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The Man of My Dreams #1
Secrets of Midnight
If Lord Donovan Trent had his way, he would spend his days carelessly wooing the women of London society. Instead, he finds himself banished to the English countryside of Cornwall, forced by the decrees of his father's will to run his family's tin mines and find a country bride. The very last thing the handsome lord needs is a local lass sticking her nose into his affairs, but that seems to be exactly what the parson's daughter Corisande Easton had in mind.
“It’s been five months since my last four-heart rating, but this book was worth waiting for. Miriam Minger’s Secrets of Midnight wins with a finely woven story . . . a marvelous tapestry of plots.” – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Miriam Minger is a master storyteller who illustrates the full gamut of emotions felt by her characters. Emotions so strong that you are pulled into the pages and into their lives.” – Inside Romance
"With Miriam Minger, you're assured of a good read!" - Heartland Critiques
Enjoy all five books in Miriam Minger’s bestselling The Man of My Dreams
“It’s been five months since my last four-heart rating, but this book was worth waiting for. Miriam Minger’s Secrets of Midnight wins with a finely woven story . . . a marvelous tapestry of plots.” – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Miriam Minger is a master storyteller who illustrates the full gamut of emotions felt by her characters. Emotions so strong that you are pulled into the pages and into their lives.” – Inside Romance
"With Miriam Minger, you're assured of a good read!" - Heartland Critiques
Enjoy all five books in Miriam Minger’s bestselling The Man of My Dreams
360 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1995
1752 people are currently reading
2014 people want to read
About the author
Miriam Minger
66 books229 followersMiriam Minger is the bestselling author of sweet to sensual historical romances that sweep you from Viking times to Regency England to the American West. Miriam is also the author of contemporary romance, romantic suspense, inspirational romance, and children's books. She is the winner of several Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards--including Best Medieval Historical Romance of the Year for The Pagan's Prize--and a two-time RITA Award Finalist for The Brigand Bride and Captive Rose.
Miriam Minger says: It's been a wonderful experience to have all my novels published as eBooks, but the greatest thrill for me as a writer is when readers take the time to let me know they enjoyed my stories...
"I have read hundreds if not thousands of books in my lifetime and not once have I ever been moved to comment on one until now. This is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. I laughed. I cried. I remained at the edge of my seat devouring every single word you wove with this incredible story. I just wanted to let you know how deeply this story moved me and to thank you for creating it."
Wow. This one left me speechless, and thankful. I had done my job, which is to make you feel like you've dropped feet first into a world that captures your imagination and emotions so vividly you might be living and breathing the story. And that's one of the purest joys of reading, isn't it? I know it is for me, and it is my hope to continue to write books that make you live and breathe the adventure, laugh and cry, and that touch your heart.
I'd love for you to visit my website where you can sign up for my newsletter and read more about my books: www.miriamminger.com.
Miriam Minger says: It's been a wonderful experience to have all my novels published as eBooks, but the greatest thrill for me as a writer is when readers take the time to let me know they enjoyed my stories...
"I have read hundreds if not thousands of books in my lifetime and not once have I ever been moved to comment on one until now. This is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. I laughed. I cried. I remained at the edge of my seat devouring every single word you wove with this incredible story. I just wanted to let you know how deeply this story moved me and to thank you for creating it."
Wow. This one left me speechless, and thankful. I had done my job, which is to make you feel like you've dropped feet first into a world that captures your imagination and emotions so vividly you might be living and breathing the story. And that's one of the purest joys of reading, isn't it? I know it is for me, and it is my hope to continue to write books that make you live and breathe the adventure, laugh and cry, and that touch your heart.
I'd love for you to visit my website where you can sign up for my newsletter and read more about my books: www.miriamminger.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
September 14, 2017
Corisande is a parson's daughter. Lord Donovan Trent is the second son of a duke. When Donovan is forced by his father's will to marry, he tricks Corisande into a marriage in name only. Corisande believes she is saving the tinners at the mine. Donovan needs the inheritance in order to search for his missing two-year-old daughter. An unknown villain threatens Corisande's sisters and father. It will take both Donovan and Corisande to save her sisters, but will they be in time?
