Guilty Series 3

The Marriage Bed

By: Laura Lee Guhrke

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Everyone in society knows that the marriage of Lord and Lady Hammond is an unhappy one. Everyone knows they have barely spoken to one another in over nine years. But what no one in society knows are the reasons why...

Lady Viola Courtland was a romantic and impulsive young girl when she fell instantly in love with the handsome and dashing Viscount Hammond. Unbeknownst to Viola, John Hammond had already given his heart to the only woman he would ever love - his cousin's wife - but he was in dire financial straits and desperately needed to marry a wealthy heiress.

In Viola, he thought he had found the perfect woman - beautiful and rich with a sweet nature. But Viola was neither practical nor sensible when it came to marriage, for she fully expected her husband to love her and was determined to settle for nothing less. Soon, however, John's secret was unwittingly revealed, but by then they were married and it was too late.

Until one day, John finally came to his senses and prayed it wasn't too late to win back the love of his very own wife.

©2005 Laura Lee Guhrke (P)2020 Tantor

Liked it, but could have loved it with a few changes

This story had such a jerk of a male character that the ending really needed to have a big grandiose moment of him displaying his love for his wife, but it fell flat and kinda disappointing. All the build-up was well-written though.

Series

I only finished this book because I wanted to listen to all of the series, but not one of my favorites. Even with all the reasons, I still hated the male main character.

I Don’t Know How She Did It

Talk about a hero who’s hard to love. He may have been charming with good looks but he was a lot. Of course her circumstances didn’t allow her much choice but to love him. She was married to him, which was more than he’d given any other woman, but even then his motives were selfish. However time and maturity can make one see things differently, but is it enough? You’ll have to read yourself to see!

Terrible Hero

I liked the first 2 books in the series, but this one is a little difficult to like. The hero ( and I use this term loosely) is horrible. one reviewer said that it was unbelievable and I have to agree. He is just awful and has very little qualities that make him a "hero". I have finished the book and still can't understand why the heroine takes him back.
The heroine is very mad at all the affairs he has and is embarrassed to have to see all the women her husband has been with. He gets involved with several women in the same social circls as his wife and friends. I just can't get past this, as it's so hurtful to his wife..even if she has thrown him out of the "marriage bed". This was just so thoughtless, as many men would have found women that had no connection to their spouse.
This makes the HEA very difficult to enjoy. I kept thinking that I could never look him in the face after humiliating me for 9 years!! There is also an event at the end of the book, that if it had been me..I would have walked away, but the heroine stays. Not sure why, but I guess that she must really love him. I also thought it was strange that she did not have any male friends in all those years...a little jealousy on the part of the hero would have made me feel better about their situation. It just seemed like the heroine had so much to forgive and suffer, but he had nothing, but a string of lovers.
Not my kind of romance, but it might be more realistic for the regency era. It may appeal to some people, but I was just upset for the heroine and she had my pity, if not my understanding.

Really liked first book in series; Not this one

I found the book to be plodding and long-winded. Biggest problem I had was with the basic story and the hero. He marries the heroine for her money. When she finds out, she's upset and after refusing to have sex with him for a month, he moves out and starts having eight years of affairs. The happily ever after and his redemption really stretched imagination and credulity. I was surprised because I really liked the first book in the series. (Didn't listen to the second book.) I had not problem with the narrator.