Como único heredero del conde de Daventry, Alexander Randall conoce cuál es su deber: encontrar una esposa y engendrar un heredero. La novia perfecta para un hombre de su posición sería una joven dócil de buena cuna, pero la mujer que atormenta su imaginación es Julia Bancroft, una comadrona del pueblo con un oscuro secreto que la empuja a buscar la protección de Randall.
En solo un día, Julia ha sido secuestrada por los amigotes de su primer esposo, rescatada y pedida en matrimonio por un hombre al que apenas conoce. Y lo extraño es que se siente impulsada a decir que sí. Una unión con Alexander Randall podría beneficiarles a ambos, pero Julia duda poder entregarle su corazón algún día y del ferviente deseo que despierta en ella. Aunque, tal vez, solo lord perdido puede mostrar a una mujer como Julia todo lo que un matrimonio de verdad puede ser…

Something seemed missing here. I've read all of Ms. Putney's books except the few dealing with magic. Almost all are on my keeper shelf. I don't think this one will be.

This one did not have the great historical details of the Fallen Angels series or the Silk Trilogy. This seemed like a plain old regency anyone could have written by throwing in a carriage, a long dress and a trip to Gretna Green. The characters seemed static not growing or changing realistically. Alexander was a grump in the last book, but here that was dealt with by a few sentences saying "That was just because I didn't want you to know I liked you." I would have liked to see him change before my eyes.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Julia has a fear of men from having an abusive first husband bad enough that she demands the ability to divorce Alexander after a year. Yet she is over it almost the first time they get together. Whoops non issue. It seemed there were too many irons in the fire. Was it the story of woman learning to trust again? The story of him saving her from bad guys? No real sense of danger was ever developed. Introducing her to society? We skipped most of the only ball/social outing. None of these issues was developed fully, leaving them all feeling underdone.

It was really only when they went to find her first husband's bastard son that I got interested. I liked that kid. I could have used a lot more of the three of them learning to be a family. And it would have been a stronger story if Julia had indeed been barren, making this part of the story more important.

Most of the book was formulaic and predictable. Of course Julia is really the daughter of a duke. Of course the boy was decent. Of course her brother didn't hate her. Of course the Earl of Daventry had a daughter and of course Julia, who thought she was barren, ended up pregnant.

This was just missing the depth of emotion that I have become accustomed to in Ms. Putney's works. Most of her works get 4 or 5 glowing stars from me. Sadly not this one. I will read the next one though because everyone is entitled to a not so good book now and then and Ms. Putney has long been one of my favorite authors.

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I swear I read this one before, but GR never lies lol. It's a good book about two damaged people who marry despite their reservations. While I liked how well both Alex and Julia communicated about their pasts, I was a bit frustrated by them being unable to express their feelings toward each other as they changed, but then that's what makes the story. Both are lovely people and truly deserve each other. This is a well-written romance as one would expect from Ms. Putney and even if I maybe did read it before, I really enjoyed the book. ( )

Great plot, great characters ( )

3.5 rounded up. This was a little predictable and the characters were a bit daft about their feelings, but overall it was fun and I liked the characters and where they ended up. It had several aspects that gave it some interest and kept it from being run of the mill.

*Just as a heads up, some serious physical/sexual/emotional abuse is discussed a decent amount, though from a previous time before the start of the book. And some regular violence from villains happens on page. ( )