There were times when Corisande's fear and distrust were too much to bear. Each time she pushed Donovan away, I cringed. She pushed the relationship to the brink. The plot has twist and turns to keep the reader turning the pages. This novel was so good that I'm looking forward to book two.
There were times when Corisande's fear and distrust were too much to bear. Each time she pushed Donovan away, I cringed. She pushed the relationship to the brink. The plot has twist and turns to keep the reader turning the pages. This novel was so good that I'm looking forward to book two.
May 20, 2011
This story wore me out. the couple was always fighting. ALWAYS!.
December 1, 2012
I agree with another reviewer on here named "Donna". The book is well written and the characters are well developed, but in this book the continual arguing was distracting, and took away from the romance. I did not feel connected to the Heroine, but the Hero, Donovan, was very likable.
October 16, 2022
Quite well-written and humorous with vividly portrayed characters. The heroine's stubbornness and infuriating tendency to jump to conclusion just got to me after a while. The hero was very patient with just the right amount of firmness and alpha quality to ‘tame’ her shrew-like behaviour.
July 26, 2016
Donovan Trent has to marry to gain his inheritance. He encounters Corisande at his new home in Cornwall and decides to marry her in order to comply with this late father's will.
I will be honest...I really don't like the mouthy, nasty, mealy mouthed Corisande and Donovan is a wuss to put up with it and stay around. I stuck with it until 2/3 of the way through because I thought I could see where the author was going - a journey of learning to trust and respect another person, to put aside one's fears in order to achieve a richer life. But it really didn't happen and she continued her bizarre verbal assaults until near the end. I just cannot believe that anyone could or would fall in love with someone who was so spiteful and insulting.....
Too much for me, I'm afraid.
I will be honest...I really don't like the mouthy, nasty, mealy mouthed Corisande and Donovan is a wuss to put up with it and stay around. I stuck with it until 2/3 of the way through because I thought I could see where the author was going - a journey of learning to trust and respect another person, to put aside one's fears in order to achieve a richer life. But it really didn't happen and she continued her bizarre verbal assaults until near the end. I just cannot believe that anyone could or would fall in love with someone who was so spiteful and insulting.....
Too much for me, I'm afraid.
December 2, 2014
This book gave me an ear ache. I felt like the heroine was shouting at me throughout the book, I just wanted her to shut up.
But take heart, this author has other books that is a little more peaceful, and worth reading.
But take heart, this author has other books that is a little more peaceful, and worth reading.
September 5, 2017
One termagant combined with one sarcastic ex-soldier forced into a marriage of convenience in Cornwall. Mix in some free trading, smuggled jewels and shadowy assailants and what a novel we have here.
Corisande Easton and her gal pal Lindsey Somerset have no intention of marrying the expected man. These girls want love, adventure and loyalty. Corisande also wants a man who will support her missions and she has many. She's a virtual paragon in the village in spite of her strident manners.
I was laughing uproariously at her antics. She gave no quarter and spoke her mind regardless. Men quaked at her approach. I loved her.
Enter Lord Donovan Trent, the son and brother of dukes. The last thing Donovan wants is to take a wife, but needs must. We are taken on this wild ride of a marriage filled with distrust and suspicion that inexplicably grows into the deepest of love.
I'm eagerly moving on to the next tale in this series by a new-to-me author. I can't wait!
Corisande Easton and her gal pal Lindsey Somerset have no intention of marrying the expected man. These girls want love, adventure and loyalty. Corisande also wants a man who will support her missions and she has many. She's a virtual paragon in the village in spite of her strident manners.
I was laughing uproariously at her antics. She gave no quarter and spoke her mind regardless. Men quaked at her approach. I loved her.
Enter Lord Donovan Trent, the son and brother of dukes. The last thing Donovan wants is to take a wife, but needs must. We are taken on this wild ride of a marriage filled with distrust and suspicion that inexplicably grows into the deepest of love.
I'm eagerly moving on to the next tale in this series by a new-to-me author. I can't wait!
