Not Quite a Wife

The Lost Lords, Book 6

By: Mary Jo Putney

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

James, Lord Kirkland, owns a shipping fleet, half a London gaming house, and is a ruthlessly effective spymaster. He is seldom self-indulgent…except when it comes to the gentle, indomitable beauty who was once his wife. Laurel Herbert gave James her heart as an innocent young girl - until she saw him perform an act of shocking violence before her very eyes. That night she left her husband, and he let her go without a word of protest. Now, 10 years later, a chance encounter turns passionate, with consequences that cannot be ignored. But as they try to rebuild what was broken, they must face common enemies and a very uncommon love.

©2014 Mary Jo Putney (P)2014 Recorded Books

The storyline good but FMC didn't fit

In the past has been the author is a fantastic writer. I usually love all her other books. I know this was a one off.
The storyline wS interesting and I enjoyed some parts but I despised the FMC. I felt even more strongly about it because the book kept telling me how warm, gentle and kind she was. I didn't see it that way at all. I found her cold and calculating, justifying all her bad behavior as righteous.
She was a horrible wife. she was selfish and cruel. she embodied the age old saying we hurt the ones we love but
I always found that line to be a bad excuse for rotten behavior. what really irked me was the cop out that she was such a pious in her faith. BS she performed her "good deeds" for herself. Then she yields her chaste soul like a weapon. "Look at me see the good works I am doing", is the underwritten message the FMC sends. We know this because of her callous disregard of her husband, she hurts him over and over without remorse. AND all the other characters giving her a pass and coddling her. All but one blamed him when it was clearly her fault, Her inability to give her husband the benefit of the doubt OR the forgiveness & redemption she preaches for others. She and her enabling selfish brother are hypocrits & acted despicably. That relationship felt almost incestuous & Weird !
I rated this higher han I would for books I dislike because the narration was fantastic and overall the writing was excellent. I encourage readers to read another Putney book in the future.

Not Quite a Heroine

I have never had any patience w/religious types who would rather die themselves than lift a hand in violence. So Laurel’s horror at her husband’s initial act of self defense seemed ridiculous to me. I never really understood what Kirkland saw in her anyway because she whined through most of the story, imo. I much prefer heroines like Cassie or Sarah from the previous books. Strong women who defended themselves & their families w/out crying about it afterwards.

The narrator was fine except for his Jamaican accent, which was terrible, lol. If the book didn’t say Violet was from Jamaica, there’s no way I would have known just from listening to him, lol.

I’m glad the book was part of the Romantic Escape package as I wouldn’t have like to spend a credit on it. I did like visiting w/previous couples & seeing what they are up to. But I don’t think Laurel was a worthy partner for Kirkland considering how strong he has had to be by himself all those years. Imo, ymmv, etc.

Not One Of Her Better Books

I usually love Mary Jo Putney, & Steven Crossley did a fabulous job narrating... but I almost didn't finish this book. It's hard for me to get into a book if I don't like one of the main characters, & I really didn't like the Heroine in this one. In my opinion she came across as sanctimonious & too immature even 10 years later... In fact, I'm not sure I want to read the next book in the series in case her brother is too similar since their both referred to as "saints" by their friends!

Very enjoyable absorbing historical romance

Loved the development of the relationship between the H and h. Their interactions with the people around them added to the story line. A little bit on the religious side for the h but this explained her reactions to various situations.
The narrator was good and made great effort to bring the story alive, including singing in a couple of places!
Great author, one of my favourites.

Voices of male characters very unappealing

While I was interested in hearing Kirkland and Laurel's story, I was disappointed. I much prefer strong male characters to have strong sexy voices. Mr Crossley did not portray the men as strong at all. Also, in previous books, Mac had a Scottish brogue....but not in this book. Kirkland's brogue was on again/off again and not strong. As for the heroine, Laurel, I tried to keep an open mind and keep her Methodist tendencies in mind; but I still often found her pious ad sanctimonious attitudes just too much. In spite of it all, I did find the story interesting.