REVIEW: The Trouble with Harry by Katie MacAlister

The Trouble with Harry by Katie MacAlister: Haven’t you always wondered what happens to all those pathetic widowers with children that the young debutantes turn their noses up at? “The Trouble with Harry” is about one of those widowers who is looking for a new mother for his children, and finds love for himself as well.

Former spy Harry Haversham, Marquis Rosse, five years a widower, has decided that he needs a mother for his five unruly children, and companionship for himself. However, he doesn’t have the time or inclination to seek one out the usual way, so he puts an ad in the local paper. Frederica Pelham, called ‘Plum,’ is the daughter of a baronet, who longs to be married and have children, but due to a scandal in her youth is considered to be unmarriageable. They meet for an interview, and find each other acceptable, but neither tells the other the complete truth; Harry holds back that he’s a Marquis and that he already has five children, and Plum leaves out details of her scandal, and that she is the author of a very racy married sex manual.

Plum glanced around the small garden worriedly. The last things he needed was for anyone in Ram’s Bottom to find out she was the notorious Vyvyan La Blue, author of the famed ‘Guide to Connubial Calisthenics,’ a book so shocking it was banned as obscene by the government—and subsequently went into three separate printing to fulfill the demands by members of the ton.

This is not only a hilarious, earthy, sexy book, but it’s one that defies convention. Harry is forty-five; the much lusted-after Plum is forty. In a genre where youth is nearly always holds the starring role, this novel that celebrates the relationship between a pair of older adults is a breath of fresh air. But it’s not only the adult characters that are refreshing—Plum’s niece Thom is a tomboyish anti-debutante, Juan the Spanish butler is creatively flirtatious, and Harry’s children are all uniquely individual. A bit of a mystery and a few nefarious bad guys add spice to the mix and it all results in something very entertaining.

The book deserves a great deal more attention that it received when released. It may have been because it is not in the popular style of Regency romance, with a nubile young debutante and a dashing dangerous rake (Harry is thoroughly unrakish!). But this is a wonderful book! The characterizations are sparkling, the romance has chemistry and the storyline is satisfying and a pleasure to read. If you are searching for a novel that is just a tad more than the standard, look no further and read this book.

Book Info:

Published July 1st 2014 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

1. He is Plum’s new husband. Not normally a problem, but when you consider that Harry advertised for a wife, and Plum was set to marry his secretary, there was cause for a bit of confusion.
2. He has a title. Plum has spent the last twenty years hiding from the ton, and now Harry wants her to shine in society? Horrors!
3. He didn’t know about her shocking secret. How is she going to explain about the dead husband who isn’t a husband . . . and who now seems to be alive again?
4. He had five offspring whose sole purpose in life seemed to be sending their new stepmother to Bedlam. If she weren’t so busy protecting the little devils from mysterious attacks, she’d be very cross with their attempts to do her in.
5. He’s fallen in love with her. And yet, the maddening man refuses to confide in her. The former spy harbored more secrets than Plum herself, leaving her no choice but to solve the riddles of his past. For Plum knows the real trouble with Harry is that he’s stolen her heart.