The Attractive Opposites . . . The last thing the stunningly beautiful young widow Gwendolyn Tarrant wanted was a new man in her life. Her brief marriage had shown her how chafing wedlock could be. And her betrayal by a worldly London rake had taught her more than she wanted to know about men and their lies.
The last thing the magnificently handsome Marquess of Warrick desired was another willing woman in his arms. This irresistible aristocrat was bored with his legion of easy conquests, and hungered for a challenge to his jaded senses.
In Gwendolyn Tarrant . . . The Marquess found this prey perfect.
In Warrick . . . Gwen found the kind of predator she despised. Thus the contest was on -- between a strong-willed beauty who vowed to be neither wife nor mistress and a practiced seducer who knew everything about a woman except how to take NO for an answer . . .
Another one of Emma Lange’s well written HR. And I always enjoy her books and her characters if not her plots at times. Her style is neither anachronistic and ott like the newer writers, nor a plodding (albeit charming) slow burn like the older ‘masters’. But she weaves truly romantic and passionate tales with an instant connection sizzling h/H chemistry. The h is mostly an out of luck noblewoman, amazingly beautiful and the H is an alpha-hot disapproving aristocrat who keeps a suspicious eye on her.
This H is more of a charming, easy-going rake who tries to woo the lowly lady’s companion h (into his bed) rather than exercising the usual patronizing or controlling ways of other EL Hs. But the h is proof against it.
i wanted to rate it less for : 1) No proper grovelling by the hero 2)Initially found the heroine tad too rude for her status to the H. 3)No steamy scenes 4)No epilogue. 5)The baron needed a comeuppance.
But could not because: 1)Loved both H and h 2)The chemistry was off the charts between H and h. 3)Premise was good.
Boring, repetitive dialogues. There was no plot for the majority of the book other than the (very) slow seduction. The ending was OK though. But not Ms. Lange's best imo.
The Attractive Opposites . . . The last thing the stunningly beautiful young widow Gwendolyn Tarrant wanted was a new man in her life. Her brief marriage had shown her how chafing wedlock could be. And her betrayal by a worldly London rake had taught her more than she wanted to know about men and their lies.
The last thing the magnificently handsome Marquess of Warrick desired was another willing woman in his arms. This irresistible aristocrat was bored with his legion of easy conquests, and hungered for a challenge to his jaded senses.
In Gwendolyn Tarrant . . . The Marquess found this prey perfect.
In Warrick . . . Gwen found the kind of predator she despised. Thus the contest was on -- between a strong-willed beauty who vowed to be neither wife nor mistress and a practiced seducer who knew everything about a woman except how to take NO for an answer . . .
A plot very similar to A Certain Reputation with the main characters fighting the attraction for most of the book till something happens to make him distrust her and mistreat her. I thought they were better balanced here as the heroine seems stronger and it's the hero that finding out the truth goes back to her to apologise and propose.
I really enjoy Lange's writing style but especially in the books where we have strong, sensible and well defined characters. She does emotions very well from the first half of the book when Warwick is pursuing Gwendolyn till the confrontation scene when he doesn't believe her and finally when he goes to meet her and her family in the end.
Maybe 3.5 because the Hero is clearly besotted from the start. 😁
The poor, heroine has been working as companion to the Hero’s aunt, to support her younger siblings. Her irresponsible father has gambled away all their money, and still tries to borrow from the heroine.
The heroine is a widow. When her mother died and her wastrel father was no where to be found, she married a neighbor farmer for security and to help raise her much younger siblings. Unfortunately the husband died soon after without having been able to change his will, so she is again destitute. Its a good thing her present employer is generous so she can send money and save some to have her own livelihood. She is done relying on men.
The Hero pursues her from the start, but the heroine stands fast against his charm and looks. Its an added incentive that she knows how easily rakes can destroy a woman’s reputation.
I liked that the heroine was a strong character and the Hero, who had had it so easily until then, had to work hard to earn her trust. There is a black moment near the end, when he mistrusts her, and their relationship seems to fall apart. But they end up resolving it for a HEA.