The Earl Claims His Wife (Scandals and Seductions #2)

Gillian was a ridiculous character in the way she so easily accepted Brian back, forgiving him time and again. Brian was a jerk, falling back on his “manly pride,” to avoid his responsibility to Gillian and how he used her over and over again. I never felt his love for her and hers for him was sappy. Jess was a two dimensional character as was his father. This is the second book of Maxwell’s I have read. The other was only slightly better.

In the 1800s, Colonel Brian Ranson was away fighting the war in France, when he learned that his two older brothers died from a misfortunate accident, leaving Brian as his father\’s next heir to the title \”Earl of Wright.\” His father was the marquess Atherton. The Colonel was ordered to return to England to claim his title. When Brian came back home to his father\’s estate, his wife Lady Gillian Wright wasn\’t there. She moved back into the country to be with her cousin, the Duke of Holburn and her Aunt. While she was living at her cousin estate, the Spanish Baron Andres Ramigio and Lady Gillian Wright had fallen in love. He had been taking care of the horses at the estate. Lady Gillian Wright hadn\’t seen her husband in four years. At the beginning of the book, it was very hard to like the heroine Lady Gillian Wright. She was a very stubborn hard-liner. Gillian didn\’t know what she wanted; she was so mixed up and immature. She was accustomed to the rules of a lady of the ton which she simply ignored, and carried on with the Baron. Gillian told the Baron before she left for London to be with her husband, that she would talk to Brian about a divorce. When Brian Ranson came back from the war, he had changed. He lost many of his soldiers on the battlefield. The war made him think about the wife he left behind. He isn\’t the same person that Lady Gillian Wright remembers. He matured and his family is now very important to him. His life was all upside down when he returned to England. He lost two brothers who were in line for the title. Brian was stunned that he is the next heir to the estates. When Brian married Gillian, he had a mistress whom he had grown up with in the country. His father wouldn\’t allow him to married Jess, a dairy maid. His father, the marquess, made the arrangements for Brian to married Gillian, a young lady from the upper class. When Brian left for France to fight the Napoleon war, Jess his mistress, made a pass at Brian\’s father. Jess, as a result of her affair with the marquess, had a baby just before Brian came home from the war. They didn\’t want the baby and farmed him out where the baby was neglected and was mistreated. The servants informed Brian what Jess had done to the baby. Brian didn\’t tell Gillian that Jess and his father had a child. He went looking for the baby who was in a closet at the parish poorhouse crying his eyes out. The baby was so sick that Brian wasn\’t sure if he would live. When Brian and Gillian arrived in London at their home and Gillian heard a baby crying. She thought the worse. Gillian agreed to help save the baby and help Brian to get a position in the War Office, with the understanding that after thirty-days she wants her freedom. The Earl Claims his Wife was a boring story. I felt sorry for Brian, the main character. He was young when he was forced to married Gillian. His father, the marquess of Atherton, was a master in need to be in control. Brian was changing during the years away at war and Gillian is part of that change. He had made a mistake by not appreciating what he had found in Gillian. The coach ride to London, Brian told Gillian that he wanted to start fresh and they repeated their vows. Gillian was happy until she heard the baby crying. I thought that she was playing the martyr role throughout the book, until the last chapter. That role by the main heroine did not endear me to her.

Language awkward, characters shallow. Not up to previous standards. Deadlines too short perhaps? Missed the laughter in previous books. Good editor needed!

What a disappointing book! It started off so well and then fizzled to a tale wherein the heroine remains a doormat and forgives the Hero way too quickly and too soon, and in which the Hero remains selfish and doesn\’t seem to have grown at all by the end. After his behavior, I expected a good heartfelt grovel at least, but the spineless heroine doesn\’t even make him work to get back into her bed. If there was any real emotional connection between H/h I didn\’t feel it and soon started to feel pretty indifferent to both of them. This was an overall disappointment and a waste of a potentially great plot.

I gave this book a four star rating because it lacked an epilogue however I would recommend this book to all romantic readers because it had most of the elements of a good read.

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