November 3, 2011
I enjoy Miriam Minger's writing. Her books are well written and the characters are usually well developed. In this book I got tired of the arguing and fighting between Corisande and Donovan. The story line was interesting and kept you reading but the arguing got distracting and took away from the developing romance.
If Lord Donovan Trent had his way, he would spend his days carelessly wooing the women of London society. Instead, he found himself banished to the English countryside of Cornwall, forced by the decrees of his father's will to run his family's tin mines and find a country bride. The last thing the handsome lord needed was a local lass sticking her nose into his affairs, but that seemed to be exactly what Corisande Easton had in mind.
Corie had spent her whole life struggling to help those less fortunate than herself. When she heard that Lord Donovan had arrived in Cornwall, she seized the opportunity to confront him about his family’s mistreatment of the overworked tinners. Donovan and Corie soon found their tempers flaring while fighting to deny their fiery passions until a secret business arrangement forced them into each other's arms.
If Lord Donovan Trent had his way, he would spend his days carelessly wooing the women of London society. Instead, he found himself banished to the English countryside of Cornwall, forced by the decrees of his father's will to run his family's tin mines and find a country bride. The last thing the handsome lord needed was a local lass sticking her nose into his affairs, but that seemed to be exactly what Corisande Easton had in mind.
Corie had spent her whole life struggling to help those less fortunate than herself. When she heard that Lord Donovan had arrived in Cornwall, she seized the opportunity to confront him about his family’s mistreatment of the overworked tinners. Donovan and Corie soon found their tempers flaring while fighting to deny their fiery passions until a secret business arrangement forced them into each other's arms.
January 19, 2015
The heroine is just horrible. A termagant. A shrew. She is wretched. The hero is great but geez! All that apologizing to a woman who is clearly crazy. Lame lame lame
August 22, 2016
DNF Chapter 5
This is a well written book, there is no doubt about it. But it is not my cup of tea.
Chapter 1 is devoted to two girls gossiping and fantasizing about their future husband. For the life of me, I do not find that interesting. Thinking Chapter 2 will be better. The book is well written enough for me to hope.
Chapter 2 is about two grumpy guys who frowned, scowled and gritted their teeth about inheriting the family fortune, however in order to inherit the estate, land, house and servants, the hero needs a wife. And my attention started to wonder.
I started to skip and skim through Chapter 3 to Chapter 5. I was trying to connect with the two main characters, but eventually called it quits when I was annoyed by them instead of feeling any affection toward them.
This is a well written book, there is no doubt about it. But it is not my cup of tea.
Chapter 1 is devoted to two girls gossiping and fantasizing about their future husband. For the life of me, I do not find that interesting. Thinking Chapter 2 will be better. The book is well written enough for me to hope.
Chapter 2 is about two grumpy guys who frowned, scowled and gritted their teeth about inheriting the family fortune, however in order to inherit the estate, land, house and servants, the hero needs a wife. And my attention started to wonder.
I started to skip and skim through Chapter 3 to Chapter 5. I was trying to connect with the two main characters, but eventually called it quits when I was annoyed by them instead of feeling any affection toward them.
February 5, 2016
Not the author's best work. I admit writing historical romance is hard work, recreating the period, the language, etc.
But some aspects of a romance are timeless - the initial attraction, the growth of the relationship, the physical / emotional intimacies, yearning , angst need to come out well. It doesn't come out that well here.
The girl for one, being a parson's daughter is too rude and distrusting. She may have a heart of gold and be the local robin hood, but she always treats the hero with condescension.
The hero is an ok chap. Not smitten at first, just intrigued by the girl. But cares for her, protects her and eventually forces a physical relationship that she seems to be resisting for no reason.
Nothing memorable in the tale, but not a boring read either. 3 stars.
But some aspects of a romance are timeless - the initial attraction, the growth of the relationship, the physical / emotional intimacies, yearning , angst need to come out well. It doesn't come out that well here.
The girl for one, being a parson's daughter is too rude and distrusting. She may have a heart of gold and be the local robin hood, but she always treats the hero with condescension.
