The Duchess's Next Husband by Terri Brisbin

The Duchess's Next Husband by Terri Brisbin Adrian, Duke of Windmere, has the perfect life of a Duke. A wife to show off, a mistress to screw, money, the right clubs and he knows his duty and does it. Until he overhears his doctors leaving after his appointment. Adrian discovers he has won't see the year out and from that point on starts to put his life in order to prepare for his death. The book opens with a sex scene. Oddly enough it is the h/h having sex, they have been married for seven years and have a weekly appointment to screw on Thursdays. It is really an icky scene and reminds me of The Other Boleyn Girl where King Henry is praying while fucking his wife, finishes up and goes and makes love to his mistress. We don't get the mistress scene here but it still just makes me so sad. Just imagine living that way... He gets rid of the mistress early in the book, at first due to not having time to deal with her and later due to loving his wife. And it is nice to see a 'mistress' character that isn't a bitch, after the hero for herself or trying to make the wife miserable. They have been married seven years when the book opens. I really have such a hard time with that. Miranda really was living a shell of a life for seven years. And it was nice to see her grow some balls and learn to stand up for herself. I did have issue with the last scene she had with the mother-in-law. By that point she should have known better but hey you got to move the plot along. I had great issue with the bitch of a mother-in-law. I can't see how anyone could ever let one woman control their life so much. But understanding Miranda's belief that she didn't deserve to be duchess and having 'lucked' into it, you can see her struggling and needing guidance. Did I mention the 7 years that happened before the book started? Such a waste of time... It was sweet watching them rediscover their relationship and fall in love. It was harder to understand that they did have a connection when they first got married, even though he was marrying her for her money. But soon after they were married, his brother died and he became the duke. Soooooooooooo, I guess that meant they had to quit talking. They both became so focused on 'duty' but neither really knew what they meant since neither of them thought they were going to be duke or duchess. Miranda is too easy on the man who had been screwing a mistress for 7 years. But hey it is a short book. The scene where she brings it up knowing about the mistress is priceless. As Adrian is working really hard to knock up his wife, if he dies without an heir she gets nothing, he is looking for - The Duchess's Next Husband. No matter what he wants Miranda to be ok and have a future, even if that future is without him. The book could have been very melodramatic but really it isn't. Brisbin has a different way of looking at the same old cliches. The Duchess's Next Husband is fast, funny and really a story of love and emotional growth. What more can you ask for in a romance novel?