An Inconvenient Wife

The Corinthians Series #10

by Patricia Oliver

A Notorious Rake

It was to be Bath's most talked-about affaire de coeur. Bored by society, jaded by a life lived solely for pleasure, London's premier rake, Lord Robert Monroyal, decided to gamble on his heart. He wagered a breathtaking ten thousand pounds that he would never wed. A second bet followed, involving a lovely lightskirt he vowed to seduce within a week.

AN INNOCENT LADY
No one envisioned that prim, proper Pamela Hancock, on the shelf at five-and-twenty, would be Monroyal's downfall. Yet the lord, accidentally luring the wrong female to a rendezvous, was now forced to offer for a confirmed spinster's hand. He was aghast. She was simply appalled.

A SCANDALOUS AFFAIR!
Cupid's fun was just beginning. The lady wanted no husband; the gentleman wanted no wife. Yet fate had flung them together for a shocking misalliance -- and a frisson of feeling that couldn't -- or could it? -- be love.

Genres: Regency, Historical Romance, Traditional Regency

236 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Patricia Oliver is a pen name of Patricia De La Fuente. Between 1993 and 2002 she wrote for the Signet Regency Romance imprint and for Jove under her other pseudonym Olivia Fontayne.

Reviews

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Pamela Hancock very much, although she was very silly to think she had any control over her life in this man's world. She deserved her very happy ending, & that "shy awakening" scene was very sweet, it's just a pity it couldn't have happened with a nicer, worthier man. It's about time Monroyal got his comeuppance: he's been a rather nasty, sneering character on the sidelines previously, & he was certainly an arsehole for a lot of this one, but eventually love cut him off at the knees.

[Seema · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as some of her others. First of all in the beginning there is a big mistake. It was Robert Gresham who was after Cassandra Drayton and not the Marquess of Monroyal. I didn't find the Marquess as interesting as some of her other heroes. Quite inconsistent in his views, he himself was a womanizer yet seemed to have antiquated notions about infidelity. Of course it went back to his mother but some how the story didn't gel as much as some of her other stories.

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very, very boring. H is a jerk and never really makes up for it, there is no chemistry between the h and H at all and the book is really about the H's troubled family past with the h's father. And the father is a complete expletive. h should have stolen some $ and run off to the continent to pursue a musical career. She would have been happier than with this dried up old stick of a manwhore.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started a bit slow, all the wagers and the past scandals were a little confusing to me, and I am not sure if he ever really redeemed himself properly but by the time I got to the end it had been a diversion. So.

Steam level: some vague consummation

[HistoricalHussy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Terry Murphy]

I have not read this book. Nor would I.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a keeper.