Customer Reviews

Anne's Perfect Husband

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I already have several of Gayle Wilson's Regencies on my keeper shelf--when she hits a home run, she hits it out of the park! Anne's Perfect Husband is a delicious read for anyone who is a big fan of wounded (physically, emotionally) heroes in a Regency settig, Wilson excels in this archetype--one she has employed various times in both her contemporary and historical stories.

Ian Sinclair is a noble man trying to do the right thing for an orphan, the child of the man responsible for Sinclair almost losing his life in the Peninsula War. He's alive, Ian is, but scarred and wounded and his life is precarious due to an ill-placed bit of shrapnel. Lucky for him in his loneliness, the orphaned daughter of his deceased foe is no child, but a gallant and nurturing woman. The story progresses as one would expect a Regency romance to do so---noble actions, attention to the marriage mart, and a bit of suspense added for good measure.

I had a grand few hours with Ian and Anne, and I recommend this novel to lovers of romantic tales with happy-ever-afters. I can only hope Gayle will soon delight us with another of her pleasant, heart-touching stories. More of those fabulous wounded heroes, Gayle!!!

*Mir*

I usually don't go for Regency romances, I tend to prefer contemporary romances, but this book was incredible! Ian Sinclair, a handsome war hero who is devoted to the principles of honor, comes back from war with potentially fatal wounds. He discovers that he is now the legal guardian of a child he has never met, the daughter of the man whose actions nearly killed Ian. Ian, however, does not wish to hold the father's shortcomings against the daughter, and travels to the rural school to take her to his home for the holiday season. Ian is shocked to discover that his ward is no child, but a young woman who steals his heart. Ever the gentleman, however, Ian could not bear to subject her to a life of anything less than perfection, and he knows he is hardly perfect. He instead plans a Season for her, to introduce her to the eligble bachelors of London society. When will he learn that he's Anne's perfect husband?

This book is almost perfect itself, and the characters are quite charming and realistic. I wish that more attention had been spent on the events that occur in the last part of the book. I also wish that some of the other themes had been emphasized - Anne's father's actions against Ian, for example, as well as the age gap between Anne and Ian (which seemed to be a slight problem in the beginning, but was not addressed at all in the remainder of the book). Altogether, however, Ian is everything a romantic hero should be, if you go for those war-hardened, gentlemanly types (and I do! WOOHOO! ;)) An excellent book, and definitely a keeper.

I found Anne's Perfect Husband damned depressing. Ian is such a tortured hero - yes, they populate the romance genre like a plague of locusts, but really, he's one of the saddest, scarred heroes I've come across - and he pulls it off with dignity and nobility, without appearing self indulgent. He's a unique, fully fleshed out character who suffers - a lot. But I never really see any healing going on, let alone a happily ever after. The story is sad, the outcome is sad, and the ending truncated - I never thought before that I read romances for the happy ending, but I guess maybe, in this case, when it's denied me, I do.

The supposed happily ever after is so unconvincing because of the heroine - Anne Darlington, whose character isn't nearly as well developed as Ian Sinclair's. She's sickeningly saccharine in her good deeds, her compulsion to heal and love everyone around her. She's too naive and can't match Ian at all in terms of maturity or emotional depth. He's a scarred war hero with a Big Secret, (well, actually a couple of them,) and she's the recently orphaned girl raised at a boarding school and bestowed upon Ian as his ward - per the dictates of her father's will. Ian takes her to live with him, to give her a season and find her a husband. It's heartbreaking to watch him push away everyone he loves because of his Big Secret (which, for once, provides a credible reason for his actions,) to watch him struggle with his feelings for Anne and his wounds from the war. He's flawed and very human and deserves a better heroine.

There's also a villain and the external plot of dastardly deeds he precipitates, the outcome of which (even if the plot itself was well constructed) is also really depressing for me - particularly since it happens so late in the game and doesn't afford any satisfactory resolution to the story or the romance. Maybe I'm just not tough enough to take all the angst and gloom that Wilson dishes out - and, in the case of Ian, at least, she dishes it out so well, even if I didn't like the story she chose to tell here.

SPOILER ALERT, if you care...the heroine is raped in this book (not by the hero, thankfully, but still) I had been enjoying the book but this *highly unnecessary* plot device ripped me right out of the story and I was so disappointed. It may not bother many readers, but if you dislike rape in your romance as much as I do, I feel you should be given a heads-up. I wish I had known ahead of time...

Having read three of Gayle Wilson's books by now, I SHOULD know better than to start one in the middle of the night! "I'll just read a few pages, to break the insomnia. . ." Yeah, sure, it's like eating just one cashew! I usually like sexier books, but the plots are so interesting, the characters so entirely likable, if not lovable, and the details so flavorful, that I loved this book. For once, the heroine did not do stupid things; she was level headed and loving. Although I was frustrated that Ian did not express his love for Anne (assuming, with cause, that he was about to die), I did not feel "Oh, come ON! You expect us to believe this impediment?" Sometimes romances' impediments are so stupid that no one would allow a misunderstanding, etc. to continue, but Gayle Chase does not write that. Another reviewer said that the ending was unbelievable, but I disagree. A good novelist's job is to create a world in which unrealistic events happen all the time and if she's good, the reader accepts them. I accepted that Ian and Anne overcame their many difficulties. I only wish Chase had written more after they achieved happiness. All in all, even if you don't usually like regencies, this one is a keeper!

I loved Anne and Ian, the main characters of this story. Anne was a great heroine and Ian was everything that any reader could want in a Romantic hero. He was handsome and courageous and truly and deeply in love with Anne. He was so unselfish that he did not want to take advantage of her love for him by marrying her because he was severely wounded during the Napoleonic Wars. He is made Anne's guardian and decides to take her to London to get married to a young and suitable man. Ian loves Anne so very much and she returns his feelings, but he will not burden her with a man who is much older and wounded. If the story had concentrated on the relationship between Ian and Anne it would have been perfect. As it was written however, their relationship is not the main focus. The story again and again and again deals with a plot to kill either Ian or Anne or both. Unfortunately, that seriously detracts from what should have been the main focus of the book. All of the intrigue could have easily been disposed of in a couple of chapters and the rest of the novel should have dealt with the very real issues confronting this couple: their age difference, Ian's illnessas well as her father's role in their relationship. The villan's ultimate crime against Anne and their response to it should have taken up most of the book instead of a few pages at the end. As it is, the resolution was simply not believable. However, I am still recommending this book simply because Ian and Anne were wonderful characters, and it's been a long time since I've come across such a wonderful hero.

Ian has serious physical disability from service in Peninsula War but, for love of his family, will not share burden. Then he finds himself responsible for Anne, his enemy's orphaned daughter. Unwilling to burden his brothers, how much less willing he is to burden this vibrant young woman who has chance to marry a healthy husband. After meeting Ian and sharing mutual rescues from very dangerous situations, Anne cannot imagine life without him. She is desolate when Ian tells her he cannot return her love. The solution to their problem is not cotton candy but strong meat for a "mere" regency novel. The courage, honor, integrity of these characters remind me of Patricia Veryan, Dorothy Dunnett, Joan Wolf.

Ian Sinclair is home from the war, not quite whole, but home. He finds he's inherited a ward...the daughter of the man responsible for his wounds. He should just leave the child at her school, but Ian can't stand to think of a little girl alone during the holidays, so he goes to collect her and finds...Anne Darlington, is young, but she's a woman full-grown. And the more time he spends with her, the more he realizes that she is special. He's determined not to leave her wasting away at some girl's school. So he's going to find her a husband. A perfect husband--something his wounds will never allow him to be.

Anne knows the only man who will suit her is Ian Sinclair. But he will only come so close, and then he pulls back. Anne finally learns the truth about her father, and knows there's no way Ian will ever love her. She's going back to the school, where she belongs. But but fate has other plans...

Gayle Wilson creates a story that grabs you and won't let go until the very last page.

Let me being by saying I LOVED this book. God knows I'm a sucker for a wounded hero and Ian Sinclair is probably one of the best heroes I have ever encountered..........BUT...........

The ending seemed very rushed. When the BIG CONFLICT is finally resolved, the main characters are hardly speaking to one another, both out of fear of what the other is "Really Thinking." Then, in come the in-laws for a visit, and the author seems to be more preoccupied with their romance than she is with the flailing romance of the two main characters. That is one of the things that I hate about books in a series, the authors seem to keep tripping over previous stories and future stories to the point of the current story getting lost. This is what happened here.

And even worse there is no resolution to the "Big Secret".......SPOILERS!!!!!!!




Ian is worried that he cannot commit to Anne because of the shrapnel in his chest possibly moving and killing him, leaving her widowed, possibly with young children to raise on her own, and here is how it ended....

""No one has guarantees. Not of anything"
That was another illusion. That there would be years to savor. Sometimes there were. And sometimes there were not."


Whaat the heck did that mean? Did he die young or did they have a long and happy life together. This theme was too relevant to the story for there to be no resolution in the end. I do not like books that are written for the reader to decide on their own how it turned out. When I buy a book or see a movie, I am paying for three things....a beginning, a middle and an ending. If the author doesn't provide the ending for me, I feel cheated. No one wants to read book with the final chapter torn out.

I, like one of the previous critics, should have known better, I also started it late in the evening, at 12:30 was down to the last fifty pages & finally had to give up & go to bed. It certainly is a book that you don't want to put down, very good storyline. Only problem I had was how the villain knew so much about Ann's fathers business & what he had to leave her in his will. It wasn't explained at all how he came to have this knowledge. which actually was very important, as his whole quest of pursuit was based on this.