Emily Greenwood: Gentleman Prefer Mischief

It’s going to take a dash of mischief to bring these two together…

If it hadn’t been for the haunted woods, Lily Teagarden would never have spoken to her neighbor, Viscount Roxham. Known to the fashionable world as Lord Perfect, to Lily he’s a man she can never respect…and the careless rogue who broke her fledgling heart. But sightings of eerie lights among his trees are causing her trouble, and she needs his help.

Intrigued by this prim beauty who was once an ugly duckling, Roxham agrees to investigate, though hardly has he begun when she mysteriously undermines his efforts. The mischief she throws in his path awakens his sleeping heart, just as his touch stirs a passion she can’t accept. But Roxham is the last man to whom Lily would surrender, and it’s going to take everything he’s got to win her love.

I had never read Emily Greenwood before, but this sounded funny so I gave it a whirl. Although not as funny as I hoped, it was nonetheless a solid mass market Reg Rom with lots of steamy vanilla action, an entrepreneurial minded heroine, and great character development.

The hero was as second son who has, unfortunately, now inherited the viscountcy and had to give up his sterling career in the military. He is also a rakehell, rich, super sexy/good looking, and generally a nice guy. In other words, total alpha…or by romance hero trope types, a rogue hero. I usually like the roguish gentlemen, even when they are alpha (although not uber alpha) but this hero bugged me. Although I finally got where Greenwood was going with her character arcs and wrap ups, the fact that he kept nagging the heroine about her loosening up drove me crazy. It seemed excessive.

I get there was an opposites attract and make each other better! kind of thing going on, but after a while I a). didn’t believe a rogue would be bitching like a beta b). found him so annoying that he ceased to be attractive, regardless of how hot, rich, and skilled a lover he was.

Equally, her fault finding with him seemed to be based on no more than a few paper tigers. He is such a bad landlord because he wants to build a folly? That all you got? Really?

Needless to say, the H/h weren’t my faves. That doesn’t mean that others won’t find them irresistibly charming and a hot match. The fact that they were neighbors and she crushed a bit on him make this within the realm of relatable.

It also is fair to say that like most mass market Reg Roms, this book was chock full of anachronistic tendencies. Mostly in behavior and language/speech patterns, rather than anything obvious. However, that I was happy to ignore.

The intimate scenes were hot and well written, the supporting characters likable and provided enough foils to keep the action rolling, and the setting idyllic. There was also good character development, in spite of the fact that I wanted to Road House the hero by the end.

Per the modern mass market, we have some supporting character scenes that read like a setup for the next in the series. I think the next book focuses on Ivorwood, so in some respects, that is true. I get why publishers encourage authors to do this, to lend continuity to a series and whet the readers appetite, but it can also be distracting and snap the reader out of the story. Thankfully, this wasn’t over the top and read more like a trad. Reg Rom where you often have more than one set of lovers.

Greenwood is a solid writer, and I think had an interesting enough premise with Gentlemen Prefer Mischief (although that title makes me cringe) that she probably is a safe bet for voracious mass market Reg Rom readers. I am not sure that I will run out the door to buy her next, but I also can’t say I would never reread this one.

It was an easy, fun, sexy read that for a hot summer evening provided that perfect escapism….

5 Stars 4 out of 6 Solid, sexy writing for a neighbors to lovers mass market historical