The Hired Wife

by Cari Hislop

A Regency Romance. Marshall Godfrey the 8th Viscount Raynham needs a wife, but all efforts to acquire one through normal channels have failed. Time has run out. His twin sisters are being launched into society, but he can only hear sounds close by. He plans to hire a woman to hover at his shoulder and repeat into his ear what people are saying, but he can't take a secretary into polite society.

Genres: Regency

Nook

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

I’m an American married to an adorable English Goblin. I’m an artist with a degree in fashion design, but I’ve always been a story teller. Stories are everywhere; in every scent, every glimpse out of the corner of the eye. The most magical moments of my life have been born of ‘what if?’.

I’ve been making up stories as long as I can remember. At ten I started writing (it was a romance – the girl’s parents are killed by a plane falling on their house so of course she moves to England. Don’t ask me where she got the money or the passport!). I knew I was going to grow up to be an author! All my artistic talents (portrait artist, sculptor, illustrator) converge on my favorite subject; people. I find both individuals and general humanity endlessly fascinating.

Reviews

[Leena Aluru · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. They adjust so well with each other. Mary's acceptance of her husband's poor hearing is commendable. The extreme evil displayed by his friend is scary. I didn't expect it.
Loved our hero's sweet gesture of reading out love poems to his wife

[Esbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A flawed hero, determined to do his duty. A smart heroine doing her best to survive. A dozen other characters who are just as memorable and have their own stories. Cari Hislop paints regency romances beautifully.

The leading pair is so easy to fall in love with. You want them to quickly get to confessing their love for each other even when you greedily devour their angst on page. There aren't any simpering misses (Hislop hasn't written one so far), and there aren't any too good to be true characters either.

The source of angst is rather obvious given the premise of the story but the author doesn't let it get cliched. Far from it.

The other characters too are able to draw your sympathy and if you haven't read it then yes many of them get their own separate stories so go and hunt the bookshelves.

I admit that the - lets call them negative characters- so the negative characters did leave a bad taste and I truly hated two and despaired over the other. But I suppose thats the beauty of fiction. You get to see characters in black and white unlike real life and hence can give way to righteous indignation. Hislop does a remarkable job of making you feel for her characters. Also, the tragic bits really hurt. And one ends up wishing it hadn't happened that way.

Overall a great read and definitely must do for lovers of regency romances.

[Facemaker01 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh....Marshall Godfrey and Mary Donne (or as Marshall calls her, Merry!) They would have to be the sweetest couple I have had the pleasure to read about. Marshall is a Viscount, but is hard of hearing, plain looking and still single at 43 years. In a desparate bid to learn about women and make a final bid to nab the perfect wife, he places an advertisment for someone to spend time with him and act as a pair of ears whilst he sends his half sisters out in Society to secure husbands. The idea is to have a 'temporary wife' for 12 months to learn about women and then have the marriage annulled so he can confidently secure his ideal wife. Mary Donne, a Vicar's daughter applies for the position as she is desperate, hungry and needs to find work. Her father is deceased and she is currently living in the attic of the vicarage. Naturally, Marshall's plans are all awry as he doesn't count on falling in love! Their tendency for kisses and lots of them is quite endearing. Of all Cari Hislop's novels, this is my favourite. It is well written and in typical Hislop style, there is a quirkiness and silliness which can be quite endearing. The villian is particularly loathesome, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever....Supporting characters are cute and the Smirkes make an appearance as well. Sir Peter Smirke is introduced and his story is a great follow-up.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this twist on the matrimonial advertisement theme, where marriage is not mentioned in the advertisement. At times Marshall's loud behavior is a bit cringe worthy, romp-like. Then there is Mary's destitute status for some Gothic feel in the beginning.
This is the first I've read by the author and will add more. A bit of basic proofreading would not be amiss, e. g. Lord Morley is first a marquis, then Earl.