Deceived

by Nicola Cornick

"Rumor has it a certain notorious Princess has not a feather to fly and is looking for a gentleman to ease her financial worries. Perhaps the Earl of S. is the man she seeks...." -- The Gentleman's Mercury, 1816

Princess Isabella never imagined it could come to this. Bad enough she faces imprisonment for debts not her own. Even worse that she must make a hasty marriage of convenience with Marcus, the Earl of Stockhaven--the man she'd loved and lost so long ago. But that he now wants revenge by demanding she be his in more than name only...well, that is simply intolerable!

As the London gossips eagerly gather to watch the fun, Isabella struggles to maintain a polite distance in her marriage. But the more Isabella challenges Marcus's iron determination, the hotter their passion burns. This time, will it consume them both--or fuel a love greater than they dare dream?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Second Chance, Harlequin

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

International bestselling author Nicola Cornick writes dual-time historical mysteries that draw on her love for genealogy and local history. She studied History at London and Oxford and worked in academia for a number of years before becoming a full time author. Nicola acts as a guide and researcher at the stunning 17th century hunting lodge, Ashdown House and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of Lydiard Park in Swindon. She gives talks and tours on a variety of historical topics.

Nicola lives near Oxford and loves reading, writing, history, music, wildlife, travel and walking her dog. She also loves hearing from her readers and chatting to them. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter @NicolaCornick and Instagram.

Reviews

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

A riveting and intense vengeance/second chances story between ex-lovers that went definitely south and tepid in the later third. The author creates laudable tension and angst between these two mcs who were once left broken hearted after being separated by her family and fate. The back story is solid.
But this angst soon turns tepid and repetitive as their passionate and sizzling love and then marriage turns decidedly comfortable and boring and as exciting as of any long married couple.
I also resented the dead wife/cousin getting so much space towards the end. That was another blow to the book.

The h's siblings supposedly care for her but they also take advantage of her ruthlessly. They needed more of a comeuppance than the h's affectionate indulgence. So they are poor and need money but so is the h. And she's been through more than enough already and suffered a bad marriage for their, her family's sake. Maybe they feel since she's so strong and blase about life so what's a little more suffering and humiliation. Wow!

The villain does steal the show at the end. I had given up on the mcs by now so I happily lapped up his story. The tension went from the romance but the villains' story is fascinating!

[Darbella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabella and Marcus. 2nd chance, jilted at the alter with a smidgen of revenge tropes. Isabella forced to marry another to save her family from debt. Marcus chose to marry Isabella's cousin-India.
There was too much about India in this story for me. I did especially enjoy Pen and Alistair's romance. Also, the romance couple being separated for 12 years in a romance is also too long for my personal taste.

[Joana Aguiar · Rating 4 out of 5]

So... can this book have double the amount of pages...I needed more time with this characters.

[Jultri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start with sizzling chance meeting in The Fleet prison between heroine, Princess Isabella, and the man she left waiting at the altar 12 years earlier, Marcus Stockhaven, formerly a mere navy lieutenant, now the Earl of Stockhaven after inheriting the title unexpectedly. Isabella found herself in dire strait after her hedonistic royal husband carked and left her in mountains of debt. She hoped to transfer the debt to an inmate through a marriage of convenience, then obtain an annulment and secure a new life free of encumbrance and the past. She never expected the inmate to be her first love, the man she was forced to abandon but never forgotten. The cool and smooth Marcus, did not appear to be in a position to bargain, supposedly serving life for insurmountable debt. And yet, he remained as confident and in control as ever, drawing on her desperation, he negotiated the marriage terms between them all the while seizing this opportunistic opportunity to seek revenge for her betrayal of their love years before. And so they finally wedded, in the filthy prison with the turnkey as witness, 12 years too late, bitter and tainted by all that those years had brought. Lo and behold, Marcus surprised Isabella a few days later appearing very much a free and wealthy nobleman, announcing that there would be no annulment and that Her Serene Highness owed him big time in more ways than one and he intended to collect what was his due.