The hero is an ok chap. Not smitten at first, just intrigued by the girl. But cares for her, protects her and eventually forces a physical relationship that she seems to be resisting for no reason.
Nothing memorable in the tale, but not a boring read either. 3 stars.
August 18, 2016
corie comes across as so unlikeable. the author builds her up to have this heroine complex, saving everyone all the time (essentially running the Parish, raising her sisters, caring for her eccentric dad, protesting over mining conditions, midwifing, smuggling in her spare time...seriously, what doesn't she do? it's too much), but her constant berating of Donovan got old fast. pride and prejudice is one of my favorite novels, and I like the dislike turned to love storyline, but this was over the top. ok, corie was hot, but otherwise I couldn't figure out why Donovan kept trying with her. also, there was little to no romance until about 75% through the book. it just took too long to move them toward a happy ending.
April 30, 2014
I love historical romances that start with a business arrangement for marriage that ends up being more. Corie is a spitfire woman with a terrible temper, but she is not match for Lord Donovan. Donovan doesn't want a bride, but he needs his inheritance and won't get it unless he weds. When he coerced Corie to marry him within minutes of meeting her, there is little hope of the relationship starting off peacefully. Add in smugglers, death threats, and both of them fighting their attraction for each other, and you have the makings of a wonderful romance. I would read more from this author.
March 21, 2016
By coincidence, I started reading this shortly after finishing all of the Poldark books by Winston Graham - this book seems to be a rip-off of that epic story (set in Cornwall against the backdrop of tin mines and smuggling), but I wonder if the author really read those books, since she might have done a better job imitating them if she had. Save yourself some time and pick up the first book in the series, Ross Poldark, instead.
August 26, 2016
This historical romance was nothing special. Donovan, is a very likeable and believable character. Corisande on the other hand, grrr, she really annoyed me. The unprovoked rage was just over the top and many a times I just wanted to reach out and whack her one. Also, I read this story on my kindle and came across numerous spelling errors.
April 12, 2016
I enjoyed my first historical romance by Miriam Minger very much. The writings and the well-arranged romantic twists and thrilling turns held my interest throughout the book. Considering the backgrounds of the hero and heroine, the hot banters seems appropriate, and it helps (in many ways) building up the climax of the story. I look forward to more of Miss Minger's works.
August 16, 2019
I tried, I really tried, but I just couldn't do it.
Cori made my head hurt. For a parson's daughter she was a loud-mouthed shrew.
Donovan I liked. I would have like him more if he's choked Cori and thrown her down a mine shaft.
The story dragged and after one more rant from Cori I pressed the little cross at the top left of my screen and heaved a great sigh of relief.
Cori made my head hurt. For a parson's daughter she was a loud-mouthed shrew.
Donovan I liked. I would have like him more if he's choked Cori and thrown her down a mine shaft.
The story dragged and after one more rant from Cori I pressed the little cross at the top left of my screen and heaved a great sigh of relief.
July 16, 2022
The main male character should’ve told the main female character to calm down just to annoy her. I gave him a standing ovation when he called her a shrew. But honestly, the main male character was kind of (in the words of my middle school art teacher) a “pansy wansy wimp”. A nag and a wimp don’t make for a good romance.
July 24, 2016
Contrary people agree to sham marriage, which ends up exactly as you'd expect.
I think after Poldark, I may just have higher expectations for Cornwall. This was a bit familiar but not much new ground covered.
I think after Poldark, I may just have higher expectations for Cornwall. This was a bit familiar but not much new ground covered.
March 17, 2016
Great sexy read, can't wait to start Leslie's book
January 13, 2019
What's a Lord to do when he is forced to the country by his father to manage the family's tin mines? Add to that he must find a bride there in order to obtain his inheritance. Donovan only wanted to stay in London, but he needed those funds. Yes, he had a good reason. But he finds more than he thought when he gets there, in the form of one strong willed woman, Corie Easton, one of three daughters of the vicar. Wow, she was almost a crusader, giving him an earful on the conditions for the miners, demanding a fair wage.
