Marrying Mischief

by Lyn Stone

Inheriting an earldom had obviously gone to Nicholas Hollander's head. After he'd left Emily's reputation in tatters years before, how could he expect that she would ever agree to marry him? Yet still he insisted that her rash efforts to find her missing brother had left them no choice but to wed, and straightaway.

Nick's youthful defection had ruined Emily Lovenye's prospects. So it was no wonder that the vicar's daughter still wanted nothing to do with him. Unwittingly compromised into a hasty marriage, his courageous Emily was giving him the devil of a time as he struggled to win back her trust and turn their inconvenient union into wedded bliss.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Harlequin, Regency

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Lyn's foray into book-length fiction began in the early '90s, and she signed her first contract with Harlequin Historicals on Valentine's Day, 1996. "Flowers, candy, kisses, and a book sale, too! There will never be another day quite like that one!" she says.

"I always loved to write and even got excited about doing reports and term papers. I neglected other homework just to make that short story for English class as riveting as I possibly could."

Even so, she never really considered writing as a career until much later. Instead, Lyn studied art and worked in Europe while she visited the places she now writes about in her historicals. At that time, she was painting those sights and selling pictures.

While working at Boeing as an illustrator, she had the idea of trying to freelance book covers. Since she liked to paint faces and figures, romance novels seemed a logical choice. However, the field of cover art is highly competitive and she discovered it would take a great deal of research and preparation.

While studying the market on covers, she became firmly hooked on the contents of the books and decided to try writing instead. "Definitely one of my better decisions," she admits. She is still an avid romance reader and manages to read an average of four per week in addition to one or two books outside the genre.

Lyn feels a special affinity for England and Scotland with their wonderful castles and intriguing history. The American South and Southwest are her favorite settings for contemporary adventures.

She and her husband, Allen, both natives of Georgia, live in North Alabama near their two children and four grandchildren. "The family contributes to my research," Lyn says.

"They buy me books, clip articles, sketch costumes, and sometimes act out scenes. Even the grandchildren serve as inspiration for the younger characters."

Reviews

[Ana María · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un harlequin histórico con bastante de comedia de enredos (tardé en darme cuenta) y un par de misterios que se resuelven en un pif paf. Demasiado sencilla. Ya me olvidé de lo que trataba.

[Raquel Terradillos]

Un final feliz

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet book. No meanness between the main characters as in some historicals, just several misunderstandings. I feel like there was something missing, though, like maybe there wasn't much of a plot... I can't really put my finger on it, but I just know it wasn't the best story I've ever read. If you already have it, I'd say read it, but don't go through any trouble to get a copy if you don't already have one.

[Susan Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally don't like when the hero and heroine get married but don't have sex for whatever stupid reason one of them comes up with. I'm also not fond of plots that are built primarily on misunderstandings.

Nick wanted to marry Emily but his father sent him away, arranged a marriage agreement for him (of which he had no knowledge), and crushed Emily's hopes by telling her a bunch of lies. Nick comes home 7 years later, and ends up marrying Emily to save her reputation after she's required to quarantine in his house. (It was quite timely that, of the hundreds of books I have in my personal library, I pulled out one involving a possible plague.) Emily loves Nick but believes numerous erroneous facts about their previous relationship. To top it off someone is trying to kill them.

Although I finished the book, I skimmed most pages. Maybe I've just been reading too many romance novels (is that even possible?) trying to weed out my library of books I won't want to reread.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute easy read. Found myself laughing at a few of the antics.

[Griffinyarn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This period romance was a bit ordinary. The hero and heroine lacked something... charisma, vivacity, charm, whatever. They didn't make me care about them and I wasn't invested in their relationship.

Take the hero:

What if she demanded to know whether he had loved her then? No woman would want to hear that, no, he was only a young man caught up in a mad infatuation.
She would not be glad to know that he had assuaged that lust with numerous women since that time and now recognized so-called love for what it was. The word was a fabrication invented to prettify what took place between a man and woman.

Of course, five near-death experiences and one-and-a-half sex scenes later we get this:

"And I love you. Now I know what the poets mean when they speak of love," he replied as he took her in his arms. “Now I know."

Unfortunately, there wasn't much actual character development in coming to this realisation.

Then there's the heroine:

She threw herself onto the bed and buried her face in a pillow. All these years she had blamed him for abandoning her to the scorn of their small village when in truth, it was she who had caused him to leave his home. Going away then had saved him from having to marry her, a woman he could not love, only to find himself trapped by that very fate because of her most recent folly. He must hate her now. Despite that, he still acted nobly toward her.

“Because he is noble,” she cried into her pillow, “as I shall never be. It will never work. Never!”

These outbursts of low self-esteem continue throughout the book.

Then there is the convoluted plot with no less than 6 villains (to greater and lesser extents), making it feel rather farcical.
(One of) The conflict(s):

“You will suffer more than regret in the near future, you bastard,” Worthing promised in a hard voice laced with hatred. “You are not worthy to bear your father’s name or his title. I will personally see to it that no home in England will receive you after this. I shall ruin you!”

The resolution:

Baron Worthing came close enough to speak only once during that time, only to give Nick the cut direct. Though the intentional slight was obvious to everyone around them, no one commented and it drew only a few curious looks. That old device had been employed so often during the past century, it had lost most of its effect.

So anticlimactic.

Very forgettable.