ARC Review: The Return of Her Long-Lost Husband by Joanna Johnson
10:00
Series: None
Author: Joanna Johnson
Published January 20th 2022 by Mills & Boon Historical
Goodreads Synopsis
A husband's redemption...a second chance at love?
Nathaniel Honeywell returns from being presumed dead expecting to be welcomed home with open arms, but is shocked when his wife, Hester, isn't pleased to see him! Nathaniel can't blame Hester for believing he abandoned her when she needed him most. During their marriage he'd foolishly valued money over his wife. But his experiences have left him a changed man, and as the simmering attraction between them grows, Nathaniel is determined to prove it!
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Soon after she married Nathaniel Honeywell, Hester realised that life wasn't going to be everything she wanted. Nathaniel was more bothered with his work, and doing his father's bidding than being with his wife, loving his wife, and before long, Hester lost her newlywed hope, and resigned herself to a second rate life. When Nathaniel is lost at sea, she mourns him, but soon relishes life as a widow - so waking up one morning, years later, to find her very much alive husband has returned, Hester is shocked. But nowhere near as shocked as Nathaniel is that his once loving wife isn't happy to see him, and is cold and frosty. Can Nathaniel recover from his time away, and reconnect with his wife, before it's too late?
I wasn't too sure on what to expect with this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. Hester had spent years as the 'dutiful, bidding wife' under the heel of her husband, without any way out, and though not abused, she was in a difficult situation. Losing her husband was difficult, but it awarded her some freedom and safety, and she was happy, in a way. Nathaniel's return threw her for six, and she wanted to be happy he wasn't dead, but she couldn't be happy that her life would return to what it once was. I do feel that Nathaniel really grew, and his time away, as hard as it was, was the making of him. He soon realised that he didn't need to be a carbon copy of his father, and that his father's treatment of his mother was awful, and just what Nathaniel was doing to Hester. It takes him time, understandably, to win Hester over, but with the help of his friend, Jacob, he manages it, and proves himself deserving of his wife.
Dates Read:
January 29-30, 2022
Rating
3 Stars
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