Then the adventure begins! Donovan offers her a deal to marry him for a short period of time and he will take care of the miners! How could she resist? Well a lot is going on in the background that becomes evident as you continue into the story. Intrigue, suspense and of course a budding romance.
I really enjoyed this tale that had well written characters and a great storyline. I would recommend and cannot wait to read more from this author and in this series!
Then the adventure begins! Donovan offers her a deal to marry him for a short period of time and he will take care of the miners! How could she resist? Well a lot is going on in the background that becomes evident as you continue into the story. Intrigue, suspense and of course a budding romance.
I really enjoyed this tale that had well written characters and a great storyline. I would recommend and cannot wait to read more from this author and in this series!
May 10, 2018
Corie and Donovan, what a match! Neither expects to find love when he, within minutes of meeting, purposes a marriage of convenience. A fun and interesting story filled with romance, mystery, danger, and family.
September 14, 2017
New author to me. Enjoyed this book very much, and will definitely read more of her work.
September 20, 2018
Wonderfully written, slow burn romance. She’s a beautiful shrew—goes off half-cocked yelling at and insulting Donovan with no facts at all but loving and self-sacrificing to everyone else. He’s a patient, handsome, patient, compassionate, patient, sensible, did I say patient? Lord who just wants to find Paloma. Fully realized characters and great plot.
September 13, 2019
Pleasantly surprised 😊
November 17, 2019
I like a more simple romance when I pick up this kind of book, and the stubbornness of both of the characters was fairly grating. There is a subplot at the end that I found entirely unnecessary and quite frustrating.
August 3, 2021
Good story 😉 (First time I read a book by Miriam Minger.)
January 17, 2019
It’s a risky thing to make one of your main characters unlikeable.
The heroine, Corisande is the eldest daughter of the local parson. Think Poldark, Cornwall, smuggling and tin mining and you’ve got it.
Honestly, I dislike the heroine intensely. And it’s not that she’s written as a shrew. She just randomly does stuff and readers don’t know why. And instead of being intriguing it’s frustrating.
Why is she like this? There’s no reason for it.
Whole chunks of the book are clearly missing in my edition. They refer to things that are no longer in it. Some bet with her friend Lyndsay. Donovan mentions a daughter in Spain but there’s no other information or backstory for this either.
And we have her pov, so we should know that she’s wondering how she can marry the local Lord and still help the smugglers. Hide that from him, not from readers.
She’s so baffling and irrational she’s giving me whiplash. She berates him for looking at her in her wedding gown. She accuses him of trying to murder her. [For what actual reason would he do that?]
They agreed to marry after meeting for literally five minutes. That’s too quick to make any sense. At least give them a day or so before they agree to this scheme.
She also lies and this is her logic: she tells him she’s twenty, underage to marry without her father’s permission, and then she rationalises that she can annul the marriage on that basis later. Just one giant sized flaw with this - her father DOES the wedding ceremony. Any reasonable court would just laugh at her. Let’s not even get into if it’s consummated or not.
And she allegedly did this for the miner salaries - but then she accuses him of ‘tricking’ her into it. He’s handsome, well presented, and he’s the second son of a Duke. She should have her feet up congratulating herself on her good fortune. She’s the one who has been lying the most so far.
She screams at him like a child having a tantrum if he is in their bedroom. Honey, there’s no law against rape in marriage at this time.
And it’s worse because he seems like a genuinely good guy. He cuts his arm to ‘blood’ the marriage bed. He riles up the local lady when she ignores Corie at dinner. And he rescues her when she’s attacked on the moors. She finds out that he has collected money from his father for years to cover his ‘gambling debts’ and then given it all away to charities, and even THIS doesn’t make her behave any better towards him.
But I cannot see why he’s fallen in love with her.
The characters do inexplicable things. She’s halfway through telling him what happened to her on the beach and he says ‘nope stop. Don’t tell me any more.’ What??? And by the way
At 75% they have sex. Both enjoy it and he is particularly careful with her. He even tells her he loves her. She seems weirdly naive about it all given one of the ‘good things’ she does is assist at births.
