The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband
3.5 Stars

Cecelia Harcourt travels to Colonial New York to care for her injured brother, but upon her arrival discovers that he is missing and his best friend, Edward Rokesby, is in a coma. Under the pretense of being his wife, Cecelia nurses Edward back to consciousness, but soon discovers that he has no memory. As Cecelia and Edward grow closer, Cecelia's dilemma increases. Should she tell him of her deception or keep it secret to discover what happened to her brother? Will Edward forgive her once he realizes the truth?

A well-written and engaging story, but the keeping secrets trope is annoying and undermines the romance for much of the book.

Cecelia's courage and devotion make her an admirable show more heroine, and the initial reasons for her deception are understandable. Nevertheless, her continued lying and attempts to conceal the truth are inexcusable, especially once she learns of her brother's fate.

Edward is a wonderful hero. Decent, caring and loyal, he does not deserve Cecelia's lies and Quinn is forced to work hard to redeem her heroine and create a satisfying romance. Although she is successful and the final chapters are lovely, it is all bittersweet due to Cecelia's actions throughout.

The mystery revolving around Thomas Harcourt's disappearance has the potential for exciting intrigue, but the eventual explanation is nonsensical and glossed over too easily and too quickly.

In sum, not Quinn's best work, but her writing is excellent and the letters at the beginning of each chapter are charming and go a long way to making Edward and Cecelia's relationship believable. Looking forward to the next installment in the Rokesbys series. show less

OH MY GOODNESS!! IT IS FINALLY HERE!! *major fan-girl moment* The prequel to the Bridgertons series (technically a Rokesbys book) is here!!; and if you couldn't understand me through all that nonsense before, the amazing Julia Quinn is back with a new book, and she manages to do what many fail to do! She has written an amazing prequel, to a equally amazing series!

From the beginning of The Girl with the Make-believe Husband, We find our heroine, doing something mighty brave, but also mighty foolish at the same time! After finding out her brother has been injured fighting in the colonies, Cecilia Harcourt was forced to make a hard decision, marry her cousin, and be in the clutches of her scheming aunt, or go search for her brother and his show more best friend in the new world...so she did what any sensible young miss would do! She left for the colonies, only to find it even more dire when she arrived! Her brother still missing and his best friend Edward Rokesby, unconscious! Trying to prevent a scandal, Cecilia claims she is Edwards wife, but luckily for her when Edward does come around, he's suffering from amnesia!...And I'm going to leave my recap there, so I don't give anymore details of the book away.

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband is a darling of a book, and though short (it is a prequel after all), you cannot help but fall in love with every single moment of it.

When you read the book, you cannot help but be blown away by the authors imagination and talent! Honestly, this one book has reaffirmed my love for the authors work, from the character's, to the plot, from taking me out of my comfort zone, and making me fall in love with a new world book, which is something I normally detest. The author has given me a teaser of a new series to fall in love with, while giving me a glimpse of the old series I simple adore.

I give The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband 5 stars! show less

The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband is the second book in the Bridgerton prequels, even though this book really has very little to do with the more famous Bridgertons. (You could also call it the second story about the Rokesbys, neighbours of the Bridgertons). This is a story with a difference to the other novels as it’s set almost entirely outside England in the USA. I felt this stifled the opportunity to catch up with the other characters we’d gotten to know in Because of Miss Bridgerton, but it’s still good fun.

Cecilia Harcourt has travelled from England to America after she receives word that her beloved brother has been injured. Their father has just died and Cecilia isn’t going to stick around when her slimy cousin has show more come to visit. On arrival, she can’t fine her brother Thomas but discovers his wounded best friend, Edward Rokesby. Conditions in the hospital are poor, and to make sure Edward receives the best care, Cecilia tells everyone that they are married. Luckily for her, Edward has lost his memory and they have corresponded through Thomas’s letters for some time. Here Cecilia’s lie grows bigger and bigger and Edward is perplexed that he can’t remember anything about her proposal or wedding. It’s lucky that both of them get along well and find each other attractive…but the truth will have to be told eventually…

I know some readers have found it difficult to get past Cecilia’s basing her entire relationship with Edward on a lie, when she had multiple opportunities to come clean. I didn’t find that, mainly because I feel that sometimes these stories are told tongue in cheek and it’s fiction anyway. While I liked both Cecilia and Edward as characters, I wouldn’t be fighting it out for either of them. They are both perfectly pleasant, but a little too straight and boring at times. (Although Cecilia does have a spectacular verbal stoush at the end of the novel with a stranger. I wish we had seen more of that fire a little earlier). It’s a nice novel, but without the burning passions in other Julia Quinn novels. It’s more about absurd situations and cute/shy moments as the newlyweds that aren’t learn to navigate each other. I think the lack of other substantial characters also gave this novel more of a narrow focus. I would have loved some subplots involving the other army officers or the baker’s wife. There were hints of spying and intrigue that would have been great to read more about too.

Overall, it’s not my favourite Julia Quinn novel but it does set things up very nicely for Andrew Rokesby’s story. Quinn’s novels can be relied on to provide a fun read and escapism, and I look forward to more.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less

LISTEN HERE, SON, I love Avon romances. Avon… They just get me, ya know? They’re so original and funny, and aware of their audience and… heck it, it’s just nice to be pandered to for once. I’ll read outside of my “cat-nip” just out of support because I’m so excited that Avon actually listens to what the modern romance reader wants to see more of. Even if it’s not my particular… Interest? Like all romance readers, I have my genre “cat-nip” (Regencies, Victorians, and Fantasy), and from there, there are sub-genres. I LOVE a good twist on an old troupe. I love something that seems absurd on paper but is written with genuine care and heart. (I’m always looking for a rec, so if you can think of any, drop a line!) show more But no one is here to hear me beat a dead horse that is “Let’s Defend Romance Novels!” It’s tiresome to have that conversation over and over, and if you’re already here, there’s a good chance I can spare you that conversation and just talk about the book.

The Girl With The Make-Beleive Husband hasn’t been out for more than a few months, and somehow it’s managed to become one of those books that I have three different copies of. That is: ebook, paperback, and audiobook. This was before I’d even gotten around to reading it and is a testament to A) how excited I was about it and B) how disorganized I am.

Now, I love a good Regency. I haven’t seen many that take place outside of England, so I thought a British Regency in Baby America was interesting. The Girl With The Make-Believe Husband is about Cecilia Harcourt, a girl who is stuck between options. Her ailing father has recently died, and her brother, a soldier fighting in the colonies, has gone missing. If she were to stay in England, her icky cousin would have to marry her. Not satisfied with this solution, she instead sails to America to find her brother, but instead finds herself in an awkward position where she must slip into a fiction – which is that she’s married to her brother’s best friend Edward Rokesby (whom she knows through letters), a handsome officer who is unconscious and needs her care. Upon his waking, Cecilia hems and haws about explaining the truth of the situation and just lets the falsehood ride out because Rokesby has lost some of his memory and can’t confirm or deny any of Cecilia’s claims.* Plus, it’s not like he hadn’t been attracted to her before he’d ever gotten the chance to meet her, or anything like that. It’s not like he Wouldn’t have married her, or anything like that. Not at all.

You know what? I was too hyped by this book and I still loved it. It wasn’t as funny as I’d have liked – I think I was hoping for some slapstick (I’m always looking for slapstick in the wrong situations). I thought Cecilia and Edward’s sneaky-sneaky “I know something You don’t know” was a perfect set up for some rom-com shenanigans, but the deceptions were actually pretty big and high-stakes. So maybe this wasn’t a rom-com at all. 😦
Whatever. The ending was perfect,** the story didn’t bore or annoy me, and the epilogue makes me think I really need to read the rest of the series, like, NOW.

* – This is Romancelandia, and this kind of contrived situation is totally fine and encouraged.
** – Though Mrs. Finch can go f*ck herself.

this review was originally posted on my blog, which you can find here show less

I'll admit I was probably predestined to love this book, just because it's 1) loosely based on While You Were Sleeping and 2) written by Julia Quinn. I am happy to report that even though 1) the story ends up very different from WYWS in a significant way and 2) some of Ms. Quinn's recent efforts haven't been my favorites (blasphemy, I know) I absolutely loved Cecelia and Edward's story.

Having the story take place in the colonies during the Revolutionary War was an interesting decision. I wasn't sure at first, what to make of a book in the Bridgerton universe that doesn't take place in England, but I can honestly say that once the story got going, I didn't miss London or the ton at all. Since Edward wasn't fit to fight for the bulk of show more the story and New York Town was under British control at the time, there wasn't a lot of war drama going on, but that's fine, because Cecelia and Edward brought their own drama to the table.

I loved the way Ms. Quinn used letters in this book--how Cecelia and Edward fell in love through them, and the way she used snippets of those to start each chapter. The ones that weren't received or weren't sent practically slayed me, and the two toward the end that were in there in full? Oh. My. Gosh. Reduced me to tears. In fact, the whole end of the novel was fantastic, full stop. I wanted to stop time right there and then and just bask in the perfectness of the moment as I got to the end.

(Except for the bit where she teases us about Andrew's story. Seriously, Ms. Quinn, are you trying to kill me here? How am I supposed to be able to wait patiently after that?)

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband (phew, that title's a mouthful) can absolutely work as a standalone, since its events occur concurrently with the first book in the series ( Because of Miss Bridgerton ) and Cecelia and Edward have no idea what's going on back home until the very end either. In some ways, it might even be better that readers don't realize a certain plot point that concerns book one until the end anyway ;)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book show less

Enjoyable, but problematic -- as per usual, Julia Quinn delivers with endearing characters on interesting adventures, and this is one of the first I've read that deals with the American Revolution from a redcoat perspective. Interesting! Both cool and original to set a regency romance in New York.

The frame for Edward and Cecelia's romance stretches credulity a bit -- Cecelia has traveled, solo, to America, in the early days of the revolutionary war, in order to find and care for her missing soldier brother. Through chance, she ends up finding his unconscious best friend in hospital instead, and claims to be his wife in order to care for the gentleman. This I find surprisingly possible. The amnesia and backstory of falling in love by show more letter are remarkably compelling. Cecelia's flat-out refusal to confess her impersonation to someone she purports to love? Pure dramatics, and frustrating dramatics at best. I get that if romance heroes/ines actually communicated with their partners the books would be a lot shorter, but my tolerance for internal agonizing over lies is rapidly diminishing. Sack up, Cecelia, and prove to be the strong heroine you seem to be elsewhere in the book.

advanced reader's copy provided by edelweiss. show less