A Companion for Life

by Cari Hislop

Miss Lily Leigh’s life is like a badly written fairytale. The fat younger sister is pretty, but her parents only have enough love and money for the beautiful older sister. When her parents die she’s denied an inheritance and enslaved to Rosamund, her heartless older sister, without a hope of being rescued. After more than a decade of pain and humiliation, the only thing that keeps her from throwing herself into the Thames is the possibility that one day she’ll catch another glimpse of Mr Penryth Bowen, the man her sister jilted eighteen years ago.

When her spoilt niece, Grace, wins the heart of William, Mr Bowen’s nephew and ward, Lily’s life momentarily brightens as the man who unknowingly owns her heart comes to call. Watching him from the shadows, she’s overwhelmed by the beautiful man’s kindness. But when Mr Bowen refuses to give his permission for an immediate wedding Lily knows her sister will blame her. A vicious beating is followed by the humiliation of being sent to beg Mr Bowen to allow the wedding in return for the chance of bedding Rosamund. Mr Bowen accepts the offer and Lily returns home wishing she was dead.

Mr Penryth Bowen is aware that Lily is in dire need of rescue, but his chivalrous impulses are hampered by an irrational desire for the woman. Her fleeting adoring glances cause a strange warmth in his chest while the thought of exploring her ample curves heat his blood to a pleasant simmer. He knows if he makes her a part of his life in some way he’ll be tempted to make her smile, tempted to give into his baser desires. He’s undecided until he discovers Lily has been battered black and blue. Penryth’s impulsive decision will change his life, but true kindness is a condition that requires self knowledge of one’s motives and an understanding that even well meant actions can have unforeseen consequences that are anything, but kind.

Nook

First published July 24, 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

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something very different to the standard historical romance stories. Lily is a doormat, abused and misused for years by her family. She is truly saved by the hero Penryth. A misunderstanding between them is to a degree amusing, but could have been ended earlier. I looked forward to continue reading, curious of how their story would progress. I only regret not getting around to reading this earlier after it's being years in my library. The epilogue set a few years later provided an unexpected twist.
A few typos, mostly misplaced quotation marks, but nothing distracting.

[KitCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but too many errors

Lovely story - sweet and funny - but let down by too many errors which could have been corrected by a proofreader eg. Spe!lings, missing or misplaced speech marks, heroines name being spelt Lily and Lilly.

[Leena Aluru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another's gem by Ms. Hislop. Its amazing how he accepts her weight.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun historical romp of insta love and unrequited love. Lots of shenanigans and romance and two epilogues.