The Marquis and I (The Worthingtons) by Ella Quinn  
For the Worthington household, trouble is forever on the horizon. For Lady Charlotte, it started with an innocent act that spirals into a dangerous situation. When her hero turns out to be the town cad, the rumors start flying and her hopes of a good match start dying. For Con, a favor for a friend turns his world upside down. Now the roguish Marquis finds himself saddled with a bride he never wanted, but can't seem to live without. With a mystery waiting to be solved and a heart needing to be won, Constantine will risk everything for a love he won't live without. Ella Quinn draws readers in with her quickwitted characters and her intricately woven stories. The Marquis and I is a seductive adventure of love, lust and danger. Intriguing yet simple. ( )

This romance didn’t stand out. Pretty middle of the road, I never felt a special connection to our leads and their relationship. While an enjoyable read at the time, this one is going to be just as easily forgettable. There are attempts for originality and uniqueness that I have to hand to the author. However, at the end of the day, this romance still falls a bit flat and is easily moved on from to another.

The author strives for uniqueness by using a secondary human trafficking plot thread. Not something I’ve seen done in romantic fiction before, I liked how the author tried to give the subject matter the gravitas it deserves. It adds a certain weight to the story that I don’t think it would have had otherwise. It adds to Charlotte’s character in her determination to bring justice to the lives of the female and child victims of the ring.

Our two leads were at least enjoyable. I liked Charlotte’s strength of character and will, as mentioned above. She doesn’t let things bowl her over; she takes the initiative and acts of her own accord. I also enjoyed Constantine. He shows recognizable character growth throughout the story, both in his maturity level and his views of society and women within it.

Yet, together, I just don’t see them working. At least for this reader, there wasn’t any chemistry. I felt like their scenes together were just blah. The personalities should work together; they’ve both got strong ones, but they seem to gel well. Yet, whenever they were having romantic moments together, I just found myself getting bored. So sad to say, the element that should be strongest in a historical romance is the weakest this time round.

So the reason I give this a three is because it falls flat in the most important area for a historical romance, in my opinion, the relationship. I enjoyed the characters separately and the author’s attempts at making her novel stand out from the Regency crowd. However, Charlotte and Constantine just don’t gel well for me. So solid three stars from this gal. It might resonate better with another so keep that in mind when contemplating this work.

Note: Book received for free from publisher via GoodReads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The Confused Hero!

Enjoyable, comic romantic farce opening with a wary Marquis rescuing a kidnapped damsel. Although the damsel is not so much distressed as angry and the Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth, keeps wondering what gods he'd offended to be in the wrong place at the right time. That is until he discovered that he rather liked Lady Charlotte Carpenter, and furthermore maybe marrying her might not be such a bad idea if only Charlotte would see the light. Unfortunately, the rescue attempt has unforeseen consequences and Con and Charlotte are discovered by a notorious ton gossip in somewhat compromising circumstances, forcing Con to do the 'honorable' thing. Charlotte however needs to be convinced.
Charlotte has been kidnapped by the procurer and brothel owner, the dastardly, cold 'Miss Betsy' whom Worthington previously had put out of business. Betsy's running a profitable side business abducting young women and children and selling them to the highest bidder for nefarious purposes. Charlotte's kidnapping is a vengeance move but something darker lies behind it.
Delving into the actions surrounding the madcap Worthington family is a joy. Unexpected and full of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed Con's interaction with children of the household. The bold young servant Jemmy, who keeps appearing in the rescue attempts, is a treasure. I so adore his feistiness and general dare devil actions.
Quinn's light touch with Con's unlooked at acceptance of women of the demi monde underscores the darker note on historical circumstances around Regency times Kids Kensand abducted young women is quite revealing. Human trafficking has been with us for a very long time.

A NetGalley ARC ( )

I received a copy of this book to read from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. The Marquis and I is book 4 in Ella Quinn’s Worthington Series. I would recommend reading the entire series as the events in this book are tied to things that happened in the earlier books plus they are all very enjoyable. This story opens with Lady Charlotte Carpenter kidnaped by nefarious characters. Constantine the Marquis of Kenilworth is conscripted into riding to her rescue and unfortunately they get lost on the return journey and are seen by notorious gossips and so in order to save Charlotte’s reputation an engagement is in order. Constantine had no intention of even looking for a wife and Charlotte was definitely not looking for a husband who has a mistress so together they must find their way forward and learn to love each other. Luckily chemistry is on their side as well as lots of children, dogs, a kitten, more kidnaping and a very satisfactory HEA. Publishing Date February 27, 2018 #TheMarquisAndI #NetGalley ( )