Never Marry a Stranger by Gayle Callen Published by Harper Collins on August 25th 2009
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
The prodigal return . . .It's an absolute scandal when Captain Matthew Leland arrives at Madingley Court. Presumed dead in battle, his sudden appearance gives the ton quite the shock. But no one is more surprised than Matthew, because waiting for him at home is a bewitching, blue-eyed beauty—and she claims to be his wife!Miss Emily Grey was alone in the world when a knight in shining armor came to her rescue, claimed her heart, and then disappeared. But now her little white lie, a desperate act of self-preservation, has come back to haunt her. Her husband, once a far-off fantasy, is now a flesh-and-blood man who insists she share his bed . . . Matthew has no memory of any marriage to this scheming seductress, and he's determined to expose her in every way. But a life with the exquisite Emily will prove irresistible . . . and a marriage of deception will become a marriage of sweet, sweet surrender.
In Never Marry A Stranger it starts off with Captain Matthew LeLand arrives home after being thought dead by his family. He knew that it would be definitely a shock to them. After leaving and joining the British military and leaving for adventure and excitement, he certainly never thought that he would have it right at home. He comes home not only to his parents, but is delightfully shocked to find that there is a woman claiming to be his wife. Where she faints in his arms after his arrival. Matthew knows he would have remembered being married, and figuring that this poor chit did it out of some sort of desperation, he claims to have amnesia to his family. Hoping that he can get to the bottom of everything, and find out the truth from Emily. However things aren’t as simple as they may seem. There is a lurking danger that is hidden beneath Emily’s past, only if Emily learns to trust in her heart and in Matthew will she be able to overcome all that haunts her.
This was truly a much amusing love story if I do say so myself. From the very beginning I have to say I was on Matthew’s side of things. He took it all in good form, I mean he arrives home after everyone thinking he had died, and finds a stranger that claims to have been married to him. There is definitely something amusing in this story, as he aches for the truth and what drove her to do such a thing. Emily, after losing her family and going through some hardships of her own, claims to be his wife out of desperation, what she never expected was for him to arrive home alive. She knows that there is the magnetism about the man, that she finds hard to resist. As they draw closer together, there is a desire that spikes up and dares to consume them both, as well as a love that neither one of them expects to find in each other. I have to say that I truly loved this story, even though I wish that from the beginning that Emily would have had the courage to confide in Matthew. I understood her side of things, how she never learned to trust in anyone including herself, but throughout the book you see that she gradually starts to, and knows she can’t run from the truth as much as she would like to. Matthew however, is one of those male figures that you just wish you could fall in love with. He has such character and enthusiasm about life and he never really gets angry or frustrated about the situation, just amused and wanting to burst with laughter at any point. It was definitely one I enjoyed most thoroughly and I am looking forward to read the rest of the series.
About Gayle Callen
USA Today Bestselling author Gayle Callen writes historical romances for Avon Books. Her twenty-first novel, Redemption of the Duke, was published in May 2014.
Gayle’s novels have won the Holt Medallion, the Laurel Wreath Award, the Booksellers’ Best Award, and finaled in the National Readers Choice Awards. She was a nominee for RT Book Reviews Magazine’s Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She also writes the “Valentine Valley” contemporary series as Emma Cane.
Gayle resides in central New York with her husband. Now that her three children are grown, she has time to read, sing, and delve too deeply into historical research. A past President of the Central New York Romance Writers, she is also a member of Romance Writers of America and Novelists Inc.
0 Comments