Rating: 
Summary: YAWN!
Review: This is the first Victoria Alexander book I've ever made it through - and believe me it was a struggle. The plot was okay and the characters were okay but that's about the best I can say about it - just okay. I thought the dialog was too modern and the explanations given by certain characters to explain their behavior were [weak]. It seemed to me that these [weak] excuses were inserted to give the story a more suspenseful edge to it, but overall I thought they were silly. I couldn't believe how oh so insightful the hero, Marcus Holcroft was. Ladies! We all know how dense men can be but Marcus H. seemed to always know what was going on in Gwendolyn's mind. If you are a fan, I know I won't change your mind, but if you are new to Victoria Alexander books, you may want to borrow her books from a library instead of buying them.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: This is the third Victoria Alexander book I've tried to read, and by now I should have realized that buying one of her books would be a waste of my time and money. I keep trying to be optimistic about her, but this book finally sealed the deal. No more Victoria Alexander for me. All her books are so formulaic and cookie cutter. It seems I've read all these words before. I could barely make it to the midway point. Her male protagonist, Marcus Holcroft, is a dull bore. There's nothing exciting even lurking in his past. Gwendolyn Townsend, our female protagonist, is slightly more interesting. But, the plot just didn't keep my attention. And, most importantly, Ms. Alexander needs to take a college course on how to write dialogue. Very ho-hum. The main characters might have kept my interest more if they had some snappy dialogue. All in all, very disappointing. Don't bother spending the money.
Rating: 
Summary: good read in spite of heroine's exasperating behaviour
Review: Worried about the current trend amongst the younger (and single) ladies and gentlemen of the ton not to marry soon enough to please their respective mothers, the matriarchs of the ton have banded together to form THE LADIES' SOCIETY FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE FUTURE OF BRITAIN -- the main objective being to marry of these stubborn children as soon as possible but to do so in so subtle and devious a manner that they will not realize just how skillfully they have been manipulated into marriage. The very first "victims?" Miss Gwendolyn Townsend (the younger daughter of profligate nobleman) and Marcus, the Earl of Pennington. When her father died leaving her penniless, alone and without a home, Miss Gwendolyn Townsend fended for herself by taking off for America in order to become a governess. The decision proved to be a disastrous one as Gwendolyn seemed to possess neither the inclination nor temperament to be a truly successful governess. So that when (some years later) she receives a letter from her father's solicitor summoning her home, she eagerly complies, hoping but never really expecting the news awaiting her. For there is a small bequest for her as well as a marriage proposal -- apparently her father and the previous Earl of Pennington had agreed to a match between Gwendolyn and the earl's son and heir, Marcus. But if Gwendolyn is stunned by the turn of events, her reaction is nothing compared to Marcus's who is told that unless he marries Gwendolyn before his thirtieth birthday (in a few months), he will loose all his fortune and estate. For a responsible landlord such as Marcus, such news is horrific. Especially so when he meets Gwendolyn and discovers that she has no intention of honouring the arrangement that their fathers' had wrought. A lifetime spent feeling unloved by her father because she was not the much awaited male heir, coupled with her sad experience as a governess has given Gwendolyn a complete distrust of men, and a reluctance to place herself under any male thumb. But then Gwendolyn discovers that her elder sister is dead and that she has three nieces to care for. (No big plot spoiler here, this info is readily available in the first chapter.) And that in order to secure their future, it would help if she was married. Now Gwendolyn has a dilemma on her hands. How to get Marcus to agree to marry her, after she had already rebuffed him, and to get him to agree to let her nieces live with them, when a casual remark he made has led her to believe that he doesn't hold girls in very high esteem? "Love with the Proper Husband" is the very first Victoria Alexander novel that I've been able to read from beginning to end. On the whole, while I was not too enamoured with the heroine's behaviour, I'd still vote "Love with the Proper Husband" as a pleasant read. There were many things to like about this novel: some of the dialogue is really humourous and witty; the hero, Marcus, is quite a gem; and I loved the three nieces. Unfortunately, Gwendolyn, while I understood why she had so many hang-ups, and why she was so leery to trust Marcus, ultimately proved not to be a heroine worthy of the hero. Marcus is patient, understanding and very loving towards his prickly wife, who unfortunately, keeps refusing to trust him fully, and who keeps compounding her mistakes by making one bad decision after another. Yet, in spite of my disappointment in Gwendolyn, I did rather enjoy "Love with the Proper Husband" and would still rate it as a worthy read.
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