A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby/Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby! by Sharon Kendrick
Harlequin Presents
Contemporary
ISBN: 978-0373131280
Reviewed by Vanessa




“A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby”
Five years ago Dante D’Arezzo and Justina Perry had been engaged.  However, when Justina couldn’t put Dante first in her life, he issued an ultimatum.  Independent, former pop-star Justina was reluctant to let Dante go, but when she saw with her own eyes that the arrogant Italian had moved on, she had no choice.  Now Dante is back in her life, and he only wants one night with the unforgettable Justina, yet neither of them banked on the lifelong effects of that romp.  Will Dante be able to curb Justina’s independence and make her over into a needy woman, or will she maintain her hard-earned persona and adjust to her new life?

“A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby” was an angsty, page-turning read that I just could NOT put down until the last pages were turned.  I didn’t even mind the scene that brought the realization home to her, but I still needed something from his POV in that regards.  There seemed to be nothing of what he saw with her in regards to that night.  He can sit there and placate her all he wants years later, but it never felt right then.  Dante seemed to be extremely manipulative throughout “A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby”, and Justina seemed so strong until the end.

I wanted to love “A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby” because of all the angst that it engineered throughout the story but, in the end, there were too many unanswered questions that left me hanging.  I felt the following quote summed up “A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby” so well that I had to include it in my review: “Independent women make the worst adversaries in any custody battle, Dante.  A needy woman is always more amenable.”


“Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!”
Hollywood actor marriage of Matteo and Jennifer hits the rocks, but the other woman was just a symptom of the already rocky marriage.  Jennifer and Matteo had avoided one another for the past six months waiting for the dissolution of their marriage.  However, someone schemed to get them into the same building in order to create more buzz for their latest project.  Will Matteo and Jennifer work out what destroyed their marriage, or will they continue on their separate ways?

“Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!” was an engaging second chance at love story that really needed more to fully flesh it out for me.  As it was, it felt like the only flaw in the demise of their marriage that Matteo wanted to own was the other woman.  He came across as blaming Jennifer for everything because of her hang-ups from the past.  Neither Jennifer or Matteo really seemed to be completely invested in being separate entities as they would refer to ownership of the other when it suited them at various points in “Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!”

Matteo claimed in “Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!” that he is not weak,  but I felt like he was very weak because he didn’t fight for his marriage; he let things happen and just went with it from there.  He uses the whole believing in marriage and family angle, but that was sorely lacking when he was caught with his pants down.  There were still lingering questions in regards to Matteo’s indiscretion as well in “Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!”.

I also didn’t understand the fact that it was said in “Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!” that they were hardly together when they were married.  However, the story then said that “they were sleeping with each other every second of the day.”  That just didn’t work for me in “Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!”.  I felt that “Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!” jumped from A to C and I was left wondering what happened to B in some instances.