The Desperate Viscount

by Gayle Buck

A Convenient Proposal

Sinjin St. John is confident that he will one day become a duke, and all the pieces of his comfortable life are in place: he will marry a beautiful society miss and continue his pleasure-seeking lifestyle of gambling and women. But when his great-uncle, the old duke, unexpectedly gets married and has a son, Sinjin's plans are destroyed. Sinjin must marry and marry money; otherwise it is debtor's prison for him. And who would make a more biddable wife than the shy, gentle tradesman's daughter Mary Pepperidge? What Sinjin doesn't expect is to lose his cynical heart to a woman who is scorned by his world, but whose quiet grace touches his soul in ways he never thought possible.

Genres: Historical, Historical Romance, Regency, Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Historical Fiction, M F Romance

Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

Gayle Buck has freelanced for regional publications, worked for a radio station and as a secretary. Until recently, she was involved in public relations for a major Texas university. Besides her Regencies, she also writes fantasy and romantic suspense. She lives in Bandera, Texas.

Reviews

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

3.5*
Another mercantile marriage story by Gayle Buck.
The H is a real cold one, not even warm to or appreciative of his few friends who go all out for his sorry insolvent ass. While the h is a sweet and pragmatic almost-spinster who’s happy running house for her indulgent merchant father.

The H’s dream of acquiring a ducal title and it tithes by default are run down by his octogenarian relative marrying his young and pregnant mistress. Whereupon his equally cold and ambitious fiancée immediately dumps him.
The only option left before him is to make an advantageous marriage and his friends come up with a list of possibles from merchant families, as too many recent humiliations make him an untouchable for aristocratic heiresses.

The H/h actually do meet briefly before this plan is even drawn up. The H forgets about her as soon as she’s out of sight but she is secretly attracted to him and cannot get him out of her thoughts. When the H hears her name in the aforesaid list, he immediately picks her name while she takes time to make up her mind, as she cannot fathom why he would wish to marry her.
So that’s how they marry and then the H gets progressively possessive and jealous till a satisfying hea.

The second half is definitely better.
Obvious enough because the h does not even make an entry till the 8th chapter when he runs into her by chance. And then another 4 chapters go by before they meet again - on their wedding day – at the book’s halfway mark!
Also the matter of ow’s comeuppance and the ducal title are sorted out satisfyingly later on in the book.

[MasterSal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this in May 2019 but I did not finish it then because I forgot about it. Finally got to it this time - and I am glad I did. Even though the heroine only made an appearance on page ~20% into the book, I thought this book worked very well as a study of our hero. It also felt different from a lot of the romance books I read - with a flavour to the writing that can be missing in some authors.

This is old fashioned in its telling and in how the hero treats the heroine - but generally I enjoyed my time with it. Could have used like 5 - 1o more pages as the ending was a bit abrupt. I actually thought I had missed something in the ebook - which was a shame.

Still overall a strong entry from an author I've realized - tends to work for me.

[Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My secret sin............. I read regency romances. I have read all of Gayle Buck. Spicy heroines and no sex except a kiss at the end (maybe). They are my mind candy and wonderful when only mind candy will do. Under stress? Read a romance.

[Leena Aluru · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been such a sweet story ,unfortunately its all over the place. The author focuses more on outside incidents revolving around our H&h instead of building a bond between them. We never get to see a unit forming. Mary comes out shining but Aubrey is truly an ass.

Recommended: meh 😐

[gottalottie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I swear this story didn’t start until chapter 12, it was so long-winded and boring in the beginning. I was so offended that it was written I refused to give up, I wanted to get to the actual story. It was honestly bizarre how long the set-up went on, with countless pointless interactions, and then every time someone went to talk to someone else there were pagessss of detail before the conversation even started and not things like characterization or background but like “this is the angle the butler set down down the tea tray.”

(I am noticing this pattern in these old signet regencies, it’s like they wanted to fill it out and just wrote words.)

They meet briefly chapter 8ish then once they finally marry, chapter 12, the book continues on like a normally written book, and the writing is great! I would almost give it three stars for those last 100 pages, but I’m too offended by that first 60% where it felt like the author was playing around.

I really like FMCs that are competent, wise and enthusiastic about domestic things, running the household like a business. She’s very savvy and level-headed but there’s still drama and she’s strong throughout. Great FMC.

[Sandi Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago and recently found it on Kindle so I purchased it to read again.

It is a strangely engaging story. I say "strangely" because we do not meet Our Heroine until 1/10 of the way through the book. The book truly is about the Viscount, Lord St. John, more than it is about his bride, Mary Pepperidge.

I do recommend it for an involving, quick read about a relationship that is strengthened with scandalbroth and shows how the quiet comfort of a sensible intelligent woman really DO make for a total win. :)

[Nightwitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I began reading this one as part of my quest for non-noble heroes or heroines in regency romance novels. Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. This is an older, trad regency (no sex), very much in the Heyer mold; for the most part we basically follow our hero around as he lives a (fairly realistic compared to more modern regency romance novels) regency nobleman's life: dueling, gambling, racing, wenching, drinking, and getting into arguments with the duke whose duchy he's supposed to inherit. When said duke marries his pregnant mistress, our hero's bills start coming due. (We're supposed to believe that it's because he's put roofs on all his tenants' houses or something, I think, but given the sheer amount of betting and gambling this guy does, personally I don't buy the charitable explanation.) His fiancee dumps him so the quickest solution is to marry money. Luckily, he met our quiet, ladylike merchant's daughter heroine earlier in the book, and figures she will do as well as anyone else; meanwhile, she managed somehow to fall in love with him during their only conversation, despite the fact that he didn't lower himself to participate in said conversation and she spent all of it chatting with his army buddy who, you know, works for a living. It's frankly quite dull. I think if I read trad regencies more often I'd have a lot more patience for it, but neither the hero nor the heroine seems particularly interesting or well-drawn so once she agreed to marry him, I decided not to bother continuing.

[Meridian Conk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine Regency, not that much romance

This was a well written story with interesting characters, but I wouldn't call it a love story. The hero is a violent, proud Viscount who spends all his time defending his honor. The heroine, Mary, is a level headed romantic partner. So level headed she remains calm enough to be concerned about her husband's reputation after an attempted rape. The two lead barely spend any time together, and I didn't buy the "romance" part. The hero was too forcefully and arrogant to think the relationship would work. But there are some excellent side characters and all of the problems are taken care of in fun ways. A diverting read, but if you want to watch people fall in love this probably won't scratch that itch.

[Beebs]

Zero sympathy for the hero and his financial bind- yes, he inherited estates that were mortgaged, etc., but he just blithely kept running up more bills and debts than his estates would support and wasting money on fribbles (not just fribbles, but he definitely did not retrench in any real way), all on the expectation of inheriting his uncle's title and estates at some point.

He absolutely could have done more and that he did not even try that hard shows a lack of character, and that he resented everyone who tried to help him lowers him even more.

May dnf, may not depending on how I feel going forward. But no sympathies for MMC at all.

[Jane Heyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regency wonder

This storyline is an oft repeated one, but this one is well done!
The plot is very well balanced and enhanced by the usual suspects of solid characterizations. The H is tortured and impoverished, but a much admired peer. The h is pretty low key but balances the H perfectly. The tale rounds up the HEA very sweetly.

[Laura Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is so nice that a lot of the older regency romances can be found on Hoopla because now I can read them on a font I can see. I really liked Mary as a person and a female lead, seemed true to the times , her relationship with her father was heartwarming . Aubrey as the male lead was in keeping with the way older regencies were written , he wasn't perfect but he valued Mary and grew to love her.

[Bamboo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore pragmatic protagonists like Mary.

[relaxolibro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lettura adorabile, la protagonista una donna piena didignità!! Lui sapeva che tesoro aveva vicino!!

[Pretty Sassy Cool · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

This review also appears on Pretty Sassy Cool.

I read this years ago and recently found it on Kindle so I purchased it to read again.

It is a strangely engaging story. I say "strangely" because we do not meet Our Heroine until 1/10 of the way through the book. The book truly is about the Viscount, Lord St. John, more than it is about his bride, Mary Pepperidge.

I do recommend it for an involving, quick read about a relationship that is strengthened with scandalbroth and shows how the quiet comfort of a sensible intelligent woman really DO make for a total win. :)

--
For more reviews and bookish talk, visit our blog at Pretty Sassy Cool

[Ms M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big 2 yawned stars

I picked this book because of high rating but what a disappointment and I should trust the 2 stars reviews on this. It took half way of the story, 49%, where finally the H & h become involved. The Hero treats his wife so poorly and the heroine accepted it, she's a doormat, no spunk at all and at the end things are good not because she forgives him but he finally wants to be with her. Definitely not for me.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but the first half was all backstory on what a cad and disreputable character the hero was. I actually thought he did not deserve the heroine. Of course, this being a traditional regency, he is redeemed with her love.

[JustSomeGal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had so much potential, but it was wasted by the ending. I was really disappointed that the relationship did not have the chance to fully blossom. The story felt clipped off by it's truncated ending. Pity. I really liked the heroine in this novel.

[Penny J Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the story. Enjoy not having to read 10 pages of sex that would never happen lol


Really good read. I will be reading all of her books. Will also tell my friends to read her books as well

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

I enjoyed this book and was glad to see Mary show real character although too slowly. Her husband's confession of love, on the other hand, came abruptly with little foundation.

[Lyuda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good marriage of convenience story.

[Alicia Marsland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her best so far

Good character development and believable motives made this a thoroughly pleasurable read. I could have used another chapter or two of wrapping things up, however.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

good enough for a re-read

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the old fashioned regencies.