I needed complete fluff to clear my mind after the heavy tome of 1Q84. I picked this book based on the cover only to laugh at myself for having checked out a Harlequin romance which surprisingly is the first Harlequin romance that I've ever read. It's not nearly as awful as I thought that it would be, and I found the characters more on the amusing side than not. The story is predictable from the first few pages, but for a bodice-ripper, it was more tasteful than I expected. I would give this 2.5 stars, but since I can't, I rounded up. For better historical fiction with romance, read Outlander instead! Talia Dobson is a social nobody; a shy, wallflower who looks more like a gypsy than a marriageable maiden of the ton. Her father is a social climber who doesn't mind bullying his daughter--and anyone else who'll let him--to gain the social prominence he craves. He sets her up to marry the wastrel younger brother of the Earl of Ashcombe. When Harry (the intended) runs off on the day of the wedding, Dobson extorts his brother the earl to take his place.Jaded, angry Andrew Richardson, said Earl, is furious at Talia's father, and Talia herself because he assumes she's in on the scheme. Nothing she says can persuade him otherwise. So after a hasty, hush-hush wedding, he ships her off to his country estate. Thing is, he can't quite forget the wedding night. He reckons when she learns her lesson she'll beg him to let her return to London and he just might be magnanimous and bring her back to share his bed. Talia is suddenly free from her bullying father and a husband who has no respect or concern for her happiness. She'd just as soon stay on the country estate. She blossoms there, seeing to the needs of the tenants and flirting just a little with the handsome vicar. When Talia is abducted by French spies, Andrew has to rescue her and in the process he learns a few things about himself, his wife, and his brother. A good plot, marred a bit by occasional patches of clumsy writing. An example: A rueful smile at the memory of Gabriel carrying his embarrassed bride up the marble staircase, his haste to reach the private chambers above obvious to the numerous servants who had gathered in the front foyer, curved his lips. :wince: I've never been a fan of Rogers writing but she can tell a good story.
Do You like book Tiempo De Traiciones (2013)?
Just a good romance for when you want a good romance novel :) Enjoyed it.
—cnb06
The first quarter of the book was very good. Not so much after that.
—Ash
I don't understand why people liked this.
—Reading_Girl
