What do you think?
Rate this book
Il gioco del sospetto
He remembers luminous grey eyes- and a mysterious gentle touch- Despite being unconscious for most of the night, Lucius has been accused of compromising a lady. She may not be an obvious beauty, dressed as she is in seaman-s garb, but his rescuer is all woman - and now he must marry Miss Harriette Lydyard. The Earl of Venmore is lethally attractive, and Harriette knows she should refuse him. Only with her reputation in tatters she must face the consequences of her actions - by making a pact with this disreputable, dangerous devil of a man!
Svegliarsi in una stanza che non conosce, senza avere idea di come ci sia arrivato e solo la prima di una serie di sorpese che Lucius si trova ad afrontare un mattino, e di certo non è la più disarmente. Un gentiluomo infatti lo accusa di aver compromesso sua sorella ed esige riparazione. La fanciulla in questione, che indossa calzoni e stivali da uomo, non è certo la tipica bellezza femminile, ma la sua chioma lunga e scura e i luminosi occhi grigi sono fuor di dubbio quelli di una donna. Così il misterioso Conte di Venmore accetta di buon grado l'idea di un matrimonio riparatore. Al contrario, Miss Harriette Lydyard ne rimane sorpresa e vorrebbe rifiutare, anche perchè sospetta che il fascinoso sconosciuto nasconda più di un segreto.
Svegliarsi in una stanza che non conosce, senza avere idea di come ci sia arrivato e solo la prima di una serie di sorpese che Lucius si trova ad afrontare un mattino, e di certo non è la più disarmente. Un gentiluomo infatti lo accusa di aver compromesso sua sorella ed esige riparazione. La fanciulla in questione, che indossa calzoni e stivali da uomo, non è certo la tipica bellezza femminile, ma la sua chioma lunga e scura e i luminosi occhi grigi sono fuor di dubbio quelli di una donna. Così il misterioso Conte di Venmore accetta di buon grado l'idea di un matrimonio riparatore. Al contrario, Miss Harriette Lydyard ne rimane sorpresa e vorrebbe rifiutare, anche perchè sospetta che il fascinoso sconosciuto nasconda più di un segreto.
234 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
11 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Anne O'Brien
66 books778 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
My home is in the Welsh Marches, although much of my early life was spent in Yorkshire, most recently in the East Riding.Ann O'Brien The Marches is a remote region of England, surrounded by echoes from the past. Hereford is close with its famous Mappa Mundi and chained library.So is Shrewsbury, and also Ludlow with its splendid castle and its connections with our Plantagenet and Tudor kings. With my husband, I live in an eighteenth century timber framed cottage, which itself must have seen much history over two hundred years.
I have always enjoyed the appeal of History.I taught the subject with enthusiasm but it became my ambition to write historical romances. My first novel, The Runaway Heiress, was published by Mills and Boon in 2004.
This first book was a Regency Romance in the great tradition of Georgette Heyer - who has not admired her skill and delicate touch for the period? I have drawn on my interest in the Stuart century to write about the English Civil War and Restoration England of Charles II. Living in the Marches however I soon discovered the wealth of atmosphere and legend in this isolated part of England from medieval times. It was not long before I was encouraged to create a medieval romance inConquering Knight, Captive Lady.
When not writing, I have a large rambling garden where George and I grow organic vegetables and soft fruit - or perhaps I should admit that he grows them whilst I pick and cook them. We have a wild garden, an orchard, a formal pond and herbaceous flower borders. We share it all with rabbits and pheasants, frogs and goldfinches, hedgehogs and buzzards. It is a beautiful place. When we first settled into our cottage I planted a herb garden on a Tudor pattern with stone pathways and clipped box hedges. From this I developed my interest in herbs and their uses.
Nicholas Culpeper's The Complete Herbal, a fascinating resource to a historical novelist first published in 1649, has become essential bedside reading. As a result the use of herbs in medicine and witchcraft, for both good and ill, has appeared in some of my novels.
For pure relaxation I enjoy yoga as well as singing with a local Choral Society. Watercolour painting allows me to simply sit and appreciate the landscape and the flowers in my garden, when my mind is busy constructing my next plot.
My home is in the Welsh Marches, although much of my early life was spent in Yorkshire, most recently in the East Riding.Ann O'Brien The Marches is a remote region of England, surrounded by echoes from the past. Hereford is close with its famous Mappa Mundi and chained library.So is Shrewsbury, and also Ludlow with its splendid castle and its connections with our Plantagenet and Tudor kings. With my husband, I live in an eighteenth century timber framed cottage, which itself must have seen much history over two hundred years.
I have always enjoyed the appeal of History.I taught the subject with enthusiasm but it became my ambition to write historical romances. My first novel, The Runaway Heiress, was published by Mills and Boon in 2004.
This first book was a Regency Romance in the great tradition of Georgette Heyer - who has not admired her skill and delicate touch for the period? I have drawn on my interest in the Stuart century to write about the English Civil War and Restoration England of Charles II. Living in the Marches however I soon discovered the wealth of atmosphere and legend in this isolated part of England from medieval times. It was not long before I was encouraged to create a medieval romance inConquering Knight, Captive Lady.
When not writing, I have a large rambling garden where George and I grow organic vegetables and soft fruit - or perhaps I should admit that he grows them whilst I pick and cook them. We have a wild garden, an orchard, a formal pond and herbaceous flower borders. We share it all with rabbits and pheasants, frogs and goldfinches, hedgehogs and buzzards. It is a beautiful place. When we first settled into our cottage I planted a herb garden on a Tudor pattern with stone pathways and clipped box hedges. From this I developed my interest in herbs and their uses.
Nicholas Culpeper's The Complete Herbal, a fascinating resource to a historical novelist first published in 1649, has become essential bedside reading. As a result the use of herbs in medicine and witchcraft, for both good and ill, has appeared in some of my novels.
For pure relaxation I enjoy yoga as well as singing with a local Choral Society. Watercolour painting allows me to simply sit and appreciate the landscape and the flowers in my garden, when my mind is busy constructing my next plot.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 15, 2024
Summary (as far as I read): Girl spends hours and hours on a ship with men dressed in mens clothes. This apparently does not 'compromise' her or lower her in the eyes of the people of the era to the status of 'slut' or cause gossip. Same girl spends a few nights tending a wounded, unconscious man and that apparently compromises her -was there anything left to compromise by the standards of the times?- and they have to marry. HA. HA. HA.
She: dressed in mens clothes, the captain of a ship, a smuggler, a 23 yold never has been kissed (even thought she works as a sailor with a bunch of men... riiiight), minor nobility.
He: An Earl. Unconscious from an accident.
She tends to him, her brother yells 'Comprised! Marry her" and the Earl... proposes. To a female smuggler who wears mens clothes who he hasn't consciously spoken to. Who for all he knows has banged enough sailors to create a football team. But hey! Nobles of that time were pretty open minded on such matters :P
Now the author says thats cause he needs her cutter... but PAYING her to use her cutter would make sense. I dont MARRY a man cause I need to take an Uber and hes a driver.
I stopped reading after that.
She: dressed in mens clothes, the captain of a ship, a smuggler, a 23 yold never has been kissed (even thought she works as a sailor with a bunch of men... riiiight), minor nobility.
He: An Earl. Unconscious from an accident.
She tends to him, her brother yells 'Comprised! Marry her" and the Earl... proposes. To a female smuggler who wears mens clothes who he hasn't consciously spoken to. Who for all he knows has banged enough sailors to create a football team. But hey! Nobles of that time were pretty open minded on such matters :P
Now the author says thats cause he needs her cutter... but PAYING her to use her cutter would make sense. I dont MARRY a man cause I need to take an Uber and hes a driver.
I stopped reading after that.
March 8, 2025
I liked the aspect of the main female character who enjoys being out on the high seas and her freedom. It is a refreshing concept for the normal lady who is sheltered in the house with her education and lessons. The book is very easy to read for beginners.
However, the romance in the story felt forced from the rescue to the end of the book. It was hard to understand the reasoning of compromise when the main character spent the majority of her time with her male cousin and her male crew on the high seas as a lady of some form of wealth. Yet, she was forced into a marriage she secretly wanted when she was "caught" with the unconscious man she was nursing to health.
A bit more research in this era would have made the plot in these terms more understandable. The environmental setting was also a bit difficult to follow at times especially near the end.
In summary, I believe this would be an excellent book for a beginner starting out the genre of historical romance as the book was easy to read and has a slightly different female character personality than normal.
3 🌶️spice level [Open door romance]
However, the romance in the story felt forced from the rescue to the end of the book. It was hard to understand the reasoning of compromise when the main character spent the majority of her time with her male cousin and her male crew on the high seas as a lady of some form of wealth. Yet, she was forced into a marriage she secretly wanted when she was "caught" with the unconscious man she was nursing to health.
A bit more research in this era would have made the plot in these terms more understandable. The environmental setting was also a bit difficult to follow at times especially near the end.
In summary, I believe this would be an excellent book for a beginner starting out the genre of historical romance as the book was easy to read and has a slightly different female character personality than normal.
3 🌶️spice level [Open door romance]
May 12, 2016
I read this book at least twice before, why do I keep refinding it? I think it says something about the descriptions and blurbs that I can't keep the book straight.
It has all the emotions and morals of now-ish, plopped into regency England. The hero is emotionally present and connected, well developed character, etc.
the heroine is improbable. Her past does not equate to her present.
It has all the emotions and morals of now-ish, plopped into regency England. The hero is emotionally present and connected, well developed character, etc.
the heroine is improbable. Her past does not equate to her present.
January 21, 2019
Some things that irk in the pacing and structure but generally good.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews