Take My Husband by Ellen Meister

Only one thing stands in the way of Laurel Applebaum's happiness…Doug Applebaum.

In this darkly comic novel about a wife whose rope is so frayed it's about to snap, Laurel gets a call that her husband has been in an accident. She imagines the worst. But as she is on the way to the ER, another emotion seizes her. Relief. Doug's death could solve all her problems. No more catering to his incessant demands. Then there's the insurance money. Laurel's dreams seem so close. There's just one problem: Doug is very much alive. Now Laurel has to decide if she is going to do something about it.

Subversive, irreverent and surprisingly poignant, Take My Husband probes the deep corners of a marriage and emerges to find the light. For anyone who's spent a little too much time with a significant other and thought, One of us has got to go.

Kindle Edition, 384 pages

Expected publication: August 30th 2022

 by MIRA

4/5 stars

From reading the blurb one is expecting a funny story about a wife who is just fed up with her husband. Which that is exactly what you get.

Take My Husband in some ways felt like a throwback to the 50's/60's in terms of what Laurel had to put up with. She is fed up and decides to take matters into her own hands. This sets up a chain reaction of situations that are both comical and sad. Sad in the sense that some women can relate to the frustrations of what she is going through.  

My only complaint about this book is that it comes in at 400 pages and that was a tad too long, but what to exclude would be a hard decision.  While this book might not appeal to everyone I enjoyed reading it, I enjoyed watching the change in Laurel, I enjoyed the writing and how engaged I was with the story.  There were twists I didn't anticipate, as for the ending, yea it was perfect.

This is my first time reading a Elaine Meister book, I will be taking a look at her back list to add to my TBR.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for a honest review.  

Border Bride by Amanda Scott

Publication Date: March 26, 2013
Open Road Media
eBook; 344p
ASIN: B00BPJOBT6

Set in treacherous sixteenth-century Scotland, the first volume of Amanda Scott’s Border Trilogy tells the unforgettable story of a woman sworn to defy the knight she is forced to wed—only to discover a love she’ll do anything to claim

As Mary, Queen of Scots, languishes in the Tower of London as a prisoner of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, war tears Scotland apart. To save her beloved homeland, a proud Highland beauty named Mary Kate MacPherson must wage her own battle when she’s forced into wedlock with a knight, Sir Adam Douglas, from the barbaric borderland of Tornary.

Even as she succumbs to her seductive husband’s sensual demands, Mary Kate vows never to give him her heart. She will belong to no man. But Adam burns with something deeper than desire. Sworn to carry out a long-awaited revenge, he won’t rest until he has vanquished his enemies. Accused of treason, the last thing he expects is to lose his heart to the woman he’s determined to tame but never to love: his own wife.

Here is a book that I really wanted to love.  When you read the cover it seems to have so much going for it.  Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth, accusations of treason, a dashing knight and a women forced into a marriage she doesn't want.  All the makings of a great story, but I have to say though that this story just fell flat for me.

How to say this without giving away the whole story is hard.  There were some things about this book that I found annoying.  The conflict between the queens is a very small part of this book, mentioned only a couple times.  Adam's relationship with his cousin was strange, especially for someone his age, I felt like I was reading about a couple teenagers, not mature adults.  I know women were abused by husbands in the 1500's, it was just part of life, but really a spanking?  That for some reason just seemed out of place.


I received my ebook copy from the publisher and can only hope that the grammar and punctuation is fixed up.  Many times I had to reread sentences and at times the dialogue was messed up because either quotation marks were missing or there were too many of them.  I found that rather distracting.

I did end up giving this book 3 stars because the author was able to grab my attention, I was genuinely interested to see what happened to this couple, the ending I thought was rather comical.  If historical romance is your thing, then you will most likely enjoy this book, for myself I like a little (ok a lot) more of the historical part.

For more information on Amanda Scott’s novels, please visit the official website.

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Wednesday, April 3
Review at The Picky Girl Blog (Highland Fling)
Review at Books Like Breathing (Dangerous Illusions)
Thursday, April 4
Interview at A Bookish Libraria
Friday, April 5
Guest Post & Giveaway at In the Hammock Blog
Monday, April 8
Guest Post & Giveaway at Broken Teepee
Tuesday, April 9
Review at Just One More Chapter (Border Bride)
Review at Overflowing Bookshelves (Highland Fling)
Interview at Tribute Books
Wednesday, April 10
Feature & Giveaway at A Writer’s Life: Working with the Muse
Thursday, April 11
Review at Overflowing Bookshelves (Border Bride)
Review at Flashlight Commentary (Dangerous Illusions)
Friday, April 12
Feature & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Monday, April 15
Review at Romantic Historical Lovers (Dangerous Illusions)
Guest Post & Giveaway at History Undressed
Tuesday, April 16
Review at Ramblings from a Chaotic Mind (Highland Fling)
Wednesday, April 17
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book! (Border Bride)
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie (Dangerous Illusions)
Thursday, April 18
Review at Books Like Breathing (Highland Fling)
Review at Overflowing Bookshelves (Dangerous Illusions)
Friday, April 19
Review at A Chick Who Reads (Dangerous Illusions)
Review at Peeking Between the Pages (Border Bride)
Monday, April 22
Review at Peeking Between the Pages (Highland Fling)
Guest Post & Giveaway at Ramblings from a Chaotic Mind
Tuesday, April 23
Review at Flashlight Commentary (Border Bride)
Wednesday, April 24
Review & Giveaway at The Bookworm (Highland Fling)
Thursday, April 25
Review at Romantic Historical Lovers (Highland Fling)
Review at From the TBR Pile (Border Bride)
Friday, April 26
Guest Post at Flashlight Commentary
Interview at From the TBR Pile
Monday, April 29
Review at Books Like Breathing (Border Bride)
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book! (Dangerous Illusions)
Tuesday, April 30
Review at Romantic Historical Lovers (Border Bride)
Wednesday, May 1
Review at WTF Are you Reading (Highland Fling)
Interview at Bibliophilic Book Blog
Thursday, May 2
Review at WTF Are you Reading (Border Bride)
Interview & Giveaway at Ramblings of a Chaotic Mind
Friday, May 3
Review at Starting Fresh (Highland Fling)
Review at WTF Are you Reading (Dangerous Illusions)