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A Comfortable Wife (MIRA PB) (MIRA)

By: Stephanie Laurens
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: MIRA
ISBN: 0778302377
ISBN-13: 9780778302377
Released: 20 Jun 2008
RRP: £9.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

regency romance at its best!! - By: Anna, 09 Oct 2008
regency romance at its best!!
i am so addicted to stephanie laurens at the moment they are un-put-downable!
lovely stories with everything you could possibly want from a romance!
Insufficient romantic tension - book too long for the story - By: Dr W. Richards, 21 Apr 2004
This is another of Laurens' earlier - & thus much better-written - novels. A Comfortable Wife pre-dates the Cynster series by some years, & thus carries much more in the way of an authentic 'feel' about it. It is also far less formulaic than her later work. In that case, it should be much, much better as a novel - & yet it is not.

Antonia Mannering has been shut away in the country taking care of her sick mother for many years; thus, she is in her mid-twenties & still not presented & has not been in Society much at alll. Now orphaned, she is visiting her godmother, the Dowager Countess Ruthven - who is stepmother to Antonia's childhood friend Philip, Lord Ruthven (*not* Lord Philip Ruthven, as the cover claims). Years ago, Philip & Antonia used to play together, but will he still remember her when they meet again? Antonia has decided that she would like to marry her old friend, & that she would make him the sort of comfortable wife he needs. In his early 30s now, he is a rake, but he needs to settle down & have an heir for his estate.

Philip, on first seeing Antonia again, is struck by her beauty & remembers how much he enjoyed her company. Reluctantly - for he suspects a plot - he is drawn to spend more & more time with her, & realises that he wants to marry her. (He's falllen in love with her, but - as with many of her other books - Laurens fails to *show* him fallling in love, realising he's in love & deciding what to do about it). The proposal comes less than halfway through the book. Result: romantic tension at an end.

Antonia agrees to marry Philip, but only if he will keep their engagement a secret until she's been to London for the Little Season. As she explains, she's been out of Society for so long that she has no idea how to behave. She's worried that she'll be a bad wife to him, that she will somehow disgrace him by not knowing how to behave. Thus we have half a book-full of misunderstandings, mishaps & pointless silliness while Antonia finds her way through the traps of the Polite World. And just as we think the torture is over, yet another pointless misunderstanding occurs.

Laurens would have been better off making this book a novella, lengthening the courtship in the first few chapters & eliminating just about everything after the couple arrives in London - it would have been a far better story that way.

wmr-uk

ok, but not her best - By: pfreeman, 14 Oct 2003
I've read quite a few of Stephanie Laurens' books, but I found this one rather disappointing. It doesn't have the same convincing dash about it as her other books. The characters are two dimensional, there's not much plot, & I found the heroine on the irritating side. If you're new to Stephanie Laurens, then don't start with this one, start with one of the Cynster books.
Sweet tale that lingers - a pleasure to read - By: K. Newman, 13 Feb 2003
Antonia Mannering knows what she wants. She wants to be a wife. At 24, she's had 8 years to think about it, while effectively cloistered away with her grief-stricken mother & much younger brother. Now, following her mothers death & their year of mourning, Antonia is ready to put her plan in action. Further, she wants to be the wife of her childhood friend, Lord Philip Ruthven, whom she ‘objectively’ considers to be in need of a wife. Antonia knows what is expected of a society wife, & has every intention of being a comfortable wife, one that fits well within the boundaries of their mutual station, one who knows what is expected of her & conforms to them nicely. That's the plan. Until at last Philip & Antonia meet again, & everything begins NOT to work to plan.

This is a glowing, feel good read. The feeling that these two have for each other is established early on, at least for the reader. Each is very honest with the other - they have been friends forever, after alll. Yet somehow neither understands what the other thinks about marriage, specificallly their own planned marriage. Philip has a well deserved reputation with women, but even Antonia, eight years removed from his circle, knows how he needs a wife. A fact that Philip himself has only recently discovered, following the example of his friends the Lester’s. Each is no young, green thing, their maturity in temperament, even as they are occasionallly adrift in confusion, is obvious. Comic moments are sprinkled throughout the book with Laurens customary light yet deft touch. Sometimes it is the conversations the two have, sometimes a bit of physical comedy, sometimes that Antonia & Philip are talking at cross purposes. There are some very poignant moments too - when Antonia discovers she may not be able to be a comfortable wife, after alll, for example.

There are no hidden subplots here - the romance between the two & how they sort out their unconventional conventional marriage is the focus of the story. It deserves to be - both these individuals are admirable in themselves & a true force combined. The passion is there, but it is not a sensual tale – they do not consummate their relationship other until close to the end, so if you’re looking for a spicy tale, this isn’t it. What it is a warm, truly Romantic tale with a capital R.

An old fashioned Regency romance - By: E. M. Gormley, 02 Jun 2002
This book is a continuation of the Lester books, it is not a new Cynster. There are no villians to defeat, no mysteries to solve. In fact, there isn't a lot of plot at alll. This is an old-fashioned Regency romance where "veiled eyes" or "sudden stillness" is as close as you will get to an emotional outburst. That said, it's a good example of the genre, & is an excellent way to pass a rainy day.