| Title | : | A Wicked Kind of Husband (The Brothers DeWitt Bundle) (Longhope Abbey, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 583 |
| Publication | : | First published October 8, 2018 |
A WICKED KIND OF HUSBAND
It was the ideal marriage of convenience... until they met.
Cassandra DeWitt has seen her husband only once-on their wedding day two years earlier-and that suits her perfectly. She has no interest in the rude, badly behaved man she married only to secure her inheritance. She certainly has no interest in his ban on her going to London. Why, he'll never even know she is there.
Until he shows up in London too, and Cassandra finds herself sharing a house with the most infuriating man in England.
Joshua DeWitt has his life exactly how he wants it. He has no need of a wife disrupting everything, especially a wife intent on reforming his behavior. He certainly has no need of a wife who is intolerably amiable, insufferably reasonable ... and irresistibly kissable.
As the unlikely couple team up to battle a malicious lawsuit and launch Cassandra's wayward sister, passion flares between them. Soon the day must come for them to part ... but what if one of them wants their marriage to become real?
A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
Warm lessons in love on cold winter nights...
Isaac DeWitt-former sailor, respected investigator, and notorious flirt-wants a wife, and where better to find one than the winter house party at Longhope Abbey? But for all his rakish charm, Isaac doesn't even know how to kiss a woman, let alone what to do with her in the marriage bed.
Sylvia Ray-impoverished widow, expert distiller, and safely betrothed-means to enjoy every minute at the house party before she settles into a dreary but secure marriage. She's too old to believe in exciting futures, but she's too young to bury herself in the country just yet.
When Sylvia discovers Isaac's dilemma, she shocks them both with a proposition: She'll give him experience if he'll give her excitement, during a winter they'll never forget.
Escape to the world of Longhope Abbey, with witty, steamy, emotional historical romances.
A Wicked Kind of Husband (The Brothers DeWitt Bundle) (Longhope Abbey, #3) Reviews
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I've been meaning to read A Wicked Kind of Husband again and I just hadn't gotten around to it. I read it the first time in 2019. It was the first book I'd read by Mia Vincy and since then, she's rocketed to be one of my favorite authors. I love her work. Her stories are so good with feels, angst, steamy scenes. Her characters are incredible. I was excited to receive this book and shoved it to the top of my TBR list.
I needed no reminders of Joshua DeWitt. I still remembered him from the first go around. He fascinated me then and I never forgot him. I did a copy/paste of my original review and still stand by it.
The new read for me was A Christmas Affair to Remember. At the end of my review for A Wicked Kind of Husband, I mentioned that I wanted Issac and Lucy's story. They were not a couple. They were secondary characters in A Wicked Kind of Husband. Issac is Joshua's brother and Lucy is Cassandra's sister. But as Ms. Vincy has great character development skills, I wanted their stories. A Christmas Affair to Remember is Issac's and what a humdinger it was!
It was the last story in the bundle, but is my first review. The review for A Wicked Kind of Husband is at the end.
This was a wonderful book and so worth the wait. I enjoyed Joshua and Cassandra even more the second time around and Issac and Sylvia took my breath away.
I would've given this ten stars, if I could've. I started it and didn't want any interruptions, even though I got plenty of them. Both stories were captivating.
Okay, onto the reviews.
A Christmas Affair to Remember
Sylvia is a young widow and is at a house party hosted by Cassandra DeWitt and her mother. It's Christmas and she's about to marry again to a man she does not love and who is not suited for her. But she's had to toil since her husband's death and has often gone hungry and is doing everything she can to keep her head above water, including betrothing herself to a man she does not love. This house party was her last event before she settled into a life that she thought would suit her...until she met Issac DeWitt.
Issac. Be still my beating heart. He's back from the Navy after being there since he was ten years old. He's in his late twenties now, single, attractive (loved his long hair), on the hunt for a wife, and has a bad leg from an "old injury" as he calls it. He hides it as much as he can, especially from those nitwit debutantes that are chasing him at this party. He thinks he needs to marry one of them even though he can barely tolerate them. He wants to settle down and make a life. He's already established as an investigator and makes a comfortable living, but isn't wealthy. He can take care of a wife and himself without any problem. His problem is that he doesn't know how. He doesn't have the first idea what to do with a woman. He's never kissed a woman and he's never been with one. He is a straight up virgin. Yay!
Sylvia knows this and appreciates it. She knows Issac is special and offers to have an affair with him to, you know, teach him how to do things. She doesn't love her betrothed and figures this will be her last fling before she gets into another marriage, this time with a dull, self-centered hypochondriac. She makes it clear to Issac that this is an affair and not to think otherwise. The boundaries are set and he's okay with it.
But nothing is ever that simple. Right? The two of them spend a lot of time getting to know each other under the guise of playing cards or other table top games, flirting, looking at each other...oh, the feels in this story. When they were alone, the scenes were scorching hot, but done with taste and finesse. I felt them falling in love and wanted them to get this together and gosh darn the consequences. Forget that she's betrothed to a flake. Forget that she is seven years older than Issac. Forget his gammy leg and those ruthless girls. Make this work!
This thing came together like the most decadent cake. It was sweet, rich, and made me close my eyes with satisfaction at the end.
Solid five stars.
A Wicked Kind of Husband
I loved this book from the very beginning with the interaction between a drunken Lucy and a patient Cassandra. I didn’t like how her sisters, Lucy and Emily, treated her at any time during the book and after Joshua DeWitt saw it, he didn’t like it, either.
Cassandra is married to Joshua. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but he married her as a favor to her father after she was dumped as her betrothed eloped with another woman. They’d never met each other before they were married and after the consummation of the marriage, he left and was gone for two years. Imagine how awkward it was for them when they met for the first time in a park in London and neither knew who the other was. Yow!
Joshua is a no-nonsense-take-no-hostages kind of guy. He doesn’t care about societal proprieties, if he thinks something is stupid, ugly, or a waste of time, he comes right and says it and damn the consequences. He had a secretary for every facet of his business and life and gave them titles like “Secretary for Managing Whims and Getting Yelled at A Lot” to “Secretary in Charge of Matrimonial Affairs.” He’s high-strung, energetic, bold to the point where it could be considered painful to others—he just doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anything other than ideas, his businesses, and making money. He doesn’t have time for a wife and is pretty clear on that. He barely remembers her name and calls her by different names. I don’t know if it was because he really didn’t remember or if it was because he was trying to goad her. Regardless, Cassandra is just as quick-witted as he is and keeps up with the bantering with him without missing a beat.
Ultimately she needs to get Lucy introduced to society with the help of her reluctant grandmother, who wants nothing to do with any of it. She went against Joshua’s decree that said he wanted her to stay at the home where she’d always lived with her mother and sisters and a cat that he’d given her. He didn’t want her in London and lived in Birmingham. But she won’t be deterred. She needs to get herself known in society and start moving in social circles to make way for her sister. She thought Joshua was in Liverpool and that he’d never know. What a surprise when they ran into each other.
I loved Cassandra. She was a determined soul, yet was patient and kind with everyone, including her husband when he was at his worst. She was trying so hard to her “duty” where everyone was concerned, even when they didn’t deserve it. Her sisters were so ornery with her, I don’t know why she hung in there. Yes, I do. It was a matter of duty and honor for her. She put the needs and desires of everyone else before her own, including those of Joshua DeWitt. It was sad that she wanted more from him than he wanted to give—was able to give, but she was tenacious and as their relationship grew deeper, she developed a way to handle him.
Joshua. Oh man, what a great character he was. At one point in the book, Cassandra thought of him as being struck by lightning and the lightning was still inside him. He was not accepted by society since his father was found to be a bigamist. He, his brothers, and sister were disinherited along with their mother, and left to fend for themselves. He was alone in the world for all intents and purposes and he’d suffered tremendous losses throughout his life. He made it a point to not get attached to anyone or anything. It was hard for him to keep Cassandra at bay and there were a few times when I thought he was downright brutal with her. A lesser woman would’ve been diminished to tears and he did hurt her at times, but she forged ahead with a smile and graciousness, two things he incessantly mocked her for. But he was funny, too. He liked to tease her, make her laugh, and bring out her own sense of humor, too.
These two worked together like salt and pepper. The chemistry between them flew off the pages. He may not have wanted to be married to her or anyone else, but he was her advocate and she was his. I felt them falling in love and fighting the strains and expectations of society. They weathered the storms together and forged not only a marriage, but a beautiful friendship.
This is one of those books where I would’ve read it to the end even if I hadn’t liked the story. It was character driven. I knew everything would turn out okay, but I wanted to see how these two made it work. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to come together and the ending was more than satisfying for them.
With that being said, I would like to know how things came out for Issac and Lucy. I wondered if they might get together, even though the book didn’t allude to it. Maybe another book or two will come along and let them have their own stories.
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*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review. -
A good friend of mine gave me this book for Christmas, and after a few heavy reads, I decided to pick it up. I had no idea what a delight was in store for me, but holy CATS did I enjoy this! A Wicked Kind of Husband hits such a delicious balance of humor, romance, and drama, from the scene where Cassandra and Joshua meet face-to-face for the first time in two years, start arguing, and then have to be reminded that they're married TO EACH OTHER, all the way through to the cathartic ending.
I'm so weak for charming banter, and these two books are full of it. I'm also weak for romantic couples with goofy inside jokes, and I was given goofy inside jokes in abundance. The character work, especially with Joshua, is deftly handled, and even his standoffishness and emotional distance is given a solid foundation.
The novella, A Christmas Affair to Remember, is also very sweet, but not quite as sparkling and fun as A Wicked Kind of Husband. Which is not faint praise, by the way! They're both such excellent, sweet reads, and I can't wait to read more of Vincy's work. -
Wonderful set of romances!
Having received this bundle as an ARC from the author, I welcomed the opportunity to reread "A Wicked Kind of Husband." It's been four years since I read it the first time, and it was even more satisfying on the second read. In fact, I went back to read "A Dangerous Lady" first since it is set immediately before Joshua and Cassandra's story, even though it was released later. There's just no denying that Mia Vincy is one of the very best historical romance authors I've ever read.
The new romance for Joshua's younger brother, Isaac, "A Christmas Affair to Remember," is the perfect partner to Joshua's story, as it brings us up to date with most of the characters of the first book as well as being a dynamic, compelling love story all its own.
If you haven't read Mia Vincy's books yet, this is the perfect place to start. -
Bought this so I could read the novella about Joshua’s brother, Isaac. It did not disappoint! I love all her heroines! Sylvia being “older” (33) was refreshing and Isaac was sweet.
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Unfortunately the ratings only go up to 5 stars
