I am a huge fan of Sylvia Day's historical romances and thoroughly enjoyed The Stranger I Married.Gray and Isabel get married for all the wrong reasons. Well, in the beginning for them it was for the right reasons. Gray doesn't want to be married so he thinks the best way to please society and his mother is to marry Lady Pelham. Isabel is widowed and her affairs are known. Isabel doesn't want to remarry having been burned by her first marriage. She agrees to Gray's scheme thinking that they can have the best of both worlds. She will be married to her dear friend and she can keep having her affairs. A perfect set up until Gray leaves her after two days of marriage and returns four years later, wanted a real marriage with his wife.I loved the push and pull relationship between Gray and (Pel) Isabel. Gray is an extremely likable character. He is determined to do whatever it takes to convince Pel that their marriage should not be in name only. During the four years he was gone, Gray took stock of his life, realizing how selfish and immature he was. A more mature and self-aware Gray is hard to resist but Pel fights a good fight.The Stranger I Married is full of great dialog, chemistry and smoking hot sex scenes. I enjoyed watching Gray pursue his wife and try to convince her that his commitment to their marriage is real. There's also a great side story involving Pel's brother, Rhys, and his infatuation with an American heiress. I enjoyed his story as well and it did not detract from Gray and Pel's romance. I would say that my only complaint is that we are only given vague information about Gray's whereabouts during his 4 year absence. I would have liked to know more about what he did and how he matured. But other than that, I loved the book.The Stranger I Married is a wonderful steamy romance with wonderful characters and a great plot about a husband trying to win over his wife.
