A review by sarahsreadinglist
A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Funny, emotional, and engaging, this is one of the best historical romances I’ve read recently. This is the first Mia Vincy book I’ve read, and I will certainly reach for her books again in the future.

First off, I adore the characterization (including both main and side characters). They feel so delightfully alive and unique, and the main couple has such great banter and chemistry throughout their roller-coaster emotional journey. Even with their dynamism and growth, the main characters feel so consistently true to themselves, from their thought processes to their enduring quirks and mannerisms throughout the book. The little details make these characters feel so alive, and Mia Vincy masters these little details. 

I also felt truly invested in the characters’ happiness. Even with all their flaws (and the MMC sure had his moments), they’re so loveable and felt so real that you truly felt for them in all their struggles and (in the MMC’s case) boneheaded moments.

My only gripe is how long the conflict seemed to drag. Don’t get me wrong — this was a fast read. However, the primary conflict keeping the main couple from finding happiness with each other is misunderstanding, fear of commitment and loss, and (eventually) a mutual fear of unrequited feelings and abandonment. Relationships are messy and often don’t progress linearly, but emotionally, it felt like a mix between two steps forward one step back and just going around in circles. Towards the end, I felt like shouting at the main couple to get their heads out of their asses.

Other notes:
  • I love how MMC repeatedly describes FMC’s hands as competent, describes himself as a fool whenever he’s in his feelings over FMC, and says “What? What?” — all without ever feeling so repetitive.
  • I love how FMC makes a point of noting MMC’s dynamism, I love how she expresses herself when she’s flustered or otherwise overcome with embarrassment or frustration, and I love how politeness is built into her character. More generally, I just love her character; she’s strong, capable, witty, devoted to her family, and kind, all while still feeling like a real person with flaws.
  • I really enjoyed the side characters like MMC’s “secretaries“, especially Das, one of MMC’s secretaries/right-hand-men (who is also Bengali and has some quite funny lines!)
  • Speaking of side characters, Mia Vincy fleshes out some of them enough to be interesting and hints at others that could potentially get their own stories, but it never feels like she’s setting the groundwork for a future book (if you’ve read Minerva Spencer, you know exactly what I’m talking about). Anyways, I appreciate that the book stays focused on the main couple rather that serving as exposition for a future book. 
  • I like how the author dealt with some heavier subjects like grief and loss. It didn’t feel like a cheap way of gaining sympathy for the characters or easily giving them tragic backstories to make them more interesting. Instead, their grief felt real and integral to who they are as people. That said, I wish the author spent more time on some of these tragic backstories (specifically,
    FMC’s brother’s death
    ), seeing as they caused a lot of grief for the characters.
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