What do you think?
Rate this book
An Absent Wife
The desertion of Lord Lysander Burton's wife had come as a complete surprise, even though he readily admitted that he'd never excelled as a husband. The death of the wife he'd ignored for close to a decade was a downright nuisance, making him further fodder for the gossips, and now a target for every designing matron in London.
In line with her consistent talent for being disagreeable, Lady Adele Warburton had run off with a lowly lieutenant, leaving safety and respectability behind, then died in a cholera epidemic in a far flung country.
In a last show of husbandly duty, Lysander decides to recover her effects, and grudgingly those of her lover, retracing the steps of the wife he'd barely known across half the world. But arriving in the mayhem of India, he finds that all is not as it should be.
In line with her consistent talent for being disagreeable, Lady Adele Warburton had run off with a lowly lieutenant, leaving safety and respectability behind, then died in a cholera epidemic in a far flung country.
In a last show of husbandly duty, Lysander decides to recover her effects, and grudgingly those of her lover, retracing the steps of the wife he'd barely known across half the world. But arriving in the mayhem of India, he finds that all is not as it should be.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 26, 2013
197 people are currently reading
446 people want to read
About the author
Camille Oster
59 books102 followersI've only been writing original stories for a few years, but I don't think I could live without writing now. I love historicals and the challenging structures of different times.
I live and work in New Zealand. Love travelling and wished I had more opportunity to do it.
I've got a bit of a backlog of stories and am currently writing a new contemporary series.
I live and work in New Zealand. Love travelling and wished I had more opportunity to do it.
I've got a bit of a backlog of stories and am currently writing a new contemporary series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
January 17, 2026
Lord Lysander was a young aristocrat who's family fell in bad financial straits. It was the 1880's.
He'd been forced by his father to marry Adele, the daughter of a wealthy trader in order to save their Estate and family from poverty and ruination.
Lysander wanted to marry another but instead he begrudgingly married Adele who he found to be boring, dull and uninteresting.
She was pretty enough and had impeccable manners but he resented, even hated her for been forced to marry her when he did not want to.
He kept her out of the way in the country Estate for six years while he was cavorting in London and had mistresses.
He would only see her at family functions where he would proceed to ignore and avoid her.
She'd run away with a military man to India (good for her). Lysander was more annoyed than sad by her act of desertion.
She'd been a paragon of respectability but she'd given up all to be with her lieutenant.
He knew he hadn't been a good husband. He thought her gain in status and rise in society had been a good bargain for her but her desertion showed that it was not.
One day he received a telegraph informing him of his wife's as well as of her lover's demise due to cholera.
Her remains had been incinerated and he had to travel all the way to India to collect her possessions and ashes, he had to do it out of obligation, you see.
He left his mistress behind and sailed off.
The trip lasted six months. In India he received both his wife's as well as her lover's personal belongings.
He then asked to see where their remains were and that's how he found out, after some digging, that only one of the two was dead, the lover.
His wife was alive and gone...
The main characters had yet a long way to go.
This is a well written book and such a compelling story.
He'd been forced by his father to marry Adele, the daughter of a wealthy trader in order to save their Estate and family from poverty and ruination.
Lysander wanted to marry another but instead he begrudgingly married Adele who he found to be boring, dull and uninteresting.
She was pretty enough and had impeccable manners but he resented, even hated her for been forced to marry her when he did not want to.
He kept her out of the way in the country Estate for six years while he was cavorting in London and had mistresses.
He would only see her at family functions where he would proceed to ignore and avoid her.
She'd run away with a military man to India (good for her). Lysander was more annoyed than sad by her act of desertion.
She'd been a paragon of respectability but she'd given up all to be with her lieutenant.
He knew he hadn't been a good husband. He thought her gain in status and rise in society had been a good bargain for her but her desertion showed that it was not.
One day he received a telegraph informing him of his wife's as well as of her lover's demise due to cholera.
Her remains had been incinerated and he had to travel all the way to India to collect her possessions and ashes, he had to do it out of obligation, you see.
He left his mistress behind and sailed off.
The trip lasted six months. In India he received both his wife's as well as her lover's personal belongings.
He then asked to see where their remains were and that's how he found out, after some digging, that only one of the two was dead, the lover.
His wife was alive and gone...
The main characters had yet a long way to go.
This is a well written book and such a compelling story.
September 19, 2020
What a beautifully written book.
And I totally loved the story! The author has a very simple understated style but she makes you experience all the hidden churning emotions so well.
*Spoiler caution*
But in all a simple yet fulfilling story!
And I totally loved the story! The author has a very simple understated style but she makes you experience all the hidden churning emotions so well.
*Spoiler caution*
But in all a simple yet fulfilling story!
September 4, 2018
I like this one too ❤️
And, another slow burn romance.
The heroine’s tongue not as sharp as the heroine’s from The Discarded Wife but she certainly is not a spineless girl! 😂
The story started with the hero got a letter/information that his estranged wife and her lover, who left to India two years ago has died.
With a need for a closure, he was going there to retrieve her body. But, when he arrived there, he found out that she actually still alive and has gone somewhere! It took him almost a year to find out where she had been. The cheating wife has gone to Australia because she didn’t want to return to England and see him again! Hah! 😂
Oh, don’t feel sorry for the hero, the bastard just deserves to get everything what was happening to him, he was a cruel man! 😡
Okay, that’s all, you should enjoy more without knowing much, what was going on:)
Read on! 😘
❤️❤️❤️
And, another slow burn romance.
The heroine’s tongue not as sharp as the heroine’s from The Discarded Wife but she certainly is not a spineless girl! 😂
The story started with the hero got a letter/information that his estranged wife and her lover, who left to India two years ago has died.
With a need for a closure, he was going there to retrieve her body. But, when he arrived there, he found out that she actually still alive and has gone somewhere! It took him almost a year to find out where she had been. The cheating wife has gone to Australia because she didn’t want to return to England and see him again! Hah! 😂
Oh, don’t feel sorry for the hero, the bastard just deserves to get everything what was happening to him, he was a cruel man! 😡
Okay, that’s all, you should enjoy more without knowing much, what was going on:)
Read on! 😘
❤️❤️❤️
March 9, 2021
Rage inducing romance. Romance?
Everyone is gross with the exception of the hero’s Aunt, the Aunt that he thinks is prematurely senile because she likes his wife. That tells you something about the hero.
The hero is an unforgiving, arrogant, supercilious, weak snob. Oops, I forgot hypocritical. He wallows in his status as a Lord, recalls cutting past friends who fell into genteel poverty then whines when he in turn is cut because he married for money. He then despises the wife that brought him more money than the King. Sadly, given that I read this smack dab during the Meghan Markle/Royal Family kerfuffle, he is probably a very realistic Victorian upper crust hero.
The heroine takes it until she just can’t anymore and leaves him for a lowly soldier. Poor taste as she should have just had a discrete affair like he’s doing. H thinks she’s dead, but she’s actually alive. Inconveniently so as his best friend and mistress point out. Like I said, NO NICE PEOPLE. The best friend and mistress are horrible and are just what the hero deserves.
Heroine has as much personality as an uncooked English crumpet so no hope there.
Somehow the blandness of the two creates a magnetic whirl of attraction in the face of BFF and Mistress Oh noes.
His conviction and love shines through his sweet talking, passionate words.
“The last few months, as we have spent a considerable amount of time together, it has shown us that this marriage can be tolerable to us both, and as you are now carrying our child, it seems natural that we carry on as we are.”
They leave for parts outside of England for their HEA.
No way, no how will these two survive if they ever return.
Everyone is gross with the exception of the hero’s Aunt, the Aunt that he thinks is prematurely senile because she likes his wife. That tells you something about the hero.
The hero is an unforgiving, arrogant, supercilious, weak snob. Oops, I forgot hypocritical. He wallows in his status as a Lord, recalls cutting past friends who fell into genteel poverty then whines when he in turn is cut because he married for money. He then despises the wife that brought him more money than the King. Sadly, given that I read this smack dab during the Meghan Markle/Royal Family kerfuffle, he is probably a very realistic Victorian upper crust hero.
The heroine takes it until she just can’t anymore and leaves him for a lowly soldier. Poor taste as she should have just had a discrete affair like he’s doing. H thinks she’s dead, but she’s actually alive. Inconveniently so as his best friend and mistress point out. Like I said, NO NICE PEOPLE. The best friend and mistress are horrible and are just what the hero deserves.
Heroine has as much personality as an uncooked English crumpet so no hope there.
Somehow the blandness of the two creates a magnetic whirl of attraction in the face of BFF and Mistress Oh noes.
His conviction and love shines through his sweet talking, passionate words.
“The last few months, as we have spent a considerable amount of time together, it has shown us that this marriage can be tolerable to us both, and as you are now carrying our child, it seems natural that we carry on as we are.”
They leave for parts outside of England for their HEA.
No way, no how will these two survive if they ever return.
February 26, 2014
This one needed a bit more love, so I decided to embellish my review a tad.
Ballsy story where the heroine ran off with another man...and actually had sex with him! The hero was the rich and powerful but neglectful husband who deservingly got publically humiliated when the unjustly scorned wifey took off with some lowly soldier, preferring to live in sin in another country than to remain in her lonely gilded cage.
Mrs. Ho’ and her toy soldier supposedly die in a cholera outbreak (He really does croak. Poor dude got the shaft!) Putting the past behind him, our ahole hero went to get their effects but started playing the detective when her hairbrush was missing from her things (damn his intuition!) and the local funeral pyre boy related seeing a English women alive at the lieutenant’s service. As it is in the way of fiction, he ended up finding the needle in the haystack halfway across the world and dragged said needle back for retribution.
However, on the way he got to know the special snowflake he tossed aside for the prize that she was and had to eat it at the thoughts of ”his” woman making nasty with some other guy. Can I just say ahhhh? It was highly fulfilling to have the manwhore get a good dose of his own medicine. You just don’t see that near enough. It made up for the little quirks that could be on the irritating side.
Downside was that this read like a self-published title that needed an editor but was otherwise quite good. I liked it, anyway. Different spin on the modern historical romance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2018
the first 10% you will hate Lysander for his callous disregard of his wife. He has just recieved news of her death at the start of the book and all he can think is how it will put a crimp in his lifestyle.
Lysander the callous fool and Adele who is no longer his doormat.
Lysander had ignored Adele for almost the entirety of their 6 year marriage, because he was pissed that he had been forced to marry her for money. Adele had hopes of them learning to care for each other but they died a long painful death in the wake of his willful ignorance. So after 5 years she meets an army man who cares for her and they run off to India together. It opens her eyes to life and all the things she has been missing. Because back then. a wife was severely limited on what she could do for entertainment without a proper male chaperone (husband or relative).
Lysander feels it his duty to go retrieve his wife's affects after he was told that she died of Cholera. But once he gets to India he begins to suspect that she isn't actually dead.
When he catches up with her in Australia, he is so livid that the first thing he does is rape her on the desk in the schoolroom where she teaches.
He does manage to apologize half-heartedly. By now I am a quarter into the story and feeling pretty sorry for Adele but also wishing she would stand up to him more.
It takes time over their travels back to England for them to finally (after 6+ wasted years) to get to know each other a bit better. Lysander starts to notice things about her almost against his will. He begins to see her from the perspective of others and realizes he never actually knew her. And yes he does begin to admit that most of the reason she ran off with another, was his fault.
At the same time, Adele starts to stand up for herself.
SOooo for the first 3rd of the book the well written characters and settings kept the book interesting and then the growing tension and intimacy between the MCs pulled me in. Lysander is reticent to tell Adele what will become of their marriage, so she asks him for a baby. That if she has a child she will be content whatever the future brings.
Does he redeem his sorry ass? I think so, although I wish I'd seen it tested under difficult circumstances. He will never be a favourite H of mine. Still, the epilogue was wonderful.
Adele does a fine job standing up for herself in the last 3rd of the book.
My fave quote from the end taht shows how much he has changed/grown/fallen in love;
“Are we ready to start making our way back to England?”
“I don’t know,” Lysander said, looking away. “I want us to be thoroughly bonded before we go back.”
Adele smiled and stroked the side of his head with her palm. “I don’t think that is an issue.”
Lysander, “I just want your memories of us being together to be stronger than the memories from before."
safety is questionable but not bad
AN angsty read and I did feel a bit weepy here and there. It took Lysander forever to stand up for his wife against Evie and his friend's cattiness towards her.
Lysander the callous fool and Adele who is no longer his doormat.
Lysander had ignored Adele for almost the entirety of their 6 year marriage, because he was pissed that he had been forced to marry her for money. Adele had hopes of them learning to care for each other but they died a long painful death in the wake of his willful ignorance. So after 5 years she meets an army man who cares for her and they run off to India together. It opens her eyes to life and all the things she has been missing. Because back then. a wife was severely limited on what she could do for entertainment without a proper male chaperone (husband or relative).
Lysander feels it his duty to go retrieve his wife's affects after he was told that she died of Cholera. But once he gets to India he begins to suspect that she isn't actually dead.
When he catches up with her in Australia, he is so livid that the first thing he does is rape her on the desk in the schoolroom where she teaches.
He does manage to apologize half-heartedly. By now I am a quarter into the story and feeling pretty sorry for Adele but also wishing she would stand up to him more.
It takes time over their travels back to England for them to finally (after 6+ wasted years) to get to know each other a bit better. Lysander starts to notice things about her almost against his will. He begins to see her from the perspective of others and realizes he never actually knew her. And yes he does begin to admit that most of the reason she ran off with another, was his fault.
At the same time, Adele starts to stand up for herself.
SOooo for the first 3rd of the book the well written characters and settings kept the book interesting and then the growing tension and intimacy between the MCs pulled me in. Lysander is reticent to tell Adele what will become of their marriage, so she asks him for a baby. That if she has a child she will be content whatever the future brings.
Does he redeem his sorry ass? I think so, although I wish I'd seen it tested under difficult circumstances. He will never be a favourite H of mine. Still, the epilogue was wonderful.
Adele does a fine job standing up for herself in the last 3rd of the book.
My fave quote from the end taht shows how much he has changed/grown/fallen in love;
“Are we ready to start making our way back to England?”
“I don’t know,” Lysander said, looking away. “I want us to be thoroughly bonded before we go back.”
Adele smiled and stroked the side of his head with her palm. “I don’t think that is an issue.”
Lysander, “I just want your memories of us being together to be stronger than the memories from before."
safety is questionable but not bad
AN angsty read and I did feel a bit weepy here and there. It took Lysander forever to stand up for his wife against Evie and his friend's cattiness towards her.
May 15, 2023
I think I could like this author because even when she treats her heroine badly, like in this one, she never makes them doormats that pine after an undeserving hero and she makes the hero grovel and pine for them in the end.
This one was quite refreshing because it takes the usual trope of the hero, an impoverished gentleman in love with an impoverished lady, who is forced to marry a rich woman he doesn’t want, and that would be the heroine, sending her to his country estate and forgetting about her while cavorting with his mistresses back in town.
Usually in historical romances the heroine would waste away in sadness and celibacy until the hero, for some generic reason, would come back and find out what a treasure she is.
