#CBR7 Book 76: "Catch a Falling Heiress" by Laura Lee Guhrke

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars

It may be wise to read the previous book in the series, How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days, before this one. 

Jack Featherstone's father and brother were shameless gamblers and fortune hunters, marrying rich and squandering their wives' money with no compunction. As the unappreciated second son, Jack swore he would never marry unless he could support his family in a proper way, and certainly never stoop to fortune hunting to secure himself a life of luxury. Never being able to rely on his male relatives meant he established closer bonds to his Eton chums instead. So when his best friend Stuart, the Duke of Margrave, gathers all his friends and asks them for assistance in a scheme that will directly lead to the ruination of a man, Jack doesn't hesitate, even if it means moving to America for a year, pretending to be close to a man he despises, in order to orchestrate Stuart's revenge.

As the plan is in its last stages, and Frederick Van Hausen, the man who did despicable things to Edie, now the Duchess of Margrave, is getting desperate, Jack is watching the man like a hawk, worried that he's going to find some way of escaping personal and financial ruin. When it looks like Van Hausen is preparing to elope with Miss Linnet Holland, who is both beautiful and comes with a staggering dowry, Jack has to think fast. Interrupting before Van Hausen can propose, and kissing the young lady in front of her own mother, accompanied by one of New England's chief gossips, is the first thing that pops into his head. Linnet, wary of fortune hunters and outraged by Jack's heavy-handed behaviour, refuses to even countenance having her reputation saved by marriage to someone so arrogant and presumptious. While she previously refused to consider marriage to a British peer, she is now determined to find one, who is willing to marry her, despite the tarnish to her reputation. Anyone, except Jack Featherstone, that is.

Linnet and her mother travel to England, where Linnet engages the services of London's premier matchmaker, the Marchioness of Trubridge. Jack follows, determined to do right by Linnet and persuade her to accept his hand in marriage. As the matchmaker was formerly married to his scapegrace of a brother and now to one of his closest friends, she's aware that he's not the unscrupulous cad his brother was, and hopes she'll at least consider him a worthwhile candidate for Linnet's hand in marriage. He has a week, at a houseparty with several other eligible and eager suitors, to convince the proud and distrustful Miss Holland that while their first meeting was less than ideal, he will make her the perfect husband.

While I understand Linnet's wish to marry for love, and escape the social ambitions of her mother and the financial ambitions of her father, she also has appalling judgement when it comes to men. I respect that she feels aggrieved and upset that Jack accosted her, but she also should have had some suspicion when Van Hausen, a man who wouldn't give her the time of day before she went to Europe for a year, suddenly declares passionate love for her and wants to propose marriage to her in a secluded location on the same night she's back in America. While she's fairly innocent, it's clear that she's quite savvy in rooting out fortune hunters, and some alarm bells should have been going off. She also develops a very knee-jerk hatred for Jack and stays obstinately unwilling to listen to him, even after he explains the motivations behind his rash act. I get that she's supposed to be feminist and independent, but a lot of the time she comes off as abrasive and shrewish.

Jack, on the other hand, we are told is a much better man than his father or brother was, but he also surprises and kisses a very unwilling woman, then seems to be surprised when she doesn't want to immediately become his wife. See, despite Jack's rakish ways and long life in Paris consorting with all sorts of women, just kissing the unprepared Linnet just the one time is enough to convince him that she is the woman he must spend the rest of his life with. One of the popular tropes of romance is the "magical hoo hah", which means that after sleeping with the usually virginal and inexperienced heroine once, the sexually experienced and previously happily promiscuous man is ready for monogamy. Linnet clearly has magic lips, because she unwittingly accomplishes this with one single liplock. Jack keeps losing his temper and either orders Linnet around, or physically overpowers her (he actually carries her off at one point), which is naturally not the best way to woo an already skittish and suspicious-minded woman. He's a lot more likable when he calmly uses his words and affectionate nature to woo her.

This was an ok book, but nothing more. I didn't particularly like Linnet or Jack and didn't actually care all that much whether they got together or went their separate ways. Laura Lee Guhrke is an author whose books I often enjoy, but she's pretty much on my "borrow from the library" list, not even qualifying for "buy when on sale" status. This book passed the time, but I doubt I'll remember it clearly come next month, let alone ever want to re-read or own it.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 49: "How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days" by Laura Lee Guhrke

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

First off, I just want to say that why the title brings to mind that dreadful "romantic comedy" with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, the plot of the book bears no resemblance, save that there are ten days involved. Sometimes I think publishers actually want people to be put off by their titles.

Unusually tall and with her reputation in tatters, American heiress Edie Jewell had not had any luck finding a suitable husband, despite the aid of London's premier matchmaker. With only a short time left of her first season before she has to return to New York and face the society that condemned her after a foolish misstep, she met the impoverished but charming Duke of Margrave. He needed a fortune and someone to help him to restore his many estates and take care of his many grasping relatives, not to mention to make it possible for him to return to his adventures in Africa. Edie desperately needed to make a good match, so she never had to go back to America. She boldly proposed to Stuart, promising him her enormous dowry, as long as he promised to travel to Africa as soon as she learned to manage the estates, and never return.

Stuart stayed away for five years, but when his valet is killed by a lion and he also barely survives, he decides that it's time for a change. While Edie has excelled at taking care of his family, tenants, land and estates, barely thinking of her absent husband, Stuart has frequently through of the remarkable woman he left behind. He returns to England, wanting to have a true marriage with his wife, building a proper legacy with her to leave their children. Edie is horrified, and insists he agree to a legal separation. If he doesn't agree, she'll leave him. Stuart suggests he be allowed to change her mind. In the ten days before her ship leaves for New York, he get the chance to charm her. If she willingly kisses him before the ten days are up, she gives up on the separation idea. Edie's younger sister, Joanna, is determined to do her best to help him, not just because she seems to think her brother-in-law will keep her from being sent away to finishing school.

The reason Edie is so terrified of physical intimacy of any kind, the deep dark secret she can't confess to anyone, not even her beloved younger sister, is that the reason her reputation was ruined all those years ago wasn't just some foolish indiscretion. She was infatuated with one of the golden boys of New York society. He tricked her into an assignation and raped her. Like so many other rape victims, she blames herself and her own naivety, letting herself be lured into a vulnerable position more than she blames the bastard who raped her. Thankfully, her husband is a thoroughly honourable man and because he senses how nervous and uncomfortable his wife is, he never moves too fast. Edie may have convinced herself that she's unable to feel any kind of attraction or desire ever again, but slowly and incredibly patiently, her husband starts changing her mind.

I was very impressed with how Guhrke dealt with the issue of rape and Edie's difficult aftermath. When Stuart finally discovers his wife's secret, he's understandably furious on her behalf, and does his very best to help her get past her trauma. While romance in many circles still has a very misleading reputation for bodice ripping, and alpha douche bag heroes who force themselves on the heroines, who eventually learn to love their rapists, the historical romance published now really is nothing like that. One or both of the protagonists often have issues they need to work through, but you don't often find actual rape or sexual abuse in their past. It certainly gave a different dimension to the estranged married couple find their way back together.

Edie and Stuart have never really been together. They spent a few weeks together during their courtship and then barely a month as man and wife, with Stuart desperately fighting his growing attraction to his wife. Believing her still heart-broken over the man she left behind in New York, never suspecting the truth, he leaves for Africa earlier than planned, because he's worried he won't be able to keep his promise to leave the marriage unconsummated if he stays. Every time Stuart mentions having thought and dreamt about her in his time away, Edie expresses disbelief. Because of her unconventional appearance and devastating introduction to sex, she's completely unable to see herself as attractive or desirable. This is a romance where the main focus isn't the couple falling in love, because by the start of the story, the hero is already in love. It's the story of a strong and remarkable woman both learning to accept and love herself, as well as accepting love, affection and desire from her husband.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 22: "When the Marquess Met His Match" by Laura Lee Guhrke

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3 stars

Lady Belinda Featherstone was a young American heiress whose marriage didn't exactly work out splendidly, with her husband both blatantly cheating on her and squandering as much of her money as possible before having the good grace to die and leave her a widow. Now supporting herself as a matchmaker for other young American heiresses wanting to make a successful match into English nobility, Belinda is determined that none of her charges ever end up making as disastrous a match as she.

So when she is approached by handsome as sin Nicholas Stirling, the rakish Marquess of Trubridge, who is perfectly forthright about his need to marry an heiress, and preferably as quickly as possible, his father having cut off all his funds, Belinda flatly refuses to aid him in any way. She's convinced that Nicholas is as unscrupulous and dissolute as her husband was, and she's not going to help him break the heart of some wealthy young woman. Instead she vows to make his quest for a wife as difficult as possible. Nicholas, baffled at the devious lengths Belinda is willing to go to in order to foil his courtship plans, determines to fight just as unfairly and sets his sights on the young heiress who's currently Belinda's main charge.

