The Life & Times of a Book Addict: The Unwanted Wife by Natasha Anders

From Goodreads:

All Alessandro de Lucci wants from his wife is a son but after a year and a half of unhappiness and disillusionment, all Theresa de Lucci wants from her ice cold husband is a divorce. Unfortunate timing, since Theresa is about to discover that she’s finally pregnant and Alessandro is about to discover that he isn’t willing to lose Theresa.

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Chemistry was a terrible thing, sometimes it simply sparked between the wrong people.

-Natasha Anders, The Unwanted Wife

Theresa has been married to Alessandro (Sandro) just shy of two years. Their marriage is not your typical marriage though. There is no real love or affection, or any of the fundamental elements required in a relationship. Theresa was mesmerized by Alessandro from the first moment she laid eyes on him, but Sandro oftentimes acts like he resents her and treats her very coldly.

Theresa’s father is a wealthy and powerful man who forced her into the marriage and she, being naïve and hopelessly in love with Sandro just went along with it. She kind of went into things with blinders on; hoping that things would get better with time. I liked Theresa, but I questioned why she married Alessandro in first place. If things started to change or he started to react to her in a different way even before the marriage began, then why did she not call it off or at least make an attempt to?

Things start to change in their household when she makes the decision to finally stand up for herself and no longer be a doormat. Even though to me it took Theresa too long to become fed up and reach the point of not letting Alessandro walk all over her. I am glad she eventually did make that decision. Her standing up for herself made Sandro take notice almost immediately. She made him see the things he was doing wrong and called him out on it. Things did not automatically become a bed of roses for them afterwards though. They struggle to get along and try to make things work. And after Theresa becomes pregnant, she knows Sandro will leave after the baby is born. But leaving Sandro proves to be a difficult task, especially since Sandro tries to convince her of his commitment. But after all of the heartache and lies, Theresa cannot decide if she should believe Sandro and if he is worth taking a risk on again.

What I did not like:

Theresa gave in to Sandro very quickly at times. He is a handsome man with a great body, I understand that. But one look at his half, partially, or naked body or being in close proximity to him and she would just melt. I kept thinking enough already, don't give into the temptation so easily.

Final thoughts:

The Unwanted Wife took me on a bit of an emotional journey. I could feel Theresa’s pain and self-doubt as she dealt with Alessandro. The story moved at an easy pace. It was not one of those books that I just could not put down, but when I stating reading, it did hold my interest. The characters and their lives felt real. I enjoyed it. If you enjoy emotional/angsty romance reads, then I would recommend The Unwanted Wife.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5.