Lord Robert Mountford has a bad habit of hopping into bed with flirtatious married women, but he steers clear of innocent virgins. Unfortunately, one catches him alone and, mistaking him for his twin brother, falsely accuses him of trying to kiss her. He refuses to marry her and is ostracized by everyone he knows. Even his own father kicks him out.

Three years later, Robert has managed to land a position as an assistant gamekeeper at Wynchwood estate, hiding his true identity as best he can. Frederica Bracewell, the young lady of the house, may prove to be his undoing. Sparks fly between the two of them as Robert helps Frederica with her secret project, drawing local wildlife and adding to her art portfolio so that she can eventually run away to Italy and become an artist.

I knew from the start that I probably wasn't going to like this very much. The book began with the hero naked in bed after having had sex with another man's wife. The woman, Maggie, started trying to match him up with her niece before the two of them had even gotten dressed. The whole thing repulsed me. Shortly after that, Robert was kicked out by his father for not marrying the young lady who said he'd kissed her, and then there was a "three years later" time jump.

Frederica was mistreated by her uncle, frequently punished just for being left-handed, and constantly interrupted because of her stutter. I generally like downtrodden heroines because it's fun seeing them come into their own, but I got so frustrated with both her and Robert that I just couldn't root for them. They were both idiots. When they met, it was instant physical attraction. Also, Frederica was happy because Robert didn't seem to take issue with either her left-handedness or her stutter.

If I remember right, the book had two sex scenes, and the first one happened after Frederica and Robert had spoken to each other maybe three times. Although Robert had just reminded her that he could be fired for letting her into his house alone at night, he for some reason agreed to model for her nude (or nearly nude? I wasn't entirely sure). One thing led to another and, boom, sex scene. Frederica lied and said she wasn't a virgin, which I guess prompted Robert to decide it was okay to risk the best job he'd managed to find in three years.

These characters were so very stupid.

Anyway, in the last third of the book, multiple characters revealed that they weren't who they appeared to be, and the sudden complications at least made things interesting, even though I didn't enjoy the romance. Maggie, the woman Robert was in bed with at the beginning of the book, showed up again. It was awkward, but not quite as bad as I'd expected.

The ending was...terrible. It was like most of the characters experienced personality transplants. Frederica and Robert had doubts about each other that were understandable considering that neither one of them really knew each other very well, but that made it very difficult to believe in their happy ending. Which was very, very happy, with everything wrapping up neatly.

I looked at the summaries of the other books in the series. Looks like Charles, Robert's twin, is the hero of the next book, Robert's friend John is the hero of the third, and the fourth features characters I don't think appeared in this book at all. I have no interest in reading any of them.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Malcolm le Farouche felt his blood race at the thought. Yet, was rage or passion the reason? He knew only that though Elinore of Evenbough would share his bed by royal command, the warrior-trained beauty was not to be trusted...with his life or his heart!

Le Farouche—"the Fierce." The epithet added luster to Sir Malcolm's dark reputation as the greatest knight in the land. But how would Elinore refute his deep suspicions of an alliance with her treacherous father? For her soul called out that this man was her true mate born!

Goodreads.com

In the year 1280, Sir Malcolm le Farouche ("the fierce") is the greatest knight in all the land. He is sent as a kind of bounty hunter to round up the Lord of Evenbough when the man is suspected of treason and murder. When Malcolm finds the lord's daughter, Lady Elinor also in attendance, he gathers her up as well, unsure if she is equally guilty as the father. Better safe than sorry, it's decided everyone shall go to see King Edward.

Though innocent of wrong doing, Elinor (who goes by Elin for most of the novel) fears her fate will be tarnished through guilt by association, possibly meaning an end by execution. With her lady's maid, Alma, in tow, Elinor decides to make an escape attempt. Making a meal for Malcolm and his men, Elin mixes in a low dose of oakwood, mildly poisoning everyone... not enough to kill them, just enough for them to have bad enough intestinal upset for her to have a window to get away without capture. That's the plan, anyway. But much to her surprise and dismay, Malcolm pushes through his discomfort and does successfully capture her not far outside the camp.

Once in front of King Edward, Elin's father is swiftly handed off for execution, but Edward decides there's not enough evidence against Elin to condemn her, and her father's lands remain quite valuable. Edward's skeevy nephew, Carodoc, tries to make a grab for Elin's hand but since Edward apparently doesn't entirely trust his own family, he puts forth his decision to marry Elin to Malcolm. Malcolm's initially not fully onboard with the idea but once told that if he declines he will be banished from court and Elin WILL be executed, seems like there is little choice in the matter. So after a quick ceremony, off our newlyweds go back to the newly dubbed Le Farouche homestead...where you'd think things would kinda chill out for a bit, but nah.

Within mere hours of these two uniting, there are NUMEROUS attacks on their lives and home, with even more to come in the following days. It just does not let up! There's even yet another guy showing up claiming he has marital dibs on Elin! But on the upside, conflict often tends to stir up heightened emotions in people, and it's no different here. Though he's still struggling with learning to trust his new wife, Malcolm does definitely feel a growing interest towards her in general. He's impressed with her training in combat and healing arts (though he sometimes suspects her of sorcery), he's amused by her feisty side, but he's also baffled by her --- the way she has a "fragile cut of face, lithe grace, and womanly curves" but also physical strength and self-confidence to rival any man's. Prior to meeting Elin, Malcolm had taught himself to be content with putting all his energy toward being the most dedicated knight to the king. But maybe, just maybe, there IS, in fact, more to life than that ol' "punching the clock" business. Maybe there's something to be said for a coming home to a quiet night at the house and a soft woman to curl up with!

Though they might have had an unconventional start, Malcolm and Elin grow to have an adorable, realistic "I'm calling you on your BS" banter between them that kept me laughing and nodding. Those who have been in long-term relationships will appreciate the style of playfulness these two have. True, they developed theirs rather quickly, but the way Hart lays it out still makes it somehow believable, like they were just one of those couples that would of course find each other when the timing was right.

The historian in me took the one word "Asprin" and felt a little jarred out of the story of a suffragette who has a stalker trying to kill her. She meets with Sheriff Hawk Rivera who decides she needs a bodyguard and follows her to several cities to try to keep her safe. They try to fight the attraction but things are complicated.

Interesting but there were times where I found Hawk overbearing and occasionally dismissive of Caroline. Probably period correct but I didn't feel the romance.

... should be the more appropriate title. :P

What would now be called bi-polar mother, with rumours of illegitimacy for the heroine and a father who either had a series of strokes or Alzheimer's for the hero. And that's before all the fun and games and miscommunication happens between the two.  

Not bad but they could ramp down on the crazy but the way everyone colluded to get them together was very sweet.