Laura Lee Guhrke is absolutely in the third tier of romance authors whose works I enjoy. She writes perfectly enjoyable books, with the occasional more memorable exception, but there is nothing particularly remarkable about them, and she's certainly not one of the authors whose books I pre-order and wait impatiently for. This book started out amusing as the protagonists determined to fight each other, but Nicholas is more interested in seducing Belinda than really quarrelling with her, so the actual adversarial portion of their relationship is over relatively quickly.

The main obstacle to their future happiness is that he needs a rich wife, and believes her to be destitute, while she's determined never to marry again, certainly not to an unscrupulous and charming fortune hunter. Being a shrewd business woman, Belinda is actually ridiculously rich, and Nicholas' dreadful reputation as a rake and a bounder is mostly fabricated to frustrate, goad and provoke his horrible father as much as possible. I did like that once Nicholas discovers the truth about her finances, he's even more determined to prove to her that he can make his own money, and that he's not interested in her for her fortune. One of the things I enjoy with Victorian-set romance is that the nobleman heroes tend to need to diversify and find gainful employment. This is the first in a new series focusing on American heiresses in London, and as this was entertaining enough and I liked the appearance of the woman set to be the next heroine, I will probably be checking it out eventually.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR4 Book 8: "Trouble at the Wedding" by Laura Lee Guhrke

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Date begun: January 22nd, 2012
Date finished: January 23rd, 2012

Miss Annabell Wheaton and her family used to be poor white trash, until her no good scoundrel of a father discovered a bunch of gold mines, conveniently died, and left them to his daughter. Annabell thought this would mean they never had to worry about anything ever again, but obviously her New Money is no good, and while they no longer live in a shack barely making ends meet, neither she nor her family are well recieved in American high society. Annabel's solution: find an empoverished English nobleman whom she doesn't hate to give her a position in society, so she (and her younger sister) will no longer be shunned and sniffed at at polite gatherings.

Christian Du Quesne has been the Duke of Scarborough for about three months, since his brother died. Unfortunately for Christian and his younger sister, who both married weathly Americans to try to save the family fortunes, the previous Dukes were excellent at gambling and living irresponsibly, and less good at taking care of the Dukedom's extensive properties. His marriage ended badly, when the innocent young woman he married for her huge dowry killed herself, while Christian was off on the Continent spending her money. He's determined never to marry again, happy to let the title pass to his cousin. He is, however, pretty much broke, and needs money fast. So when Annabel's uncle promises him half a million dollars if he can talk her out of marrying the fortune hunting Earl of Rumsford in a week, what's an empoverished nobleman to do?

Trouble at the Wedding is Guhrke's third Abandoned at the Altar novel, and probably the one that fits least into the mold. For one thing, no one is abandoned or jilted anywhere, Christian just creates a huge scene at Annabel's wedding. It was a quick read, but not really that compelling, and lacked the wit and passion of some of Guhrke's previous novels. Neither the hero or heroine were really all that interesting, nor was their journey towards their HEA that compelling. I do like that Guhrke writes historical novels from other eras than Regency England, though, and hope that her next novel is back on form, as I've previously enjoyed many of her books a whole lot.

CBR3 Book 10: "Scandal of the Year" by Laura Lee Guhrke

Publisher: Avon

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Date begun: February 4th, 2011

Date finished: February 4th, 2011

Scandal of the Year is a sequel of sorts to Wedding of the Season, and in it, the man jilted in the previous book, Aidan Carr, the Duke of Thathen, finally finds his Duchess, but only after yet another broken engagement. While his first engagement was broken once he found Lady Beatrix Danbury in the arms of her childhood sweetheart, in a particularly passionate snog, his second attempt at matrimony was ruined about a year later, when he was found naked in bed with Lady Julia Yeardley (Beatrix' cousin, a supporting character in the previous book) by her husband.

Having tried to get a divorce from her beastly husband for years, Julia finally managed it by getting Aidan incredibly drunk on champagne and seducing him, knowing her husband would find them in bed together, and the public scandal wouldn't allow him to stay married to her any longer. She knows that Aidan probably hates her afterwards, and that his previously perfect reputation was rather tarnished by the incident. So she's surprised when he not only acknowledges her at social functions, but seems quite pleased to see her. Deeply in debt, as her husband made sure she had no money of her own for most of their marriage, Julia is in desperate need for gainful employment, not something easy to find for a woman of rank, and a notorious divorcee to boot. When Aidan offers to make her his social secretary, she gladly accepts, even though her primary role will be to help him find a suitable wife, and she'll have to spend lots of time in close proximity to the only man who's ever really made her feel passionate.

