The Stranger I Married by Sylvia Day

Gerard Faulkner, Marquess of Grayson is a touch peeve at his mother and blames her for the love of his life marrying another. He gets back at her by debauching everything in sight. Well the pretty female things and his good friend Lady Isabel Pelham is the female salt to his pepper. Together they make quite a set even though she is an older woman to his twenty-two years.

Gray comes up with the grand plan that they should marry. They care for each other and are great friends. He figures without that messy love and feeling stuff to get in the way they will have a grand marriage. His mom will hit the roof. And Isabel will have the protection marriage provides without that pesky fidelity getting in her way. They get along swimmingly until something tips Gray’s boat over and her sails away for four years.

When he returns our Gray is a different shade. He wants to make up for the horrid way he left Isabel on her own. He wants this wife and has decided fidelity might not be that bad after all. Well he at least wants to try it on and see if it fits. Isabel isn’t really sure that the hell is going on and is trying to not hurt her lovers feelings or her husbands.

The Marquess of Grayson and Lady Isabel Pelham are two characters you haven’t meet before in a romance novel, at least not as the hero and heroine. And I can’t say for sure you would want to at first glance.

Isabel is a lady widow to some and a whore to others. Regardless of what other widows may or may not be doing, Isabel makes a choice to be who she wants to be and damn the rest of the world. She is the beautiful, creative, knowing mistress who goes insane as the hero runs off with the virgin to find their happy ever after. Only not in Sylvia’s book.

Gerard Faulkner is the rake but not the fake rake but the best friend of the hero who gets all the chicks while the hero pines over the virgin miss. Gray is the naughty man they whisper about behind their fans, the one who leaves bastards in his wake and women taking a number to notch his bed post. He is the character who gets redeemed in book three or four of the series. Only not in Sylvia’s book.

In this book the stereotypes are turned upside down. And in my opinion she created two very strong characters. I didn’t like them much at first. In fact I didn’t like this book at first and that was from just hearing the summary. But it didn’t take me long to warm up to Gray and Isabel, in fact I was hooked by the third chapter. The Stranger I Married takes two not so likable characters and make them people you want to see get their HEA.

I adored Gray (I am a sucker for a rake). I liked Isabel. Together they make sense and have that lock in key fit. But it would have been better if Gray could have gotten over his annoying mommy issues and Isabel over her serious trust issues quicker. And if they would have kept their clothes on and hands off for a couple of minutes to have a conversation the plot would have flowed better but the book would have ended a lot sooner.

The biggest issue I saw in Ask for It was the plot didn’t seem to have enough ‘story’ to carry it though a full length novel. I think this improves in The Stranger I Married. Sylvia Day is getting a better at telling a full length story. So while this is still a little weak and does drag in some spots it is a great to watch an author grow.

I would say this is Sylvia’s best book to date and I look forward to what she serves us next.