In London after a two-year exile, Lord Blakeney plans to cut a swathe through the bedchambers of the demimonde. Marriage is not on his agenda, especially to an annoying chit like Minerva Montrose, with her superior attitude and a tendency to get into trouble. And certainly the last man Minerva wants is Blake, a careless wastrel without a thought in his handsome head.
The heat and noise of her debutante ball give Minerva a migraine. Surely a moment’s rest could do no harm . . . until Blake mistakes her for another lady, leaving Minerva’s guests to catch them in a very compromising position. To her horror, the scandal will force them to do the unthinkable: marry. Their mutual loathing blazes into unexpected passion but Blake remains distant, desperate to hide a shameful secret. Minerva’s never been a woman to take things lying down, and she’ll let nothing stop her from winning his trust . . . and his heart.
Minerva is unlike other debutantes, in that she is not after money and a title. Instead, she wants a political minded husband that she can help steer into the debate of reform.
The hero, the dashing but complete wastrel Lord Blakeney is the last man on her list. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in the Reg Rom world, this makes them a perfect match for a marriage of inconvenience.
What lurks underneath this seemingly stereotypical mass market Regency is a hero with a real disability (no spoilers, of course) and a heroine who is not always falling over herself to try and rescue him through her love. Having taken a peek over a GoodReads to see what others are saying, I think it’s the turning of convention on its head that is disjointed for readers through the first half of the book…we keep thinking it will go the way of other marriage by accidental ruin Reg Roms, but it doesn’t.
Part of a series, Confessions of an Arranged Marriage perhaps would have been more aptly titled 20 Things I Hate About You. It has a very Taming of the Shrew style story, and although we are never quite sure who is the Shrew (some readers on GoodReads obviously think it’s the heroine, who they find annoying) there is a combative tension in the unfolding of this relationship that makes for entertaining reading.
There also is a lot more realism to the compromises and conflicts of marriage than is usual for mass market Reg Rom. In many ways Minerva putting aside her political ambitions is a very good literary device for many of the hard and fast choices Regency women would have been faced with.
Neville makes a bold and sometimes awkward choice to throw in a villain for good measure. The villain is detestable but sometimes borders on the edge of being unbelievably silly. For those who love twists and turns and a little bit of fantasy, you will enjoy the added thrill. For others who prefer character focused plots, it will be a tough grind through these scenes. Perhaps because I have a deep well of humor for the absurd, I found it more amusing than anything.
This book has some steamy time and mature subject, so not recommended for clean Romance lovers.
4.5 out of 6 Turns the traditional MMRR on its ear by playing with convention, it features some interesting and realistic obstacles to HEA
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Some infidelity and criminal activity | |
| Intimacy | |
| Intimate scenes | |
| Violence | |
| Some violent scenes, although not graphic | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Not recommended for clean Reg Readers. Fairly vanilla, may be okay for mature teens. | |
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