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Ramsay family #1
The Love Knot
The Man-Hunting Maiden
Miss Aurora Ramsay had set her sights on a moneyed marriage to save her family estate-and had found the perfect target. Not only was Lord Walsh wonderfully wealthy, he was her ideal of masterful masculinity and rugged good looks to boot. But Aurora was a novice when it came to the art of hunting for a man. She had to learn how to stir a man's senses as well as snare his heart without delay-and only one person could teach her...
Miles Fletcher might be the kind of dandy she scorned, but this devastatingly handsome, exquisitely elegant gentleman knew every trick of enticement and strategy of seduction. He promised to make her irresistible to any man if she put herself in his knowing hands. He did not mention, though, what would happen when she found herself in his surprisingly strong arms. ...
Miss Aurora Ramsay had set her sights on a moneyed marriage to save her family estate-and had found the perfect target. Not only was Lord Walsh wonderfully wealthy, he was her ideal of masterful masculinity and rugged good looks to boot. But Aurora was a novice when it came to the art of hunting for a man. She had to learn how to stir a man's senses as well as snare his heart without delay-and only one person could teach her...
Miles Fletcher might be the kind of dandy she scorned, but this devastatingly handsome, exquisitely elegant gentleman knew every trick of enticement and strategy of seduction. He promised to make her irresistible to any man if she put herself in his knowing hands. He did not mention, though, what would happen when she found herself in his surprisingly strong arms. ...
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
About the author
Elisabeth Fairchild
25 books26 followersElisabeth Fairchild is half English and considers the British Isles her second home. With a degree in advertising from North Texas State University, Fairchild worked for ten years in advertising before turning to writing full-time.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 16, 2020
Read for the September 2020 TBR Challenge prompt - "Dress for Success"
Sometimes I look at a TBR Challenge prompt, and the perfect book comes to mind, sometimes I look at it and … it doesn’t. “Dress for Success” was one of those times. I was all set to give up and just read a random book from the TBR when I found I had Elisabeth Fairchild’s The Love Knot on my Kindle. I’ve read a few of her books and enjoyed them, and when I read the synopsis – an elegant gentleman agrees to help a gauche young woman learn to attract the object of her affections – I realised I’d found this month’s read.
It’s a fairly simple story that uses a familiar trope, but what bumps it up into the recommendation bracket is the way the central relationship is developed and the strong characterisation of the two leads. It opens with a prologue set the night before the hero, Miles Fletcher, is due to leave London to stay with his friend Thomas Coke at Holkham Hall in Norfolk to observe the annual sheep shearing (Miles is an art dealer and knows little about farming; he’s interested and wants to learn for when he inherits his uncle’s property). He’s settled for a quiet night at his club when he’s summoned to attend his uncle Lester who has just won a fortune at the gaming table. Lester isn’t in good health and doesn’t expect to live for much longer, and before Miles leaves for Norfolk, Lester makes a cryptic request – to make sure a certain young lady doesn’t find that she’s been ‘fleeced’.
The subject of that request appears unexpectedly as Miles and his sister Grace approach Holkham in their carriage. Stopping briefly to observe a group of ladies at archery practice, Miles is immediately struck by the skill and poise of a tall, red-haired young woman whose confidence calls to him as much as her looks do. Aurora Ramsey is breathtaking, and Miles is smitten – he had not expected to find such beauty in fulfilling his promise to his uncle.
The Ramsey name is dogged by scandal, from the eldest brother’s gambling addiction to another’s drunkenness to another’s womanising, and Aurora- the only Ramsey female - has been doing her best to run the family estate pretty much single-handedly. But with the means to do so ever dwindling, it’s time for her to find a wealthy husband whose money will give her the chance to save the home and land she loves so much – and she’s settled on Lord Walsh, a young, handsome and wealthy peer who is also present at the house party. The problem is that Aurora has absolutely no idea how to go about attracting a man, and no social graces to speak of. She can ride and hunt and talk about sheep shearing and land management, but she can’t dance or play or paint or flirt… she has never learned any of the so-called accomplishments expected of society ladies.
This Pygmalion-esque story proceeds as one would expect; Miles offers to help Aurora to learn the sorts of things she’ll need to be able to catch a husband - what clothes to wear, how to flirt, how to converse appropriately and all the things society dictates a well-born young woman should know. Naturally, during the course of these lessons Aurora finds it increasingly difficult to remember that she’s learning how to attract Lord Walsh. Miles Fletcher may not be the handsomest man she’s ever seen, but he’s certainly the kindest, most honourable one – not to mention the best dressed! - and for the first time in her life she understands what genuine attraction and desire feel like… if only she wasn’t feeling them for the wrong man!
Miles is a terrific beta hero. He’s considerate and empathetic and just wants Aurora to be happy. He does know something she doesn’t for most of the book – that her brother Jack lost the Ramsey estate to Miles’ uncle Lester and that Miles stands to inherit it when his uncle dies – but he doesn’t lie to her about it; or rather he doesn’t withhold the information because he deliberately sets out to deceive, he does it because he wants her to be able to make her own choices. He’s smitten with Aurora from the first, and their subsequent interactions – in which their differences are plain to see, but in a way that shows how right they are for each other – only reinforce his initial impression that she’s the woman for him. But if she decides she wants Lord Walsh, then Miles is determined to help her get what she wants, even if it breaks his heart in the process.
There were a couple of times I felt Aurora was being overly stubborn, but I liked her for the most part. She’s in a really awkward situation; her brothers (with one exception) are wastrels and care for nothing except their own pleasure, so she’s been the one to manage their estate and through no fault of her own stands to lose the land she loves and the only home she’s ever known. I mostly forgave her sometimes blinkered view of things because of that – upper class women of her time had so few options – and once her deep seated insecurities were revealed, I warmed to her.
I really enjoyed the setting of this story. Sure, it’s at a Regency house-party, but instead of an emphasis on grand balls or musical evenings, there are outdoor scenes of the estate at work, which was a refreshing change of focus.
The chemistry between Miles and Aurora sparks from the outset, and even though the author doesn’t go beyond kisses on the page, the sexual tension is always present in the air between them, and in certain scenes (such as the one in the attic where they’re looking at a portrait) it’s so thick as to be almost palpable. The dénouement is perhaps a little rushed, but overall, I enjoyed The Love Knot and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good Traditional Regency, or who simply wants to read an historical romance in which the characters aren’t twenty-first century people in period costume.
Sometimes I look at a TBR Challenge prompt, and the perfect book comes to mind, sometimes I look at it and … it doesn’t. “Dress for Success” was one of those times. I was all set to give up and just read a random book from the TBR when I found I had Elisabeth Fairchild’s The Love Knot on my Kindle. I’ve read a few of her books and enjoyed them, and when I read the synopsis – an elegant gentleman agrees to help a gauche young woman learn to attract the object of her affections – I realised I’d found this month’s read.
It’s a fairly simple story that uses a familiar trope, but what bumps it up into the recommendation bracket is the way the central relationship is developed and the strong characterisation of the two leads. It opens with a prologue set the night before the hero, Miles Fletcher, is due to leave London to stay with his friend Thomas Coke at Holkham Hall in Norfolk to observe the annual sheep shearing (Miles is an art dealer and knows little about farming; he’s interested and wants to learn for when he inherits his uncle’s property). He’s settled for a quiet night at his club when he’s summoned to attend his uncle Lester who has just won a fortune at the gaming table. Lester isn’t in good health and doesn’t expect to live for much longer, and before Miles leaves for Norfolk, Lester makes a cryptic request – to make sure a certain young lady doesn’t find that she’s been ‘fleeced’.
The subject of that request appears unexpectedly as Miles and his sister Grace approach Holkham in their carriage. Stopping briefly to observe a group of ladies at archery practice, Miles is immediately struck by the skill and poise of a tall, red-haired young woman whose confidence calls to him as much as her looks do. Aurora Ramsey is breathtaking, and Miles is smitten – he had not expected to find such beauty in fulfilling his promise to his uncle.
The Ramsey name is dogged by scandal, from the eldest brother’s gambling addiction to another’s drunkenness to another’s womanising, and Aurora- the only Ramsey female - has been doing her best to run the family estate pretty much single-handedly. But with the means to do so ever dwindling, it’s time for her to find a wealthy husband whose money will give her the chance to save the home and land she loves so much – and she’s settled on Lord Walsh, a young, handsome and wealthy peer who is also present at the house party. The problem is that Aurora has absolutely no idea how to go about attracting a man, and no social graces to speak of. She can ride and hunt and talk about sheep shearing and land management, but she can’t dance or play or paint or flirt… she has never learned any of the so-called accomplishments expected of society ladies.
