"Are you scared I will ruin you? Or that you will like it?"
Mary-Jane must choose between marrying her late husband’s cruel cousin or she and her daughter living on the streets. But then, the worst rake of the ton offers her a deal she can’t a marriage in name only.
The Earl of Lindburg had vowed to never marry, or fall in love. Yet, the desire Harrison feels for his new bride is enough to break his own rules.
She is his weakness…and his only exception. Will he be able to resist her?
*If you like a realistic yet steamy depiction of the Regency and Victorian era, then The Earl’s Unwanted Bride is the novel for you.
An enchanting regency romance of 80,000 words (around 400 pages), written by Daphne Byrne and published by Cobalt Fairy.
No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a strong happily ever after.
Get "The Earl’s Unwanted Bride" today to discover Daphne's splendid new story!
This was simply atrocious. I'm really sorry, Daphne Byrne.
Why, (oh why) do people write British historical fiction and bring in modern sensibilities and terms? Watching a couple of Jane Austen films does not an expert make.
There were too many instances where this fell down as far as Georgian British culture, norms and reality just fell short. But the best/ worst one was where the heroine gets the hump over her marriage of convenience (her hubby kindly arranges for her daughter to attend a very prestigious school- how terrible!) and she tells him "Expect the annulment papers within two weeks".
Oh boy. I'm currently too tired to actually explain the difficulties for a marriage to be annulled in the early 19th C, but the issue which slaps you most in the face with this is that A WIFE COULD NOT BRING ANY ACTION AGAINST HER HUSBAND...AT ALL. It wasn't until a bit later in the century where laws were brought it which limited a husband's right over his wife, and by limited I mean by half an inch- they were not allowed to beat their wife with a stick thicker than his thumb. Divorce was practically unheard of and cost the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of pounds, which as a woman, this heroine did not have. But as I said, legally, she could not bring the action against her husband.
On top of the woeful lack of understanding of some basic stuff, the story itself was as insipid as the heroine herself. Will not be looking up other titles by the author.
DNF at 12%. I think this must be the lowest percentage I've ever abandoned a book, but it actually made me angry, it was so bad.
Her husband died a few months ago, and she's at a party (what?). Her abusive husband's even more awful brother comes to find her (how?) and says she needs to marry him or he'll go against the will and throw her out. So she cries.
Enter mister awful number 3, who stands in the doorway and makes snide remarks on how overemotional she is, teases her until she leaves, then continues to talk bad about her (a recent widow) until he goes home. So then he goes to bed, wakes up from a nightmare in which she's crying again (yep apparently all it takes to scare the hell out of him is a woman's tears) and it bothers him so much that HE TAKES A HORSE AND RIDES TO HER HOUSE AT LIKE 2am TO ASK HER WHY SHE WAS CRYING!
Like, hello... random buttface from a party earlier busts into your house to ask you why you were crying?!?! Absolutely creep factor. Then he pretty much berates her until she tells him what's going on. This guy has zero redeeming qualities and I couldn't possibly care less about him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
There was a lot of predictability, which took away any mystery or interest. The evil grandmother everyone listens to rather than the characters actually speaking to each other. Lots of endless “thinning of lips” “squaring of shoulders” “pinching the bridge of one’s nose”….there is also a typo “your” for “you’re when The Earl is drunk. The two go from intimate speech to “ my lord” in one page and no one seems to have a clue why. It's a mystery! These two seem to be on the dense side. There are side stories never fleshed out - her first marriage, the blackmail, the evil grandmother and why she hates Mary Jane so much, why the Grandmother lives with the Earl, what happened to the Duke's family, why he's a rake and why he so suddenly falls in love with this rather unlikable woman - even the passion is weirdly presented. I would recommend a good edit to weed out the repetitive descriptions of behavior, the typos, and the endless and unnecessary back and forth when the cause of it is clear to everyone but the two main characters.
This was a cute little story, not as much steamy scenes but that is okay. The Earl is besotted by Mary Jane who is being threatened by her husband’s cruel cousin. The Earl proposed a marriage of convenience. The Earls evil grandmother is opposed and causes trouble, since Mary Jane is unsure of herself and the Earl.
