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Most Unsuitable Men #1
La nipote del duca
Inghilterra, 1862 - È davvero una strana famiglia quella che deve gestire Clara, nipote diseredata di un duca, costretta a vivere con due zii artisti, affettuosi ma del tutto privi di senso pratico e a dir poco stravaganti. Quando la zia decide di fare il ritratto allo scapolo d'oro di Londra, Lord Paris Mullholland, Clara la segue nella residenza di campagna del gentiluomo. Ma Lord Paris si rivelerà ben presto molto diverso da come appare in superficie, e la giovane si ritroverà a dover scegliere tra sentimenti mai provati e un innato perbenismo.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1996
11 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Moore
226 books175 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Award-winning author Margaret Moore actually began her career at the age of eight, when she and a friend concocted stories featuring a lovely, spirited damsel and a handsome, misunderstood thief nicknamed "The Red Sheik."
Unknowingly pursuing her destiny, Margaret graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. During that time, she also became a Leading Wren with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, where she learned to use a variety of weapons and had the weepy experience of being tear-gassed.
In addition to being a wife and mother of two, she's also been an award-winning public speaker, synchronized swimmer, an archer, and studied fencing and ballroom dancing.
Margaret sold her first historical romance and the premiere book of her Warrior series, A WARRIOR'S HEART, to Harlequin Historicals® in 1991. Since that time, she's written over 25 historical romance novels and novellas. She has also written for Avon Books, as well as a young adult historical romance for HarperCollins Childrens Books. She now writes for Harlequin's new single title imprint, HQN.
Her books have been published in France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, Korea, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Poland and India.
Award-winning author Margaret Moore actually began her career at the age of eight, when she and a friend concocted stories featuring a lovely, spirited damsel and a handsome, misunderstood thief nicknamed "The Red Sheik."
Unknowingly pursuing her destiny, Margaret graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. During that time, she also became a Leading Wren with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, where she learned to use a variety of weapons and had the weepy experience of being tear-gassed.
In addition to being a wife and mother of two, she's also been an award-winning public speaker, synchronized swimmer, an archer, and studied fencing and ballroom dancing.
Margaret sold her first historical romance and the premiere book of her Warrior series, A WARRIOR'S HEART, to Harlequin Historicals® in 1991. Since that time, she's written over 25 historical romance novels and novellas. She has also written for Avon Books, as well as a young adult historical romance for HarperCollins Childrens Books. She now writes for Harlequin's new single title imprint, HQN.
Her books have been published in France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, Korea, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Poland and India.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 13, 2018
This was cute! I loved Aunt Aurora and her attitude about art. Byron was hilarious. This isn't quite a keeper, but this my second book by Margaret Moore and I definitely want to read more.
June 13, 2008
Honestly? This is pretty hilarious. Lord Paris Mulholland is ridiculous, the girl is also hilarious, and everything is just a good fun romp through whatever period of England it's supposed to be. There's class conflict! Dark secrets! Crazy aunts! Nudity! I also felt like I was often laughing WITH the book and not at it, which was nice. We were both in on the same ridiculous joke about Lord Paris Mulholland.
January 14, 2018
Reviewed for THC Reviews
The Wastrel is one of several dozen Harlequin Historical books that have been sitting on my bookshelf, collecting dust, ever since I belonged to the Harlequin Historical subscriber service eons ago. I finally got around to reading a few of them this year, and I’m glad I finally did. They’ve all been pretty good reads, including this one. The story got off to a great start with plenty of humor and lighthearted banter that really sparked off the pages. At one point, I thought there was a decent chance it might reach keeper status for me. In the end, though, it didn’t quite get there, due to a couple of issues I had with the characterizations and the fact that it slowed down quite a bit after the opening few chapters. But overall, I still enjoyed it fairly well.