Not this time.
The heroine actually waits for him for some years in the countryside but eventually she grows out of love for him and falls in love with another man.
Yes, I swear!
And there’s more.
She runs away with him and they live together, in India.
Sadly for only one year since he dies of cholera.
But she’s determined not to go back to the hero and pretends she’s dead too.
The hero finds out she’s alive of course and takes back home. To divorce her, she hopes.
But he’s not willing to divorce her and during their trip back he will start having feelings for her.
The man is really hateful, he treated the heroine awfully and blamed her for things she wasn’t guilty of.
Now he realizes he was unfair and she asks him, before divorcing her, to give her a child. So sex it is.
He had sex with her only on their wedding night and he was drunk.
And now he’s falling in love with her, knowing she loved another man and enjoyed sex very much with another man, and I loved this fact a lot.
Because he knows it’s all his fault.
There’s a bit of ow drama when his ex almost fiancée turns up but he’s already quite smitten with the heroine.
What I liked.
He’s more in love with the heroine than she’s with him.
She would have never left her lover if he hadn’t died, she was planning to have children with him.
She plans to remarry after divorcing the hero, and she tells him.
It was the hero who dumped his mistress to be with the heroine.
The heroine doesn’t want him until the very end, even when he is willing to try again. She makes him wait.
What I didn’t like.
She loved him for years before falling out of love with him, even if he treated her like shit. Not very likely, since they didn’t know each other at all before marriage.
He never really apologized and wasn’t remorseful enough for the way he treated her.
He was really not a great catch. He doesn’t seem to me he’s charming, he’s always at his club, drinking, getting drunk, he’s not charming and he’s a supercilious bore. Meh. Maybe I’ve missed something in the process but the man isn’t quite a catch.
Both with other partners, the heroine loved her husband and he initiated her to the pleasure of intimacy. Thank god for that.
The hero is not a manwhore, he had a long term mistress and he seems quite boring.
I didn’t feel so much love between them, he’s such an empty and shallow guy, I couldn’t feel so much passion, I think it was only lust and convenience that moved him and his excuses for his behavior were flimsy and pathetic. But she wasn’t a doormat so I’m quite satisfied.
This one was quite refreshing because it takes the usual trope of the hero, an impoverished gentleman in love with an impoverished lady, who is forced to marry a rich woman he doesn’t want, and that would be the heroine, sending her to his country estate and forgetting about her while cavorting with his mistresses back in town.
Usually in historical romances the heroine would waste away in sadness and celibacy until the hero, for some generic reason, would come back and find out what a treasure she is.
Not this time.
The heroine actually waits for him for some years in the countryside but eventually she grows out of love for him and falls in love with another man.
Yes, I swear!
And there’s more.
She runs away with him and they live together, in India.
Sadly for only one year since he dies of cholera.
But she’s determined not to go back to the hero and pretends she’s dead too.
The hero finds out she’s alive of course and takes back home. To divorce her, she hopes.
But he’s not willing to divorce her and during their trip back he will start having feelings for her.
The man is really hateful, he treated the heroine awfully and blamed her for things she wasn’t guilty of.
Now he realizes he was unfair and she asks him, before divorcing her, to give her a child. So sex it is.
He had sex with her only on their wedding night and he was drunk.
And now he’s falling in love with her, knowing she loved another man and enjoyed sex very much with another man, and I loved this fact a lot.
Because he knows it’s all his fault.
There’s a bit of ow drama when his ex almost fiancée turns up but he’s already quite smitten with the heroine.
What I liked.
He’s more in love with the heroine than she’s with him.
She would have never left her lover if he hadn’t died, she was planning to have children with him.
She plans to remarry after divorcing the hero, and she tells him.
It was the hero who dumped his mistress to be with the heroine.
The heroine doesn’t want him until the very end, even when he is willing to try again. She makes him wait.
What I didn’t like.
She loved him for years before falling out of love with him, even if he treated her like shit. Not very likely, since they didn’t know each other at all before marriage.
He never really apologized and wasn’t remorseful enough for the way he treated her.
He was really not a great catch. He doesn’t seem to me he’s charming, he’s always at his club, drinking, getting drunk, he’s not charming and he’s a supercilious bore. Meh. Maybe I’ve missed something in the process but the man isn’t quite a catch.
Both with other partners, the heroine loved her husband and he initiated her to the pleasure of intimacy. Thank god for that.
The hero is not a manwhore, he had a long term mistress and he seems quite boring.
I didn’t feel so much love between them, he’s such an empty and shallow guy, I couldn’t feel so much passion, I think it was only lust and convenience that moved him and his excuses for his behavior were flimsy and pathetic. But she wasn’t a doormat so I’m quite satisfied.
June 30, 2017
A very powerful story of regrets and second chances reminding me of another great read "Ravishing the Heiress" by Sherry Thomas. The story starts as Lord Lysander receives a letter that his estranged wife and her lover died from cholera in India. He is relived but also wanted a closure. Lysander decided to travel to India to retrieve his wife belongings even though her body was cremated. When he gets there, a certain sequence of events lead him to suspicion that his wife is not dead. Throughout the story we get flashbacks to his unhappy marriage. Lysander, reluctantly entered the marriage as it was either MOC or disinheritance. It is not clear to me (that is why 4 starts) why the heroine, Adele, agreed to marry obviously unpleasant hero who had no regard for her and only distaste. Yes, she was in love with his looks and title was not to be amiss but she didn't appear to be shallow .
April 5, 2025
3 Stars
Opinion Breakdown
The Good: The premise and potential for angst.
The Not-So-Good: The length.
The Bad: The lack of emotional connection I felt.
Overall: This has been on my tbr list for a while and I jumped in hoping for some yummy unrequited love angst. Sadly, not so much. It was just okay for me. I never got emotional and I didn't realize how short it was until I was done. I usually try to avoid books shorter than 300 pages, because I find that the shorter books typically are lacking in some way. I do feel like this would've benefited from having some more on-page interactions with the h and H together. Oh well!
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Adele and Lysander's story. Lysander gets a notice saying that his wife and her lover had died in India where they had run away. He is shocked to find that she is actually still alive and he brings her back unwillingly to England. She agrees to a divorce but on the condition that she gets a child first. There are some big changes in their relationship, some accountability taken, and some sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Adele and Lysander in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: This was too short for me. I wanted more on page experiencing them as a healthy and happy couple.
Instalove: No, the h has feelings already when his story begins since they've been married for many years.
H (Hero) rating: 3 stars. Lysander. I liked that he saw his role in their poor marriage, but I also felt like he was very immature and selfish.
h (heroine) rating: 3 stars. Adele. I liked her but I also wanted her to communicate better.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed - sadly.
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: Yes
Separation: Yes, but not legally
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ends with a cute epilogue and what it would call a HEA ending
Safety: This one is probably Not Safe for most safety gang readers
Opinion Breakdown
The Good: The premise and potential for angst.
The Not-So-Good: The length.
The Bad: The lack of emotional connection I felt.
Overall: This has been on my tbr list for a while and I jumped in hoping for some yummy unrequited love angst. Sadly, not so much. It was just okay for me. I never got emotional and I didn't realize how short it was until I was done. I usually try to avoid books shorter than 300 pages, because I find that the shorter books typically are lacking in some way. I do feel like this would've benefited from having some more on-page interactions with the h and H together. Oh well!
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Adele and Lysander's story. Lysander gets a notice saying that his wife and her lover had died in India where they had run away. He is shocked to find that she is actually still alive and he brings her back unwillingly to England. She agrees to a divorce but on the condition that she gets a child first. There are some big changes in their relationship, some accountability taken, and some sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Adele and Lysander in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: This was too short for me. I wanted more on page experiencing them as a healthy and happy couple.