This Pygmalion-esque story proceeds as one would expect; Miles offers to help Aurora to learn the sorts of things she’ll need to be able to catch a husband - what clothes to wear, how to flirt, how to converse appropriately and all the things society dictates a well-born young woman should know. Naturally, during the course of these lessons Aurora finds it increasingly difficult to remember that she’s learning how to attract Lord Walsh. Miles Fletcher may not be the handsomest man she’s ever seen, but he’s certainly the kindest, most honourable one – not to mention the best dressed! - and for the first time in her life she understands what genuine attraction and desire feel like… if only she wasn’t feeling them for the wrong man!
Miles is a terrific beta hero. He’s considerate and empathetic and just wants Aurora to be happy. He does know something she doesn’t for most of the book – that her brother Jack lost the Ramsey estate to Miles’ uncle Lester and that Miles stands to inherit it when his uncle dies – but he doesn’t lie to her about it; or rather he doesn’t withhold the information because he deliberately sets out to deceive, he does it because he wants her to be able to make her own choices. He’s smitten with Aurora from the first, and their subsequent interactions – in which their differences are plain to see, but in a way that shows how right they are for each other – only reinforce his initial impression that she’s the woman for him. But if she decides she wants Lord Walsh, then Miles is determined to help her get what she wants, even if it breaks his heart in the process.
There were a couple of times I felt Aurora was being overly stubborn, but I liked her for the most part. She’s in a really awkward situation; her brothers (with one exception) are wastrels and care for nothing except their own pleasure, so she’s been the one to manage their estate and through no fault of her own stands to lose the land she loves and the only home she’s ever known. I mostly forgave her sometimes blinkered view of things because of that – upper class women of her time had so few options – and once her deep seated insecurities were revealed, I warmed to her.
I really enjoyed the setting of this story. Sure, it’s at a Regency house-party, but instead of an emphasis on grand balls or musical evenings, there are outdoor scenes of the estate at work, which was a refreshing change of focus.
The chemistry between Miles and Aurora sparks from the outset, and even though the author doesn’t go beyond kisses on the page, the sexual tension is always present in the air between them, and in certain scenes (such as the one in the attic where they’re looking at a portrait) it’s so thick as to be almost palpable. The dénouement is perhaps a little rushed, but overall, I enjoyed The Love Knot and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good Traditional Regency, or who simply wants to read an historical romance in which the characters aren’t twenty-first century people in period costume.
December 17, 2012
Miles Fletcher, a dandy who has made his living by dealing in beautiful art, is about to inherit his ailing uncle’s vast estate. After Uncle Lester has an unusually good night at the card table, he sends Miles to a house party to “save an innocent lamb from being fleeced.” Little does Miles know that the innocent lamb–one Aurora Ramsay–would be a diamond in the rough. Little does he know that they would strike a bargain: she will teach him how to run a farm, and in exchange he will teach her the skills necessary to secure a wealthy husband. And little does he know that he would fall in love with her.
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May 11, 2020
Another 5-star read for my keeper shelf! A bit of a slow/confusing start for the first few pages then this book really took off. Great interaction and dialogue between the two main characters. Also a different sort of hero. Excellent book!
September 27, 2013
This is the first of a series on the Ramsey Family, and follows the only daughter, Aurora and the youngest of 5 brothers, Rue. While their oldest brother Charles, Viscount Ramsey is traveling in India in an attempt to restore the Family's fortune, another brother Jack also know as Rakehell Ramsey gambles and looses everything the Ramsey's own. This was his failed attempt to increase their fortunes, and the manifestation of his gambling addiction.
Aurora, who has been maintaining the family estate without much help, is known as l'amazon, and travels to an country house party with brother Rue to land a husband. She specifically wants the Earl (who is for some very strange reason addressed as "your grace"? Odd as he isn't a Duke). This is her plan for restoring the Family's fortunes.
Of course plans never go the way they are supposed to, and thus the story brings l'amazon to a elegant, fashionable, artistic London Dandy.
All characters involved are delightful, their interactions amusing, and the internal dialog revealing their turmoil and ultimate growth. I am looking forwards to the next 3 books in the series which I have already bought. Again Georgette Heyer comes to mind, witty, great characters, some intrigue or danger, and a developing love (strong attraction, kissing, but no sex).
Aurora, who has been maintaining the family estate without much help, is known as l'amazon, and travels to an country house party with brother Rue to land a husband. She specifically wants the Earl (who is for some very strange reason addressed as "your grace"? Odd as he isn't a Duke). This is her plan for restoring the Family's fortunes.
Of course plans never go the way they are supposed to, and thus the story brings l'amazon to a elegant, fashionable, artistic London Dandy.