Next morning, she’s back screaming at him. And even he’s had it by now.
Yeah mate, I’m with you.
I give up. Technically it’s dnf at 78% but I don’t think it’s going to get better.
I’m going to guess that her shipwrecked French mother buried her jewels in the garden and Corie is really a French aristocrat. But at this point, I don’t care enough to keep reading and find out. Funny if it’s true because she said her mother was sixteen or so - definitely under age - which as she has already noted means the marriage was illegal under English law, she and all her sisters would have no claim. Lmao.
Donovan can do better.
1 star
The heroine, Corisande is the eldest daughter of the local parson. Think Poldark, Cornwall, smuggling and tin mining and you’ve got it.
Honestly, I dislike the heroine intensely. And it’s not that she’s written as a shrew. She just randomly does stuff and readers don’t know why. And instead of being intriguing it’s frustrating.
Why is she like this? There’s no reason for it.
Whole chunks of the book are clearly missing in my edition. They refer to things that are no longer in it. Some bet with her friend Lyndsay. Donovan mentions a daughter in Spain but there’s no other information or backstory for this either.
And we have her pov, so we should know that she’s wondering how she can marry the local Lord and still help the smugglers. Hide that from him, not from readers.
She’s so baffling and irrational she’s giving me whiplash. She berates him for looking at her in her wedding gown. She accuses him of trying to murder her. [For what actual reason would he do that?]
They agreed to marry after meeting for literally five minutes. That’s too quick to make any sense. At least give them a day or so before they agree to this scheme.
She also lies and this is her logic: she tells him she’s twenty, underage to marry without her father’s permission, and then she rationalises that she can annul the marriage on that basis later. Just one giant sized flaw with this - her father DOES the wedding ceremony. Any reasonable court would just laugh at her. Let’s not even get into if it’s consummated or not.
And she allegedly did this for the miner salaries - but then she accuses him of ‘tricking’ her into it. He’s handsome, well presented, and he’s the second son of a Duke. She should have her feet up congratulating herself on her good fortune. She’s the one who has been lying the most so far.
She screams at him like a child having a tantrum if he is in their bedroom. Honey, there’s no law against rape in marriage at this time.
And it’s worse because he seems like a genuinely good guy. He cuts his arm to ‘blood’ the marriage bed. He riles up the local lady when she ignores Corie at dinner. And he rescues her when she’s attacked on the moors. She finds out that he has collected money from his father for years to cover his ‘gambling debts’ and then given it all away to charities, and even THIS doesn’t make her behave any better towards him.
But I cannot see why he’s fallen in love with her.
The characters do inexplicable things. She’s halfway through telling him what happened to her on the beach and he says ‘nope stop. Don’t tell me any more.’ What??? And by the way
At 75% they have sex. Both enjoy it and he is particularly careful with her. He even tells her he loves her. She seems weirdly naive about it all given one of the ‘good things’ she does is assist at births.
Next morning, she’s back screaming at him. And even he’s had it by now.
”Good God, are we back to this nonsense again? Of course I didn’t seduce you!”
Yeah mate, I’m with you.
I give up. Technically it’s dnf at 78% but I don’t think it’s going to get better.
I’m going to guess that her shipwrecked French mother buried her jewels in the garden and Corie is really a French aristocrat. But at this point, I don’t care enough to keep reading and find out. Funny if it’s true because she said her mother was sixteen or so - definitely under age - which as she has already noted means the marriage was illegal under English law, she and all her sisters would have no claim. Lmao.
Donovan can do better.
1 star
April 13, 2018
This book started off great and then got bogged down a third of the way into the book with all the bickering between the two main characters in this marriage of convenience/marriage to gain inheritance trope. The heroine, Corisande Easton, is a parson’s daughter and a shrew with a short temper. Lord Donovan Trent, is the second son of the deceased Duke of Arundale who is forced by a stipulation in his late father’s will to marry a country girl in order to gain his inheritance. There is a very fine balance an author needs to strike when having the hero and heroine arguing and bickering with each other. A little bit goes a long way and at some point, it gets boring.
