Merely Married
- Author: Patricia Coughlin
- Publisher: Bantam
- Year: 1998
- Setting: England
- Amazon Listing - Merely Married
Life for Adrian Devereau, the sixth Duke of Raven, was flawless, but for one nagging detail. Try as he did to live down to his reputation as the Wicked Lord Raven, the ladies persisted in viewing him as desirable husband material. So he conceived a bold solution to foil them once and for all - he would marry a woman on her deathbed and adopt the role of grieving widower. He even found a most suitable wife: Leah Stretton, overtaken by a sudden illness while journeying to London. But with Leah's "miraculous" recovery, Adrian found himself properly wedded to a beauty as headstrong as she was healthy. Now his only chance at freedom was playing her game. More adept at writing about romance and adventure than living it, Leah could not permit a new family scandal to ruin her sister's launch into society. If Adrian played her devoted husband, she would grant him an annulment later. There was only one rule: neither of them could fall in love. Of course, rules were made to be broken.
Raven is a dark, debauched hero, and Patricia Coughlin has fun with her characters as they try to achieve their goals while extricating themselves from a marriage neither wanted. Coughlin does not shy away from making her hero self-centered and arrogant.