All characters involved are delightful, their interactions amusing, and the internal dialog revealing their turmoil and ultimate growth. I am looking forwards to the next 3 books in the series which I have already bought. Again Georgette Heyer comes to mind, witty, great characters, some intrigue or danger, and a developing love (strong attraction, kissing, but no sex).
November 12, 2013
I love Fairchild for her sensual intensity and gorgeous language. These things are present in this novel but it still did not fully chime for me as I could not empathise with the blinkered and stubborn heroine. Still worth the read though and with some lovely moments.
May 4, 2015
"Life's a tangle and we must go about bravely unknotting it."
Plot:
Sent by his dying cousin to make sure Aurora won't suffer as a result of her brother's gambling losses, Miles finds himself in a quandary. He wants her. But when she knows why he is there, she won't want him. How can he possibly make sure she has a future, when that future may not be with him?
Comments:
- Historic Romance, London 1817. Clean.
- 3034 kindle locations,
- m/f - but completely clean. A few bared ankles and sexy stolen kisses.
Opinion:
Slow. It's really slow. But that's Fairchild's style, so you need to be willing to go with it.
What Fairchild gives us in "The Love Knot" is a sweet story of growing romance and acceptance, the finding of the Inner Swan in the tomboy, and forgiveness.
As a change from the typical Regency Romance, we get into the nitty gritty of Real Life. We don't focus on the trivia of the ton, nor on pivotal historical events, we go rural. We see shearing in its minutiae, archery, country retreats. The detailed glories of collected fine arts. And the importance of a young woman marrying for security. The effects of gambling (which are so often referenced in Romances, but rarely actuated). It's kinda cool.
Miles is certainly not your (currently) typical Alpha Male Hero. He's a "dandy", "peacock", "cockscomb", a "finicky sort of fellow". He understands the pretties of the time - dress, dance, art, architecture. He grows on the reader, just as he appeals to Aurora, but he's different.
All in, it's a good, memorable book. But it requires patience from the reader. What Fairchild excels at - description, a slow burn, realistic locations - is also it's drawback. You need to want to go there. But I did, and I'm happy I did so.
"Ramsay Family" series
Book 1 The Love Knot - Miles Fletcher and Aurora Ramsay
Book 2 Lord Ramsay's Return - Prudence and Rash
Book 3 The Rakehell's Reform - Rakehell (Jack) and Selina
Book 4 Provocateur - Roger Ramsay and Dulcie
-CR-
Plot:
Sent by his dying cousin to make sure Aurora won't suffer as a result of her brother's gambling losses, Miles finds himself in a quandary. He wants her. But when she knows why he is there, she won't want him. How can he possibly make sure she has a future, when that future may not be with him?
Comments:
- Historic Romance, London 1817. Clean.
- 3034 kindle locations,
- m/f - but completely clean. A few bared ankles and sexy stolen kisses.
Opinion:
Slow. It's really slow. But that's Fairchild's style, so you need to be willing to go with it.
What Fairchild gives us in "The Love Knot" is a sweet story of growing romance and acceptance, the finding of the Inner Swan in the tomboy, and forgiveness.
As a change from the typical Regency Romance, we get into the nitty gritty of Real Life. We don't focus on the trivia of the ton, nor on pivotal historical events, we go rural. We see shearing in its minutiae, archery, country retreats. The detailed glories of collected fine arts. And the importance of a young woman marrying for security. The effects of gambling (which are so often referenced in Romances, but rarely actuated). It's kinda cool.
Miles is certainly not your (currently) typical Alpha Male Hero. He's a "dandy", "peacock", "cockscomb", a "finicky sort of fellow". He understands the pretties of the time - dress, dance, art, architecture. He grows on the reader, just as he appeals to Aurora, but he's different.
All in, it's a good, memorable book. But it requires patience from the reader. What Fairchild excels at - description, a slow burn, realistic locations - is also it's drawback. You need to want to go there. But I did, and I'm happy I did so.
"Ramsay Family" series
Book 1 The Love Knot - Miles Fletcher and Aurora Ramsay
Book 2 Lord Ramsay's Return - Prudence and Rash
Book 3 The Rakehell's Reform - Rakehell (Jack) and Selina
Book 4 Provocateur - Roger Ramsay and Dulcie
-CR-
January 12, 2013
It was a Good read although the end was in my opinion a little Bit hasty. I liked the characters but nevertheless for me is it 3,5 stars
January 19, 2013
Fine, not squeaky clean.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews