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Marriage of Convenience #3
Marry in Secret
A rugged and ruined naval officer comes to claim his bride in an unforgettable tale of love, revenge and redemption from the national bestselling author of Marry in Scandal. Lady Rose Rutherford—rebel, heiress, and exasperated target of the town's hungry bachelors—has a plan to gain the freedom she so desperately she will enter into a marriage of convenience with the biggest prize on the London marriage mart. There's just one the fierce-looking man who crashes her wedding to the Duke of Everingham — Thomas Beresford, the young naval officer she fell in love with and secretly married when she was still a schoolgirl. Thought to have died four years ago he's returned, a cold, hard stranger with one driving purpose—revenge. Embittered by betrayal and hungry for vengeance, Thomas will stop at nothing to reclaim his rightful place, even if that means using Rose—and her fortune—to do it. But Rose never did follow the rules, and as she takes matters into her own unpredictable hands, Thomas finds himself in an unexpected and infuriating he's falling in love with his wife....
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2019
337 people are currently reading
911 people want to read
About the author
Anne Gracie
95 books1,534 followersI've always loved stories. Family legend has it that I used to spend hours playing in the sand pit, with a dog on either side of me and Rocka the horse leaning over me, his head just touching my shoulder, while I told them stories. I have to say, dogs and horses are great audiences, apart from their tendency to drool occasionally. But people are even nicer.
In case you imagine we were a filthy rich horse-owning family, let me assure you we weren't. The horse period was a time when my parents entered a "let's-be-self-sufficient" phase, so we had a horse, but no electricity and all our water came from the rain tank.
As well as the horse and dogs, we had 2 cows (Buttercup and Daisy and one of them always had a calf), a sheep (Woolly,) goats (Billy and Nanny) dozens of ducks, chooks, and a couple of geese, a pet bluetongue lizard and a huge vegie patch. I don't know how my mother managed, really, because both she and Dad taught full time, but she came home and cooked on a wood stove and did all the laundry by hand, boiling the clothes and sheets in a big copper kettle. Somehow, we were always warm, clean, well fed and happy. She's pretty amazing, my mum.
Once I learned to read, I spent my days outside playing with the animals (I include my brother and 2 sisters here) and when inside I read. For most of my childhood we didn't have TV, so books have always been a big part of my life. Luckily our house was always full of them. Travel was also a big part of my childhood. My parents had itchy feet. We spent a lot of time driving from one part of Australia to another, visiting relatives or friends or simply to see what was there. I've lived in Scotland, Malaysia and Greece. We travelled through Europe in a caravan and I'd swum most of the famous rivers in Europe by the time I was eight.
This is me and my classmates in Scotland. I am in the second front row, in the middle, to the right of the girl in the dark tunic.
Sounds like I was raised by gypsies, doesn't it? I was even almost born in a tent --Mum, Dad and 3 children were camping and one day mum left the tent and went to hospital to have me. But in fact we are a family of chalkies (Australian slang for teachers)- and Dad was a school principal during most of my life. And I am an expert in being "the new girl" having been to 6 different schools in 12 years.The last 4 years, however, were in the same high school and I still have my 2 best friends from that time.
No matter where I lived, I read. I devoured whatever I could get my hands on -- old Enid Blyton and Mary Grant Bruce books, old schoolboys annuals. I learned history by reading Rosemary Sutcliffe, Henry Treece and Georgette Heyer. I loved animal books -- Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby books and Mary Patchett and Finn the Wolf Hound. And then I read Jane Austen and Dickens and Mary Stewart and Richard Llewellyn and Virginia Woolf and EF Benson and Dick Francis and David Malouf and Patrick White and Doris Lessing and PD James and...the list is never ending.
This is me posing shamelessly on a glacier in New Zealand.
This is me in Greece with my good friend Fay in our village outfits. The film went a funny colour, but you get the idea. I'm the one in the pink apron.
I escaped from my parents, settled down and went to university.To my amazement I became a chalkie myself and found a lot of pleasure in working with teenagers and later, adults. I taught English and worked as a counsellor and helped put on plays and concerts and supervised camps and encouraged other people to write but never did much myself. It took a year of backpacking around the world to find that my early desire to write hadn't left me, it had just got buried under a busy and demanding job.
I wrote my first novel on notebooks bought in Quebec, Spain, Greece and Indonesia. That story never made it out of the notebooks, but I'd been bitten by the writing bug.
My friends and I formed a band called Platform Souls a
In case you imagine we were a filthy rich horse-owning family, let me assure you we weren't. The horse period was a time when my parents entered a "let's-be-self-sufficient" phase, so we had a horse, but no electricity and all our water came from the rain tank.
As well as the horse and dogs, we had 2 cows (Buttercup and Daisy and one of them always had a calf), a sheep (Woolly,) goats (Billy and Nanny) dozens of ducks, chooks, and a couple of geese, a pet bluetongue lizard and a huge vegie patch. I don't know how my mother managed, really, because both she and Dad taught full time, but she came home and cooked on a wood stove and did all the laundry by hand, boiling the clothes and sheets in a big copper kettle. Somehow, we were always warm, clean, well fed and happy. She's pretty amazing, my mum.
Once I learned to read, I spent my days outside playing with the animals (I include my brother and 2 sisters here) and when inside I read. For most of my childhood we didn't have TV, so books have always been a big part of my life. Luckily our house was always full of them. Travel was also a big part of my childhood. My parents had itchy feet. We spent a lot of time driving from one part of Australia to another, visiting relatives or friends or simply to see what was there. I've lived in Scotland, Malaysia and Greece. We travelled through Europe in a caravan and I'd swum most of the famous rivers in Europe by the time I was eight.
This is me and my classmates in Scotland. I am in the second front row, in the middle, to the right of the girl in the dark tunic.
Sounds like I was raised by gypsies, doesn't it? I was even almost born in a tent --Mum, Dad and 3 children were camping and one day mum left the tent and went to hospital to have me. But in fact we are a family of chalkies (Australian slang for teachers)- and Dad was a school principal during most of my life. And I am an expert in being "the new girl" having been to 6 different schools in 12 years.The last 4 years, however, were in the same high school and I still have my 2 best friends from that time.
No matter where I lived, I read. I devoured whatever I could get my hands on -- old Enid Blyton and Mary Grant Bruce books, old schoolboys annuals. I learned history by reading Rosemary Sutcliffe, Henry Treece and Georgette Heyer. I loved animal books -- Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby books and Mary Patchett and Finn the Wolf Hound. And then I read Jane Austen and Dickens and Mary Stewart and Richard Llewellyn and Virginia Woolf and EF Benson and Dick Francis and David Malouf and Patrick White and Doris Lessing and PD James and...the list is never ending.
This is me posing shamelessly on a glacier in New Zealand.
This is me in Greece with my good friend Fay in our village outfits. The film went a funny colour, but you get the idea. I'm the one in the pink apron.
I escaped from my parents, settled down and went to university.To my amazement I became a chalkie myself and found a lot of pleasure in working with teenagers and later, adults. I taught English and worked as a counsellor and helped put on plays and concerts and supervised camps and encouraged other people to write but never did much myself. It took a year of backpacking around the world to find that my early desire to write hadn't left me, it had just got buried under a busy and demanding job.
I wrote my first novel on notebooks bought in Quebec, Spain, Greece and Indonesia. That story never made it out of the notebooks, but I'd been bitten by the writing bug.
My friends and I formed a band called Platform Souls a
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews
September 26, 2019
Marry in Secret was my first book by Anne Gracie, and I'm sure I'll read her again, even though I suspect this story wasn't her strongest work.
I like a reunited lovers story, and I thought it was done decently here. I found the male MC to be compelling and with an interesting backstory, though I'm not a fan of mystery-elements. I'm a sucker for a hero who has been through hell and back, so I felt for him.
The heroine was more... inconsistent. She was supposed to be this stoic, practical woman, but once her long lost love returned, she flipped a switch and was this happy, ebullient person. My head was spinning. Shouldn't she have some reservations, some hesitations from her earlier experiences? She was like a different person.
The plot was good, actually, though it dragged in a few places. I found myself getting more and more engaged, and drawn into the family dynamics. Honestly, the family members and their interactions and were my favorite part of the story.
A good story, but not a great one, Marry in Secret will satisfy most readers, though I wanted a bit more.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
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I like a reunited lovers story, and I thought it was done decently here. I found the male MC to be compelling and with an interesting backstory, though I'm not a fan of mystery-elements. I'm a sucker for a hero who has been through hell and back, so I felt for him.
The heroine was more... inconsistent. She was supposed to be this stoic, practical woman, but once her long lost love returned, she flipped a switch and was this happy, ebullient person. My head was spinning. Shouldn't she have some reservations, some hesitations from her earlier experiences? She was like a different person.
The plot was good, actually, though it dragged in a few places. I found myself getting more and more engaged, and drawn into the family dynamics. Honestly, the family members and their interactions and were my favorite part of the story.
A good story, but not a great one, Marry in Secret will satisfy most readers, though I wanted a bit more.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
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August 29, 2019
I've given this a C at AAR.
I enjoyed the first two books in Anne Gracie’s Marriage of Convenience series – in fact, the first, Marry in Haste was a DIK (Desert Isle Keeper) at AAR – but this third book proved to be something of a disappointment. The premise – a young woman about to make an advantageous, but loveless, marriage is unexpectedly confronted by the man she married years before and believed dead – sounded as though it might make for a good read, but sadly, after the initial excitement of the opening chapters, things fizzled out. The main characters were bland and didn’t grab my interest, and instead of a rekindling relationship, I got a couple who, after a bit of angsting over whether they wanted to be together, resumed their marriage and shagged a lot, and a story that revolved more around a rather weak whodunnit than a romance.
Twenty-year-old Lady Rose Rutheford is due to marry the Duke of Everingham in what has been hailed as the match of the year. Her sister Lily and cousin George (Georgiana) aren’t happy about the match; Everingham is handsome, wealthy and titled, for sure, but he’s a cold fish and they think Rose is making a huge mistake. But Rose is adamant. She doesn’t want a love match and she and the duke have reached an agreement – she will give him his heir and he will give her the freedom to live as she wants. When, however, the ceremony is interrupted by a gaunt, dirty and dishevelled man insisting that Rose is already married – to him – the reasons for Rose’s choice become apparent. When she was sixteen and still away at school she met and fell in love with Thomas Beresford, a young naval officer. They married secretly just a couple of weeks before Thomas was was due to go to sea – and just a few weeks later, Rose learned that his ship had been sunk and everyone aboard had died. Numbed with grief, and concerned for her sister Lily, who was recovering from a serious illness, Rose doesn’t tell anyone about Thomas or their short-lived marriage, and the more time passes, the more she thinks there’s no point in saying anything.
The first quarter or so of the story captured my interest. Rose, shocked beyond belief, doesn’t know how to feel or what to do while her brother Cal and her snooty Aunt Agatha insist Thomas is nothing but a liar and schemer out to get his hands on Rose’s fortune. When Rose fails to acknowledge him – to be fair, she doesn’t deny him either – Thomas is hurt and angry, and is determined to stand his ground and claim his wife. But after Rose says she doesn’t want the marriage annulled and that she will honour her marriage vows, he starts to see that perhaps he’s wrong and that staying married to him – especially give how much he’s changed over the past four years – isn’t the best thing for Rose. After this, Thomas tries to discourage Rose from her determination to remain his wife while Rose – who has miraculously turned back into the lively, headstrong and flirtatious young woman he met four years earlier (and whom her family believed had disappeared) – seems to grow only more intent on remaining by his side (and getting him into her bed!)
While Thomas continues to be torn over his relationship with Rose, we learn something of what happened to him in the years he was gone. He and a number of his crewmates were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves after Thomas’ plea to his uncle for ransom was denied. It took him years to escape, but now he has, he’s determined to find the men who were captured with him and free them – and to find out why his uncle denied him. When Thomas visits his bank in London and discovers a number of irregularities in his finances, he realises that something underhand is going on; someone is stealing from him and it’s obviously been going on for some time. But who? And why?
Thus, what could have been a second chance romance about two people who married impulsively getting to know each other after their enforced separation and really learning to love each other turned out to be a not-very-mysterious mystery with no romantic or character development whatsoever. Thomas indulges in a lot of hand-wringing of the I-do-not-wish-to-sully-your-purity-with-my-degradation sort, while Rose is relentlessly cheerful and pretty much bulldozes her way through everything he says. Thomas’ experiences as a captive and slave have obviously affected the way he treats servants and others who are regarded by those of his class as beneath them, and he clearly feels shame about what happened to him, but there’s not much depth to his character or Rose’s; neither is especially memorable or engaging and I didn’t connect with either of them. I liked the relationship between Cal and Ned (heroes of the previous books) and the one that was developing between them and Thomas, but the ladies were thinly sketched and the identity of the wrong-doer was obvious.
Marry in Secret is an exercise in wasted potential in just about every way. The romance is non-existent, the mystery is weak and the characterisation is uninspired. I may pick up the next (and final) book in the series because I’m intrigued at the prospect of the pairing of the cold fish duke with the I’m-never-getting-married-and-handing-over-control-of-my-life Lady Georgiana, but I really can’t recommend this instalment.
I enjoyed the first two books in Anne Gracie’s Marriage of Convenience series – in fact, the first, Marry in Haste was a DIK (Desert Isle Keeper) at AAR – but this third book proved to be something of a disappointment. The premise – a young woman about to make an advantageous, but loveless, marriage is unexpectedly confronted by the man she married years before and believed dead – sounded as though it might make for a good read, but sadly, after the initial excitement of the opening chapters, things fizzled out. The main characters were bland and didn’t grab my interest, and instead of a rekindling relationship, I got a couple who, after a bit of angsting over whether they wanted to be together, resumed their marriage and shagged a lot, and a story that revolved more around a rather weak whodunnit than a romance.
Twenty-year-old Lady Rose Rutheford is due to marry the Duke of Everingham in what has been hailed as the match of the year. Her sister Lily and cousin George (Georgiana) aren’t happy about the match; Everingham is handsome, wealthy and titled, for sure, but he’s a cold fish and they think Rose is making a huge mistake. But Rose is adamant. She doesn’t want a love match and she and the duke have reached an agreement – she will give him his heir and he will give her the freedom to live as she wants. When, however, the ceremony is interrupted by a gaunt, dirty and dishevelled man insisting that Rose is already married – to him – the reasons for Rose’s choice become apparent. When she was sixteen and still away at school she met and fell in love with Thomas Beresford, a young naval officer. They married secretly just a couple of weeks before Thomas was was due to go to sea – and just a few weeks later, Rose learned that his ship had been sunk and everyone aboard had died. Numbed with grief, and concerned for her sister Lily, who was recovering from a serious illness, Rose doesn’t tell anyone about Thomas or their short-lived marriage, and the more time passes, the more she thinks there’s no point in saying anything.
The first quarter or so of the story captured my interest. Rose, shocked beyond belief, doesn’t know how to feel or what to do while her brother Cal and her snooty Aunt Agatha insist Thomas is nothing but a liar and schemer out to get his hands on Rose’s fortune. When Rose fails to acknowledge him – to be fair, she doesn’t deny him either – Thomas is hurt and angry, and is determined to stand his ground and claim his wife. But after Rose says she doesn’t want the marriage annulled and that she will honour her marriage vows, he starts to see that perhaps he’s wrong and that staying married to him – especially give how much he’s changed over the past four years – isn’t the best thing for Rose. After this, Thomas tries to discourage Rose from her determination to remain his wife while Rose – who has miraculously turned back into the lively, headstrong and flirtatious young woman he met four years earlier (and whom her family believed had disappeared) – seems to grow only more intent on remaining by his side (and getting him into her bed!)
While Thomas continues to be torn over his relationship with Rose, we learn something of what happened to him in the years he was gone. He and a number of his crewmates were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves after Thomas’ plea to his uncle for ransom was denied. It took him years to escape, but now he has, he’s determined to find the men who were captured with him and free them – and to find out why his uncle denied him. When Thomas visits his bank in London and discovers a number of irregularities in his finances, he realises that something underhand is going on; someone is stealing from him and it’s obviously been going on for some time. But who? And why?
Thus, what could have been a second chance romance about two people who married impulsively getting to know each other after their enforced separation and really learning to love each other turned out to be a not-very-mysterious mystery with no romantic or character development whatsoever. Thomas indulges in a lot of hand-wringing of the I-do-not-wish-to-sully-your-purity-with-my-degradation sort, while Rose is relentlessly cheerful and pretty much bulldozes her way through everything he says. Thomas’ experiences as a captive and slave have obviously affected the way he treats servants and others who are regarded by those of his class as beneath them, and he clearly feels shame about what happened to him, but there’s not much depth to his character or Rose’s; neither is especially memorable or engaging and I didn’t connect with either of them. I liked the relationship between Cal and Ned (heroes of the previous books) and the one that was developing between them and Thomas, but the ladies were thinly sketched and the identity of the wrong-doer was obvious.
Marry in Secret is an exercise in wasted potential in just about every way. The romance is non-existent, the mystery is weak and the characterisation is uninspired. I may pick up the next (and final) book in the series because I’m intrigued at the prospect of the pairing of the cold fish duke with the I’m-never-getting-married-and-handing-over-control-of-my-life Lady Georgiana, but I really can’t recommend this instalment.
May 21, 2020
3.5 stars.
This is a nice read.
Nothing serious, but it was a good way to spend few hours of your time, reading.
However, this can be a better read if the author give more depth into this story, especially with a hero with a background like that.
But, probably will end up as an angsty story, who knows?
And it won’t be a nice and sweet read anymore 😬.
❤️
This is a nice read.
Nothing serious, but it was a good way to spend few hours of your time, reading.
However, this can be a better read if the author give more depth into this story, especially with a hero with a background like that.
But, probably will end up as an angsty story, who knows?
And it won’t be a nice and sweet read anymore 😬.
❤️
July 30, 2019
We meet up with Rose when she’s about to be married to a duke, a marriage of convenience, not a love-match, but as you gather from the book description that’s not going to happen. Rose married four years ago, but thought her husband died at sea while taking her heart with him.
I really enjoyed Marry in Secret, Rose had a heart of gold and was patient and supportive of Thomas. He went through a harrowing experience, something I didn’t really know happened to seamen at the time, but the author’s note explains Thomas’s experience was based on a real-life account and it’s heartbreaking. It definitely took more time to unravel all of Thomas’ situation and feelings, but I never doubted that he loved Rose, and she didn’t either. There’s a mystery about Thomas’ family and some danger that comes from it, adding a bit more excitement that kept me turning those pages to get to the bottom of things.
Following Rose and Thomas as they sort out the past, get to know each other and savor their reunion was touching, emotional and a pleasure! This is my first Anne Gracie novel, but it won’t be my last! I think Rose’s cousin Georgiana is up next and I can’t wait!
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed Marry in Secret, Rose had a heart of gold and was patient and supportive of Thomas. He went through a harrowing experience, something I didn’t really know happened to seamen at the time, but the author’s note explains Thomas’s experience was based on a real-life account and it’s heartbreaking. It definitely took more time to unravel all of Thomas’ situation and feelings, but I never doubted that he loved Rose, and she didn’t either. There’s a mystery about Thomas’ family and some danger that comes from it, adding a bit more excitement that kept me turning those pages to get to the bottom of things.
Following Rose and Thomas as they sort out the past, get to know each other and savor their reunion was touching, emotional and a pleasure! This is my first Anne Gracie novel, but it won’t be my last! I think Rose’s cousin Georgiana is up next and I can’t wait!
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
May 30, 2020
I don’t know what to think of this one. A bit of a mixed bag. Fantastic narration by Allison Larkin and a sweet romance. The plot was a bit of a mess though.
Thanks Missy for the Buddy Read!
Thanks Missy for the Buddy Read!
July 24, 2019
Series: Marriage of Convenience #3
Publication Date: 7/30/2019
Number of Pages: 336
I absolutely loved this book! There was no “Oh, woe is me”. No navel-gazing. No page-after-page of angst - even though both of these characters had every reason to do those things. I know – it is odd to love a book for what it doesn’t have, but I do get so tired of books where the main focus is nothing but those things. This one was refreshing, romantic, steamy and just a lovely read.
There are some heartbreaking subjects in this novel, particularly that of the slave trade on the Barbary Coast. It doesn’t touch on or deal with the African slave trade (to the Americas), only that of the Ottoman Empire.
Lady Rose Rutherford is one of the best heroines I’ve read in a long time. She’s smart, steadfast, loyal, faithful and loving. She fell head-over-heels in love at sixteen and never doubted, never faltered, never stopped – even in the face of some of the worst heartache you’ll ever see.
Thomas Beresford followed in his father’s footsteps and purchased a commission in the Navy when he was sixteen. He loved the navy and rose through the ranks over the next seven years to the rank of Commander. Then, at the age of twenty-three, he met, fell in love, and married Rose Rutherford. They married in secret and then he sailed away. His ship sank with all hands reported lost – and his four-year nightmare began.
Thomas was a wonderful hero. After all that had happened to him, he was still the most honorable and caring of men. He was truly a hero in every sense of the word. He was totally unselfish and bent on rescuing the other members of his crew who were enslaved.
I loved the opening scene. Rose had finally agreed to marry because it would, with agreement from the groom, be a totally loveless marriage based solely on procreation. Rose would never love again, but she did want children, so a marriage of convenience would suit her fine. At the wedding ceremony, during that tensest of statements “If anyone has a reason this marriage cannot take place” – there is a shout from the back of the church. The man is unkempt – with long hair, beard, ragged clothing, and a stench – and he had just claimed that Rose was his wife.
After Rose’s initial shock – and wouldn’t that be a shock – she embraced her marriage to Thomas and her love for him. She never, ever wavered even when he tried to dissuade her. Her initial reaction might not have been everything he had hoped for, even he recognized that his appearance and his return from the dead was enough to shock her for a while. But boy, once that shock wore off, she was a very determined lady.
I highly recommend this book and hope you love it as much as I did.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Publication Date: 7/30/2019
Number of Pages: 336
I absolutely loved this book! There was no “Oh, woe is me”. No navel-gazing. No page-after-page of angst - even though both of these characters had every reason to do those things. I know – it is odd to love a book for what it doesn’t have, but I do get so tired of books where the main focus is nothing but those things. This one was refreshing, romantic, steamy and just a lovely read.
There are some heartbreaking subjects in this novel, particularly that of the slave trade on the Barbary Coast. It doesn’t touch on or deal with the African slave trade (to the Americas), only that of the Ottoman Empire.
Lady Rose Rutherford is one of the best heroines I’ve read in a long time. She’s smart, steadfast, loyal, faithful and loving. She fell head-over-heels in love at sixteen and never doubted, never faltered, never stopped – even in the face of some of the worst heartache you’ll ever see.
Thomas Beresford followed in his father’s footsteps and purchased a commission in the Navy when he was sixteen. He loved the navy and rose through the ranks over the next seven years to the rank of Commander. Then, at the age of twenty-three, he met, fell in love, and married Rose Rutherford. They married in secret and then he sailed away. His ship sank with all hands reported lost – and his four-year nightmare began.
Thomas was a wonderful hero. After all that had happened to him, he was still the most honorable and caring of men. He was truly a hero in every sense of the word. He was totally unselfish and bent on rescuing the other members of his crew who were enslaved.
I loved the opening scene. Rose had finally agreed to marry because it would, with agreement from the groom, be a totally loveless marriage based solely on procreation. Rose would never love again, but she did want children, so a marriage of convenience would suit her fine. At the wedding ceremony, during that tensest of statements “If anyone has a reason this marriage cannot take place” – there is a shout from the back of the church. The man is unkempt – with long hair, beard, ragged clothing, and a stench – and he had just claimed that Rose was his wife.
After Rose’s initial shock – and wouldn’t that be a shock – she embraced her marriage to Thomas and her love for him. She never, ever wavered even when he tried to dissuade her. Her initial reaction might not have been everything he had hoped for, even he recognized that his appearance and his return from the dead was enough to shock her for a while. But boy, once that shock wore off, she was a very determined lady.
I highly recommend this book and hope you love it as much as I did.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
August 7, 2019
Again an amazing story. Looking forward to the next one in the serie.
October 7, 2020
3,5 Noioso🥱
November 6, 2023
3.5/5 Very cute. Took me a few days to read and I lost a bit of interest but shaped up to be cute. I love the interrupted wedding trope.
September 17, 2019
Lady Rose Rutherford is literally at the alter when Thomas Beresford interrupts—with perfect timing, of course—to announce his return as Rose's presumed-dead secret first husband. After this auspicious beginning, Thomas then decides that annulment is the answer (great timing there, bro) and Rose decides she will honor her vows. They fight; bone; discover that Thomas is, obviously, the heir to an Earldom; bone (again); fight (again); and solve the mystery of who's trying to get him dead. THE END.
1. Anne Gracie can do better than this.
2. Rose is a literal nothing of a heroine: we're told she's been encased in ice for 4 years; numb and cold and remote. But one good cry on Thomas's shoulder and ALL THAT IS BEHIND HER. Now: she's fun! Spunky! Flirty! Alive with the sound of orgasms! I had absolutely no connection to this character which is literally so frustrating because there is such potential for a woman who wants to rediscover the ~love of her ~youth and find again the ~spark of life she has ~mislaid.
Did we get any of that? NOPE.
3. Thomas is fine. He comes with Backstory, including time as a galley slave who Made Promises and Wants Revenge, and it plays out almost exactly as you think it would which makes it pretty dull. But at least there's something that's moving him, even if it is down the ruttiest part of the dirt road we've all been down a billion and a half times bef0re.
4. The writing is pretty under-baked.
5. The handling of the ... relationship? ... between Thomas and Cal (and Cal and Ned) is probably the highlight of the book. Perhaps we should be rooting for Cal and Ned and Thomas to run away together, those silly billies.
(I'm only half joking; the development of a familial bond between Thomas and the rest of the Rutherford is actually well done and engaging. The fact that every other element out-blands it is extremely disappointing.)
6. ...I'm definitely reading George's book tho SO THERE.
1. Anne Gracie can do better than this.
2. Rose is a literal nothing of a heroine: we're told she's been encased in ice for 4 years; numb and cold and remote. But one good cry on Thomas's shoulder and ALL THAT IS BEHIND HER. Now: she's fun! Spunky! Flirty! Alive with the sound of orgasms! I had absolutely no connection to this character which is literally so frustrating because there is such potential for a woman who wants to rediscover the ~love of her ~youth and find again the ~spark of life she has ~mislaid.
Did we get any of that? NOPE.
3. Thomas is fine. He comes with Backstory, including time as a galley slave who Made Promises and Wants Revenge, and it plays out almost exactly as you think it would which makes it pretty dull. But at least there's something that's moving him, even if it is down the ruttiest part of the dirt road we've all been down a billion and a half times bef0re.
4. The writing is pretty under-baked.
5. The handling of the ... relationship? ... between Thomas and Cal (and Cal and Ned) is probably the highlight of the book. Perhaps we should be rooting for Cal and Ned and Thomas to run away together, those silly billies.
(I'm only half joking; the development of a familial bond between Thomas and the rest of the Rutherford is actually well done and engaging. The fact that every other element out-blands it is extremely disappointing.)
6. ...I'm definitely reading George's book tho SO THERE.
July 7, 2019
I just spent the most fabulous weekend with this book and the wonderful characters that had me sighing and smiling throughout this story, Anne Gracie your stories rock they have everything that a romance reader wants in a story they are moving there are smiles and so much emotion from characters that become friends. Make yourself comfortable for this one because you are not going to want to put it down.
Lady Rose Rutherford is marrying a Duke, she is finally going to settle down and become a good Duchess, and she does not want love, a marriage of convenience is what she wants, but when the wedding of the season becomes the scandal of the season because some supposedly long lost husband arrives in rags to stop the wedding, lives are turned upside down. Rose is stunned when the man she fell in love with and married secretly four years ago and she thought was dead arrives.
Thomas Beresford married the woman he loved four years ago before leaving with the navy, he does not return and is listed as dead, but what happens to him has changed him forever, during his incarceration he never stopped thinking about Rose, dreaming of her kept him going and doing what he could to get home, and now he is here stopping her wedding to a Duke no less, but can he be the man he once was for his strong and caring Rose.
I am loving this series and Rose and Thomas’s story is awesome and so grand, to see these young lovers after all that they had been through bring that love that had never been forgotten back strong and more beautiful than before had me turning the pages. The descriptions of what Thomas had been through was heart-wrenching but his love for Rose kept him going and their reuniting was not always easy thanks to Rose’s brother Cal he did try to put a spanner in the works but Rose the ever strong woman that she was knew how much love she has for Thomas. Truly I loved this story from start to finish there are laughs and smiles and sighs along the way, MS Gracie never disappoints me and I am really looking forward to George’s story. Thank you for another keeper, truly don’t miss this story it is a must read.
Lady Rose Rutherford is marrying a Duke, she is finally going to settle down and become a good Duchess, and she does not want love, a marriage of convenience is what she wants, but when the wedding of the season becomes the scandal of the season because some supposedly long lost husband arrives in rags to stop the wedding, lives are turned upside down. Rose is stunned when the man she fell in love with and married secretly four years ago and she thought was dead arrives.
Thomas Beresford married the woman he loved four years ago before leaving with the navy, he does not return and is listed as dead, but what happens to him has changed him forever, during his incarceration he never stopped thinking about Rose, dreaming of her kept him going and doing what he could to get home, and now he is here stopping her wedding to a Duke no less, but can he be the man he once was for his strong and caring Rose.
I am loving this series and Rose and Thomas’s story is awesome and so grand, to see these young lovers after all that they had been through bring that love that had never been forgotten back strong and more beautiful than before had me turning the pages. The descriptions of what Thomas had been through was heart-wrenching but his love for Rose kept him going and their reuniting was not always easy thanks to Rose’s brother Cal he did try to put a spanner in the works but Rose the ever strong woman that she was knew how much love she has for Thomas. Truly I loved this story from start to finish there are laughs and smiles and sighs along the way, MS Gracie never disappoints me and I am really looking forward to George’s story. Thank you for another keeper, truly don’t miss this story it is a must read.
August 15, 2019
Rose was finally moving on... but then her husband interrupted her wedding
Rose had a troubled childhood with an absent father and a sick younger sister. Disillusioned with love, she agrees to marry a cold and unfeeling Duke in hopes to have children and live her life with some independence. The problem is her husband, that she believed dead, shows up at the ceremony, causes a great commotion, and she does not know how to feel about it.
Thomas expected to be received with happiness and love but was greeted with shock and silence by a wife that was about to marry someone else. After all the traumas he had faced in the last four years, that blow was very hard to take.
Two people who once loved each other had to acknowledge they have changed and find out if their sentiments still held true after those changes.
It is a great story, the characters are complex and well developed, and the relationship is solid. There is a background murder plot that I could have done without, but it did not damage the romance.
Great read! Looking forward to the next book in the series.
Rose had a troubled childhood with an absent father and a sick younger sister. Disillusioned with love, she agrees to marry a cold and unfeeling Duke in hopes to have children and live her life with some independence. The problem is her husband, that she believed dead, shows up at the ceremony, causes a great commotion, and she does not know how to feel about it.
Thomas expected to be received with happiness and love but was greeted with shock and silence by a wife that was about to marry someone else. After all the traumas he had faced in the last four years, that blow was very hard to take.
Two people who once loved each other had to acknowledge they have changed and find out if their sentiments still held true after those changes.
It is a great story, the characters are complex and well developed, and the relationship is solid. There is a background murder plot that I could have done without, but it did not damage the romance.
Great read! Looking forward to the next book in the series.
May 22, 2022
Anne Gracie writes wonderful historical romances. I started this book without having read the first 2 and it read well as a stand-alone.
Rose secretly married Thomas 4 years ago while visiting her aunt. Before she could explain to her family about her new circumstances, she read in the newspaper about Thomas's ship going down with no survivors. Grieving his death, she decided to keep her marriage a secret. 4 years later, she decides to marry for convenience and it's during her wedding that Thomas storms the church to put a stop to the wedding.
I enjoyed watching Rose and Thomas negotiate their new relationship. They were young when they married, but are still very much in love. I got bored with Thomas's constant hot/cold attitude and there was a lot of pushing away. Thank goodness that Rose knew her own mind and would not let him push her away. Thomas had a lot of betrayals to deal with and had a very difficult 4 years away, so he had to heal from his brokenness and learn to love Rose and himself again.
I'm going to try to find the other books in the series and hope my library has copies.
Safety
Rose secretly married Thomas 4 years ago while visiting her aunt. Before she could explain to her family about her new circumstances, she read in the newspaper about Thomas's ship going down with no survivors. Grieving his death, she decided to keep her marriage a secret. 4 years later, she decides to marry for convenience and it's during her wedding that Thomas storms the church to put a stop to the wedding.
I enjoyed watching Rose and Thomas negotiate their new relationship. They were young when they married, but are still very much in love. I got bored with Thomas's constant hot/cold attitude and there was a lot of pushing away. Thank goodness that Rose knew her own mind and would not let him push her away. Thomas had a lot of betrayals to deal with and had a very difficult 4 years away, so he had to heal from his brokenness and learn to love Rose and himself again.
I'm going to try to find the other books in the series and hope my library has copies.
Safety
June 12, 2021
Molto sottotono rispetto ai precedenti. Proseguirò con l'ultimo , ricordandomi quello che mi dice una mia amica " non tutte le ciambelle riescono con il buco " 😅
August 16, 2019
Honestly I felt this one got worse and worse and I do not know why I did not dnf.
Rose is about to marry a Duke, but then he long lost hubbie shows up. The one she never told anyone about, the one she married at 16.
First the drama is about her family not wanting him around.
Then when there is happiness, the drama changes to this other thing. That just felt weird.
I honestly lost interest and it felt like a chore. I know I know, DNF! But I need to dnf audio in the first hour, when I am half way through I push on which I know realise is a mistake.
Very disappointed
Rose is about to marry a Duke, but then he long lost hubbie shows up. The one she never told anyone about, the one she married at 16.
First the drama is about her family not wanting him around.
Then when there is happiness, the drama changes to this other thing. That just felt weird.
I honestly lost interest and it felt like a chore. I know I know, DNF! But I need to dnf audio in the first hour, when I am half way through I push on which I know realise is a mistake.
Very disappointed
December 29, 2019
RTC...
August 6, 2019
Lady Rose Rutherford has accepted the proposal of the Duke of Everingham, her sister Lily and her niece George, think she should wait for love, but Rose doesn’t want love – it hurts. She is content to marry the duke and live her own life. The ceremony begins and Rose is resigned to the marriage and is floored when a filthy man charges in and demands that the wedding be stopped! She has no idea who the man is, but when he claims to be her husband and she really looks at him – Rose realizes that the man is indeed Thomas, her dead husband!!
Four years ago, Rose met Thomas Bersford in Bath and at the age of 16 married him before he set out to sea with the Royal Navy. Two short weeks later, Rose learns that Thomas’s ship was sunk and there were no survivors – Rose never told a soul that she had married and mourned in silence. But here he is – back from the dead and claiming her as his wife. When Thomas married Rose he didn’t care about her fortune, but now after living through hell, he is back and needs the money to save his men from the life he barely escaped. He would ask his uncle for help, but he turned his back on Thomas when he was first captured and held for ransom, so Rose’s fortune is his only option. But first he will have to get her to admit to being his wife and convince her family they were married. But after he talks to her, his conscience won’t let him use her just for her money and he tells her to think about what she wants to do.
Rose never stopped loving Thomas, but never told anyone of their marriage – there seemed to be no reason – he was dead. But now she has been given a second chance and there is no way she is letting him go – even when her family and oddly enough, Thomas tell her to consider an annulment – No, Rose wants a life with Thomas and won’t let him leave her again. Slowly, she learns the horrid truth of Thomas’s time away and admires his determination to save his men. Thomas is not the man she knew, but he is still the man she loved, even though he insists he is not. So, still love him she does and will do whatever is needed to help him heal. But as the events of the past four years unfold and truths come out – Thomas and Rose discover that someone is very unhappy about Thomas’s return and will stop at nothing to keep him and Rose from building a life together.
