Sylvia Day, The Stranger I Married

The Stranger I Married

Sylvia Day

Kensington Brava, Jan 2007, $14.00

ISBN: 075821474X

In 1815 Lady Isabel Pelham and Lord Gerard Faulkner agree on a marriage of convenience as friends in which they can continue to pursue their "outside interests". She would remain Markham's mistress and he would continue to dally with Lady Sinclair, who carries his offspring. Months later he learns from his nasty mother that his beloved Emily died giving birth to his stillborn offspring. Shocked as he loved the married Emily, Gerald flees England.

Four years later, Gerard returns to London no longer the carefree youth who enjoyed scandal. Instead he is gloomy and demanding. He informs his wife that he wants a real marriage with her. Stunned Pel prefers her freedom though his kisses are like none she ever tasted before. As Gerard seduces his wife with rough sexual encounters, they fall in love; but neither will hand the power of that emotion to the other because trust outside of the bedroom remains lacking in their relationship.

This is a fresh and very interesting regency romance that focuses on an older woman with a younger man scandalizing society when they married and more so when they fall in love. As a warning the hardball sex is graphic though well written and a major segment of the relationship that develops between this likable lead three dimensional (in and out of the boudoir) couple involves exploring sex. Sylvia Day spices up the sub-genre with her hot The Stranger I Married historical relationship drama.

Harriet Klausner