There were some questionable parts to the story (like the legality of the marriage since the document was in his assumed name) and I felt the author could have maintained the tension between the protagonists for a bit longer than past halfway mark. Still a very solid read.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liking this book more the 2nd time round. Fully fleshed out "adult" characters with a great back story. Like the 2ndary love story too. Would probably give it a 3 1/3 stars if I could.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to 4 and 1/2

[Christy English · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it...she can't go wrong for me

[Zołza_czyta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Próbując ponownie wbić się w rytm czytania postanowiłam na kolejną swoją lekturę wybrać ”Kłopotliwy dług księżnej”, jako, że spodziewałam się, że będzie to literatura niezobowiązująca i bardzo lekka, która pomoże mi zacząć regularne czytanie od nowa. Zresztą ja lubię od czasu do czasu poczytać romanse historyczne.
Księżna Isabella Di Cassilis udała się do więzienia dla dłużników w Londynie, aby znaleźć sobie męża. I wcale nie jest tak dobra, że chce jakiegoś biedaka wykupić. Chodzi jej raczej o to, żeby jeden z tych nieszczęśników, który i tak nie zobaczy już koloru nieba na żywo wziął po ślubie na siebie jej długi, których sprawcą jest pierwszy mąż księżnej Isabell. Pech chce, że trafia na hrabiego Stockhaven Marcusa Ellisa, który nie do końca podczas rozmowy mówi jej prawdę. Mężczyzna ostatecznie zgadza się zostać jej mężem i wziąć na nią swoje długi, a pikanterii dodaje fakt, że tych dwoje było kiedyś po słowie i Bella porzuciła, Marcusa przed ołtarzem.
Nie macie pojęcia jak dobrze się bawiłam, gdy czytałam tę książkę. Przeczytałam ją w dwa dni, więc jest to spory sukces jak na mnie, a zwłaszcza, gdy spojrzy się na moje ostatnie statystyki. W książce jest kilka zabawnych scen, a utarczki słowne Belli i Marcusa same wywoływały na mojej twarzy wielki uśmiech. Mimo, że zakończenie jest przewidywalne (jak to w romansach historycznych) to autorka zaskoczyła mnie wątkiem kryminalnym i nie spodziewałam się tego, co od niej dostałam. Zapisuję to na ogromny plus, bo czasami autorki w tego typu książkach idą na łatwiznę i nie skupiają się na niczym innym tylko na wątku miłosnym.
Nie jest to literatura najwyższych lotów. Mnie pomogła się odprężyć i taki jest w zasadzie jej cel. Nie oczekiwałam fajerwerków w postaci genialnego stylu, unikatowych bohaterów czy też fenomenalnej fabuły. Wiedziałam, czego się spodziewać i to dostałam. Zaserwowano mi przyjemną historię w prostym języku i na dodatek odrobinę śmiechu w te deszczowe dni. Podobnie dobrze bawiłam się, gdy czytałam „Mistyfikację” Candace Camp. Dla wielu nie jest to wcale literatura, tylko to coś podobne do literatury, ale mam to w nosie, bo uważam, że najważniejsze jest czytać – zwłaszcza, że coraz mniej ludzi sięga po książki.
Czy polecam? Jeśli tylko lubicie takie lekkie książki, które na jeden wieczór przeniosą was do XIX-wiecznej Anglii, gdzie jest niepokorna młoda dama i typowy bad boy to jest to pozycja dla Was. Ja się bawiłam dobrze i nie żałuję czasu, który jej poświęciłam.
„Tak silne uczucia maja to do siebie, że łatwo mogą się wypalić – zauważyła. – Lepiej, by żyły tylko we wspomnieniach.”~ Nicola Cornick, Kłopotliwy dług księżnej, Warszawa 2012, s. 213.

[Jesica · Rating 4 out of 5]

BLOG: www.quiuboleecon.blogspot.com
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/jesica_vas/

Hace varios años no leía a esta autora, *que por cierto me gusta mucho* y por casualidad hace unos dias encontre este libro y la verdad no recordaba si lo había leído, sin embargo decidí comenzarlo porque hasta lo que llevamos del año solo he tenido una lectura memorable y eso me tiene muy triste *creo que mi instinto de escoger lecturas esta dañado*.