Paris is known as the handsomest man in all of England, but he also has a reputation for being an unrepentant wastrel. Although he swears he was named for the city, everyone believes his namesake is more likely the mythical legend who seduced Helen of Troy and who is very much like him. What no one really knows, though, is that he puts on the devil-may-care facade to cover up for the fact that he can’t read any better than a child. He charmed his way through school, but now that he’s the lord of his own estate, he struggles with the business end of things, because it takes him forever to decipher the correspondence from his estate manager. But he can’t let anyone in on his secret, because it’s too shameful. Enter the beguiling but disowned granddaughter of a duke, who sets great stock by education. Not only does Paris find her pretty, he’s also drawn to her intelligence and scholarly nature. But he knows she’d probably think him an imbecile if she knew the truth. I really liked Paris. He’s a charmer to be sure, and although he’s reputedly had his fair share of exploits in the past, he acts the perfect gentleman throughout the story. I loved that he was accepting of Clara’s eccentric aunt and uncle, welcoming them into his home and agreeing to allow Aunt Aurora to paint his portrait. I also enjoyed that he isn’t really vain like someone that handsome and supposedly rakish might be and that he’s socially responsible, using his wealth to help out in whatever way he can. Most especially I liked him for not thinking Clara odd for being so well-educated, instead actually enjoying her vast knowledge and storytelling skills. His willingness to pose for the Eros Discovered painting Aunt Aurora wanted to do was fun, too. The only thing that might have made him a tad better is if his feelings surrounding his illiteracy were brought out a little more. He obviously thought himself inferior because of it, but I just felt like there could have been a deeper exploration of that. Otherwise I thought he was a very good hero.
Clara’s mother fell in love with her father, who was a mere dancing master, and married him against her own father, the duke’s wishes, leading him to disown her. After both her parents died, Clara went to live with her aunt and uncle who are quite good to her but are very eccentric artistic types. As a result, Clara had to grow up quickly, managing their finances and household affairs. Because of their more liberal views, she also received a strong education in areas that many women of the time didn’t tend to study. She puts great stock in learning and knowledge, and she’s something of a bluestocking who doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. I really liked this about her. However, where Clara kind of started to grate a bit was with her repeated refusal to see Paris as anything other than a wastrel even when certain pieces of information began emerging that made her start to question that label. Basically she would be presented with a new fact, think it was interesting, but then immediately make some excuse for why that didn’t change anything. It takes until the very end for her to finally see the light. I also wasn’t quite sure where her rather extreme case of low self-esteem came from. I know that she was essentially disowned but her grandfather, but she didn’t seem to care much what he thought of her anyway. By all other indications, her parents had been good and loving until they died and her aunt and uncle had treated her well, too. She was obviously self-conscious about being out in public with them because of their eccentricities, but generally seemed to handle it in stride, so I wasn’t entirely clear as to why she thought that Paris was blatantly lying whenever he gave her a compliment. In general, I mostly liked Clara, but I think that there were certain aspects of her characterization that could have been better explained and that she perhaps could have lightened up a bit sooner. As is, it didn’t feel like she grew in the way a character with issues like hers should have.
The Wastrel has a very colorful cast of supporting characters. First would be Clara’s Aunt Aurora and Uncle Byron. Aunt Aurora is an artist who has a habit of asking everyone if they’d like to have their portrait painted, while Uncle Byron is always trying to follow in his namesake’s footsteps but instead spouts bad poetry. These two brought a great deal of humor and lightness to the story, but they’re also very kind and caring. Paris invites two school chums to his home at the same time. Jonas is a rather stiff and serious man who intends to become a minister, while Tommy is a more flippant son of a wealthy merchant. Then there is the Pimblett family. Lord Pimblett is a blustery man, while his wife, Lady Pimblett, has a habit of swooning at the drop of a hat. Their oldest daughter, Helena, is convinced that Paris is going to marry her and is always putting herself in his path. Youngest daughter, Henrietta, is rather flighty and always tittering at the oddest moments. Then there’s middle daughter, Hester, who is a bit more like Clara, rather shy, serious, and bookish. Out of all the Pimblett girls she was my favorite, so I’m very happy that she becomes the heroine of the next book of the Most Unsuitable Men series, The Dark Duke. Lastly, were Paris’s dog, Jupiter, and Clara’s cat, Zeus, who don’t exactly get off on the right foot and are forever getting into trouble.
Overall, The Wastrel was a pretty good read. Paris would have been impossible not to like, and while I wish that Clara had been a little less serious and judgmental of Paris and a little less hard-core self-conscious, she had her good points, too. The wonderful secondary cast members brought a lot of levity to the story, as well, and had me frequently grinning. I think one of the greatest strengths of the book lies in it’s dialogue filled with sparkling wittiness that really jumped off the pages. The general writing itself was well done, too. Even though there were moments when I thought that the plot could have a been a little better or that the conflict could have gone a little deeper, it was still an easy read. The Wastrel was my first book by the rather prolific Margaret Moore, but it has left me looking forward to continuing the series and trying more of her work in the future.
The Wastrel is one of several dozen Harlequin Historical books that have been sitting on my bookshelf, collecting dust, ever since I belonged to the Harlequin Historical subscriber service eons ago. I finally got around to reading a few of them this year, and I’m glad I finally did. They’ve all been pretty good reads, including this one. The story got off to a great start with plenty of humor and lighthearted banter that really sparked off the pages. At one point, I thought there was a decent chance it might reach keeper status for me. In the end, though, it didn’t quite get there, due to a couple of issues I had with the characterizations and the fact that it slowed down quite a bit after the opening few chapters. But overall, I still enjoyed it fairly well.
Paris is known as the handsomest man in all of England, but he also has a reputation for being an unrepentant wastrel. Although he swears he was named for the city, everyone believes his namesake is more likely the mythical legend who seduced Helen of Troy and who is very much like him. What no one really knows, though, is that he puts on the devil-may-care facade to cover up for the fact that he can’t read any better than a child. He charmed his way through school, but now that he’s the lord of his own estate, he struggles with the business end of things, because it takes him forever to decipher the correspondence from his estate manager. But he can’t let anyone in on his secret, because it’s too shameful. Enter the beguiling but disowned granddaughter of a duke, who sets great stock by education. Not only does Paris find her pretty, he’s also drawn to her intelligence and scholarly nature. But he knows she’d probably think him an imbecile if she knew the truth. I really liked Paris. He’s a charmer to be sure, and although he’s reputedly had his fair share of exploits in the past, he acts the perfect gentleman throughout the story. I loved that he was accepting of Clara’s eccentric aunt and uncle, welcoming them into his home and agreeing to allow Aunt Aurora to paint his portrait. I also enjoyed that he isn’t really vain like someone that handsome and supposedly rakish might be and that he’s socially responsible, using his wealth to help out in whatever way he can. Most especially I liked him for not thinking Clara odd for being so well-educated, instead actually enjoying her vast knowledge and storytelling skills. His willingness to pose for the Eros Discovered painting Aunt Aurora wanted to do was fun, too. The only thing that might have made him a tad better is if his feelings surrounding his illiteracy were brought out a little more. He obviously thought himself inferior because of it, but I just felt like there could have been a deeper exploration of that. Otherwise I thought he was a very good hero.
