The Stranger I Married

Written by Sylvia Day

Narrated by Hannah Martin

Together For All The Wrong Reasons. . .

The Marquess of Grayson never felt a twinge of guilt when he stole the beautiful Lady Pelham right out from under his best friend's nose. After all, they were well matched in all things--their sensual appetites, wicked wits, provocative reputations, and their absolute refusal to ruin their marriage of convenience by falling in love.

But then a shocking turn of events sent her roguish husband from her side. Four years later, he has returned a powerful, irresistible man who is determined to seduce his way into her affections. No, this is not at all the man she married. But he is the man who might finally steal her heart. . .

"Day plays on sensual themes with a lush grace." --RT Book Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781713566823

Sylvia Day

Sylvia Day is the #1 New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of over 20 award-winning novels sold in more than 40 countries. She is a #1 bestselling author in 23 countries, with tens of millions of copies of her books in print. Her Crossfire series has been optioned for television by Lionsgate.

Reviews for The Stranger I Married

[doxiemomx2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Erotic regency romance with more depth to the characters than is usually seen. A fairly satisfying story. More character development would have helped.

[fredalss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written erotic love story.

[allandanybooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm falling more deeply in love with Sylvia Day's novels. Her historical novels are by far the best I've read and I really enjoy reading them. This one was even better than the one before this and I bet they keep getting better and better so I will recommend her books to everybody I know and I will continue reading her books and hopefully I won't ever grow tired of her writing because they bring me so much joy!

I like this book characters a lot. I've always been a little bit different compared to others and was bullied for it so it's nice to read something like this even when it happens in the past. I like how even though they face so much trouble and rumors and dislike, they still stay together and they are happy and everybody accepts that in the end. It warms my heart really to see love winning in the end.

[ladywesley · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Can there be too much sex in a romance novel? I'm not sure, but I think that the constant boinking between Pel and Grayson actually detracted from the story here. I never really felt that I knew these characters very well, and there really wasn't much story except the standard marriage-of-convenience-turns-to-love trope. Even with an evil mother-in-law and two rakehell younger brothers, just not much happened. I found it difficult to even finish the book.

[cmlloyd67 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Hard to rate these things. This book was in some respects better written than a couple of books that I gave four stars to, but the story was less interesting and more repetitive.

Or it is just possible that I've finally burned out on these types of novels. It happens.

Before I do the vague spoilery review...Sylvia Day is clearly a Joss Whedon fan. She literally names a character "Lord Whedon" - I giggled. Then rolled my eyes. I'm guessing she wrote Buffy fanfic. And I most likely read it - her writing style is vaguely familiar.


The story is rather innovative - instead of a younger, virginal woman and much older guy. We have an older, rather experienced woman and a younger man. They are both rakes. She has various lovers, as does he. Her rule - two years, maybe three - if the guy starts to fall for her or proposes marriage...she breaks up with him. Lord Grayson proposes to her, because he knows she'll never fall in love with him, they can basically be each others shield against unwanted marriage, have as many affairs as they wish, and he can continue to sleep with his first love, Emily, who is married to another. Plus he rather likes the heroine, Isobel. They are friends. But alas, Emily becomes pregnant with his child and then dies in child-birth along with the kid, which his devilish mother takes fiendish delight in relating to him in a lengthy and bitter letter. Over-wrought, Grayson leaves Isobel and takes off to Scotland for four years. She writes, he never answers. Until one day, he pops up again and decides out of the blue to romance her, declaring his undying love for her. Which appears to take the form of lots and lots of sexual encounters. 80% of the novel is sex scenes and while entertaining and fairly well written, as far as sex scenes go, they also become a bit repetitive and outlandish at times. (Kiddies? Do not try this at home.) By about the sixth or seventh sex scene, I was starting to skim. There is a nifty sub-plot involving Isobel's younger brother and an American heiress that is never fully developed and eventually falls flat.

Like most of these novels...the ending feels a bit rushed, as if the writer ran out of ideas or got stuck. Everyone appears to suck at endings.

[katebond-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sylvia Day writes fun historical romance novels, and this one is no different from the others (except for her Crossfire trilogy).

[erinhill01 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a great book. A unique story line and sensual romance, what's not to love? Another great book by Sylvia Day. Will be reading more by this author.