Instalove: No, the h has feelings already when his story begins since they've been married for many years.
H (Hero) rating: 3 stars. Lysander. I liked that he saw his role in their poor marriage, but I also felt like he was very immature and selfish.
h (heroine) rating: 3 stars. Adele. I liked her but I also wanted her to communicate better.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed - sadly.
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: Yes
Separation: Yes, but not legally
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ends with a cute epilogue and what it would call a HEA ending
Safety: This one is probably Not Safe for most safety gang readers
May 16, 2023
This book is awful, both main characters cheat on each other. I’m shocked at the number of reviewers who applaud and justify the wife’s cheating when usually they would have eviscerated a man for cheating.
Lysander was the injured party, he was forced to give up the woman he loved and forced into marriage with Adele for economic necessity. A better outcome would have him just accept his fate, they learn to communicate and try to build a relationship.
Realistically Lysander could have easily divorced his cheating wife. The marriage was not consummated when Adele ran off with another man, so they could have divorced and go their separate ways. It’s inconceivable he would take Adele back and risk the scorn and ridicule of society. Neither would have been welcomed back into society and any children from the union would also be subject to disdain .
Cheating to teach a spouse a lesson is petty and I don’t believe in a HEA fir these two. This was revenge. It’s certainly not romance.
Lysander was the injured party, he was forced to give up the woman he loved and forced into marriage with Adele for economic necessity. A better outcome would have him just accept his fate, they learn to communicate and try to build a relationship.
Realistically Lysander could have easily divorced his cheating wife. The marriage was not consummated when Adele ran off with another man, so they could have divorced and go their separate ways. It’s inconceivable he would take Adele back and risk the scorn and ridicule of society. Neither would have been welcomed back into society and any children from the union would also be subject to disdain .
Cheating to teach a spouse a lesson is petty and I don’t believe in a HEA fir these two. This was revenge. It’s certainly not romance.
December 19, 2017
Omg. Wish I could take back reading this book. At first it was interesting with the two separated and I thought it would be a story about them finding their way back to eachother. Nope. He catches up
March 18, 2022
I liked it, but not nearly as much as The Discarded Wife.
This one was much steamier than the Discarded Wife and I wish I could take some of that steam and apply it to An Absent Wife. Matter of fact, there are a few things I wish I could swap between the two books, but even as they are, they're both really good.
This one was much steamier than the Discarded Wife and I wish I could take some of that steam and apply it to An Absent Wife. Matter of fact, there are a few things I wish I could swap between the two books, but even as they are, they're both really good.
February 28, 2016
3.5 stars
This was an interesting read. A Very unique book with a heroine that cheated after years of neglect from her husband. This is a trope I would not have read even five years ago but, I'm glad that I've broadened my horizons and opened my mind to reading this book. Not a bad read at all.
This was an interesting read. A Very unique book with a heroine that cheated after years of neglect from her husband. This is a trope I would not have read even five years ago but, I'm glad that I've broadened my horizons and opened my mind to reading this book. Not a bad read at all.
February 28, 2018
The hero, is forced to marry a woman who he thinks is beneath him. She comes from money but she has no title so that makes her unfit in his eyes. His father tells him he has no choice, he needs to marry in order to save their family and way of life, since they are pretty much broke. Heroine's father wants a title to go with his money, so he tells heroine she has to marry hero, she accepts with no argument because she always thought they could make it work if they both tried.
Thing is though, the hero was in love with another woman when he is forced to marry the heroine, so he resents the heroine from the moment he finds out he is to marry her. He leaves her on their wedding night (i'm assuming since it never actually says that they didn't consummate their marriage).
For 6 years the hero pretty much ignores her. She's stashed away in the country house while he's out whoring around in the city, acting as if he has no wife. Until he receives a letter notifying him that his wife has died in India due to a cholera epidemic, (her lover who she ran off with, has also died). The hero is upset because her dying has ruined his plans to avoid the other matron's who will now be holding out hope he will marry again. (He's just a gem, huh?) So, he comes to the decision to go to India and to gather her possessions and of those of her lover as well. He feels it's the least he can do since she was technically his wife. (he's so romantic ::eye roll::)
Long story short, his wife faked her death to put them both out of their misery. She doesn't want to go back to being an ignored wife and he never wanted her to begin with, so hey! let me fake my death. She would have gotten away with it too if he hadn't have guessed to where she would have run off, to after correctly assuming he was being lied to about his wife's death.
Hero rapes heroine. He sees her after 6 years of ignoring her as his wife, and all he can see when he looks at her is her sleeping with another man, her cuckolding him for someone else and making him the laughing stock among his peers/friends. So without further ado, he chokes her and rapes her.
I didn't understand why the hero finally realized he loved her, (towards the end of the book no less). There wasn't much dialogue between them, and it just didn't feel so natural to me. It was a good premise but not well executed. I felt like some parts were missing. The author is a good writer so that's why I feel it could have been better. I'd like to read more from this author and see how her other books turn out.
Thing is though, the hero was in love with another woman when he is forced to marry the heroine, so he resents the heroine from the moment he finds out he is to marry her. He leaves her on their wedding night (i'm assuming since it never actually says that they didn't consummate their marriage).
For 6 years the hero pretty much ignores her. She's stashed away in the country house while he's out whoring around in the city, acting as if he has no wife. Until he receives a letter notifying him that his wife has died in India due to a cholera epidemic, (her lover who she ran off with, has also died). The hero is upset because her dying has ruined his plans to avoid the other matron's who will now be holding out hope he will marry again. (He's just a gem, huh?) So, he comes to the decision to go to India and to gather her possessions and of those of her lover as well. He feels it's the least he can do since she was technically his wife. (he's so romantic ::eye roll::)
Long story short, his wife faked her death to put them both out of their misery. She doesn't want to go back to being an ignored wife and he never wanted her to begin with, so hey! let me fake my death. She would have gotten away with it too if he hadn't have guessed to where she would have run off, to after correctly assuming he was being lied to about his wife's death.
Hero rapes heroine. He sees her after 6 years of ignoring her as his wife, and all he can see when he looks at her is her sleeping with another man, her cuckolding him for someone else and making him the laughing stock among his peers/friends. So without further ado, he chokes her and rapes her.
I didn't understand why the hero finally realized he loved her, (towards the end of the book no less). There wasn't much dialogue between them, and it just didn't feel so natural to me. It was a good premise but not well executed. I felt like some parts were missing. The author is a good writer so that's why I feel it could have been better. I'd like to read more from this author and see how her other books turn out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2024
THIS book was surprisingly good. I actually liked it. There was a bit of angst and all sorts of misunderstanding but eventually it ended well..❤❤
Reread! Still one of the best MOC and second chance romance
Reread! Still one of the best MOC and second chance romance
August 26, 2020
Reread. Good, riveting but 3 stars this time bc horrid, horrid hero. He placed his wife in the country, they never met, he had mistresses, he didn’t care or had any interest in her, even resented her. And the rape! So why, how was she in love with him for years of this treatment before the drama and this book started? Dumb.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2018
It was refreshing to read a book where a cheater get a taste of his own medicine.
June 17, 2025
The H and h are forced I to a MOC. The fmc falls pretty quickly but the H is so mad a his father that he basically abandons his wife in BFE for 6 years—Sleeping with his mistress and ow. She finally meets a sweet military man and runs off with him to India. The book begins with the H getting a note that his wife has died in India. He goes to retrieve her remains and finds she’s alive. She a changed her name and is living her. Australia. He searches her out and brings her back to England thinking to Divorce her. On the way he discovers what Diamond he had…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2019
4.25/5. This book is reminiscent of The Marriage Bed, A Duchess in Name and Unforgivable in terms of the angst-driven plot based on an estranged married couple. In this one, the titled impoverished groom was also forced to marry a heiress in order to save his family from ruin. Lysander, Lord Warburton, left his young bride at his country estate pretty much soon after their vows and did not really spare her much thought for the next 6 years as he cavorted around London with friends and various mistresses. It isn't until the scandalous news of her running off with a lieutenant to some far away place that he is most unpleasantly reminded of her existence in the most insulting way. To make matters worse, within months of her shameful disappearance she and her lover have the temerity to succumb to cholera in India, necessitating him to do the proper husbandly duty of travelling there to bring back her remains and effects. (Yes, he did have excessively uptight notions of expected gentlemanly behaviour, which did not include fidelity to his wife) He is thus most put out to realise upon his arrival there, that although her lover is confirmed dead and cremated, his wife apparently is very much alive and boarded a ship bound for Australia.
Adele has spent too many years withering away in the country while infatuated with her indifferent husband. Heartbroken when she finally realised that he was never going to come for her, her lonely spirit responded when another man finally gave her the care and affection she had been craving for. Now that she is on her own again, she is determined to never be encaged again in her gilded prison at her husband's estate. She moved to Australia to get as far away from there as possible, never expecting her reluctant husband to track her down and coerce her back to England. During their journey back, they are forced to interact for the first time in their marriage and when the initial blazing anger cools down, they slowly open their eyes and truly start seeing one another. As the attraction grows between them, so does the confusion and uncertainty regarding the fate of their marriage in light of such an open scandal and all the hurt and embarrassment they have wrought upon one another. Complicate that with Adele's quiet last and only request of Lysander - a baby.
Oh, the emotions, the tears! Yes, it's not perfect. There are some editing errors and a few anachronistic word choices. The dialogue can be a bit over-dramatic. Lysander was a pompous arse for much of the book, and then there was their brutal first confrontation in Adelaide (Aus), when he nearly forced himself on her in rage. He did apologise immediately and was genuinely contrite. Their first intimate time together was not his finest moment either. *wince*
It had all happened so quickly; he felt that he hadn’t even started accomplishing the things he wanted to—like a secret garden had been opened to him and he’d just rushed through it.
On the other hand, kudos to Lysander because despite his jealousy, he did not dwell on her affair but understood that his neglect and failures as a husband drove her to such actions. The author depicted his turbulent mind well.
He couldn’t quite figure her out—too innocent for a villain, too guilty for an innocent.
Overall, this was a quick but emotionally intense book. There might be some triggers for people, and I can understand that it is not for everyone's taste. My first by this author and I'll be checking her out again for sure.
Lysander envied women’s ability to claim headaches anytime they wanted, and were excused. Men couldn’t claim a headache even if they were dying of typhoid. Because of this, he had to go back and sit through the torture of Mrs. Fulfer’s recital until the bitter end.
April 24, 2014
Touching...
This is everything I could ever want in a book and so much more, it literally blew me away with it's mysterious, heart-wrenching, evocative and stunning story. I haven't read a book in a long time that surprised me as much as this did; usually you get an inkling of what to expect but the path this took was totally unexpected. Experiencing the emotions of the characters throughout the different events that took place felt completely real, I was drawn in from the very first page to the very end.
This is a story of forgiving, healing, love and there'll be like nothing you can compare it to. It started with feelings of regret and betrayal that surprisingly turned into a love story that is poignant and romantic. As in most romances, there is certainly no lack of misunderstandings between these two, Lord warburton and Lady Adele, after years of separation, they unite together to overcome an event that has the potential to be life-altering. There is a small part that is suspense, but it is minute compared to the romance and the falling in love, I recommend this book highly, it is one of the most touching and beautiful tale that somehow leaves you feeling hopeful, that somewhere out there is a great man with a big heart and love to give, waiting just for you.... you just have to find your way to each other.
This is everything I could ever want in a book and so much more, it literally blew me away with it's mysterious, heart-wrenching, evocative and stunning story. I haven't read a book in a long time that surprised me as much as this did; usually you get an inkling of what to expect but the path this took was totally unexpected. Experiencing the emotions of the characters throughout the different events that took place felt completely real, I was drawn in from the very first page to the very end.
This is a story of forgiving, healing, love and there'll be like nothing you can compare it to. It started with feelings of regret and betrayal that surprisingly turned into a love story that is poignant and romantic. As in most romances, there is certainly no lack of misunderstandings between these two, Lord warburton and Lady Adele, after years of separation, they unite together to overcome an event that has the potential to be life-altering. There is a small part that is suspense, but it is minute compared to the romance and the falling in love, I recommend this book highly, it is one of the most touching and beautiful tale that somehow leaves you feeling hopeful, that somewhere out there is a great man with a big heart and love to give, waiting just for you.... you just have to find your way to each other.
June 8, 2020
This was an easy book to rate, it was well written and very compelling so it deserves my 4-stars. However, it is a hard story to review. It deals with cheating on both sides, but we know this from the blurb so it’s not a spoiler.
What really compelled me to read this (I was very intrigued) was that, how often had I read a romance book where I wished a cheating a**hat of a Hero gets his comeuppance and here it finally happens!
The aristocratic Hero had been compelled by his father to marry the heroine who is from a very wealthy but merchant class background. The family is in financial straits and needs the cash infusion. Since this prevents him from being with the girl he loves, he resents the marriage from the start. However, he does his duty, leaves his wife to rusticate in the country and continues his bachelor existence (with mistresses and all) for the next 6 years! It’s understood that he isn’t particularly mean or cruel to her, he just completely ignores her existence (which is bad enough).
He gets the shock of his life when his circumspect, quiet, and as he thought, boring wife runs off with a lover, a lowly lieutenant, giving up social position and a life of luxury to live with him in India! Well yeah!!! Hurray for her!
The story actually starts when the husband gets word about the death of his errant wife and her lover, and some delayed sense of duty compels him to go and retrieve her personal effects. In the course of doing this he finds out that, it seems only the lover passed away and his wife may probably still be alive. So he goes searching to solve the mystery.
SPOILERS:
Obviously she is not dead and actually tried to hide from him, but he finds her and brings her back. The rest of the story is how they must now deal with each other. It’s a new experience for them, since they’ve never spent time together and are finally obliged to do so on the voyage home by sea. The husband is forced to change his impression of his wife, and to see her as other men do. It’s quite amusing how he finally acknowledges her attractiveness to the opposite sex and how he even worries that, though she looks respectable, she’s actually capable of looking out for another lover. (OMG, I loved it)
The bulk of story is told from the husband’s point of view so it’s interesting and amusing to see how his perception of his wife changes and how surprised and intrigued he is by her. The husband is not a very charming character. I got the impression that he is basically non-confrontational so he puts off decisions that he finds unpleasant. His wife thinks he is punishing her by not telling her his intentions as to her fate when they get home, but really it just because he doesn’t know what to do.
Although the cheating aspect is a catalyst the drives the book in the start, it isn’t actually the central theme. The historical time period contributed a lot to our understanding of the main characters and it made the circumstance acceptable. This was a time when husbands were dominant and wives had to obey. Though both characters conform to these traditional roles, it’s not over done and is able to drive the story, through the actions of the characters. The husband has to answer for a lot of neglect and he slowly comes to this realisation. It also makes it easier to accept since any relationship between the couple only really starts after the husband finds his wife and they start their journey home.
I won’t belabour the review with more details since the other reviewers have already done an excellent job. This is a slow burn romance and a second chance for a couple that almost didn’t find each other.
What really compelled me to read this (I was very intrigued) was that, how often had I read a romance book where I wished a cheating a**hat of a Hero gets his comeuppance and here it finally happens!
The aristocratic Hero had been compelled by his father to marry the heroine who is from a very wealthy but merchant class background. The family is in financial straits and needs the cash infusion. Since this prevents him from being with the girl he loves, he resents the marriage from the start. However, he does his duty, leaves his wife to rusticate in the country and continues his bachelor existence (with mistresses and all) for the next 6 years! It’s understood that he isn’t particularly mean or cruel to her, he just completely ignores her existence (which is bad enough).
He gets the shock of his life when his circumspect, quiet, and as he thought, boring wife runs off with a lover, a lowly lieutenant, giving up social position and a life of luxury to live with him in India! Well yeah!!! Hurray for her!
The story actually starts when the husband gets word about the death of his errant wife and her lover, and some delayed sense of duty compels him to go and retrieve her personal effects. In the course of doing this he finds out that, it seems only the lover passed away and his wife may probably still be alive. So he goes searching to solve the mystery.
SPOILERS:
Obviously she is not dead and actually tried to hide from him, but he finds her and brings her back. The rest of the story is how they must now deal with each other. It’s a new experience for them, since they’ve never spent time together and are finally obliged to do so on the voyage home by sea. The husband is forced to change his impression of his wife, and to see her as other men do. It’s quite amusing how he finally acknowledges her attractiveness to the opposite sex and how he even worries that, though she looks respectable, she’s actually capable of looking out for another lover. (OMG, I loved it)
The bulk of story is told from the husband’s point of view so it’s interesting and amusing to see how his perception of his wife changes and how surprised and intrigued he is by her. The husband is not a very charming character. I got the impression that he is basically non-confrontational so he puts off decisions that he finds unpleasant. His wife thinks he is punishing her by not telling her his intentions as to her fate when they get home, but really it just because he doesn’t know what to do.
Although the cheating aspect is a catalyst the drives the book in the start, it isn’t actually the central theme. The historical time period contributed a lot to our understanding of the main characters and it made the circumstance acceptable. This was a time when husbands were dominant and wives had to obey. Though both characters conform to these traditional roles, it’s not over done and is able to drive the story, through the actions of the characters. The husband has to answer for a lot of neglect and he slowly comes to this realisation. It also makes it easier to accept since any relationship between the couple only really starts after the husband finds his wife and they start their journey home.
I won’t belabour the review with more details since the other reviewers have already done an excellent job. This is a slow burn romance and a second chance for a couple that almost didn’t find each other.
June 3, 2017
It's a re-read for me. I love angst, but this one actually made the hero suffer a bit too. Love that ;-)
February 19, 2021
Interesting and rather entertaining.
skim-read
August 29, 2025Skim read this book. I liked the story fine but the writing isn’t my cup of tea. It feels like it’s just ALL telling and not showing. It’s really baffling.
It’s dual POV in third-person past tense. Half the book takes place around the world before they eventually get back to London. The FMC (Adele) is married to the MMC (Lysander) but has run off with a Lieutenant. Adele and Lysander didn’t live together and she was left to wither away on a country estate so when she gave up on her husband ever loving her back, she took her chances with another man and ran away. They winded up living in India. This made Lysander the laughing stock of London society but it’s the double standards of it all because he has mistresses. Lysander actually would’ve just preferred her to keep her affairs secret rather than not have any at all so that was something different at least.
When Adele’s lover died, she somehow winded up even further away in Australia and Lysander winded up following her there in an effort to find her and then they journey back to London. But all this travel must’ve taken months and months? A year? It’s the 1870s. That is ridiculously long time for good chunk of the book to be at sea. It wasn’t necessarily bad but not what I expected.
I wish there was more angst that I could feel from the characters but it did feel very surface level because of the writing style and I didn’t care for it. The last half of the book is trying to get Adele pregnant and I don’t care for those storylines either. Especially when it’s late in the game and they STILL haven’t reconciled and now there’s supposed to be a baby in the mix? I don’t understand how Adele even ever loved this man and supposedly has feelings for him this entire time. Also, I can barely understand how and when Lysander’s feelings for her changed when he barely seems to even like her but only because she seems more agreeable and less prone to causing drama than his mistress.
There’s also a noncon/rape scene in this book that isn’t prolonged or detailed and Lysander regrets it and apologizes for it on several occasions (the scene is when he sees her for the first time in Australia and loses his mind), but it was unnecessarily added to the book in my opinion. There’s other scenes that seem more like dubcon because they’re both barely willing to have sex with each other and do so anyways to conceive a baby.
Does Lysander’s friend, Harry, have a book that came before this? He’s already married so I’d think so? But I haven’t seen it in the backlist.
This book could’ve been good but it’s not. Also, I saw after skimming this book that the author is using AI on her latest book (A Cruel Act) for the cover and promo on Instagram so I won’t be trying anything more from her.
It’s dual POV in third-person past tense. Half the book takes place around the world before they eventually get back to London. The FMC (Adele) is married to the MMC (Lysander) but has run off with a Lieutenant. Adele and Lysander didn’t live together and she was left to wither away on a country estate so when she gave up on her husband ever loving her back, she took her chances with another man and ran away. They winded up living in India. This made Lysander the laughing stock of London society but it’s the double standards of it all because he has mistresses. Lysander actually would’ve just preferred her to keep her affairs secret rather than not have any at all so that was something different at least.
When Adele’s lover died, she somehow winded up even further away in Australia and Lysander winded up following her there in an effort to find her and then they journey back to London. But all this travel must’ve taken months and months? A year? It’s the 1870s. That is ridiculously long time for good chunk of the book to be at sea. It wasn’t necessarily bad but not what I expected.
I wish there was more angst that I could feel from the characters but it did feel very surface level because of the writing style and I didn’t care for it. The last half of the book is trying to get Adele pregnant and I don’t care for those storylines either. Especially when it’s late in the game and they STILL haven’t reconciled and now there’s supposed to be a baby in the mix? I don’t understand how Adele even ever loved this man and supposedly has feelings for him this entire time. Also, I can barely understand how and when Lysander’s feelings for her changed when he barely seems to even like her but only because she seems more agreeable and less prone to causing drama than his mistress.
There’s also a noncon/rape scene in this book that isn’t prolonged or detailed and Lysander regrets it and apologizes for it on several occasions (the scene is when he sees her for the first time in Australia and loses his mind), but it was unnecessarily added to the book in my opinion. There’s other scenes that seem more like dubcon because they’re both barely willing to have sex with each other and do so anyways to conceive a baby.
Does Lysander’s friend, Harry, have a book that came before this? He’s already married so I’d think so? But I haven’t seen it in the backlist.
This book could’ve been good but it’s not. Also, I saw after skimming this book that the author is using AI on her latest book (A Cruel Act) for the cover and promo on Instagram so I won’t be trying anything more from her.
May 5, 2023
May ‘23: 3 stars. I couldn’t put it down and loved the plot but something was missing in the writing. I didn’t feel the angst even though the situation should’ve inspired a lot of it.
H and h are forced into a MOC by parents to repair the hero’s ancestral fortune and help h’s family elevate their standing because their money was made from trade. H was in love with OW at the time and blames the loss of OW entirely on the h - so far the plot is a tried and true one.. what made fall flat a little was how long the H held on to his anger and how little he seemed to care when he thought h had died (that’s where the book starts)..I enjoy cruel heroes but this one just seemed extremely indifferent! The rest of the book needed to be very convincing to show me how and when the hero’s feelings changed and the writing didn’t do that for me. The h while not entirely spineless, seemed somewhat dull to me too! I kept reading, waiting for the author to help me understand H’s perspective and convince me he was in love but it wasn’t quite there IMO. I’m discovering that the most important thing for me in a romance novel is that by the end of the book i need to be convinced that MC’s are head over heels in love with each other - here H seemed pretty lukewarm in love and h seemed a little pitiful :( So I’m landing on 3 stars! I think I’ll try another book by this author though cuz there was still something that kept me hooked.
H and h are forced into a MOC by parents to repair the hero’s ancestral fortune and help h’s family elevate their standing because their money was made from trade. H was in love with OW at the time and blames the loss of OW entirely on the h - so far the plot is a tried and true one.. what made fall flat a little was how long the H held on to his anger and how little he seemed to care when he thought h had died (that’s where the book starts)..I enjoy cruel heroes but this one just seemed extremely indifferent! The rest of the book needed to be very convincing to show me how and when the hero’s feelings changed and the writing didn’t do that for me. The h while not entirely spineless, seemed somewhat dull to me too! I kept reading, waiting for the author to help me understand H’s perspective and convince me he was in love but it wasn’t quite there IMO. I’m discovering that the most important thing for me in a romance novel is that by the end of the book i need to be convinced that MC’s are head over heels in love with each other - here H seemed pretty lukewarm in love and h seemed a little pitiful :( So I’m landing on 3 stars! I think I’ll try another book by this author though cuz there was still something that kept me hooked.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2021
Upon hearing of the death of his wayward wife in India, Lord Burton decides to travel to India to retrieve her personal effects. Since their marriage six years prior, Adele had lived at their country estate prior to running away with another man.
Forced into a marriage that would ensure his family’s economic health, Burton had to give up his girlfriend Cassandra. Heartbroken due to the situation, he words Adele pursuant to his fathers wishes but wants nothing to do with her.
Lord Burton arrives in India, thinking his wife and her “companion” have succumbed to cholera. While there is evidence the man’s remains were burned it seems his wife was not deceased.
The ensuing chase to find his wife, return her to England and decide her fate is an interesting read.
Forced into a marriage that would ensure his family’s economic health, Burton had to give up his girlfriend Cassandra. Heartbroken due to the situation, he words Adele pursuant to his fathers wishes but wants nothing to do with her.
Lord Burton arrives in India, thinking his wife and her “companion” have succumbed to cholera. While there is evidence the man’s remains were burned it seems his wife was not deceased.
The ensuing chase to find his wife, return her to England and decide her fate is an interesting read.
May 3, 2019
I found the first half pretty depressing, maybe the mood I was in. The life of the unwanted wife, pining for a husband who has nothing but rejection for her. It also relied on tell rather show and I wasn't connecting with it but the 2nd half lifted this to an more emotionally intense read.
May 7, 2015
This is a poignant story about missed opportunities, regrets, loss, forgiveness, acceptance & love.
This was an unusual historical romance. It opens with Lord Lysander leaving for India to collect his deceased wife's belongings. She run off with her lover & died of cholera there. It turned out she did not die after all. She made it seem that way to escape the empty life she lead with her husband. Lysander found out & dragged her all the way back to London. On the return trip, he discovered that Adele, the wife he ignored for nearly a decade was vibrant, beautiful & very different from how he perceived her.
I draw the line on adultery & cheating but I might just make an exception with this book. Shocker, I know!!!
Theirs was a marriage in name only. Right from the start, Lysander was prepared to hate & ignore Adele since he was 'forced' to marry her. He married her & abandoned her right after their wedding. They never had a marriage. It was all a cruel & painful pretense. He carried on with his mistress & forgot about Adele.
Adele, on the other hand, fell in love with her husband. She tried everything she could to make him notice her, to be the perfect wife but he doesn't see her. She lead a sad & empty life hidden in the country house. She hoped & hoped for years for him to love her in return but it never happened. Eventually, she came to terms with her lonely existence. She met & fell in love with Samson, a lowly lieutenant, who loved her & gave her his all. Gave her what she deserved to have. However, it was short lived cause he died while taking care of her when they both contracted cholera.
Lysander got to know Adele on their way from Adelaide to London. He slowly realised how blind he was all those years.
So, why not a 5? I, personally, like more interaction & conversation. I like to be in the situation with the characters. This was more narrative than I prefer. I'd like to experience things rather than read about it after it has happened. Plus, I didn't fall in love with Lysander. I just couldn't connect with him fully.
Despite that, this was a really good read. It was moving with solid, if not flawed characters.
*** Thanks, Mila, for this book!***
This was an unusual historical romance. It opens with Lord Lysander leaving for India to collect his deceased wife's belongings. She run off with her lover & died of cholera there. It turned out she did not die after all. She made it seem that way to escape the empty life she lead with her husband. Lysander found out & dragged her all the way back to London. On the return trip, he discovered that Adele, the wife he ignored for nearly a decade was vibrant, beautiful & very different from how he perceived her.
I draw the line on adultery & cheating but I might just make an exception with this book. Shocker, I know!!!
Theirs was a marriage in name only. Right from the start, Lysander was prepared to hate & ignore Adele since he was 'forced' to marry her. He married her & abandoned her right after their wedding. They never had a marriage. It was all a cruel & painful pretense. He carried on with his mistress & forgot about Adele.
Adele, on the other hand, fell in love with her husband. She tried everything she could to make him notice her, to be the perfect wife but he doesn't see her. She lead a sad & empty life hidden in the country house. She hoped & hoped for years for him to love her in return but it never happened. Eventually, she came to terms with her lonely existence. She met & fell in love with Samson, a lowly lieutenant, who loved her & gave her his all. Gave her what she deserved to have. However, it was short lived cause he died while taking care of her when they both contracted cholera.
Lysander got to know Adele on their way from Adelaide to London. He slowly realised how blind he was all those years.
He couldn't figure her out_ too innocent for a villain, too guilty for an innocent.
"I'm sorry it took me so long, but I'm not letting you go now. You're my wife, Adele, and you belong with me."
"I am asking you to give this everything. I'm asking you to trust me, and I fully acknowledge the past and all the mistakes I made. But I want us to be together properly. Please be my wife, Adele."
So, why not a 5? I, personally, like more interaction & conversation. I like to be in the situation with the characters. This was more narrative than I prefer. I'd like to experience things rather than read about it after it has happened. Plus, I didn't fall in love with Lysander. I just couldn't connect with him fully.
Despite that, this was a really good read. It was moving with solid, if not flawed characters.
*** Thanks, Mila, for this book!***
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2023
Adele and Lysander. Well written. Hero is just a jerk at the beginning. Heroine's first encounter with sex is with her lover that she runs away with after years of being married to Lysander. Hero cheats so far all through their marriage, but for some reason once she "dies" feels the need to go collect her body and things . Weirdness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2024
Disponible en Español ✨✨✨
Bueno y Diferente.
No es comun encontrar libros con este tipo de argumento que se sientan originales pero este definitivamente tiene su toque unico.
La trama: Inglaterra del siglo XIX, la plebeya Adele y el vizconde Lysander se casaron por que el padre de él se lo ordeno ya que estaban casi quebrados, y el padre de Adele era un comerciante millonario, ese era un arreglo comun en la ��poca el gran problema es que Lysander estaba enamorado y casi comprometido con otra mujer, asi que no solo odia tener que casarse con Adele, tambien la odia a ella aunque no la conoce por que la considera poca cosa al porvenir de la clase trabajadora.
Obviamente el matrimonio no funciona Lysander es un desconciderado y un imbecil, deja a Adele en el campo y el se va a tener amorios y vivir del dinero de Adele en Londres, mientras que Adele lo ama y lo espera pacientemente (Algo nada romántico y que se ha hecho en decenas de novelas de regencia) PERO....aquí viene lo bueno, Adele no se queda esperando para siempre como una idiota, ni se disfraza para seducir a su esposo en secreto como una rogona, NOOOOO nuestra Adele decide ser feliz, se enamora de un soldado y se va con el a la India, dejando a Lysander como un marido humillado y cornudo, por desgracia el amante de Adele muere poco después de fugarse, pero ella decide que no volverá con Lysander y que no lo dejara ordenar como vivir, ya no quiere ser infeliz asi que finge su muerte y se va a Australia, por desgracia Lysander logra dar con ella y decide que el matrimonio se acabara cuando uno de los dos muera, ¿por que ? Por que si el no pudo liberarse de ese matrimonio desde el inicio Adele tampoco podra, pero entonces Adele y Lysander se acercan como nunca lo habian hecho antes, y logicamente surge la pasion, el remordimiento y el amor, pero tambien la culpa y la desconfianza.
Esta historia no es para cualquiera, es angustiante, triste de leer en momentos y frustrante por ver como las mujeres terminaban sometidas a idiotas como Lysander, y como ellas eran tan poco responsables de su propia felicidad.
Ahora no es agradable leer a un protagonista como Lysander, muchas veces quise pegarle , pero ¿se redime? Creo que depende de cada quien, para mi sí lo hace, pero mas halla de eso creo que no es esa la pregunta que debemos hacernos al final, sino mas bien la pregunta seria ¿Adele y Lysander realmente deben quedarse juntos ? Yo tengo la seguridad de que sí y de que el final del libro es uno feliz, no justifico todo lo que hizo el por que no tiene justificacion, pero esta hecho, el acepta sus errores y actua en concecuencia a ellos, pide perdon y compensa sus faltas con acciones, le creo 100% cuando dice amara a Adele por que lo demuestra, no le importa lo que digan de el por que Adele es lo mas importante.
Ahora Adele es el tipo de heroina que amo, ella es buena de corazon, la educaron para obedecer a sus padres y su marido, ella lo hizo, ademas lo amo y trato todo lo que pudo hacer funcionar su matrimonio, pero cuando eso no funciono, lucho por ser feliz lo que no era facil, tomo acciones muchas veces por el bienestar de su corazon, ademas no es una mujer a la que le cueste expresarse y ame la forma en que siempre reorganiza su vida.
Y la tia Isabel es lo que yo llamo una hada madrina real, fue buena con Adele y sin importar que fuera pariente de Lysander aposto por la felicidad de Adele por que sabia lo que era justo.
Pero no todo es perfecto en este libro, para mi tiene un gran punto negativo, y es que le falta demasiado romance, el proceso que les lleva a enamorarse arranca muy tarde, y la autora no crea grandes momentos de ellos juntos, para mi gusto se hablan poco y les falto pasar por mas cosas juntos, al final creo que se aman, pero el romance es realmente escaso y mal hecho.
Otra cosa que no me gusto es que es muy poco el dialogo, son muchas las cosas que se reflexionan y que los personajes piensan pero poco lo que dicen.
Por ultimo dire que algunas cosas no tienen el cierre definitivo que necesitaba la historia como la amante de Lysander o la historia con la mujer que amó.
Creo que un poco mas de análisis y un ajuste a los detalles este libro habria sido perfecto por lo menos para mí, pero aun asi es bastante bueno, fue realemnte refrescante leer a una mujer que no se pone de tapete.
Bueno y Diferente.
No es comun encontrar libros con este tipo de argumento que se sientan originales pero este definitivamente tiene su toque unico.
La trama: Inglaterra del siglo XIX, la plebeya Adele y el vizconde Lysander se casaron por que el padre de él se lo ordeno ya que estaban casi quebrados, y el padre de Adele era un comerciante millonario, ese era un arreglo comun en la ��poca el gran problema es que Lysander estaba enamorado y casi comprometido con otra mujer, asi que no solo odia tener que casarse con Adele, tambien la odia a ella aunque no la conoce por que la considera poca cosa al porvenir de la clase trabajadora.
Obviamente el matrimonio no funciona Lysander es un desconciderado y un imbecil, deja a Adele en el campo y el se va a tener amorios y vivir del dinero de Adele en Londres, mientras que Adele lo ama y lo espera pacientemente (Algo nada romántico y que se ha hecho en decenas de novelas de regencia) PERO....aquí viene lo bueno, Adele no se queda esperando para siempre como una idiota, ni se disfraza para seducir a su esposo en secreto como una rogona, NOOOOO nuestra Adele decide ser feliz, se enamora de un soldado y se va con el a la India, dejando a Lysander como un marido humillado y cornudo, por desgracia el amante de Adele muere poco después de fugarse, pero ella decide que no volverá con Lysander y que no lo dejara ordenar como vivir, ya no quiere ser infeliz asi que finge su muerte y se va a Australia, por desgracia Lysander logra dar con ella y decide que el matrimonio se acabara cuando uno de los dos muera, ¿por que ? Por que si el no pudo liberarse de ese matrimonio desde el inicio Adele tampoco podra, pero entonces Adele y Lysander se acercan como nunca lo habian hecho antes, y logicamente surge la pasion, el remordimiento y el amor, pero tambien la culpa y la desconfianza.
Esta historia no es para cualquiera, es angustiante, triste de leer en momentos y frustrante por ver como las mujeres terminaban sometidas a idiotas como Lysander, y como ellas eran tan poco responsables de su propia felicidad.
Ahora no es agradable leer a un protagonista como Lysander, muchas veces quise pegarle , pero ¿se redime? Creo que depende de cada quien, para mi sí lo hace, pero mas halla de eso creo que no es esa la pregunta que debemos hacernos al final, sino mas bien la pregunta seria ¿Adele y Lysander realmente deben quedarse juntos ? Yo tengo la seguridad de que sí y de que el final del libro es uno feliz, no justifico todo lo que hizo el por que no tiene justificacion, pero esta hecho, el acepta sus errores y actua en concecuencia a ellos, pide perdon y compensa sus faltas con acciones, le creo 100% cuando dice amara a Adele por que lo demuestra, no le importa lo que digan de el por que Adele es lo mas importante.
Ahora Adele es el tipo de heroina que amo, ella es buena de corazon, la educaron para obedecer a sus padres y su marido, ella lo hizo, ademas lo amo y trato todo lo que pudo hacer funcionar su matrimonio, pero cuando eso no funciono, lucho por ser feliz lo que no era facil, tomo acciones muchas veces por el bienestar de su corazon, ademas no es una mujer a la que le cueste expresarse y ame la forma en que siempre reorganiza su vida.
Y la tia Isabel es lo que yo llamo una hada madrina real, fue buena con Adele y sin importar que fuera pariente de Lysander aposto por la felicidad de Adele por que sabia lo que era justo.
Pero no todo es perfecto en este libro, para mi tiene un gran punto negativo, y es que le falta demasiado romance, el proceso que les lleva a enamorarse arranca muy tarde, y la autora no crea grandes momentos de ellos juntos, para mi gusto se hablan poco y les falto pasar por mas cosas juntos, al final creo que se aman, pero el romance es realmente escaso y mal hecho.
Otra cosa que no me gusto es que es muy poco el dialogo, son muchas las cosas que se reflexionan y que los personajes piensan pero poco lo que dicen.
Por ultimo dire que algunas cosas no tienen el cierre definitivo que necesitaba la historia como la amante de Lysander o la historia con la mujer que amó.
Creo que un poco mas de análisis y un ajuste a los detalles este libro habria sido perfecto por lo menos para mí, pero aun asi es bastante bueno, fue realemnte refrescante leer a una mujer que no se pone de tapete.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews