 First edition cover | |
| Author | Sherry Thomas |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical romance |
| Published | 2009 (Bantam) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 341 |
| ISBN | 9780553592436 |
Not Quite a Husband is a historical romance novel by Sherry Thomas. It won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Historical Romance in 2010. [1]
The novel starts the summer of 1897, three years after a married couple, Bryony Asquith and Leo Marsden, have been estranged. Dr. Asquith is required at her home in England, and her family has asked her husband to retrieve her at her clinic in the Rumbur valley of the Chitral District in what was then the northwest frontier of India.
In the course of their journey to return to England, they are caught up in a revolt against the British and seek refuge in the fort at Chakdarra and participate in defending the fort during the Siege of Malakand. During the course of their journey home, they reconcile the differences that had kept them apart.
Not Quite a Husband won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Historical Romance in 2010. [1] Romantic Times named it as one of the Innovative Historical Romance nominees for 2009. In a review, they said, "Thomas has quickly become a fan favorite thanks to her wonderful storytelling and her unique ability to get into her characters' minds and our hearts. Her prose has a musical quality that flows effortlessly and lures the reader into the beauty of her words as well as her story. Then add diverse plotlines, engaging characters, depth of emotion and a sweeping romance -- what more could you desire? [2]
All About Romance said it "has everything I want from a romance... Delightful but flawed characters I love and can identify with, luscious prose, an interesting setting, and a romance that touches my heart. I can't recommend it enough." [3]
A reviewer at Dear Author likened her first three novels to Laura Kinsale, with this one having "echoes of the best of Mary Balogh, as well – not just in the ability to evoke emotion with slightly sensationalistic plot points but in some sentimental family reunions towards the end". She went on to give it a rare A citing its gorgeous prose, though she did feel it lacked the sophistication of Thomas's first two books. [4] However, Jane Litte at the same site gave it B− and while noting its rich, evocative prose, she felt the motivation behind the reconciliation was lacking, as was any admission by the heroine of her own culpability. [5]
Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."
Ann Radcliffe was an English novelist and a pioneer of Gothic fiction. Her technique of explaining apparently supernatural elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for Gothic fiction in the 1790s. Radcliffe was the most popular writer of her day and almost universally admired; contemporary critics called her the mighty enchantress and the Shakespeare of romance-writers, and her popularity continued through the 19th century. Interest in Radcliffe and her work has revived in the early 21st century, with the publication of three biographies.
Julia Pottinger, better known by her pen name, Julia Quinn, is an American author of historical romance fiction. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages and have appeared on The New York Times Bestseller List 19 times. She has been inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her Bridgerton series of novels has been adapted for Netflix by Shondaland under the title Bridgerton.
Nora Roberts is an American author of over 225 romance novels. She writes as J. D. Robb, Jill March, and Sarah Hardesty.
Twilight is a 2005 young adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book in the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington. She is endangered after falling in love with Edward Cullen, a 103-year-old vampire frozen in his 17-year-old body. Additional novels in the series are New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.
Lisa Kleypas is an American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. In 1985, she was named Miss Massachusetts 1985 and competed in the Miss America 1986 pageant in Atlantic City.
Jodi Thomas is the pen name of Jodi Koumalats, an American author of historical romance novels, most of which are set in Texas. In 2006, she was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
Carla Sue Kelly is an American writer in the Regency romance genre. She is the author of over forty books and short stories. Her books are what romance readers call "keepers," i.e. books they keep in their private collections, and accordingly they can be hard to find. Renowned for what she calls "dukeless" regencies, her stories often revolve around ordinary people solving their own problems. While many Regency romances feature soldiers returned from the Napoleonic Wars, several of Kelly's books include soldiers and sailors actively involved in the Peninsular campaign and in the naval blockade that prevented France from invading England, bringing this war to life in an unforgettable way. However, her regencies only reflect a part of her writing interests. She also has a strong interest in the American West, which is reflected in her earliest published works and in her non-fiction. Since 2011, Kelly, who has a Mormon background, has written four historical romance novels that focus on the lives of young Mormon women: Borrowed Light, Enduring Light, My Loving Vigil Keeping, and Safe Passage.
Jeffrey McClanahan is an American novelist from Texas who writes with her sister, Pam Cumbie, under the joint pen name of Dixie Cash. McClanahan is also an “award-winning author of six western romance novels under the name of Anna Jeffrey.” For her 2009 novel, McClanahan has taken on a third pseudonym, Sadie Callahan.
Tessa Dare is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling American historical romance novelist. She has authored fifteen novels and novellas and created five different series. In 2012, she won the Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best Regency Historical Romance for her book A Night to Surrender.
The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever is a historical romance novel written by Julia Quinn. It won the 2008 RITA Award for Best Regency Historical Romance and was nominated for Romantic Times 2007 Historical Romance of the Year. The novel reached number 3 on the New York Times Bestseller List and number 4 on the USA Today bestseller list.
On the Way to the Wedding is a 2006 historical romance written by Julia Quinn, published by Avon. It is the eighth and final novel of Quinn's Bridgerton series set in Regency England and tells the story of Gregory, the youngest male Bridgerton sibling.
A Night to Surrender is a Regency romance written by Tessa Dare and published in 2011. It won a RITA Award for Best Regency Historical Romance and the 2011 Romantic Times award for Historical Love and Laughter.
Jane Porter is an American author of contemporary romance and women's fiction. She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over forty-five titles, with over 12 million books in print, in 20 languages and in 25 countries. Her novel Flirting with Forty was made into the Lifetime movie of the same name starring Heather Locklear. In 2014, she received the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Romance Novella for Take Me, Cowboy.
Linda Goodnight is an American author of inspirational romance, contemporary romance and women's fiction. In 2008, she received the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance for her novel A Touch of Grace.
Sherry M. Thomas is an American novelist of young adult fantasy, historical romance, and contemporary romance. She has won multiple awards including the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Historical Romance for Not Quite a Husband in 2010 and His at Night in 2011.
Lorraine Heath is an American author of contemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance and young adult novels under multiple pen names, including Rachel Hawthorne, J.A. London, and Jade Parker. She is known for her "beautiful, deeply emotional romances" and in 1997, she received the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Short Historical Romance for her novel Always to Remember. As of June 2015, fifteen of her titles made the USA Today bestseller list.
Delicious is a historical romance by Sherry Thomas.
The Luckiest Lady in London is a historical romance novel by Sherry Thomas.
Lord of Scoundrels is a Regency romance novel by American author Loretta Chase. Published in 1995 by Avon Books, it is the third installment of her Débauchés series. Set in 1828, the story follows the Marquess of Dain, an aristocrat known as "Lord Beelzebub" and the "Lord of Scoundrels" for his unscrupulous, immoral behavior. The son of an English father and Italian mother, Dain is hardened due to a difficult childhood and meets his match in Jessica Trent, a 27-year-old bluestocking more than capable of trading wits with him.