In Pursuit of a Proper Husband

by Glenda Garland

If you want me, you must prove yourself...Meg hopes her challenge will deter Noel, the handsome and ardent Viscount Reversby, whose kisses could tempt her into an indiscretion. Anne, Noel's wife, was widowed Meg's dearest friend and confidante. The two women shared a secret that they swore never to reveal, a secret that Noel would like to learn.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0821778196
• ISBN13: 9780821778197
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Zebra Books
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.3" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

a satisfying 3 1/2 star read

I have enjoyed Glenda Garland's previous books -- all save "A Delightful Folly" that is which failed to live up to my expectations. "In Pursuit of a Proper Husband" is a follow-up to "A Delightful Folly" and centers on one of the characters from "A Delightful Folly," Noel, Viscount Raversby. It's been two years since Viscount's Raversby's beautiful wife's (Anne) death. And while he still misses her completely, he has discovered that his wife had kept a secret from him. What this secret is, he's almost afraid to know. But know he must, especially since he has a suspicion that it involves his cad of a brother, Malcolm. And so he tracks his wife's best friend and cousin, Meg Grantham down, and tries to manipulate her into telling him what this secret is. In Meg, however, Raversby has met his match. A military widow who followed the drum, Meg has seen a lot and survived a lot, too much to allow some pampered aristocrat to bully her. But Meg soon realises that Raversby will not go away and seems intent on pushing his presence on her, probably hoping to charm her into telling all. And that's when Meg comes up with a devilish plan of her own. Quickly realising that her shrewish and unpolished niece, Lizzie, is sure to suffer badly while making her bows in London, because of her bad manners, Meg bargains with Raversby that if he helps to see Lizzie credibly established and respectable married, then Meg will reveal all. Surely that will keep the man away. Except that Raversby picks up the gauntlet, and that Meg soon discovers to her dismay that like her dead friend, Anne, she too is quite susceptible to the handsome and dashing Viscount Raversby... This is definitely a book for readers who prefer mature and intelligent heroines. Meg is no flighty or manipulative beauty; she's clever, witty and loyal, clinging to the beliefs she has, and the path she has chosen for herself. I liked the manner in which the author allowed for the novel to unfold, revealing the secret to the reader about a quarter way into the book, so that one could easily appreciate Meg's stance and root for her to get the better of Raversby. I also liked how she fitted in characters from "A Delightful Folly" allowing for several strands that had been left standing to develop further. And if I was not happy at poor Dorrie's fate, that was my outlook completely. Somehow I felt that Dorrie merited a story of her own, and felt that her ending was a tad shabby. Raversby, as a character, was a little bit more difficult to take to heart. To being with his harping at Meg to share Anne's secret seemed very intrusive; and then there was the fact that he frequently got the worse in the battle of wits between him and Meg, at which he would retire to sulk for a few pages. However, Glenda Garland does give him charm and humour and that does go a long way to making one appreciate this character. (And of course, one does feel sympathy for the man who lost the wife he loved so tragically and then was lef