Clara’s mother fell in love with her father, who was a mere dancing master, and married him against her own father, the duke’s wishes, leading him to disown her. After both her parents died, Clara went to live with her aunt and uncle who are quite good to her but are very eccentric artistic types. As a result, Clara had to grow up quickly, managing their finances and household affairs. Because of their more liberal views, she also received a strong education in areas that many women of the time didn’t tend to study. She puts great stock in learning and knowledge, and she’s something of a bluestocking who doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. I really liked this about her. However, where Clara kind of started to grate a bit was with her repeated refusal to see Paris as anything other than a wastrel even when certain pieces of information began emerging that made her start to question that label. Basically she would be presented with a new fact, think it was interesting, but then immediately make some excuse for why that didn’t change anything. It takes until the very end for her to finally see the light. I also wasn’t quite sure where her rather extreme case of low self-esteem came from. I know that she was essentially disowned but her grandfather, but she didn’t seem to care much what he thought of her anyway. By all other indications, her parents had been good and loving until they died and her aunt and uncle had treated her well, too. She was obviously self-conscious about being out in public with them because of their eccentricities, but generally seemed to handle it in stride, so I wasn’t entirely clear as to why she thought that Paris was blatantly lying whenever he gave her a compliment. In general, I mostly liked Clara, but I think that there were certain aspects of her characterization that could have been better explained and that she perhaps could have lightened up a bit sooner. As is, it didn’t feel like she grew in the way a character with issues like hers should have.
The Wastrel has a very colorful cast of supporting characters. First would be Clara’s Aunt Aurora and Uncle Byron. Aunt Aurora is an artist who has a habit of asking everyone if they’d like to have their portrait painted, while Uncle Byron is always trying to follow in his namesake’s footsteps but instead spouts bad poetry. These two brought a great deal of humor and lightness to the story, but they’re also very kind and caring. Paris invites two school chums to his home at the same time. Jonas is a rather stiff and serious man who intends to become a minister, while Tommy is a more flippant son of a wealthy merchant. Then there is the Pimblett family. Lord Pimblett is a blustery man, while his wife, Lady Pimblett, has a habit of swooning at the drop of a hat. Their oldest daughter, Helena, is convinced that Paris is going to marry her and is always putting herself in his path. Youngest daughter, Henrietta, is rather flighty and always tittering at the oddest moments. Then there’s middle daughter, Hester, who is a bit more like Clara, rather shy, serious, and bookish. Out of all the Pimblett girls she was my favorite, so I’m very happy that she becomes the heroine of the next book of the Most Unsuitable Men series, The Dark Duke. Lastly, were Paris’s dog, Jupiter, and Clara’s cat, Zeus, who don’t exactly get off on the right foot and are forever getting into trouble.
Overall, The Wastrel was a pretty good read. Paris would have been impossible not to like, and while I wish that Clara had been a little less serious and judgmental of Paris and a little less hard-core self-conscious, she had her good points, too. The wonderful secondary cast members brought a lot of levity to the story, as well, and had me frequently grinning. I think one of the greatest strengths of the book lies in it’s dialogue filled with sparkling wittiness that really jumped off the pages. The general writing itself was well done, too. Even though there were moments when I thought that the plot could have a been a little better or that the conflict could have gone a little deeper, it was still an easy read. The Wastrel was my first book by the rather prolific Margaret Moore, but it has left me looking forward to continuing the series and trying more of her work in the future.
August 26, 2024
I bought this for the cover ages ago but only just got around to reading it. And it was great! Well written with great characters -- I loved both the FMC (Clara) and MMC (Paris Mulholland) and Clara's aunt and uncle, fabulous eccentrics who made me laugh frequently. The plot is fun and generally it was a super solid, charming Victorian romance. The only criticism I have is that the climactic moment felt a little rushed.
January 15, 2021
I’m not really sure why this warranted a reprint, it was okay, but not great.
July 12, 2023
Una delle cose che salta agli occhi immediatamente, della versione italiana di questo romanzo "storico" è la copertina ambigua, che evoca pensieri non propriamente adatti all'epoca morigeratissima in cui si svolge la storia. Per il resto, storia piacevole anche se inverosimile, ma questi "storici" romance sono un po' tutti così, bisogna dimenticare la storia e concentrarsi sui personaggi e sull'azione, laddove c'è. Qui c'è un po' di tutto, ma niente per cui strapparsi i capelli. Tre stelle perché l'ho letto tutto e in fondo mi ha intrattenuta.
November 22, 2018
Light, fun read about the devoted rake hell bent on the chase.
I really appreciated how Clara stayed true to form the entire read. And Paris was appropriately charming. The eccentric relatives worked well againt the stuffy ton.
It was a decent read - nothing overwhelming but nothing to take it over the top.
I really appreciated how Clara stayed true to form the entire read. And Paris was appropriately charming. The eccentric relatives worked well againt the stuffy ton.
It was a decent read - nothing overwhelming but nothing to take it over the top.
March 5, 2024
i did enjoy this book the talks between the hero and heroine are lovely to read.
i like how the hero is the first to fall and then the heroine. i love the aunt and uncle they are such wonderfully chacators and i hope to see them in the next book.
i like how the hero is the first to fall and then the heroine. i love the aunt and uncle they are such wonderfully chacators and i hope to see them in the next book.
May 11, 2021
Funny
December 15, 2023
Primeiro volume da série Most Unsuitable Men.
Francamente, foi hilário acompanhar Lord Paris tentando seduzir a heroína.
Recomendo.
Francamente, foi hilário acompanhar Lord Paris tentando seduzir a heroína.
Recomendo.
March 6, 2010
England 1862: For the longest time London’s society considered Lord Paris Mulholland the most renowned wastrel (Oxford American Dictionary - wastrel: a wasteful or good for nothing person), but every ball or party that was thrown, always included an invitation to the Mulholland house. These kinds of parties always bored Lord Mulholland, he had to invent ways to keep himself amused, overhearing a conversation about himself left him wondering if someone like Miss Wells could really be so audacious and innocent. Being invited to this party was a surprise to Clara Wells, she knew that her aunt and uncle didn’t run in the same class. When Aunt Aurora had gotten the Lord Mulholland to agree to her painting his portrait, it was almost to much, how could she stay in the same house with that ’rogue’ and still maintain her reputation even if they desperately needed the money. The close proximity of the house leads to secrets, admissions of other secrets, and so much more that one portrait.
From the beginning, the main plot is evident. The fun part of this story is finding out the emotion and personal depths that Paris daily maintains to keep his artificial façade. The gentle way Clara cares for her guardians touched Paris and he had to admire her even if she would never look at him that way. Through it all there is a sense of a gentle soul in Paris that is yearning to be cared for and by the end, a sigh for the words come out wrong and feeling get hurt, but if it really matters, he can make it right. This is an older Harlequin Historical (1996) that I dug out, re-reading it after so many years was a treat.
From the beginning, the main plot is evident. The fun part of this story is finding out the emotion and personal depths that Paris daily maintains to keep his artificial façade. The gentle way Clara cares for her guardians touched Paris and he had to admire her even if she would never look at him that way. Through it all there is a sense of a gentle soul in Paris that is yearning to be cared for and by the end, a sigh for the words come out wrong and feeling get hurt, but if it really matters, he can make it right. This is an older Harlequin Historical (1996) that I dug out, re-reading it after so many years was a treat.
November 7, 2018
"Non voleva sedurre Clara Wells. Non voleva portarsela a letto per una notte di passione. Voleva che lei lo amasse per molto, molto tempo. Diciamo... per tutta la vita."
