Not quite a wife [electronic resource] / Mary Jo Putney.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Putney's endearing characters and warm-hearted stories never fail to inspire and delight." --Sabrina Jeffries

"No one writes historical romance better." --Cathy Maxwell

Marry in haste, repent at leisure.

James, Lord Kirkland, owns a shipping fleet, half a London gaming house, and is a ruthlessly effective spymaster. He is seldom self-indulgent. . .except when it comes to the gentle, indomitable beauty who was once his wife.

Laurel Herbert gave James her heart as an innocent young girl--until she saw him perform an act of shocking violence before her very eyes. That night she left her husband, and he let her go without a word of protest.

Now, ten years later, a chance encounter turns passionate, with consequences that cannot be ignored. But as they try to rebuild what was broken, they must face common enemies and a very uncommon love. . ..

"Of all Putney's heroes, the Lost Lords are the most irresistible--bad boys who are so very good." -- RT Book Reviews

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Starred Review. Ten years ago, teenager Laurel Herbert and James, Lord Kirkland, fell hopelessly in love and married after a whirlwind courtship only to separate soon after owing to opposing values. Now, because of a chance mugging and a brief, passionate interlude, they are back in each other's lives attempting a civilized rapprochement all for the sake of an unplanned baby. But their paths have taken new turns, and Laurel's work with abused women and children, while sometimes dangerous, is too important to give up, but can it be reconciled with her situation as James's countess? VERDICT A deeply caring, capable heroine who struggles with her feelings about violence and a ruthless, protective spymaster hero with a well-honed sense of justice gradually work through their differences to find common ground in this provocative, penetrating romance. Undeniable passion wars with clashing views on right and wrong in another memorable masterpiece from one of the genre's best. Gorgeously done. Putney (Sometimes a Rogue) lives in Baltimore. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

The last person in the world Laurel Herbert expects to find in her brother's infirmary is her husband, James Kirkland. Ten years ago, right after their honeymoon, Laurel left James when she saw him murder a man in cold blood. Laurel spent the next decade helping her physician brother run the Herbert Infirmary in Bristol. So, of course, when two dock workers bring a badly beaten man in late one night, Laurel begins tending his wounds, only to get the shock of her life when she discovers the identity of her new patient. Laurel is prepared to let James stay, but she is totally unprepared for what transpires between them. RITA Award-winning Putney (Sometimes a Rogue, 2013) continues her Lost Lords series with a superbly written historical Regency that borrows a classic romance story line and imbues it with all the elements her readers love: simmering sensuality, subtle wit, a surfeit of danger, and a sophisticated flair for characterization.--Charles, John Copyright 2014 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

An estranged couple is brought together by fate and tries to make a go of it again, but the tensions that drove them apart still exist, and unbeknownst to them, they have a shadowy, malevolent enemy, too. Ten years ago, James, Lord Kirkland, and Laurel Herbert tumbled into love and marriage with lightning speed, but things fell apart in one violent moment before their first anniversary. Leaving her aristocratic husband also created a rift with her parents, and with nowhere else to go, Laurel moved in with her brother, Daniel. Together, the siblings used the allowance James granted her to fund Daniel's medical education, then opened a clinic and a shelter for women and children in a poor Bristol neighborhood. Now, fate will intercede when James is in Bristol on business and, weakened by a bout of malaria, is set upon by thieves. Bloody and unconscious, he's brought to the clinic, where Laurel treats himand can't quite bring herself to stop him when, in a dreamlike hallucination, he reaches out to her sexually. The next day, Laurel lets him leave, oblivious to their lovemaking, but must revisit the situation when she learns she's pregnant. James is unwilling to abandon his child, and the two reconcile. Working on old grievances, misunderstandings and secret yearnings, they begin to believe in their love again; however, just as happiness is in sight, Laurel is attacked by a new enemy made when she stood up for a vulnerable victim, and James must turn to his closest friends to save the brave, principled wife he knows he can't live without. Putney continues her Lost Lords series with two passionate lovers who are convinced love can't save the day; she then forces them to mine their own vulnerabilities before they can truly be happy with each other. Elegant and tender; a compelling sweep of romance and adventure with a gratifying undertone of social justice elements. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Romance writer Mary Jo Putney was born in New York and graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in English literature and Industrial design. She served as the art editor of The New Internationalist magazine in London and worked as a designer in California before settling in Baltimore, Maryland in 1980 to run her own freelance graphic design business Her first novel was a traditional Regency romance, which sold in one week. Signet liked the novel so much that it offered Putney a three-book contract. In 1987 that first novel, The Diabolical Baron, was published. Since then, she has published more than twenty-nine books. Her books have been ranked on the national bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. Most of her books have been historical romance. She has also begun writing fantasy romance and romantic fantasy. Putney has won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award twice, for Dancing on the Wind and The Rake and the Reformer and has been a RITA finalist nine times. She is on the Romance Writers of America Honor Roll for bestselling authors, and has been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards and four Golden Leaf Awards. Her titles include: Dark Mirror, Dark Passage, No Longer a Gentleman, Never Less than a Lady, and Nowhere Near Respectable.

(Bowker Author Biography)