"He wished .. it was the prospective bride he could shed rather than the mistress" Jen p 42. Though Miss Abigail Gardiner 24 p 208, companion, is plainer and quieter than the Miles Ripley, Earl of Severn 30 remembers, still he delivers a mighty setdown to cit employer Mr Gill, when picking up his fiancée next day. . Night before over brandy with single pal Sir Gerald Singleton also 30 brought regrets. Female relatives press Frances 18 on Miles "leg-shackled within the month" p 2. All blonde ringlets and wide blue eyes and pouting rosebud lips" p 3. Next day a hangover should bring different outlook. Plot feels forced, logic artificial. Abigail claims she is distant relative, wishes he were old Earl, not so very blue-eyed. "She probably would have married him if he looked like a frog" p 208. "And if she did her duty properly, and was a nice, obedient, uncomplicated wife, then there would be a baby" p 209. Maybe the mindset is too far from present day. Miles does start by offering her money.How can her stepmother Rachel, who left Papa "given me bruises enough" p 212 when "your age now", children "little more than babies" p 212 think to cause scandal now? "I am no man's mistress except my own" p 213. Married at 18, "many more whippings after her marriage. But Abigail shut the thought from her mind" p 137. Rachel steps out as "Mrs Harper", so would society not reject her? "Thirty years old - a restless age" p 214. Why does Abigail immediately offer money for daughters? How can Abby just order carriage with Miles away instead of facing Rachel? Morals honest when marriage first, then passion. Simple makeover does the trick? "She looked altogether daintier and prettier with the new haircut. He felt an unexpected stab of desire for her" p 219. Yet "she was nothing even remotely like the ideal wife he had described to Gerald less than a week before" p 142.She wants colors, soldier "commission in Guards" for her brother Boris 22 p 321. Her scheme "is somewhat lacking in common sense" p 285, to pay off her father's gambling debts by a card sharp cheating Boris. The earl admits "I love your sister" p 285 "after only two weeks" p 287, gives him money directly. He seems young to understand Rachel "bitterness .. how to look after herself at everyone else's expense" p 284. Abby becomes more real, rash, when she's gossiping with governess Laura Seymour, on whose behalf she resigned from Gills, about marriage to Boris. "We have been out walking twice since you introduced us" p 315 . Suddenly she marches little bruised maid Edna into schoolroom for specifics of "cuffed me" p 317 (view spoiler)[ "put himself inside you" (hide spoiler)]
I finished another oldie today and again thanks to a friendly loan. It was Mary Balogh's The Ideal Wife.Just after the Earl of Severn has vowed that if the plainest, dullest, most ordinary female in England were to be set before him he would marry her without further ado, Abigail Gardiner calls on him at his town house. The strong-minded Abigail is a distant cousin of the earl's and has been driven, much against the grain, to seek his aid. To do so, she has decided to dress as plainly as possible and to act the part of a dull brown mouse. The inevitable inevitably happens!I must say I enjoyed it very much. First of all it's a marriage of convencience story and I just can't resist those. And then it has a really nice hero! To flee the marriage project his mother and sisters have for him Miles decides to marry the first plain and quiet woman that he finds. And that is exactly what he does! He soon finds out that his wife is nothing like he thought and in fact all his plans end up upside down. But as he falls in love with his wife he is such a caring and attentive husband that nothing, not even the troubles she gets into, makes him change his atitude.Their relationship evolves true out the book but it's mostly about Abigail revealing her true personality and Miles acceptance of it even if it's not what he was expecting.Although Abigail has some secrets in the closet ( and some tendence for sacrificing herself in the name of the family)this makes for a light and easy reading with a very sweet romance. An B+.I can't resist mentioning that I much prefer these traditional regencies to some of Balogh's later books. These characters feel so much more true to their time...
What do You think about The Ideal Wife (1991)?
Abigail needs a letter of recommendation, and applies to her distant, distant, basically-on-another-continent-distant cousin, Miles. Who happens to be a hot Earl. So, he asks her to marry him because REASONS. (Mainly that she's plain and demure and WHY THE HELL NOT RIGHT.) Except feelings get in the way!!! OH NO. 1. MOC BOOKS WHY DO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. This wasn't even that good because basically 10 minutes after saying "I do", Abigail is like "SO I AM ACTUALLY A SASSY, PRETTY CHATTERBOX!!! SRY!!!", which. I was looking forward to the gradual discovery of more; that careful realization that the person they thought they had married was merely a mask for something better, something deeper, something true and I didn't get that at all! He's 150% A-OK with her being the antithesis of what he wanted in a wife because, idk, sex or something? 1.5 Of courSE SHE'S PRETTY HOW COULD SHE BE OTHERWISE OLDKJKGJFSDLKJ2. I was really disappointed by the heroine's immaturity. She just keeps...hoarding these various secrets and while yes, they were kind of Serious, they're also... things that should be shared with a married partner??? I JUST DON'T KNOW? TRUST? HOW DOES THAT? FUNCTION?3. Meh.
—kris
An enjoyable read, but not a stand out, at least for a Mary Balogh book. In many ways, I feel like I've read this book before but Balogh writes so well and creates such enjoyable characters that I still enjoyed it.Our hero, Miles, is living in desperate fear of the marriage that his mother and sister are thrusting open him. The reasons for his fear don't seem enough to hang a plot on until we see a little more of the original intended's personality, but we don't see that until after Miles is married to our heroine, Abigail, so there is a bit of a disconnect. I mean I understand not not wanting to get forced into marriage, but if you're one of the richest and powerful dukes in the realm, are you really that intimidated by the females in your family that you decide to marry the first "mousy" woman who shows up on your doorstep to foil the women's plans. Boy, says a lot for your character Miles. My sympathies for Abigail are much greater. A spirited young woman who's been a source of strength for her family and who's knocked unfairly out of her job, I can't blame her for accepting the rather rapid proposal for Miles. The tale of how they fall in love is charming (and I won't reveal more details, you must read it for yourself). If you've read other Balogh books before, however, you'll probably feel like you're retreading familiar territory. She has secrets that she must keep from her husband for fear that he will give up the marriage. Yet when revealed he only loves her more. We've seen it before, but Balogh's such a charming writer that it's okay. Not going to set the world on fire, but still a lovely read
—Elizabeth
I like Mary Balogh and I guess the point was to make Abigail annoying but Abigail was annoying. So annoying that I finished the book with a slight headache. That doesn't deter me from wanting to read #6, Gerard's story.Abigail goes to Lord Severn to ask him for a letter of recommendation. He asks her for her hand because his mom and sister's are on their way to try to get him to marry Megan who is the star of the season but he thinks beautiful women are vain and vows to marry the next woman he m
—Patria