I read this as part of an ARC which has no bearing on my review.
I really like Mary Jane and I was excited for her book! This book immediately had me hooked and I finished in a few hours. Mary Jane really is a strong independent personality and Harrison liked that about her. I did like the book but I took a star away because I felt like the response Mary Jane had to the conflict right at the end just didn't fit her personality compared to the rest of the book. The epilogue chapter made up for it. I am really liking this series so far!
First time reading this author and I did enjoy the read ,the characters were written well I really enjoyed Harrison he was truly a strong alpha man who controlled his own. But Mary Jane was about to get on my nerves especially after being presented as a strong Woman which I love because Women Rock !!!😊😊, anyway this is a really good read and I did enjoy it it held my interest from beginning to end, so now I'm going to go read the first book in this series Teresa's story. Again a good read .
A widow with a daughter is approached by her late husband’s heir. He threatens to take everything her husband left her if she doesn’t marry him. Even the servant warn her of his cruel nature. Not wanting to end up on th streets homeless with a child, she confides to her friend her situation. Being overheard by a Earl who has sworn never to marry but to remain a rake, he comes up with a compromise. A marriage of connivence. She will be his wive in name only and he will give her the protection of his name, stopping her husband’s cousin. She agrees to his plane with conditions. Thing rarely go according to plan.
Lady Mary Jane cannot stand to be around The Earl, Harrison. And the feeling is mutual..until he thinks of a proposition for her. He cannot stand to remember her sadness & tears he happened upon. The only problem is his grandmother..she is despicable & says the most disgusting things when others aren’t around. When he realizes his feelings have changed for her & her daughter, Rosemary, it will be a challenge to prove it to her. But he’s up for it.
I enjoyed this story. At first, I thought that Harrison would always be a rake but his commitment to Mary-Jane was strong. His grandmother was a nasty woman and had such a strong effect on the story. However, love was stronger. When Harrison and Mary-Jane realised their love could conquer evil happiness followed. A good story.
I read many books. I believe this is my favorite Regency romance by this author. I read it in one weekend day. It has a few typos, but not enough to keep it from being enjoyable.
Harrison is a rake who has fallen for Mary Jane when her late husband cousin threatens her he offers a marriage of convenience what follows is a hot and steamy romance leading to a NEW and a mystery being solved I would recommend this book.
This was a good book with interesting characters and an enemies to lovers theme. I really enjoyed the previous book in this series and reading it prior to this one provides some background for this book's characters.
Mary-Jane enters a marriage of convenience with Harrison to avoid her ex-husbands awful cousin. Feelings between Mary-Jane and Harrison but there is still evil lurking with the intention of splitting them up. Great story really enjoyed it
Love is a learning experience as told in this story through the characters and the ups and downs they experience. A wonderful story that will pull you in and keep hold.
Harrison needed a project to keep him going, Mary Jane was that project. She needed to be saved. Elena was evil bitter old loveless lady that just wanted to control everything.
Dreadful! Full of bad spelling, bad grammar, anachronisms, and the plot was ridiculous. Complete ignorance of English law and customs. I gave up when the heroine spoke about spending quality time with her child.
This was a good book. Harrison and Mary Jane had a time with his grandmother and her late husband’s brother but in the end they were able to settle down and live happily ever after.
4.5 I really could have done with a couple more chapters. Love love Harrison and I love him for her. Some slow parts and pacing was a bit weird and jumpy but overall I have no regrets to having read this and glad I did!
I have to admit I talked out loud several times to the heroine in this book And even to her her husband. More like 'don't listen to her, she is poison. She is poison!' It has a very happy ending.
This is brilliant story of danger, hope, love and especially romance! What starts with determination it becomes more complicated until it becomes more of passion and love.
This book started off interesting. I was How Harrison and Rosemary developed. However, the slow progression in the relationships and the continued dialog between Mary Jane and Edna slowly made the story a bore. Mary Jane went from a strong motivated widow to a simpering miss.