Ideal Wife » (Reprint)

Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Slightly novels: Slightly Married, Slightly Wicked, Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Tempted, Slightly Sinful, and Slightly Dangerous, as well as the romances No Man’s Mistress, More than a Mistress, and One Night for Love. She is also the author of Simply Magic, Simply Love, and Simply Unforgettable, the first three books in her dazzling quartet of novels set at Miss Martin’s School for Girls. A former teacher herself, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada.

In this classic tale, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh introduces a hero like no other: Miles Ripley, London’s most irresistible bachelor, who’s about to lose his heart to the last person he ever expected to love—his wife.


When Abigail Gardiner knocks at the door of Miles Ripley, Earl of Severn, the last thing she expects is a marriage proposal. Desperate, she’d come to this charismatic stranger’s home to plead for her future. Instead she shocks them both by saying yes. Her impulsive decision will have consequences neither she nor her new husband can foresee. For Miles has his own reasons for marrying her. And Abigail is harboring a secret of her own. As distrust gives way to desire . . . as, together, they give in to the pleasures of the marriage bed, a devastating scandal threatens their future. Now these two wary hearts will risk ruin and disgrace for a love that has changed them both forever—the kind all seek, but few ever find.

Publishers Weekly

Miles Ripley, the young, dashing and wealthy earl of Severn, is tired of scheming women (namely his mother and sister) trying to marry him off. Just as he vows to marry a quiet, undemanding woman, the plucky, irrepressible Abigail Gardiner--a destitute, distant relative--comes seeking a recommendation from him; having been abruptly dismissed for impertinence from her position as a lady's companion, she presents herself as thoroughly subservient. The earl, seeing the answer to his problems, offers marriage instead of a reference. The couple spends an idyllic three days as newlyweds, although Miles is bemused to realize he knows very little about his wife. Trouble comes with the arrival of relatives, and Abigail's mysterious past threatens to shatter their promising beginning. Although she employs all the cliches of the genre, veteran romance writer Balogh ( A Masked Deception ) tells a good story, filled with likable characters. (Nov.)