Aidan seen from Julia's perspective is rather a different man than the one presented in Wedding of the Season, and as it's clear that he's always fancied her cousin since the first time he met her, it's probably a good thing he didn't end up marrying Beatrix. He's still a perfect gentleman, kind, honourable, protective and chivalrous, but instead of coming across as a bit of a boring prig here, it's clear that he keeps his true emotions tightly shackled, for fear of repeating his father's mistakes. He knows that unless he keeps his desires reigned in, he'll hurt the people around him, who depend on him, and he strives to do the right thing always. Like Beatrix, he thinks he knows exactly what he wants in a life partner, only to have his mind changed for him. When he realizes what he does want, however, he doesn't hesitate as long as she did, he pursues it with a singleminded determination.

While Wedding of the Season was a nice bit of escapist fluff which I wouldn't necessarily remember a year from now, I'm glad I read it, as it set up the scene for the protagonists of this book. Scandal of the Year was a great romance and a much more satisfying read, more so because Aidan and Julia, who seemingly couldn't stand each other in the previous book, are clearly meant for each other. Having met at chance encounters throughout the years, the first time shortly before Julia was about to make her disastrous marriage, they've got a much more interesting backstory than Beatrix and Will, and Julia's vulnerability and vehement unwillingness to ever commit to a man are very understandable. Both protagonists seem like much more complex characters, and their sufferings and struggles make their happy ending so much more rewarding. This book reminded me in turns of Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas and His at Night by Sherry Thomas, and stood up well in comparison to both books. There is apparently a third book in this series coming out, and I now can't wait to read it.

CBR3 Book 9: "Wedding of the Season" by Laura Lee Guhrke

Publisher: Avon
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Date begun: January 30th, 2011
Date finished: January 31st, 2011

William Mallory, the Duke of Sunderland, is back in England for a brief time to see to his estates and borrow more money to fund his archaeological expedition in Egypt, where he's searching for the tomb of King Tutankhamen. He knows he can't avoid seeing his former fiancee, Lady Beatrix Danbury, as he wants to borrow the money off her cousin. Six years earlier, Will asked Beatrix to come with him on his adventures in Egypt, shortly before the couple were due to marry in a huge society event, but she turned him down. Now she's engaged to the Duke of Thrathen and likely to have all her dreams of a big family fulfilled.

Beatrix was shocked when Will asked her to come to Egypt. Her cousin's best friend, she always knew they'd get married, and she loved him since she was a little girl. Leaving one's family, estates and social obligations to go off digging for elusive treasures in the desert was never part of her plans, and she felt forced to turn Will down. Hoping for years that he'd return and choose her over Egypt, she finally convinced herself that she was over him, and accepted the proposal of another man, Aidan Carr, who is everything Will is not. He has a sense of tradition, honour, family and plans their honeymoon around his obligations on his estates and in Parliament. Some may consider him dull, Beatrix knows that he is safe and trust-worthy, if a bit overprotective.

Shortly before Beatrix is due to finally get her wedding of the season, she and Will are thrown together at the house party of a mutual friend. Upon seeing her again (when she nearly runs him over in her Daimler), Will is determined to win her back, and convince her to come with him to Egypt this time. Can he awaken Beatrix' dormant sense of adventure and persuade her that she's not over him after all?

I'd read a few romances by Laura Lee Guhrke before, and I like that she doesn't feel the need to set them during the Regency era, standard setting for a vast majority of historical romances (or so it seems, anyway). I'd heard mixed reports of this one, mainly from historical sticklers who couldn't get over the fact that Will is looking for the tomb of King Tutankhamen far earlier than the actual excavations for said tomb actually took place. I did not feel that this factual error in any way detracted from the story. Will and Beatrix are a nice couple, and complement each other well. It's clear that they're meant to be together, and that to an extent, it's a misunderstanding of each other's expectations of marriage, and Beatrix's controlling father that caused them to break up in the first place.

It's always a tricky thing when your hero has to steal the heroine away from another man. How do you do that without making him an unsympathetic cad? Sometimes the author chooses to make said other man utterly unlikable, but Guhrke has chosen not to make Aidan (the hero of a companion romance) a villain or a freak who clearly doesn't deserve the heroine, just someone who doesn't suit her very much, and who is clearly the rebound guy. He's kind and honourable, and reacts remarkably calmly to losing his fiancee, and I'm actually looking forward to reading the novel where he gets his own happy ending.