The Lord Next Door

by Gayle Callen

Book Overview

The handsome, deceiving lord was not the man Victoria believed him to be, but Victoria must wed-immediately To rescue her family from financial ruin, lovely Victoria Shelby has no choice but to marry.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060784113
• ISBN13: 9780060784119
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

A Coming of Age book

I could not put this book down. I instantly loved Victoria because here was a girl who struggled her whole life with shyness and awkwardness, who was most at home when endeavoring in the arts and writing. When her father committed suicide after the downfall of the family finances, she and her sisters were forced to grow up overnight, and become very practical. And for Victoria, that meant accepting marriage to a childhood penpal who was her next door neighbor, who was also a viscount. As a wife, for the sake of her new husband and a household, she began to overcome each of her personal faults and insecurities and blossoom into an intelligent, kind, and bold woman who did what was necessary to bring peace to her husband's house, to reintroduce her husband's tarnished name into respectable society, and to draw her husband out of his own harrowing past. There was not villain to speak of, it was simply a coming of age story for the heroine, who you come to respect and honor. Her relationship with David grew stronger with every turn of the page. Both had established a connection as children that they both didn't know was that powerful until they finally realized they had fallen in love. David was an ambitious investor and politician, who was passive in the marriage at first, until he was surprised that he couldn't keep his mind off his new wife. He respected her virginity, and every night he would touch her more and more intimately, until several encounters later, they finally consummated their marriage long after the exchange of vows. But I enjoyed the extended foreplay, and found myself wondering how far the next encounter would go. In the end, he found that the marriage of convenience had become much more. David has the kind of wife every man would dream of. She was encouraging, supportive, interested, and available. And he respected all her requests and was sensitive to her needs. So where's the conflict that drives a story? It all dwells on each of the two characters coming to grips with their haunting past, and learning to share their hurts and forgiving their parents. This story might be too slow for some, but I enjoyed the process of growth in each character, and I like that their conflicts were not so exaggerated as some stories are. I'm keeping this book in my library.

A Feel-Good Romance

I'd never read a book by Gayle Callen before....but I picked this one up and it kept me reading from the first page. I enjoyed the hero and heroine and their burgeoning romance (after they were married). The book had a warm, feel-good quality to it that made me feel satisfied when I'd finished it. I'll definitely pick up other books by this author.

Very pleasing story.

The story is very pleasing. No terrible abuse or horrible treatment of each other. The two lead characters did at times treat each other poorly, but not abusively. I loved that as the book went on, they both grew and became better people/lovers/marriage partners. She and her family needed his money and house. He needed her steady character and for the fact that he could take satisfaction that he was able to help someone. The only thing I didn't go for was that she was so angry that as a child he didn't tell her who he really was. OK be annoyed, but she carried it too far. Still...loved the book. Highly recommend.

Doesn't Disappoint

I bought this book while looking for something to read one night. The heroine, Victoria, is struggling to keep her family off the streets in the wake of her father's shady death. As a child, Victoria, who was never good at the genteel things (sewing, watercoloring, dancing, flirting) at which her sisters excelled, befriended a neighboring servant boy named Tom and the two corresponded through a journal for nearly six years. Suddenly, Tom stops writing, years pass, Victoria's father dies and she's faced with the choice of being kicked out of the family home (along with her mother) or marrying to secure a place in the world. So, out of desperation, she ventures next door and asks to see Tom (the two never met because of their differing social classes) only to be confronted with Viscount David Thurlow, who tells her immediately that he pretended to be Tom all those years ago. Family scandal has ruined many of David's chances to secure an advantageous marriage and, after finding out about Victoria's situation, he offers to marry her in order to solve both their problems. For a while, the marriage is in name only because Victoria wants time to get to know David and he agrees to her terms, but this gives the book time to build characters and sexual tension between the two. The flow from chapter to chapter was consistent and I never grew anxious because of a slow pace, but I did find myself wondering at minor issues of plausibility. For instance, when they were children, Victoria and Tom wrote to each other in a journal...for FIVE years. Unless that journal was the size of a college dictionary, I honestly don't see how they corresponded that long and only went through one journal and STILL had blank pages to write on in adulthood. I was also rather skeptical about the 360-degree turnaround of the relationship between David and his father, the earl. The older man is sick and near death and bitter, but suddenly, Victoria reads to him for a week and he's making apologies and explaining his actions? Hmm. I also didn't think that for the amount of weight given to the deep, dark family secrets kept by David and by Victoria, that the secrets were all that dark. Once the truth came out, everyone involved basically said, "Oh, that's not so bad," but if these were things that Victoria and David truly felt m ight ruin their relationship, I think the secret OR the reactions should have been more profound. All in all, though, I thought this was a very charming love story about childish affection maturing across time; one of those "meant to be" loves that won't disappoint the casual reader of regency romance.

The perfect escape . . .

This story is perfect blending of historical detail, suspense, and romance. The end result...an enthralling read with larger than life characters and a very sweet romance. The Lord Next Door possesses everything for a good, satisfying read. This book is sharp and fast-moving. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. I loved watching Victoria and David fall in love. David takes his time with Victoria to get her use to the idea of being comfrontable with having sex with him. Each night comes into her room and takes it a little farther. That is hot. I also like the healing of wounds between David and his father. The Lord Next Door is a wonderful book.