“Country woman seeks quiet, well-behaved and domesticated single male without close ties, 25-50, for short-term live-in employment. Absolute confidentiality guaranteed. No time-wasters, please.”

The Vengeful Husband is the second installment in The Husband Hunters series by Lynne Graham. It is rather obvious that having finished reading Married to the Mistress, the first book in the series, I just had to indulge myself in the rest.

First published in December of 1998, told in the third person from the point of view of both lead protagonists, this is the story of Darcy Fielding, one of the three goddaughters of Nancy Leeward for whom she leaves her estate behind on the condition that her goddaughters get married within the year and maintain the marriage at least for a period of six months.

Darcy, a single mother by then, responsible for her crumbling family estate which had been with the family for over four hundred years is in dire financial straits. Little does she know that the man she spent one passionate night with in Venice, 31 years old Gianluca Fabrizio Raffacani (Luca) has been trying to find her since, believing that she stole from him a very important family heirloom.

As luck would have it, Darcy who views herself as too plain to attract a potential husband, and who simply does not have time to find someone in the conventional manner plans to fulfill the condition of her godmother’s by advertising for one, something that plays along nicely with Luca’s plans.

Luca does not hold a very favorable opinion of Darcy when he finds her. However that does not make a hypocrite out of him to lie to himself about how much Darcy affects him unlike any other woman he has met before or since. Once the knot is tied, all bets are off, and thus starts the crazy journey these two embark on to their ultimate happily ever after.

This was just as fun and angsty in the good way kind of read as the first book was, with Darcy acting in the belief that someone like Luca would not find a plain woman like herself appealing on any level. Darcy suffers from low self esteem, owing mostly to her childhood, with a father who wanted a son that he never got to have, with a step mother who had been vicious to no end. The final nail in the coffin had been when Darcy’s fiance jilted her, which led to the encounter with Luca years back.

Luca is at first determined to get his family heirloom back, but he is not immune to Darcy’s appeal that had spellbound him the very first time they met. Needless to say there is drama of the variety that keeps the pages turning, sexual tension of the kind that is sharp and tangible and makes you sigh and moon over the perfection of their union, and love of the kind that neither wants to admit to, for fear that the other would not feel the same.

I had a slight problem with Daisy for keeping a certain “secret” to herself for the better part of the novel which lowered the rating from what it could have been otherwise. I guess I should not judge unless I have walked in her shoes, but I always find it a bit uncomfortable when female protagonists tend to lie or tell half truths about having conceived a child with the hero (unless they are abusive men who do not deserve to traumatize their child) – they have a right to know and what they choose to do with that knowledge is up to them.

Recommended for fans of the series, fans of combustible category romances, and fans of Lynne Graham.

Final Verdict: The Vengeful Husband delivers a myriad of emotions of the kind that leaves the reader satisfied on all counts. Lynne Graham is a master storyteller for that very reason!

Favorite Quotes

‘You burned me alive,’ Luca whispered mesmerically. ‘And you’re going to do that for me again…and again…and again until I don’t want you any more…is that understood?’

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | HQ | Apple