Es un libro que tiene todo lo que me gusta, buenos personajes tanto principales como secundarios, una interesante historia con un misterio en vuelto y al final te dejan con una sonrisa.

[Angelic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obawiam się, że "Kłopotliwy dług księżnej" nie przypadł mi zbytnio do gustu. Z opisanego wątku można się było spodziewać typowego love-hate relationship, z dogryzaniem, docinkami i rozkwitającą miłością. Niestety chemii między bohaterami było moim zdaniem jak na lekarstwo, a prowadzone dialogi i postępowanie, nie porwały mnie kompletnie.
Za plus należy podkreślić występujące wątki poboczne i odgrywający się w tle romans siostry księżnej, który podobał mi się o wiele bardziej, niż historia z pierwszego planu. Można poczytać, ale zapewne znajdzie się coś lepszego w podobnej konwencji.

https://angeliconpoint.blogspot.com/

[Sandra Dagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book held my attention from the get-go. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and will definitely be reading more by this author. The characters were well developed and very realistic to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical romance and aren't averse to sexual scenes in a book. This book is tastefully written, what I imagine to be very true to life for the time period it portrays....will read again and definitely a keeper!

[Celia Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh what a tangle...

A second chance at love for Marcus and Isabella starts off with a prickly distrustful relationship based on lies. How could it possibly work out-? So many secrets and misunderstandings had to be brought forward into the light for them to have any chance. Oh dear but Isabella's brother has a related secret... Their story kept me reading to the end! Interesting characters and plot. Highly recommended!

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book . . . it is almost as if it was written by two different people. 5 stars first half, 3 stars second half.

The first half is brilliant: second chance romance with all the misunderstanding feels you could want. And then. . . it turns into this weird crime caper and the feels vanish and the resolutions seem empty.

A shame. So much potential here.

(P.S. was also excited because it seemed like this work was using Austen's "Persuasion" as its model rather than P&P).

[Linsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooooo I loved this one! This was my first Cornick and it definitely wont be my last.

Second-chance romance where the man was left at the alter and is still pissed 9 years later. Sign me up.

Will re-read.

[Jen Juniper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Juoni on kierrätettyä kamaa, mutta kerronta kepeää ja nopealukuista.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nl. titel: wraak en verleiding

[Oana-Maria Uliu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Done in very good taste. It read almost like a classic and it was longer than my average romance novels.

[ʙᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ.ʀɪɴᴀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

KOCHAM TĄ HISTORIĘ

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading. It was horrid.

[Bluefly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generalmente apprezzo molto la Cornick, ma questo l'ho trovato noiosetto e semplicistico.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great romance, and another very easy and quick read. I marked three books as currently reading a few days ago to motivate me into reading them...and then picked up seven days straight working. So the books are going a little slower than I would like, but they'll be done soon. :) This was the usual boy meets girl, loves girl, loses girl, indebts girl and then discovers he still loves girl scenario. There is the usual confusion; "Does he love me? Does she love me?" but they got there in the end, that's what counts for these historical romances!

[Kali · Rating 1 out of 5]

ehhh.... i think i would go half a star if i could just wasn't for me

[LInda L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Regency -- more involved than most. Lots of mystery and lots of sex.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good emotional dynamics, strong relationship between the characters. Great story.

[✝✝ Ⓓaisy ❣ ✝✝ · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far I'm pretty much glued to this book.... Marcus and Isabella, cute!

[Fernanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A primeira coisa que me vem á cabeça é porque é que tive este livro tanto tempo encalhado! :)

ver opinião completa:
http://marysilverstone.blogspot.pt/20...

[Elaine]

I started this book, but only got to chapter 5. May try to read it again.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revenge. Ah, revenge! I really enjoy a book with lots of sarcastic zingers.

[Serina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solide Liebesgeschichte mit witzigen Dialogen. Das Cover ist leider etwas sehr kitschig, trotzdem hat das Lesen unheimlich viel Spaß gemacht.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.85