Judith’s review of Her Husband’s Harlot by Grace Callaway.
Not Quite a Wife . . . After a disastrous wedding night, proper Lady Helena Harteford fears for the fate of her new marriage. Disguised as a doxy, she tracks her husband down at a bawdy house to reason with him . . . and instead discovers the thrill of forbidden passion. An innocent ruse turns into a risky deception; how far will this once-wallflower go to win her husband’s love?
Unfit to be a Husband . . . Orphaned at an early age, Nicholas Morgan escapes his violent beginnings to become a successful merchant–only to discover that he is the legitimate heir of the Marquess of Harteford. His transition to the ton is rocky and made rockier when he marries above him. Torn between guilt and lust, he tries to protect his sweet, innocent wife from the demons of his past. But can he safeguard her from his own raging desires?
Caught between Past and Present . . . When a dangerous nemesis rises from Nicholas’ past, husband and wife must work together in order to survive. From the drawing rooms to the stews of Regency London, they find themselves caught in a game of passion and seduction. Will true love prevail? Or is Helena destined to remain . . . Her Husband’s Harlot?
Romance and mystery, simpering wife and emotionally unavailable titled husband — it’s all here in one very readable and entertaining historical romance from an author new to me. I agreed to review the book because it really sounded intriguing and so it turned out to be. I love surprises, especially the ones that come in the form of a heroine who has been raised to be the “good girl” or in Regency terms, “the true lady” but who has come to love her husband and isn’t willing to let him go without a fight. Yes, Helena was completely unprepared for her wedding night and her initiation into her “wifely duties” as sex was often termed, was anything but enjoyable. Nicolas was so upset at having hurt Helena that he refused to come near her from that night on, and when she discovered an invitation to a masque ball at a well-known house of ill repute, she determined to chase him down. That’s when the story gets really interesting and the “games” begin, not only the marital intrigue, but the connected mystery to Nicolas’ early life as it begins to impact his possible future with Helena.
These two main characters are such classic icons of Regency England–a woman raised to be a willing and attractive addition to the “stable” of marriageable maidens in the ton and a man who has experienced every “hell” that poverty stricken citizens of London could possible survive. Now Nicolas finds out that he is not only a properous/wealthy merchant, but he is legitimate and the only heir to a rake of a father without any other sons and to whom has been left a substantial fortune. Thus, Nicolas is one of the wealthiest aristocrats and certainly a good choice for a young lady whose family is in dire need of his money. But as luck would have it, Nicolas has seen Helena at a ball and had been smitten from day one. Yet his insecurities about his early life and the continuing disdain of the aristocracy to his merchant activities convince him that he is unfit to be Helena’s husband. In his thought she “deserves” to be married to a man of greater social worth than he. Both of these characters stand out against a cast of background characters as being people of strong will and determination. This is especially true of Helena who, though she is distressed at the possibility that her husband is seeking his comfort apart from her, is willing to do just about anything to gain his love and his presence in her bedroom.
There is no doubt that aristocratic marriages of convenience or in order to secure the succession have been a source of great unhappiness for untold numbers of people. Certainly that is the scenario that is played out in many romance novels. But this one seems to have found a bit of a twist on an old theme and given us a story that goes beyond the well-known format for Regency romance. With Helena’s gutsy attempts to seduce her own husband and Nicolas’ attempts to protect her from himself the reader can enjoy the foundations of a good story. Add in the attempted blackmail of Nicolas over an event he thought long buried in his past, attempts on his life, and Helena’s curious journey into the world of erotic love and you have a story that is lifted out of the ordinary into that level of interest that can indeed hold a readers attention without fail. There is certainly a fair amount of eroticism in this novel–Nicolas’ two encounters with a lightskirt who is really is his wife is a case in point–yet here the story is the thing. The author has managed to write in such a way that I had no difficulty being deeply affected by Helena’s distress over Nicolas’ abandonment of her as well as feeling her joy when, on several occasions, it seemed as if the wall between them was being dismantled.
Really erotic historical romance isn’t as plentiful as many would think, but here you have a very well-written example of this genre. It’s entertaining and fun and a darn good read.
I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Grace Callaway Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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