Books › The Counterfeit Husband
The Counterfeit Husband
First published 1982 · 1 pages
A sparkling, low-angst Regency romp where a fake marriage of convenience blossoms into genuine, liberating love.
What it feels like
Reading this classic Regency romance feels like stepping into a sunlit drawing room filled with witty banter and delightful misunderstandings. The narrative moves at a brisk, cheerful clip, propelled by the sheer charm of its central deception. It is a breezy, low-angst escape that trades heavy melodrama for playful tension, wrapping the reader in a cozy atmosphere of sparkling dialogue and gentle romance. The prose is crisp and elegantly traditional, capturing the manners of the era while keeping the emotional stakes grounded in the characters' desires for personal freedom. Perfect for readers who devour Georgette Heyer and love the delicious irony of a fake relationship that slowly, inevitably, turns into the real thing.
- Mood
- cozy
- breezy
- romantic
- cheerful
- Tone
- wry
- lighthearted
- charming
- playful
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- found freedom · class differences · marriage of convenience · second chances · hidden identities
- The writing
- Crisp, witty, and elegantly traditional, capturing the sparkling banter of the Regency era without feeling bogged down by historical minutiae.
- The arc
- Moves from comedic desperation and playful deception to genuine affection and liberating romance.
- Who it's for
- Readers who adore classic, low-angst Regency romps featuring fake relationships and witty class-crossing banter.
Content notes
- mild peril
- classism
About the book
Tom Collinson escapes from a press gang and ends up hiding out disguised as a footman in the home of Lady Camilla, a lovely widow. Camilla herself happy finally to be free of the dictatorial constraints of her late husband, is dismayed when her overbearing sister-in-law starts to try and find her a new husband. Wouldn’t it be better if she was already married to someone else? Suddenly Tom finds himself enlisted to masquerade as Camilla’s new husband, a role the couple starts to wish was actually true.
Description from Open Library.
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