Molto carino, gli zii di Clara, Aurora la pittrice all'apparenza svampita e il poeta ben poco talentuoso Byron, in particolare spiccano tra i tanti personaggi, un po' stereotipati che attraversano le pagine: il prete bacchettone, il nobile scanzonato, la matrona autoritaria, le debuttanti ridarelle etc etc Clara è una donna matura che non avrebbe mai pensato di ritrovarsi coinvolta con il nobile e bellissimo Paris (nome preso dalla città, non dall'eroe Paride come ripete più volte inutilmente XD) ma complice un quadro è un soggiorno in campagna i due si avvicineranno sempre più. Alcune cose dovevano essere approfondite meglio, il "segreto" di Paris quando viene finalmente rivelato all'amata viene liquidato troppo in fretta considerando quando condiziona la sua vita e le sue azioni da anni, e anche la famosa parentela di Clara con il duca rimane solo un mero espediente narrativo sullo sfondo. Molto apprezzata invece l'idea di introdurre la favola di Amore e Psiche, che io adoro, e solo per questo regalo spontaneamente una stellina XD
Molto carino, gli zii di Clara, Aurora la pittrice all'apparenza svampita e il poeta ben poco talentuoso Byron, in particolare spiccano tra i tanti personaggi, un po' stereotipati che attraversano le pagine: il prete bacchettone, il nobile scanzonato, la matrona autoritaria, le debuttanti ridarelle etc etc Clara è una donna matura che non avrebbe mai pensato di ritrovarsi coinvolta con il nobile e bellissimo Paris (nome preso dalla città, non dall'eroe Paride come ripete più volte inutilmente XD) ma complice un quadro è un soggiorno in campagna i due si avvicineranno sempre più. Alcune cose dovevano essere approfondite meglio, il "segreto" di Paris quando viene finalmente rivelato all'amata viene liquidato troppo in fretta considerando quando condiziona la sua vita e le sue azioni da anni, e anche la famosa parentela di Clara con il duca rimane solo un mero espediente narrativo sullo sfondo. Molto apprezzata invece l'idea di introdurre la favola di Amore e Psiche, che io adoro, e solo per questo regalo spontaneamente una stellina XD
Read
June 10, 2014For a time back in the 80’s & 90’s, my reading material of choice was frequently bodice rippers, historical fiction, and regency romances with a few contemporary best sellers thrown in for good measure. Most of them were pretty steamy (blush) &/or overly romantic, but I read them during a time in my life when I found myself as a single parent, and these books fit the bill. I found them to be highly entertaining.
I recently donated a slew of them, but I wanted to catalog them all the same. So if there is no rating here from me, it means that I don’t remember anything about the book other than I obviously read it. If there is a rating, it must have been in some way memorable for me.
I only wish that GoodReads had been around years ago so that I had some idea of the many books I have read – there were thousands! I did own a copy of this book, but most others came from the library because back then I could never have afforded the 100+ books I generally read in any given year.
And by the way, I still read bodice rippers – just not quite so many as I used to!
I recently donated a slew of them, but I wanted to catalog them all the same. So if there is no rating here from me, it means that I don’t remember anything about the book other than I obviously read it. If there is a rating, it must have been in some way memorable for me.
I only wish that GoodReads had been around years ago so that I had some idea of the many books I have read – there were thousands! I did own a copy of this book, but most others came from the library because back then I could never have afforded the 100+ books I generally read in any given year.
And by the way, I still read bodice rippers – just not quite so many as I used to!
September 23, 2012
Clara Wells, granddaughter of a duke through his disowned daughter, lives with her highly unconventional aunt and uncle (on her father's side!). Her aunt wangles them an invitation to the estate of the rakish Lord Mulholland, and Clara is condemned to the embarrassment of an encroaching visit. She doesn't imagine that Lord Mulholland finds her aunt and uncle more interesting than anyone he has met in a long time. Clara must accept a major shake-up to her view of life before she will qualify for Lord Mulholland's interest in herself. I enjoyed the characterizations in THE WASTREL.
October 21, 2009
I'm not even sure how I ended up with this book, but I adored it. It is brain candy pure and simple. It's sweet and airy, nothing really intense or fancy. A reread for me whenever I need a cozy feeling.
September 13, 2012
Ah Victorian England, a familiar setting for romance novels, this one is light hearted and good fun. Enjoyed the character descriptions and brutal honesty of some personalities. Clara’s defiance and education peeked the tiny feminist part of me that rarely rears it’s head.
February 10, 2011
Great Cupid Myth.
October 17, 2014
an ok read
May 22, 2016
Just love
This book so much. One of my favorites, i read it when was a child and now again as adult. Just so romantic.
This book so much. One of my favorites, i read it when was a child and now again as adult. Just so romantic.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews