Oops! I guess it only takes once!

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Not Quite a Wife (The Lost Lords #6) by Mary Jo Putney

 Interesting addition to the Lost Lords series. This time the story centres on Lord Kirkland and the wife (Laurel) that he has been estranged from for over ten years.
The others of the group have no idea that James Kirkland is married to the sister of another of Miss Agnes' boys.   
So ten years on, Laurel unknowingly rescues her husband then proceeds to have conjugal relations with him whilst he's off his head with a fever. Upon his recovery she sends him on his way. He's of the opinion he's been hallucinating about the episode. You don't have to be a soothsayer to understand that pregnancy is about to lead them back to each other.
What follows is a story of love lost, lives maturing and changing and love found, albeit with a stretch of the imagination. I did lose all patience with Laurel with respect to her reaction to James' killing of an assassin and attacker. Distressed though she was just how did she expect him to handle the assassin? I don't think there was any time for discussion or reasoning! Their relationship is of course not without a few problems along the way. Well, actually it's quite fraught. Laurel's brother Daniel is interesting. The subject of slavery, women's shelters and child birth are all present giving a spotlight on issues of the times.
An ok read, even if a tad flat.

 A NetGalley ARC

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