The Marriage Campaign

The Six #2

by Susannah Carleton

Hero's Return

Robert Symington has recently inherited the title Marquess of Elston, but a codicil to his father's will requires that he marry within a year or face unknown consequences. Worse still, Robert must choose from among twenty ladies the deceased man deemed appropriate—one of whom the dashing bachelor knew when she was a girl of six and he a lad of thirteen.

Miss Karla Lane has changed greatly since last she met Robert—and so have her circumstances. Once the apple of her late father's eye, she is now held captive to her stepmother's whims, including the command to stay abovestairs when the marquess comes to visit. Yet in her heart, she hopes that the man who has always been the hero of her dreams will find a way to claim her for his own.

Genres: Regency, Romance, Historical Romance, Clean Romance

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 4, 2003

About the author

Susannah Carleton discovered Regency romances at the ripe old age of 33 and promptly fell in love, since life among the ton in Regency England is such a diverting change from that of an engineer. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, and when she isn't reading or writing or reviewing books, she loves to knit.

Reviews

[Mary23nm · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Marriage Campaign is a Cinderella type story, which I usually enjoy, but I had a hard time getting through this one. First, I was mystified how the hero could be so dense as to not see the possibility that Miss Lindquist and Karla, the heroine, could be the same woman. And he proceeded to have hot dreams about her/them, when Karla had been six years old the last time he saw her and Miss Lindquist had been in the shadows-so he had not even seen her face? Much of the book detailed the hero's (Robert) journey to meet the women his father listed as candidates for marriage, and this made things very slow moving and uninteresting. Towards the end, you learn that the heroine, actually has a guardian uncle that the hero approaches for his permission to marry. Why was not the guardian doing his job checking on Karla? Why did no one approach him when they learned how she was being treated? It just made no sense. 2.5/5 stars

[Writerlibrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very average despite the sensitive hero, interesting secondary characters, I especially liked Lady B, but the plot is way too much integrated into the plot of her first book "The Scandalous Affair" to have a life of its own. Robert is more like an emcee that introduces the rest of the characters that will become a lead in the next book, then the next one. I have the rest of the series that are published and they seem to be written in the same way. I think Carleton might try to edit all 5 of them into one story that would entertain, have a solid cast of characters and not feel like missing limbs of a whole. All and all a disappointing read.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another book I read to my wife. This had a little less intrigue than the previous one and a little more suggestive in a couple of places. I did actually find myself interested in the characters and this made me want to finish the story. Interestingly, this book flowed in concert with another book I read to my wife earlier in the year. That one had more action and umph than this one.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

his book takes place simultaneously with A Scandalous Journey and contains many of the same passages and spoilers for the plot of the previous book. It is second in a series of 6. Robert Symington, the new Marquess of Elston, friend to Lord Weymouth and Beth Castleton, is dealing with the loss of his father and all that it entails. Robert also has another problem to deal with: a codicil in his father's will which states he must marry a woman of his father's choosing within a year or face unknown consequences. Elston feels that it's important to marry for love, but he is willing to get to know the ladies on his father's list. As he sets out for London, he decides to pay calls on the families of the ladies he doesn't know well. He hopes to become reacquainted with a childhood friend, Karla Lane. Instead of Karla, he's forced to be entertained by her scheming stepmother and silly step-sister. He learns from a neighbor that Karla hasn't been seen in the village for a long time and her friends are worried about her. Elston decides to discover what happened to Karla. During a moonlight smoke, Elston meets Catherine Lundquist, a relative of the first Vicountess who works as an unpaid governess for the younger children. She reveals that Karla's situation is not much different from her own. Elston impresses upon the Vicountess the social consequences of favoring a younger daughter over the elder and forces her to allow Karla a Season. In London, Robert and Karla meet and become friends with a number of musically talented ladies who help Karla face Society though her stepmother insists on belittling Karla. Robert finds himself drawn to Karla but also to Christina and becomes determined to help the young ladies secure their rightful places in Society. Karla worships Elston and worries that he will learn that Catherine is really Karla and fears her deception will ruin their friendship. She also hopes that he will come to her rescue and help her find happiness in a home of her own. The plot of this novel is rather long and drawn out because it also contains bits of the plot for A Scandalous Journey. It also contains too many examples of Rob saving Karla from her wicked stepmother. I didn't like Karla very much, though I felt sorry for her, and I kept hoping she'd stand up for herself and not sit around and wait for Elston to come rescue her. This book introduces the other ladies in "the Six" as Elston searches for a bride and Beth Castleton comes to London. I didn't like this book as much as A Scandalous Journey but it wasn't bad. I really like Elston and wish he had chosen a more interesting bride, especially one who shared his passion for music. If you don't like independent heroines, then this is a nice, sweet romance

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was just like a bad fanfic