Some issues I had with passages in this book:
The author states that Lindsay (who is the daughter local baronet) has a stepmother who dislikes Corisande and considers the heroine’s zealous determination to help the poor and needy of the parish hardly a pastime suitable for Corisande’s friend Lindsay. I believe this is wrong. It was the duty of the ladies in the house of the local gentry to see to the needs of the disadvantaged in their area.
In the first part of the story, we learn that Donovan has just returned home from the war in Spain against Napoleon. His brother Nigel (current Duke of Arundale) is enforcing the clause in their father’s will that Donovan go to Cornwall. When Donovan goes to Cornwall, he finds the butler his brother hired is laying out finely tailored clothes that Nigel had ordered made for him weeks before Donovan had returned to England. If Donovan has been out of the country for several years, how on earth would his brother know what size to order? War is full of depravation and Donovan could have lost a lot of weight so it doesn’t make any sense … other than easy way for the author to provide the hero with appropriate clothes.
Another occurrence that I thought odd was during the wedding ceremony. When Donovan goes to kiss his bride, Corisande throws her arms around his neck and gives him a big kiss. That is so inappropriate and just wouldn’t happen in that day and age!
The heroine had a little of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality. In one instance, she’s yelling at Donovan that she can’t love him or give him what he wants. When he lets go of her and walks out the door, she gets all upset and feels wretched and utterly alone. Make up your mind!
I finished this book but it was definitely a struggle to keep reading. There was just too much bickering and arguing to make the reader believe there was any chemistry between them. In the end, I just wasn’t feeling it. Two stars for being okay, but nothing I would ever read again.
Some issues I had with passages in this book:
The author states that Lindsay (who is the daughter local baronet) has a stepmother who dislikes Corisande and considers the heroine’s zealous determination to help the poor and needy of the parish hardly a pastime suitable for Corisande’s friend Lindsay. I believe this is wrong. It was the duty of the ladies in the house of the local gentry to see to the needs of the disadvantaged in their area.
In the first part of the story, we learn that Donovan has just returned home from the war in Spain against Napoleon. His brother Nigel (current Duke of Arundale) is enforcing the clause in their father’s will that Donovan go to Cornwall. When Donovan goes to Cornwall, he finds the butler his brother hired is laying out finely tailored clothes that Nigel had ordered made for him weeks before Donovan had returned to England. If Donovan has been out of the country for several years, how on earth would his brother know what size to order? War is full of depravation and Donovan could have lost a lot of weight so it doesn’t make any sense … other than easy way for the author to provide the hero with appropriate clothes.
Another occurrence that I thought odd was during the wedding ceremony. When Donovan goes to kiss his bride, Corisande throws her arms around his neck and gives him a big kiss. That is so inappropriate and just wouldn’t happen in that day and age!
The heroine had a little of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality. In one instance, she’s yelling at Donovan that she can’t love him or give him what he wants. When he lets go of her and walks out the door, she gets all upset and feels wretched and utterly alone. Make up your mind!
I finished this book but it was definitely a struggle to keep reading. There was just too much bickering and arguing to make the reader believe there was any chemistry between them. In the end, I just wasn’t feeling it. Two stars for being okay, but nothing I would ever read again.
July 24, 2018
Typically I'm annoyed in Regency Romances when the man is rude and angry all of the time. It's pretty common for the man to be a beast and then suddenly all is forgiven because "love" and hotness. This book is a reversal of that. Could the heroine be any more of a B%@$ ? I'm thinking no. The author tries so hard to show us that Corie is a good person by talking about how much she cares about the poor and her family and all of that, but she's the most judgmental monster of a shrew possible, charitable works aside. Does she become better after she finds out the man she's been treating like garbage is actually a good person? Nope, she still accuses him of terrible things and is a spoiled brat unless they're kissing. If it takes 80% of the book before the heroine does anything likable, then there is a problem.
The writing and plot are good. It's unfortunate that the main character is so incredibly hate-able.
The writing and plot are good. It's unfortunate that the main character is so incredibly hate-able.
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