dual, first person pov books or even excellent male only pov books like Surviving Raine In my eyes the more egregious (or even just obnoxious really) the male character's actions the more I want to hear their side of the story.
Or else it ends up feeling like I'm just being battered along side the heroine with little reprieve (which this one kinda suffered from for me).

I think that the writing was very engaging and the heroine was very easy to empathize with. But, to be frank, I'm of the opinion that a male pov is more fun and interesting to read in a romance novel. I like being told from the inside how much the hero cares, not watching it from the outside, and then having his actions possibly be misconstrued so that I'm left untrusting of the hero and his motivations alongside the heroine I have little patience for this kinda thing, emotionally. If you can't trust the man, I say jump ship and be done with it.