LOVER OF BOOKS

The Reluctant Husband by Eliot Grayson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I read by Eliot Grayson and I was thoroughly captivated. I read this as a stand-alone, not realizing there was a book 1 before it. I would recommend reading book 1 first, as the main character of the second book apparently was a bit of a cad in the first and by the time I realized this my heart was invested in the 'cad's' happiness.

The writing is both period and easy to follow along with. The universe is well thought out and the mythology that Grayson comes up with is really well done. If I had one complaint it would be that some of the secondary characters were left hanging so to speak, particularly the odious one that caused a certain event to happen. I was hoping to see him get his comeuppance. I would also have liked to see the MC's past be revealed to his husband, given how much it affected the story.

The main character and 'cad' Tom Drake is a disowned, soon to be divorced, rake and ne'er do well. Except he really isn't - a cad that is. He'd been taught to be ashamed of what he was, a man with the blessing of a very specific goddess. His past was what caused him to act like a cad, an attempt to run from the goddess and from what he'd been taught he was from a very early age. Sadly, it got him into a lot of hot water and now Tom was reaping the benefits from his past.

Down to his last guinea, the only thing Tom has left to barter is his body - and of course the person who wants him only seems to want him for his not so accurate reputation... until Malcolm Leighton sees the mark of the goddess upon Tom and realizes he could be of a different sort of use. For the blessing of the goddess - prosperity, good fortune and good health - automatically transfers to the family of the one blessed. Except Tom had pretty much done any and everything to earn her wrath, not her blessing. Not that Malcolm realizes that at the time, all he sees is a way to save his dying cousin by marrying Tom.

The goddess, however, doesn't believe in sham marriages and the two are forced to exist as a truly married couple in order for the blessing to work. But is it too late? And when Tom finally risks a heart that has been badly hurt and betrayed from the time he was a young child, will Malcolm see the man he truly is, or will he still continue to believe the mask that Tom has been forced to wear his entire life?

I definitely recommend this series, but do start with book 1 if you can :D

**This book was provided by LesCourt Author Services for an honest review**


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