I loved this story, from the first page to the last, I loved that Rose was steadfast in her love and that Thomas for all his gruffness and denial, still loved Rose. This book really takes you on an emotional rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears, love, desire, shame, horror, betrayal, anger, hope and healing with a little bit of a “whodunit” mystery thrown in. It is the third book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone with no problems and the ending will leaving eager to read the next installment!!
Four years ago, Rose met Thomas Bersford in Bath and at the age of 16 married him before he set out to sea with the Royal Navy. Two short weeks later, Rose learns that Thomas’s ship was sunk and there were no survivors – Rose never told a soul that she had married and mourned in silence. But here he is – back from the dead and claiming her as his wife. When Thomas married Rose he didn’t care about her fortune, but now after living through hell, he is back and needs the money to save his men from the life he barely escaped. He would ask his uncle for help, but he turned his back on Thomas when he was first captured and held for ransom, so Rose’s fortune is his only option. But first he will have to get her to admit to being his wife and convince her family they were married. But after he talks to her, his conscience won’t let him use her just for her money and he tells her to think about what she wants to do.
Rose never stopped loving Thomas, but never told anyone of their marriage – there seemed to be no reason – he was dead. But now she has been given a second chance and there is no way she is letting him go – even when her family and oddly enough, Thomas tell her to consider an annulment – No, Rose wants a life with Thomas and won’t let him leave her again. Slowly, she learns the horrid truth of Thomas’s time away and admires his determination to save his men. Thomas is not the man she knew, but he is still the man she loved, even though he insists he is not. So, still love him she does and will do whatever is needed to help him heal. But as the events of the past four years unfold and truths come out – Thomas and Rose discover that someone is very unhappy about Thomas’s return and will stop at nothing to keep him and Rose from building a life together.
I loved this story, from the first page to the last, I loved that Rose was steadfast in her love and that Thomas for all his gruffness and denial, still loved Rose. This book really takes you on an emotional rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears, love, desire, shame, horror, betrayal, anger, hope and healing with a little bit of a “whodunit” mystery thrown in. It is the third book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone with no problems and the ending will leaving eager to read the next installment!!
August 24, 2019
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Lady Rose Rutherford is a rebel. She has seen her brother and sister find love, and now it seems that she is next on the marriage market. Having turned down an inordinate number of proposals, Rose decides to forge her own path by entering a marriage of convenience. She has given up of finding love, but she does want children of her own, so she agrees to marry the Duke of Everingham.
However, right in the middle of the ceremony, everyone is shocked to hear: STOP THE WEDDING. Who is the man suddenly standing before her? Unkempt and unclean, yet he bears an unsettling resemblance. The man proves to be Thomas Beresford, a naval officer who Rose secretly married four years previously. How can this be? He was said to have died.
Not only is Rose forced to end her almost-wedding, Thomas immediately has plans of his own. These plans include a path towards vengeance. He lost everything when he almost died and has suffered a terrible fate. Now he is back and will stop at nothing, including using Rose and he fortune to get back everything he lost.
Rose is baffled. She never stopped loving Thomas, but she was sure he was lost to her forever. Who is this man before her now? He is not the gentle and passionate man she fell in love with. Instead, he is cold, hard and angry.
Rose and Thomas are about to have a second chance in life. Things will not come easy, especially when considering the horrid things that Thomas experienced. I was so very sad for Thomas and felt for him. It was heartwarming to see Rose's compassion and love shine through, while watching Thomas begin to heal.
Marriage in Secret is the third book in the Marriage of Convenience series. We have had Emm and Lily's stories, and they were a delight. Rose's story is my favorite. In part, because she is so young, just twenty years old, but her capacity for love is incredibly overwhelming. As this is her story, it could serve as a standalone. But the family ties are powerful, so reading this series in order just might be very enjoyable for lovers of this genre. I do look forward to Georgiana's story next.
Lady Rose Rutherford is a rebel. She has seen her brother and sister find love, and now it seems that she is next on the marriage market. Having turned down an inordinate number of proposals, Rose decides to forge her own path by entering a marriage of convenience. She has given up of finding love, but she does want children of her own, so she agrees to marry the Duke of Everingham.
However, right in the middle of the ceremony, everyone is shocked to hear: STOP THE WEDDING. Who is the man suddenly standing before her? Unkempt and unclean, yet he bears an unsettling resemblance. The man proves to be Thomas Beresford, a naval officer who Rose secretly married four years previously. How can this be? He was said to have died.
Not only is Rose forced to end her almost-wedding, Thomas immediately has plans of his own. These plans include a path towards vengeance. He lost everything when he almost died and has suffered a terrible fate. Now he is back and will stop at nothing, including using Rose and he fortune to get back everything he lost.
Rose is baffled. She never stopped loving Thomas, but she was sure he was lost to her forever. Who is this man before her now? He is not the gentle and passionate man she fell in love with. Instead, he is cold, hard and angry.
Rose and Thomas are about to have a second chance in life. Things will not come easy, especially when considering the horrid things that Thomas experienced. I was so very sad for Thomas and felt for him. It was heartwarming to see Rose's compassion and love shine through, while watching Thomas begin to heal.
Marriage in Secret is the third book in the Marriage of Convenience series. We have had Emm and Lily's stories, and they were a delight. Rose's story is my favorite. In part, because she is so young, just twenty years old, but her capacity for love is incredibly overwhelming. As this is her story, it could serve as a standalone. But the family ties are powerful, so reading this series in order just might be very enjoyable for lovers of this genre. I do look forward to Georgiana's story next.
July 24, 2020
A touching story with (relatively) realistic reactions to completely bonkers situations.
It was overall a bit inconsistent, and the main characters seemed to sway back and forth between personality types so it was hard to pin them down, but the good outweighed the small issues sprinkled throughout.
It was overall a bit inconsistent, and the main characters seemed to sway back and forth between personality types so it was hard to pin them down, but the good outweighed the small issues sprinkled throughout.
May 5, 2021
2,5 - Al momento il più sciapo della serie.
All'inizio il protagonista maschile mi ha fatto pure arrabbiare: a 23 anni non si seduce una ragazzina di 16, per poi sposarla (ma in segreto, senza che nessuno sappia) solo per timore di averla messa incinta.
Tralasciando il fatto che lei era minorenne, quello che è pesa è che in concreto fosse proprio un'ingenua che non aveva neppure mai baciato nessuno e comprometterla in quel modo al primo appuntamento, non è stato per nulla da gentiluomo ed eroe romantico: sette anni di differenza sono tanti, Thomas era pure un ufficiale in servizio, un uomo fatto e finito.
Per il resto del libro la Gracie si affanna a giustificarlo, a dire che la passione li aveva travolti e che Rose l'aveva voluto tanto quanto lui.
Ma proprio perché a quell'epoca le ragazze di buona famiglia neanche sapevano cosa accadeva la prima notte di nozze, è difficile pensare che potessero comprendere (e avessero scelto) le conseguenze dell'atto.
Il nostro ufficiale - al contrario - lo sapeva bene: anche se doveva reimbarcarsi in fretta, dieci minuti per assumersi le proprie responsabilità di fronte ai familiari li poteva trovare, eccome.
Mi spiace dirlo, ma stavolta ho concordato con zia Agatha infuriata e con Cal che ha faticato a digerire il fattaccio. Poi, ovviamente arriva il passato tormentato, il ritorno e il perdono, il colpo di scena da Cenerentolo... ma diciamo che se nella prima parte ero infastidita, nella seconda ho sbadigliato non poco.
Nel complesso, un terzo volume così così all'interno di una serie altrimenti brillante.
PS. Piccola annotazione a margine: il Duca di Everingham diventa un po' la mascotte di questa serie. Nel secondo volume iniziava ad essere menzionato come candidato papabile per una delle sue nipoti dalla temibile lady Archer, ma non si presenta alla cena galeotta; in questo terzo rischia grosso tentando di condurre all'altare una ragazza già impegnata. Nel quarto la sfortuna del Duca avrà finalmente fine?
All'inizio il protagonista maschile mi ha fatto pure arrabbiare: a 23 anni non si seduce una ragazzina di 16, per poi sposarla (ma in segreto, senza che nessuno sappia) solo per timore di averla messa incinta.
Tralasciando il fatto che lei era minorenne, quello che è pesa è che in concreto fosse proprio un'ingenua che non aveva neppure mai baciato nessuno e comprometterla in quel modo al primo appuntamento, non è stato per nulla da gentiluomo ed eroe romantico: sette anni di differenza sono tanti, Thomas era pure un ufficiale in servizio, un uomo fatto e finito.
Per il resto del libro la Gracie si affanna a giustificarlo, a dire che la passione li aveva travolti e che Rose l'aveva voluto tanto quanto lui.
Ma proprio perché a quell'epoca le ragazze di buona famiglia neanche sapevano cosa accadeva la prima notte di nozze, è difficile pensare che potessero comprendere (e avessero scelto) le conseguenze dell'atto.
Il nostro ufficiale - al contrario - lo sapeva bene: anche se doveva reimbarcarsi in fretta, dieci minuti per assumersi le proprie responsabilità di fronte ai familiari li poteva trovare, eccome.
Mi spiace dirlo, ma stavolta ho concordato con zia Agatha infuriata e con Cal che ha faticato a digerire il fattaccio. Poi, ovviamente arriva il passato tormentato, il ritorno e il perdono, il colpo di scena da Cenerentolo... ma diciamo che se nella prima parte ero infastidita, nella seconda ho sbadigliato non poco.
Nel complesso, un terzo volume così così all'interno di una serie altrimenti brillante.
PS. Piccola annotazione a margine: il Duca di Everingham diventa un po' la mascotte di questa serie. Nel secondo volume iniziava ad essere menzionato come candidato papabile per una delle sue nipoti dalla temibile lady Archer, ma non si presenta alla cena galeotta; in questo terzo rischia grosso tentando di condurre all'altare una ragazza già impegnata. Nel quarto la sfortuna del Duca avrà finalmente fine?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 27, 2019I got 30% in and couldn't make myself do any more. Normally, I'm a fan of the author. This book was just so boring.
June 7, 2019
ARC from Netgalley
I enjoyed Gracie's 2nd book in the "Marriage of Convenience" series, and was looking forward to reading the story of elder sister Rose's romance. But I found myself more disappointed than overjoyed by this latest installment. The book opens with Rose at the altar, about to marry a duke whom she's chosen because he, like she, doesn't want to marry for love. But when the wedding is interrupted by an unkempt but well-spoken man, it turns out that Rose had once, and secretly, married for love, when she was an adolescent. Rose hadn't told anyone in her family about the secret wedding; at the time, her beloved sister Lily was ill with a dangerous case of the mumps, her favorite brother was away at war, and her father and eldest brother would only have had the marriage annulled, since she was underage and married without permission. And since her husband was soon reported dead at sea, she had no reason to tell anyone later.
Rose's reaction to the sudden reappearance of Thomas Beresford (he was 23, she was 16 when they married) is unexpected; rather than embrace him with joy after his four-year absence, as Thomas had imagined, she's upset and standoffish, surrounded by female relatives who want to protect her from this apparent interloper. At first, Thomas insists Rose is his no matter what her male relatives say. But, worried that perhaps Rose no longer wants him, and that he is no longer worthy of her, he has a sudden change of heart and abruptly agrees to her family's wishes for an annulment. As soon as he does, however, Rose decides she wants to abide by her marriage vows, even though the engaging, open man she married is far from the abrupt, taciturn near-stranger who faces her now.
Both Rose and Thomas have experienced trauma in the four years since they've been apart, but while Rose confides her difficulties and hurts to Thomas, he keeps the details of his hidden, although it is revealed fairly early on in the story that . The two have a lot of sex, but beyond that there isn't much to show them getting to know one another again, or any events that bring them emotionally closer. Rose is cheerful, Thomas is taciturn, the story is amused by all the "female" bustling about decorating their new house and preparing for the ball announcing Thomas's return to society. And then there's some melodrama about someone trying to kill Thomas...
Perhaps because I'm in the midst of doing research about the British in West Africa during the Regency period, reading a lot about British involvement in the African slave trade, I found myself frustrated by the awkward combination here of lighthearted narrative (cute dog, men laughing at the way their women bulldoze over their wishes, etc) with the backstory of Thomas's enslavement.
It made me wonder: how many historical romances have featured Europeans coming back from being enslaved by Barbary pirates, vs. those that have featured Englishmen who were actively involved in the African slave trade (even as villains)? So many real Brits were involved in the latter, even members Brits of the aristocracy (37 members of the House of Lords received compensation from the West India Slave Compensation Commission in 1833, as did 80 of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons). And many newly wealthy members of society had made their money from their involvement in slavery or its allied trades (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063...). In contrast, while thousands of Europeans were enslaved by the Barbary pirates, most were from southern Europe, which suggests that, at least during the Regency period, the number of Brits who benefited from the Atlantic slave trade was far higher than those who were the victims of the Northern African slave trade.
Though it was surely not the intention of Gracie or other white authors of historical romance to minimize the severity of the Atlantic slave trade, those who feature protagonists who experienced enslavement at the hands of the Ottomans and ignore the participation of Europeans in the Atlantic slave trade can inadvertently suggest that Europeans were the ones most harmed by enslavement during the English Regency period, and contribute to unthinkingly to white supremacist rhetoric and discourse.
I enjoyed Gracie's 2nd book in the "Marriage of Convenience" series, and was looking forward to reading the story of elder sister Rose's romance. But I found myself more disappointed than overjoyed by this latest installment. The book opens with Rose at the altar, about to marry a duke whom she's chosen because he, like she, doesn't want to marry for love. But when the wedding is interrupted by an unkempt but well-spoken man, it turns out that Rose had once, and secretly, married for love, when she was an adolescent. Rose hadn't told anyone in her family about the secret wedding; at the time, her beloved sister Lily was ill with a dangerous case of the mumps, her favorite brother was away at war, and her father and eldest brother would only have had the marriage annulled, since she was underage and married without permission. And since her husband was soon reported dead at sea, she had no reason to tell anyone later.
Rose's reaction to the sudden reappearance of Thomas Beresford (he was 23, she was 16 when they married) is unexpected; rather than embrace him with joy after his four-year absence, as Thomas had imagined, she's upset and standoffish, surrounded by female relatives who want to protect her from this apparent interloper. At first, Thomas insists Rose is his no matter what her male relatives say. But, worried that perhaps Rose no longer wants him, and that he is no longer worthy of her, he has a sudden change of heart and abruptly agrees to her family's wishes for an annulment. As soon as he does, however, Rose decides she wants to abide by her marriage vows, even though the engaging, open man she married is far from the abrupt, taciturn near-stranger who faces her now.
Both Rose and Thomas have experienced trauma in the four years since they've been apart, but while Rose confides her difficulties and hurts to Thomas, he keeps the details of his hidden, although it is revealed fairly early on in the story that . The two have a lot of sex, but beyond that there isn't much to show them getting to know one another again, or any events that bring them emotionally closer. Rose is cheerful, Thomas is taciturn, the story is amused by all the "female" bustling about decorating their new house and preparing for the ball announcing Thomas's return to society. And then there's some melodrama about someone trying to kill Thomas...
Perhaps because I'm in the midst of doing research about the British in West Africa during the Regency period, reading a lot about British involvement in the African slave trade, I found myself frustrated by the awkward combination here of lighthearted narrative (cute dog, men laughing at the way their women bulldoze over their wishes, etc) with the backstory of Thomas's enslavement.
It made me wonder: how many historical romances have featured Europeans coming back from being enslaved by Barbary pirates, vs. those that have featured Englishmen who were actively involved in the African slave trade (even as villains)? So many real Brits were involved in the latter, even members Brits of the aristocracy (37 members of the House of Lords received compensation from the West India Slave Compensation Commission in 1833, as did 80 of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons). And many newly wealthy members of society had made their money from their involvement in slavery or its allied trades (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063...). In contrast, while thousands of Europeans were enslaved by the Barbary pirates, most were from southern Europe, which suggests that, at least during the Regency period, the number of Brits who benefited from the Atlantic slave trade was far higher than those who were the victims of the Northern African slave trade.
Though it was surely not the intention of Gracie or other white authors of historical romance to minimize the severity of the Atlantic slave trade, those who feature protagonists who experienced enslavement at the hands of the Ottomans and ignore the participation of Europeans in the Atlantic slave trade can inadvertently suggest that Europeans were the ones most harmed by enslavement during the English Regency period, and contribute to unthinkingly to white supremacist rhetoric and discourse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2020
This story was dreadfully boring. The first couple of chapters was intriguing as I am not used to HRs where the heroine was very adamant that she didn't want a love match. She wanted an arrangement where she gets a stipend but doesnt need to bother with the silly notion of love. Then her secret love interrupts the wedding and guess what?
What we really have is a woman in love trying to convince her husband to forgo revenge plots and his quest to find out who set him to be a slave. It didn't hold my attention at all
What we really have is a woman in love trying to convince her husband to forgo revenge plots and his quest to find out who set him to be a slave. It didn't hold my attention at all
October 25, 2020
Лейди Роуз Рътърфорд и Томас Бересфорт
Лейди Роуз има ясно изграден план за бъдещето си. След като отхвърля предложенията на цели 12 млади джентълмена, които се кълнат в любов, за всеобщ ужас Роуз приема предложението за брак на Херцогът на Евърингам. Херцогът е смятан за улова на сезона, но освен това всички знаят, че той е студен мъж. Роуз има нужда точно от такъв съпруг. Този брак и за двама им е сделка, която следва да има само една облага и за двамата, деца. Роуз не може да си позволи да бъде с някой, който я обича, защото знае, че никога няма да може да отвърне на любовта на съпругът си, тъй като преди 4 години отдава сърцето си на мъж, който вече не е между живите... мъж, който се появява в последният момент, за да спре сватбата й, и който е повече от жив.
Преди 4 години Томас Бересфорт среща Роуз и двамата се влюбват един в друг от пръв поглед. Том трябва да замине, защото е на военна служба, но за да предпази Роуз от вероятността да е бременна, двамата се женят тайно малко преди да отплава. Само седмица след заминаването му обаче, кораба на който пътува потъва в морето и Томас е обявен за мъртъв. Истината обаче е съвсем друга. Том вярва, че роднините му са го предали и се прибира изгарящ от желание за отмъщение. През 4те години изпълнени с болка и изпитания, само мисълта за Роуз го е подържала жив, но сега оказвайкисе пред нея, той не е същият млад и влюбен мъж. Той е психически почти пречупен, с тяло носещо белезите на пленничеството му, и след като семейството му се е отрекло от него, той няма нито дом, нито пари, дори дрехите на гърба му не са негови. Първоначалният му план е да използва наследстовото на Роуз, за да открие и спаси 5мата си приятели, но сега той разбира, че не е готов да се възползва от нея и дори иска да й даде свободата... самоче Роуз няма никакво намерение да се откаже от мъжа, който е оплаквала през полседните 4 години. Вярно е, че и двамата са преоменени и не са същите млади влюбени от преди 4 години, но тя ще вложи всичките си усилия, но няма да позволи да бъдат разделени.
Книжката беше адски сладурска. И двамата ни герои бяха преживели много. Роуз Томас пък
В началото Роуз беше толкова удивена от появата на Томас, че не знаеше как да реагира. Скоро обаче се съвзе, осъзна, че любимият й е пак при нея, и запретна ръкави, за да му докаже, че не може от криворазбрано чувство за дълг да се откаже от тях и от брака му. Въпреки, че всички я съветваха да анулира брака си, дори Том й го предлагаше, тя отказа категорично и реши да му помогне да се справи с миналото. Много ми хареса, колко объркан беше като в небрано лозе, когато Роуз щурмува защитите му, показвайки му, че няма място на което да се скрие от нея. Много ми беше интересно и добавеният леко крими сюжет.
Хареса ми колко различна и интересна беше книгата. Роуз се бореше срещу всичко и всеки, за да бъде с Томас. Той пък бе така наранен, така засрамен от окаяното си положение, че не можеше да понесе да принизява Роуз, но също така нямаше сили да я отблъсне, а тя бе така уверена и така стремглаво преследваше това, което иска, че милият Томас нямаше никакъв шанс.
В тази книга, Херцогът на Евърингам ни бе представен доста студен, безмилостен и незаинтересован от нищо и никой. Когато сватбата му с Роуз беше прекъсната от Томас, той прие всичко без да покаже никакви емоции. Когато Роуз отиде да му се извини, и той й заяви, че е станало добре, тъй като ако е знаел, че не е девствена никога нямало да се ожени за нея, беше доста студен, и груб. Нямам търпение да видя как дивата енергична и доста устата Джорджиана ще му сипе да яде. Сигурна съм, че ще са доста интересна и колоритна двойка. Тяхната книга се очаква в краят на този месец. Тъй като чета книгата в аудио формат, със страхотният дублаж на Alison Larkin, наистина се надявам и последната 4та книга от поредицата да излезе с неин дублаж.
Лейди Роуз има ясно изграден план за бъдещето си. След като отхвърля предложенията на цели 12 млади джентълмена, които се кълнат в любов, за всеобщ ужас Роуз приема предложението за брак на Херцогът на Евърингам. Херцогът е смятан за улова на сезона, но освен това всички знаят, че той е студен мъж. Роуз има нужда точно от такъв съпруг. Този брак и за двама им е сделка, която следва да има само една облага и за двамата, деца. Роуз не може да си позволи да бъде с някой, който я обича, защото знае, че никога няма да може да отвърне на любовта на съпругът си, тъй като преди 4 години отдава сърцето си на мъж, който вече не е между живите... мъж, който се появява в последният момент, за да спре сватбата й, и който е повече от жив.
Преди 4 години Томас Бересфорт среща Роуз и двамата се влюбват един в друг от пръв поглед. Том трябва да замине, защото е на военна служба, но за да предпази Роуз от вероятността да е бременна, двамата се женят тайно малко преди да отплава. Само седмица след заминаването му обаче, кораба на който пътува потъва в морето и Томас е обявен за мъртъв. Истината обаче е съвсем друга. Том вярва, че роднините му са го предали и се прибира изгарящ от желание за отмъщение. През 4те години изпълнени с болка и изпитания, само мисълта за Роуз го е подържала жив, но сега оказвайкисе пред нея, той не е същият млад и влюбен мъж. Той е психически почти пречупен, с тяло носещо белезите на пленничеството му, и след като семейството му се е отрекло от него, той няма нито дом, нито пари, дори дрехите на гърба му не са негови. Първоначалният му план е да използва наследстовото на Роуз, за да открие и спаси 5мата си приятели, но сега той разбира, че не е готов да се възползва от нея и дори иска да й даде свободата... самоче Роуз няма никакво намерение да се откаже от мъжа, който е оплаквала през полседните 4 години. Вярно е, че и двамата са преоменени и не са същите млади влюбени от преди 4 години, но тя ще вложи всичките си усилия, но няма да позволи да бъдат разделени.
Книжката беше адски сладурска. И двамата ни герои бяха преживели много. Роуз Томас пък
В началото Роуз беше толкова удивена от появата на Томас, че не знаеше как да реагира. Скоро обаче се съвзе, осъзна, че любимият й е пак при нея, и запретна ръкави, за да му докаже, че не може от криворазбрано чувство за дълг да се откаже от тях и от брака му. Въпреки, че всички я съветваха да анулира брака си, дори Том й го предлагаше, тя отказа категорично и реши да му помогне да се справи с миналото. Много ми хареса, колко объркан беше като в небрано лозе, когато Роуз щурмува защитите му, показвайки му, че няма място на което да се скрие от нея. Много ми беше интересно и добавеният леко крими сюжет.
Хареса ми колко различна и интересна беше книгата. Роуз се бореше срещу всичко и всеки, за да бъде с Томас. Той пък бе така наранен, така засрамен от окаяното си положение, че не можеше да понесе да принизява Роуз, но също така нямаше сили да я отблъсне, а тя бе така уверена и така стремглаво преследваше това, което иска, че милият Томас нямаше никакъв шанс.
В тази книга, Херцогът на Евърингам ни бе представен доста студен, безмилостен и незаинтересован от нищо и никой. Когато сватбата му с Роуз беше прекъсната от Томас, той прие всичко без да покаже никакви емоции. Когато Роуз отиде да му се извини, и той й заяви, че е станало добре, тъй като ако е знаел, че не е девствена никога нямало да се ожени за нея, беше доста студен, и груб. Нямам търпение да видя как дивата енергична и доста устата Джорджиана ще му сипе да яде. Сигурна съм, че ще са доста интересна и колоритна двойка. Тяхната книга се очаква в краят на този месец. Тъй като чета книгата в аудио формат, със страхотният дублаж на Alison Larkin, наистина се надявам и последната 4та книга от поредицата да излезе с неин дублаж.
August 10, 2019
Lady Rose Rutherford has never been one keen on setting her sights on winning big in the "dog eat dog" world that is the English aristocracy's marriage market.
But with both her sister, Rose, and her brother, the esteemed Earl of Ashendon, ensconced in wedded and familial bliss.
And her battle axe of an aunt, one Lady Agatha Salter. Resident family matriarch and "grande dame" of the ton, declaring that she is to marry a duke.
Marry a duke she must.
Or so it seems...
But it also seems that fate and a secret marriage of some four years before, are about to foil even Aunt Agatha's best laid plans.
Yes...
You heard right.
Rose was married before, and is in fact still married to...
Wait for it...
Commander Thomas Beresford, late of His Majesty's Royal Navy.
And quite miraculously having survived his ship going down at sea. The loss of all but five crewmen. Years spent as a slave. And the loss of fortune, home, and country. All to claw his way back from the Barbary Coast. Just in time to stop his wife pledging herself to another man.
It appears that our dear Rose just may have "a lot of explaining to do."
After she wakes up from her dead faint in the middle of the church first.
And...
Readers pick their entire faces up off of their respective floors.
Of course.
And this is just the tip of the revelational iceberg that is Marry In Secret.
Author, Anne Gracie, wastes no time when spinning stories capable of compelling audiences to read on from word one until the last page. With Rose's story being no exception.
With both Rose and her Thomas proving again and again that both they and their love are causes worth fighting for.
Whether that fight be with society, Rose's family, or even themselves.
The most profound of those afore mentioned revelations though...
Thomas's time as a slave, and how it changed him as a man born of privilege.
Giving him the heartfelt sincerity with which he now approaches life, people, and Rose.
Add to this the heart-wrenching secret that Rose has carried from their their shared past.
And the emotional impact of this story is phenomenal.
But the hits just keep coming.
This time, in the form of a diabolical plot. By an unseen foe. Bent on destroying Thomas by any means necessary.
Because fate and Rose's long lost husband seem to have other ideas.
And so much more!
OK...
Ready to see if love truly conquers all?
And read what can only be described as a prime example of stellar romantic story craft.
Yes?
Then run...don't bother walking to your e-reader, bookstore, library, or Kindle and get your copy of Marry In Secret today.
You will be so glad you did.
Reviewers Note: though this book may be read as a stand-alone. It is highly suggested that it be read as part of its interrelated series.
I would like to thank Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with the ERC on which my unbiased review was based.
But with both her sister, Rose, and her brother, the esteemed Earl of Ashendon, ensconced in wedded and familial bliss.
And her battle axe of an aunt, one Lady Agatha Salter. Resident family matriarch and "grande dame" of the ton, declaring that she is to marry a duke.
Marry a duke she must.
Or so it seems...
But it also seems that fate and a secret marriage of some four years before, are about to foil even Aunt Agatha's best laid plans.
Yes...
You heard right.
Rose was married before, and is in fact still married to...
Wait for it...
Commander Thomas Beresford, late of His Majesty's Royal Navy.
And quite miraculously having survived his ship going down at sea. The loss of all but five crewmen. Years spent as a slave. And the loss of fortune, home, and country. All to claw his way back from the Barbary Coast. Just in time to stop his wife pledging herself to another man.
It appears that our dear Rose just may have "a lot of explaining to do."
After she wakes up from her dead faint in the middle of the church first.
And...
Readers pick their entire faces up off of their respective floors.
Of course.
And this is just the tip of the revelational iceberg that is Marry In Secret.
Author, Anne Gracie, wastes no time when spinning stories capable of compelling audiences to read on from word one until the last page. With Rose's story being no exception.
With both Rose and her Thomas proving again and again that both they and their love are causes worth fighting for.
Whether that fight be with society, Rose's family, or even themselves.
The most profound of those afore mentioned revelations though...
Thomas's time as a slave, and how it changed him as a man born of privilege.
Giving him the heartfelt sincerity with which he now approaches life, people, and Rose.
Add to this the heart-wrenching secret that Rose has carried from their their shared past.
And the emotional impact of this story is phenomenal.
But the hits just keep coming.
This time, in the form of a diabolical plot. By an unseen foe. Bent on destroying Thomas by any means necessary.
Because fate and Rose's long lost husband seem to have other ideas.
And so much more!
OK...
Ready to see if love truly conquers all?
And read what can only be described as a prime example of stellar romantic story craft.
Yes?
Then run...don't bother walking to your e-reader, bookstore, library, or Kindle and get your copy of Marry In Secret today.
You will be so glad you did.
Reviewers Note: though this book may be read as a stand-alone. It is highly suggested that it be read as part of its interrelated series.
I would like to thank Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with the ERC on which my unbiased review was based.
August 9, 2019
3.25 stars.
Written in Anne Gracie’s signature style, I was expecting this to be an easy and fun read. What I didn’t expect was the interesting and ultimately heart wrenching historical aspect to this story. And what a wrench it was.
I appreciate an H who was celibate for four years and didn’t seem like a rake at all before he married the h. The banter between the ladies and Aunt Aggie was also really fun. I hope she finds happiness in George’s story. And oh am I looking forward to George’s story. I just hope Gracie doesn’t include any mistress information or OW drama. George is hilarious and I hope she doesn’t change too much in her own book.
The one quibble I have is that there are too many sec scenes. One really meaningful one is all I really need. However other readers might enjoy this more because of them.
Written in Anne Gracie’s signature style, I was expecting this to be an easy and fun read. What I didn’t expect was the interesting and ultimately heart wrenching historical aspect to this story. And what a wrench it was.
I appreciate an H who was celibate for four years and didn’t seem like a rake at all before he married the h. The banter between the ladies and Aunt Aggie was also really fun. I hope she finds happiness in George’s story. And oh am I looking forward to George’s story. I just hope Gracie doesn’t include any mistress information or OW drama. George is hilarious and I hope she doesn’t change too much in her own book.
The one quibble I have is that there are too many sec scenes. One really meaningful one is all I really need. However other readers might enjoy this more because of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2022
3.5
Lady Rose Rutherford was ready to marry. She even found the man. No love match for her (she experimented love once and it broke her heart), both agree on a business arrangement, a way for her to get children and him to get an heir. The wedding day arrives and the ceremony is almost done when suddenly a man intervene. He says he's Rose's husband.
When he entered the church, Rose didn't recognized Thomas, the man she secretely married at 16, who went in the NAVY and was declared dead a few years ago. But now it's obvious Rose can't marry the duke. And why would she want to anyway, when the man she loved returned to her? Our heroine never thought she'ld get a second chance at love, but Thomas will have lots of questions to answer before they can get to their second chance romance.
I can't explain what it is exactly that didn't quite work for me in this book because there were plenty of good elements (original plot, a big loving family, interesting secondary characters) and sweet moments (like the touching scene when one of Thomas's brother-in-law offers his help to him and says he's family now so the Rutherford will always have his back). It's true I thought Rose was insensitive at the beginning, wanting details Thomas wasn't ready to share yet and not giving him the time he needed at that time. But I was also dubitative like Rose about the vilain's fate at the end.
Lady Rose Rutherford was ready to marry. She even found the man. No love match for her (she experimented love once and it broke her heart), both agree on a business arrangement, a way for her to get children and him to get an heir. The wedding day arrives and the ceremony is almost done when suddenly a man intervene. He says he's Rose's husband.
When he entered the church, Rose didn't recognized Thomas, the man she secretely married at 16, who went in the NAVY and was declared dead a few years ago. But now it's obvious Rose can't marry the duke. And why would she want to anyway, when the man she loved returned to her? Our heroine never thought she'ld get a second chance at love, but Thomas will have lots of questions to answer before they can get to their second chance romance.
I can't explain what it is exactly that didn't quite work for me in this book because there were plenty of good elements (original plot, a big loving family, interesting secondary characters) and sweet moments (like the touching scene when one of Thomas's brother-in-law offers his help to him and says he's family now so the Rutherford will always have his back). It's true I thought Rose was insensitive at the beginning, wanting details Thomas wasn't ready to share yet and not giving him the time he needed at that time. But I was also dubitative like Rose about the vilain's fate at the end.
September 26, 2019
Anne Gracie's Regency novels are my perfect holiday reading and Marry in Secret (the latest in her Marriage of Convenience series) doesn't disappoint. The plot is really satisfying and I loved the two main characters, Rose and Thomas, who are reunited in the most dramatic way. Anne Gracie is especially good at dialogue and her sense of humour sparkles in all of her Regency novels (The Perfect Rake is delicious!). She's great at secondary characters and especially the older members of the Ton. I giggle my way through the scenes with Aunt Dottie and her "gels". Marry in Secret also has a fascinating historical element which Anne Gracie explains in an intriguing Author's Note. I'd never heard of William Willshire but her use of his story in this novel added an extra pinch of spice to a very entertaining book. I can't wait to read Anne Gracie's next book in the series because it will be George's story and I'm already in love with her grumpy, cold-eyed duke!
May 31, 2022
Meh 🫤 2.5 stars too angst
September 22, 2019
Thank you @berkleyromance for sending me a free copy in exchange for a review.
The Deets: Lady Rose Rutherford was just about to get married and thinks she had made a perfect choice. A marriage of convenience to the Duke of Everinham which would also bring her the freedom she yearns for.
Enters, Thomas Bradford, who crashes and stops the wedding, claiming Rose to be his own wife. They have married in secret years ago but then he disappeared. A shocking admission to everyone around and to Rose herself. She did marry Thomas but that was four years ago, and she had thought him to have already died.
Just my thoughts: I mostly prefer my romance reads to be just romance. I wouldn’t mind reading another genre that has some romance to it though. This was a mix of romance, suspense, and family drama.
It started out fairly well and I was super intrigued. I loved how they both were torn whether the other really wanted them or not. But then it kind of got flat and it was all about family drama, Thomas’s past and his story behind his disappearance.
I didn’t feel the character’s love for each other. It felt like they were more friends than lovers. I wasn’t really interested in the “whodunit” part of the story. All in all, it was a “meh” romance read for me.
All in favour, should I say Aye? I might. For readers who prefer their historical romance reads to be more on the drama and suspense part.
Do you have space on your shelf? I’d say burrow first, make up your own mind about it, then decide to get a copy or not.
The Deets: Lady Rose Rutherford was just about to get married and thinks she had made a perfect choice. A marriage of convenience to the Duke of Everinham which would also bring her the freedom she yearns for.
Enters, Thomas Bradford, who crashes and stops the wedding, claiming Rose to be his own wife. They have married in secret years ago but then he disappeared. A shocking admission to everyone around and to Rose herself. She did marry Thomas but that was four years ago, and she had thought him to have already died.
Just my thoughts: I mostly prefer my romance reads to be just romance. I wouldn’t mind reading another genre that has some romance to it though. This was a mix of romance, suspense, and family drama.
It started out fairly well and I was super intrigued. I loved how they both were torn whether the other really wanted them or not. But then it kind of got flat and it was all about family drama, Thomas’s past and his story behind his disappearance.
I didn’t feel the character’s love for each other. It felt like they were more friends than lovers. I wasn’t really interested in the “whodunit” part of the story. All in all, it was a “meh” romance read for me.
All in favour, should I say Aye? I might. For readers who prefer their historical romance reads to be more on the drama and suspense part.
Do you have space on your shelf? I’d say burrow first, make up your own mind about it, then decide to get a copy or not.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews