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The Husband Hunt
From Jillian Hunter, a mesmerizing author who "weaves a spell over her audience" (Romantic Times), comes a sensual, witty new novel about an untamed Scottish beauty and a rakish English lord who set each other's souls on fire.
Catriona Grant is desperate. Fleeing a forced marriage in Scotland, she arrives on the doorstep of Rutleigh Hall seeking shelter as a distant relation, only to find that Knight Dennison, the Viscount Rutleigh, may be worse than the man she fled. True to his dangerous reputation, Knight threatens to toss the penniless, flame-haired impostor out -- until she produces the family ring as proof of her identity.
Thrust into the role of guardian, the dark, compelling Knight has his doubts about the lovely Scottish lass, who's clearly keeping secrets -- but her wit, beauty, and artless grace are hard to resist. When his sister starts husband-hunting for Catriona, the idea of any other man possessing her is suddenly unthinkable. For Knight realizes that there's only one possible groom for her: himself!
Catriona Grant is desperate. Fleeing a forced marriage in Scotland, she arrives on the doorstep of Rutleigh Hall seeking shelter as a distant relation, only to find that Knight Dennison, the Viscount Rutleigh, may be worse than the man she fled. True to his dangerous reputation, Knight threatens to toss the penniless, flame-haired impostor out -- until she produces the family ring as proof of her identity.
Thrust into the role of guardian, the dark, compelling Knight has his doubts about the lovely Scottish lass, who's clearly keeping secrets -- but her wit, beauty, and artless grace are hard to resist. When his sister starts husband-hunting for Catriona, the idea of any other man possessing her is suddenly unthinkable. For Knight realizes that there's only one possible groom for her: himself!
374 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2002
12 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Jillian Hunter
51 books429 followersJillian Hunter is the bestselling author of over twenty historical romances. She lives with her husband, three daughters, a pug and a poodle in Southern California. She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which means she is in love with Mike Myers and Tyler Perry.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 9, 2017
4 stars
JH managed to have a fresh take on a well-used trope with the witty banter between the heroine, hero, and his family. Enjoyable, but it had some faults too.
Our heroine is quirky, blessed with the gift, it was hilarious how the hero reacted to her.
I especially loved the scene where our pymalion heroine comes down the stairs after her transformation for her first ball. Instead of the usual cliche we got banter that made me grin.
The females behind her tell her to float down the stairs. Below, our cynical hero says
"Sink like a bloody stone is more apt," he says grinning. "Here comes the social disaster of the season."
"I heard that"
...
He stopped mid sentence as Wendell rudely elbowed around him.
"What the blazes are you doing, duke?"
"Shoving aside the throng that has come to admire the Scottish beauty who is taking the ton by storm."
Knight made a show of looking around. "Where is she?"
If there is fault, it's that Knight's capulation to his feelings seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Whereas 10 pages ago he was still suspicious of her as a con artist weaving her way into his home and using his sister. I wish there were a few more meaninful conversations between them first to make his surrender more believable.
The second half of the novel involves a lot of supernatural sideplots that has less to do with their romance. It reads a little like a Kristen Ashley novel where we get to spend a lot of time with the happy couple as they navigate through other parts of her life. But the most charming part was definitely the first half.
Still an enjoyable read all around.
At A glance
Hea
Safety gang concerns
JH managed to have a fresh take on a well-used trope with the witty banter between the heroine, hero, and his family. Enjoyable, but it had some faults too.
Our heroine is quirky, blessed with the gift, it was hilarious how the hero reacted to her.
I especially loved the scene where our pymalion heroine comes down the stairs after her transformation for her first ball. Instead of the usual cliche we got banter that made me grin.
The females behind her tell her to float down the stairs. Below, our cynical hero says
"Sink like a bloody stone is more apt," he says grinning. "Here comes the social disaster of the season."
"I heard that"
...
He stopped mid sentence as Wendell rudely elbowed around him.
"What the blazes are you doing, duke?"
"Shoving aside the throng that has come to admire the Scottish beauty who is taking the ton by storm."
Knight made a show of looking around. "Where is she?"
If there is fault, it's that Knight's capulation to his feelings seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Whereas 10 pages ago he was still suspicious of her as a con artist weaving her way into his home and using his sister. I wish there were a few more meaninful conversations between them first to make his surrender more believable.
The second half of the novel involves a lot of supernatural sideplots that has less to do with their romance. It reads a little like a Kristen Ashley novel where we get to spend a lot of time with the happy couple as they navigate through other parts of her life. But the most charming part was definitely the first half.
Still an enjoyable read all around.
At A glance
Hea
Safety gang concerns
December 31, 2007
This book was NOT funny for me and I did not care for the constant bickering between the main characters. I struggled to finish this one.
September 18, 2017
I can forgive a lot of woman who can write a love scene like Jillian Hunter.
Daaaammmmmnnnnnnn.
I swear this has nothing to do with a last ditch desperate attempt to come even slightly close to finishing my challenge this year (my decision to make this years challenge LONGER than last years which I also did not finish is perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done) but there is something lovely about sitting down with one of Ms. Hunter's books and gobbling up the thing like a delicious ice cream sundae.
Since I was such a fan of The Duchess Diaries I figured I wouldn't tempt fate and went for another bodice ripper set in the wild English countryside in 1814. This time around the desperate Scottish beauty Catriona Grant is fleeing her brother's attempts to marry her off to a gross old dude and has arrived on the lands of her distant cousin Lionel Deering who she hasn't seen in years but who once told her that should she need anything she should come find him.
Unfortunately for her Lionel has been killed in the Peninsular war and his widow Olivia now lives with her brother the Viscount Knight Rutleigh in Rutleigh hall and he is anything but pleased when a dirty, tart tongued Scottswoman turns up on his doorstep and starts sassing him something fierce.
It takes approximately two seconds for these two to fall head over heels for each other but there are complications. Catriona is the illegitmate daughter of a Scottish lord who's only hope of saving her people's land is to marry well and Knight's sister is determined to make her a better match than her roguish brother. Knight has his grieving sister to think about and his former fiancee is still sniffing around despite having jilted him for another man.
This was really just as delightful and saucy as my first foray with Hunter. The dialogue is clever but very suited to the period. I like how forward thinking everyone is behind closed doors while still conscious of the need to present a proper picture to society. It feels more grounded in reality than the traditional "ahead of their time" characters who are forever making speeches about women's rights at the autumn ball and scandalizing everyone in sight.
I really, really like the way Hunter embraces the joy in romance and sex. Obviously its wicked and scintillating to see it in a setting and time period we tend to think of as repressed and proper but its just nice to see it period. Her characters aren't ashamed of their sexuality or their desires. They really, really enjoy themselves, they enjoy what they're sharing with each other. Their expressions of desire and love aren't selfish. It's about giving pleasure and gaining pleasure from that. It's a generous, selfless expression of love, I really like that.
Its also hot as hell.
Alas the plot wasn't quite there for me this time around. This book is loonggg at 374 pages and its a bit of a head scratcher why it takes quite as long as it does for Catriona and Knight to get it together both physically and romantically. But my biggest narrative issue is Catriona possessing "the sight" that old Highland chestnut that allows her predicate the future and have convenient "visions" just when the plot needs help. It almost seems like the supernatural angle was added in after the story was already written. It doesn't really add anything except to provide a pretty random and unnecessary plot contrivance at the tail end of the story so that Catriona and Knight have a little conflict to mess up their otherwise lovely romance. I think Hunter is aiming to make Catriona a little deeper than just a lowborn lady in trouble and I get that but I would have maybe gone for another angle other than random magical abilities that don't quite fit the narrative.
Still this was fun and I'm off to the stacks to find another!!!!!!!!!!
Daaaammmmmnnnnnnn.
I swear this has nothing to do with a last ditch desperate attempt to come even slightly close to finishing my challenge this year (my decision to make this years challenge LONGER than last years which I also did not finish is perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done) but there is something lovely about sitting down with one of Ms. Hunter's books and gobbling up the thing like a delicious ice cream sundae.
Since I was such a fan of The Duchess Diaries I figured I wouldn't tempt fate and went for another bodice ripper set in the wild English countryside in 1814. This time around the desperate Scottish beauty Catriona Grant is fleeing her brother's attempts to marry her off to a gross old dude and has arrived on the lands of her distant cousin Lionel Deering who she hasn't seen in years but who once told her that should she need anything she should come find him.
Unfortunately for her Lionel has been killed in the Peninsular war and his widow Olivia now lives with her brother the Viscount Knight Rutleigh in Rutleigh hall and he is anything but pleased when a dirty, tart tongued Scottswoman turns up on his doorstep and starts sassing him something fierce.
It takes approximately two seconds for these two to fall head over heels for each other but there are complications. Catriona is the illegitmate daughter of a Scottish lord who's only hope of saving her people's land is to marry well and Knight's sister is determined to make her a better match than her roguish brother. Knight has his grieving sister to think about and his former fiancee is still sniffing around despite having jilted him for another man.
This was really just as delightful and saucy as my first foray with Hunter. The dialogue is clever but very suited to the period. I like how forward thinking everyone is behind closed doors while still conscious of the need to present a proper picture to society. It feels more grounded in reality than the traditional "ahead of their time" characters who are forever making speeches about women's rights at the autumn ball and scandalizing everyone in sight.
I really, really like the way Hunter embraces the joy in romance and sex. Obviously its wicked and scintillating to see it in a setting and time period we tend to think of as repressed and proper but its just nice to see it period. Her characters aren't ashamed of their sexuality or their desires. They really, really enjoy themselves, they enjoy what they're sharing with each other. Their expressions of desire and love aren't selfish. It's about giving pleasure and gaining pleasure from that. It's a generous, selfless expression of love, I really like that.
Its also hot as hell.
Alas the plot wasn't quite there for me this time around. This book is loonggg at 374 pages and its a bit of a head scratcher why it takes quite as long as it does for Catriona and Knight to get it together both physically and romantically. But my biggest narrative issue is Catriona possessing "the sight" that old Highland chestnut that allows her predicate the future and have convenient "visions" just when the plot needs help. It almost seems like the supernatural angle was added in after the story was already written. It doesn't really add anything except to provide a pretty random and unnecessary plot contrivance at the tail end of the story so that Catriona and Knight have a little conflict to mess up their otherwise lovely romance. I think Hunter is aiming to make Catriona a little deeper than just a lowborn lady in trouble and I get that but I would have maybe gone for another angle other than random magical abilities that don't quite fit the narrative.
Still this was fun and I'm off to the stacks to find another!!!!!!!!!!
July 23, 2013
This was pretty cute. I'm a big Jillian Hunter fan... sometimes. She's really hit and miss. I thought the first two Boscastle books (Grayson and Chloe's books) were phenomenal - great plots, fun characters, and just super enjoyable. I liked Drake's book because I love a good broody hero, and I loved Eloise. But a lot of the others I either liked despite some really obvious failings, or I didn't really enjoy them at all. This one fell somewhere in the middle.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the characters (always my favorite part of a romance if they're done well) - I thought Cat and Knight had great chemistry. He was so grumpy and teasing with her, and she got his sense of humor (after a while) and teased him right back. They were definitely a couple I could see falling in love, which is my favorite thing.
But the plot was a mess. So many weird supernatural things that didn't make sense. I don't mind supernatural stuff - if you want her to be prophetic or read minds or heal with her hands, I'm with ya. But there was so much buildup about her mysterious past (which was actually not very mysterious or much of a secret) and her weird uncle and the guy she was supposed to love... and then nothing ever came of it! They eloped for basically no reason (they had permission for Pete's sake) and the whole drama on the moors while they were driving to Scotland was unnecessary. And then even the climax - and there were two, oddly, meeting her brother and then the weird scene with the stone in the well - was melodramatic with no payoff.
I enjoyed this book for the simple fact that the characters were well-written with great chemistry, and I liked the supporting characters as well as the hero and heroine. But the plot was all over the place and disappointingly so - I just kept wondering what was happening, what we were building toward... and then a chapter from the end I realized: nothing. We were building toward nothing.
But I will say that the relationship between Knight and Cat was worth the shaky plot - if the plot had been better this book would definitely have been a five star for me.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the characters (always my favorite part of a romance if they're done well) - I thought Cat and Knight had great chemistry. He was so grumpy and teasing with her, and she got his sense of humor (after a while) and teased him right back. They were definitely a couple I could see falling in love, which is my favorite thing.
But the plot was a mess. So many weird supernatural things that didn't make sense. I don't mind supernatural stuff - if you want her to be prophetic or read minds or heal with her hands, I'm with ya. But there was so much buildup about her mysterious past (which was actually not very mysterious or much of a secret) and her weird uncle and the guy she was supposed to love... and then nothing ever came of it! They eloped for basically no reason (they had permission for Pete's sake) and the whole drama on the moors while they were driving to Scotland was unnecessary. And then even the climax - and there were two, oddly, meeting her brother and then the weird scene with the stone in the well - was melodramatic with no payoff.
I enjoyed this book for the simple fact that the characters were well-written with great chemistry, and I liked the supporting characters as well as the hero and heroine. But the plot was all over the place and disappointingly so - I just kept wondering what was happening, what we were building toward... and then a chapter from the end I realized: nothing. We were building toward nothing.
But I will say that the relationship between Knight and Cat was worth the shaky plot - if the plot had been better this book would definitely have been a five star for me.
July 23, 2011
I didn't realize this was a paranormal romance, but from the start it's not quite clear what role the paranormal part takes in the story. At least not to me. I got a little bored near the end, and then the paranormal aspect of the story didn't take a huge role after all. So what was the point of including it? Catriona's visions were interesting, but I wasn't sure of the point of her mysterious uncle, or Lamont. I liked how her visions helped her brother, James, find his lost daughter, but that part was downplayed too much! I wanted to see more of their reunion and James' redemption. Also, the secondary romance between Olivia and Wendell..that could've been sweeter, but it kind of fizzled, and didn't have the impact it probably should have.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2014
Catriona Grant is desperate. Her half-brother is trying to marry her off to a man three times her age. So she runs to the wilds of London, not realizing that the cousin she is running to is dead. Instead, she is taken in by his grieving widow, much against the advice of said widow's brother, Knight Dennison, the Viscount Rutleigh.
Knight knows there's something off about Cat. She's not telling the whole truth about why she's there and she's a ragamuffin, not a lady. But he's drawn to her. Even after the truths of her past come out, he's even more attracted.
There's a lot going on in this story. Maybe a little too much. At least for my taste. Other people will probably disagree. If you like Jillian Hunt, you should read this book.
Knight knows there's something off about Cat. She's not telling the whole truth about why she's there and she's a ragamuffin, not a lady. But he's drawn to her. Even after the truths of her past come out, he's even more attracted.
There's a lot going on in this story. Maybe a little too much. At least for my taste. Other people will probably disagree. If you like Jillian Hunt, you should read this book.
February 15, 2011
I was very disappointed in this book. I have just recently finished Julia Quinn's novels and was hoping that this would be able to keep my interest. It was really hard for me to finish. Very predictable.
December 8, 2007
It's a really sweet book. It's not going to hurt your head. But it will warm your heart. More romantic than erotic.
August 8, 2022
Read 2015 -2019
ReRead: 6/20/20
This is my favorite by this author. It's very different. The h has second sight, which makes for some humorous situations.
ReRead: 6/20/20
This is my favorite by this author. It's very different. The h has second sight, which makes for some humorous situations.
July 28, 2017
Love It!
What an incredible story! From being a runaway bride, running all the way from Scotland to the Sassenachs in England! Catriona, a beautiful, sweet, intellenget, fey, Sprite of a young lady. To Knight, tall, dark, and handsome, who couldn't believe how fast his world turned upside down! Great Story! I highly recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!
carolintallahassee 👒
What an incredible story! From being a runaway bride, running all the way from Scotland to the Sassenachs in England! Catriona, a beautiful, sweet, intellenget, fey, Sprite of a young lady. To Knight, tall, dark, and handsome, who couldn't believe how fast his world turned upside down! Great Story! I highly recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!
carolintallahassee 👒
April 3, 2018
2 1/2 stars
August 8, 2024
Better than I expected. The story kept me interested and entertained.
I’ll try another one by this author.
FYI -Premarital intercourse in this if that is a limit for any reader.
I’ll try another one by this author.
FYI -Premarital intercourse in this if that is a limit for any reader.
February 27, 2015
An enjoyable book for a very cold night
I read this book as the reviews sounded good. The storyline was entertaining and unusual. I don't read occult stories but this didn't dwell on that, it was just a part of the Scottish charm.
There were a couple of times I laughed out loud and woke up my husband. I read a portion to him and he said, "I guess you had to be there." Aye, I was. Ms. Hunter outdid herself on this on.
I read this book as the reviews sounded good. The storyline was entertaining and unusual. I don't read occult stories but this didn't dwell on that, it was just a part of the Scottish charm.
There were a couple of times I laughed out loud and woke up my husband. I read a portion to him and he said, "I guess you had to be there." Aye, I was. Ms. Hunter outdid herself on this on.
October 23, 2016
Knight Dennison, Viscount Rutleigh and Catriona. I swear I've either read this book before, or a book just like it. She's fleeing an arranged marriage to an old man. Knight is Mr. Grumpy Pants, and I wasn't totally sure why. The back-and-forth snarking between the main characters was really cute. However, he admitted to her he loved her so early on, the book didn't have anywhere to go. Add in the supernatural stuff for the last third of the book - that didn't make any sense to me at all.
July 27, 2008
I enjoy reading Jillian Hunter books. This one was not one of her best, but it still had some amusing parts in it. I got a little bored towards the middle to end of the book. It was still cute for the most part though.
March 12, 2015
Quirky Heroine and Reformed Rake Hero. Overall a diverting read with mediumship, messages, etc. Great secondary cast of quirky characters. Loved second romance as well - it would have made a great book on it's own.
September 25, 2009
Regency
July 25, 2013
Another good read excellent author
June 3, 2014
One of my favorite Jillian Hunter books.
Want to read
June 4, 2024NYPL
January 14, 2015
ah a supernatural flair not for me.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews