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39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poignant love story, timely history lesson, May 20, 2009
This review is from: Not Quite a Husband (Mass Market Paperback)
I will say that I agree with a previous review regarding the fact that this book sometimes seemed like two books - both a romance and a history lesson.
However, despite this I loved, loved, loved this book.
The heroine and hero were such unique characters, and I enjoyed their gradual "unveiling" by the author. Yes, the heroine seemed unusually unfeeling, but because the author had introduced her in the prologue with such skill,I trusted that her seeming heartlessness would be explained in good time.
And was it! I so enjoyed Bryony! Learning about her childhood broke my heart. Nothing so dramatic as being beaten or kidnapped. Just the small and all too common story of a beautiful, thoughtful little girl being ignored or emotionally abandoned by everyone she loved. She put up very high walls and no one but Leo had the inclination to scale them.
One thing I particularly loved was when it became clear that the hero was, in fact, in Serious Pursuit of the heroine - despite her unfeeling behavior. It became clear that not only did he love her now, but had always loved her. (Leo is my new crush!) And when she beat him in chess, it became clear that they were truly meant for each other.
I laughed, I cried, I savored every minute of the romance.
I admit, my eyes did start to glaze over a little with the historic, and geographic descriptions of the Hindu Kush. Until I realized that their journey was taking them to the Swat Valley - the very valley that is under such heavy fighting with the Taliban in the Pakistan border area today! From the moment I realized that, I read these pages with greater interest. History does repeat itself, and we are making some of the same discoveries that Leo and the British made over a hundred years ago.
So, a fabulous romance and a timely history lesson. That's why I read historical romances.
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40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful!, May 20, 2009
This review is from: Not Quite a Husband (Mass Market Paperback)
In my very humble opinion, Sherry Thomas is golden. Well, not just that, I think she truly has the Midas touch; everything she writes is golden. Not surprisingly, Not Quite A Husband has become my next keeper. And not just because it was written by Sherry Thomas - which pretty much guaranteed it a spot on some obscure shelf in my house anyway:P
What I love about this story in particular is that there's so much more to it than seems initially apparent. This is a very deftly woven second-chance/action/adventure & road romance about a couple whose brief & troubled marriage ended in an annulment about 4 years previous to the opening of the first chapter. The prologue deals very briefly with the dissolution of the marriage, and the rest of it unfolds throughout the course of the book in a series of concise and well-placed flashbacks. Leo Marsden (the hero) is in India to fetch his former wife Bryony Asquith (the heroine) home to England at the behest of her sister. Her estranged father has supposedly suffered a stroke, and Bryony's sister Callista, who maintains regular contact with Leo, has asked him to find her and bring her home so that her father can see her one last time before he passes away. Bryony is something of a globe-trotting physician, currently running a clinic in the Rumbur Valley, in the Northwest corner of India (actually Pakistan today). She is suspicious of her sister's request, as Callista is in the habit of spinning tall tales of imminent death and impending doom, in her long-standing and rather humorous attempts to reunite Leo and Bryony. Despite her initial misgivings that Leo is an unwitting pawn in yet another of Callista's hare-brained schemes, Bryony finally consents to go home.
Once their trek across treacherous (and in this case very hostile) mountain terrain is underway, Leo & Bryony become caught up in the events surrounding the Swat Valley Uprising of 1897 - which is part of the territory they have to cross on their journey. The stage is then set for the removal of the extraneous barriers to a second-chance romance for the H&H.
This story is much faster paced than Thomas's two previous works: Private Arrangements and Delicious, but the emotional depth readers have come to expect from Thomas is definitely still there. There are a lot of misunderstandings and communication issues between this couple, and those have led them down a very difficult and painful road. They both still love each other very much, and that becomes quickly apparent, but finding the ability to be candid with each other regarding their feelings and past mistakes is something that just doesn't seem possible without the breaking down of a few barriers. Thomas handles that deftly with external forces & the hostile setting, and it works. Really well. Where I initially had some difficulty in warming up to Bryony, once she begins to drop some of her formidable defenses and open up to Leo, she becomes a very sympathetic character, and I genuinely felt her pain.
Leo has made at least one very serious mistake of his own, and the revelation regarding the impact that mistake had on his & Bryony's marriage is an integral part of his character development, and his eventual understanding of the seemingly cold & emotionally aloof woman he was married to.
His humanity - the fact that he made this mistake and his grief when he realizes that it, and not his former wife's cold & unfeeling nature, ultimately destroyed his marriage - is part of what I loved about him. What might be perceived as somewhat disturbing character flaws in the hands of anyone less gifted than Thomas, is part of what makes Leo and Bryony more interesting and dimensional characters. By the second half of this book, I was fully immersed in their story and rooting hard for their HEA.
Thomas fans are sure to note the absence of her customary secondary romance, and may perhaps feel it lacks the depth of her previous books. As one of the few who, after reading Private Arrangements and Delicious, wondered what those stories would have been like had they not contained the secondary romances, I can say that this book is just as good, IMO, but different in a way that I'm not sure I have the vocabulary to express. The only way I know how to say it is that in regard to her secondary romances, what might seem like filler fluff or even a pesky distraction from the love story you're really interested in reading, is actually something more like another layer of something interesting sprinkled on top of an already tasty dish.... and I can't help the food analogies - Delicious did it to me:P
What it boils down to is that I would (and do) highly recommend this book to everyone, and that most especially includes everyone who found PA and Delicious somewhat lacking - perhaps even a little tedious - due to the frequent side-tracking of the secondary romances.
Ultimately, I think there's a lot here to recommend Not Quite A Husband to a wider audience than her work has otherwise appealed to. It's a relatively quick read; I think some readers could do this book in half the time I did and still get as much out of it. It's got that fairly fast-paced action/adventure romp thing going on, which is a departure from some of the angstiness of PA & Delicious, and it's also an older heroine/younger hero story, which I know a lot of romance readers enjoy as well. An aside to that is that they've known each other since childhood, and there's an added element of sweetness due to those circumstances and regarding Leo's feelings toward Bryony, but I'm not going to spoil that for anyone - you'll just have to read it yourselves:P
I gave it a an A- on my own personal ratings scale due to a couple of minor quibbles I had. The last chapter felt a little unneccesary to me. There are minor tie-ins to Delicious throughout the book, and snippets of a lovemaking marathon thrown into the last chapter that I really didn't think added much to wrapping up the story. Personally, I think she should have skipped that chapter and gone straight to the epilogue, but I also think there are a lot of people who are going to enjoy it. Without the little references to Delicious, this book would have made an excellent stand alone novel, and that's the best argument I could have made to the author for leaving them out - I'm more than a little tired of series books:P There was also a bit of a dangling plot thread regarding Bryony's inability to have children that was never fully elaborated on or explained, but other than noticing it, it really didn't detract much from my overall enjoyment of the story.
Grade: 4 1/2 stars
Sensuality Rating: R
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31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sherry Thomas does it again!, May 23, 2009
This review is from: Not Quite a Husband (Mass Market Paperback)
I cannot believe I have waited until reading her third book to write a review. All of her books are superb. Her characters and plots are fascinating and fabulously developed, but it is her use of language which is phenomenal. Reviewers find her writing amazing in light of English being her second language, learned after she came to America at the age of 13. I find her use of language amazing period.
All three of her books (PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS; DELICIOUS; and NOT QUITE A HUSBAND) involve heroines whose strong characters lead them to make unusual life choices resulting in heartache. Each is given a second chance. The books use flashbacks to develop both the original choices and the second chances.
All of her characters are --- exuberant, in love and hate, in passion and rejection, and Thomas's writing depicts this exuberance perfectly. The rhythm of her sentences, the selection of details, the fresh descriptions, the sparkling dialogue: all are wonderful.
In this book, the heroine has learned to consider herself unlovable, and has poured all her passion into her profession - one of the pioneer women surgeons. The hero is recognized by all as totally lovable - a golden young man admired by everyone. They have known each other from childhood, she not that aware of the younger (by four years) boy; he intrigued by her intensity from afar.
In moments uncharacteristic for each, Fate brings them together (SHE proposes to him) and separates them (he, in a rare moment of self-doubt and nerves, betrays her). Four years pass, then Fate is at it again, bringing them together in the middle of a rebellion to give them a second chance.
Thomas's writing is exceptional, her stories satisfying. I highly recommend all three of her books.
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