When a runaway ward finally meets her strict guardian, sparks fly…A daring, spirited heroine…Jemima is determined to make her debut in society – but her strict guardian, whom she’s never met, won’t allow it. But when she runs away to London and falls for a handsome aristocrat, she’s in for a big shock.Having fallen in love, what will she do when her guardian sets up an arranged marriage for … an arranged marriage for her?
A sexy, determined hero…
Marcus Harlington, Earl Southwell, is furious to discover that the alluring young woman he romanced at a ball is his runaway ward, Jemima.
Having entrusted her education to others, he now desires to play personal tutor… in teaching her some rather more wifely duties.
Teaching His Ward is a new Regency Romance novel by author Noël Cades. Set in England’s thrilling Regency period, the novel is historically accurate and emulates the
Reviews of Noël Cades:
“A great introduction to Regency or historical romance for readers more familiar with contemporary romance” – Anne
“I was very impressed with her first regency romance. I really was impressed with the story, and the characters” – Sharon
“I admired the language the author used to tell the story. It was rich and filled with words suited for a book set in this particular time period” – Herma
“I was seriously craving a historical read and this just fell into my lap, I was not disappointed” – Hana
“Noel did a fantastic job at staying true to her setting in both her writing and descriptions as well as in her characters personalities” – Shim
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*** The Earl’s Erroneous Assumptions
I was initially attracted to a great plot idea – a guardian inadvertently falling for the now adult ward he has not previously met – but I didn’t find the execution totally lived up to my hopes and expectations.
Having decided he’s attracted to her, once Marcus discovers Jemima is actually his ward, he goes through all kinds of strange and unnecessary loops and hoops with his intentions and decisions about her.. He leaps to assumptions and projects his thoughts/ideas onto Jemima, feels he needs to subdue her spirit, and considers marrying her to someone repulsive. I thought this overwhelmed many of his good attributes, and made the plot unnecessarily convoluted and unrealistic – it was less angst than tortuous and needless.
In contrast, Jemima was a pleasant, naïve character who has been seriously neglected and mistreated whilst left to grow up in her aunt’s household. Her friendship with Kitty and their adventures in London amongst the ballrooms and parties is an enjoyable, engaging read. Again, some events and behaviours seemed unlikely but the shrewd Miss Berystede and bright, kindly Ann Pargeter are both delightful characters, and the social politicking with Mrs Linton-Smythe was entertaining.
I found the writing style too formal and stolid at times, with a bit too much tell rather than show impeding the flow of the story. Style-wise, I couldn’t make my mind up whether it was trying to be a sweet romance, or a more racy dominant male type of book. Overall, I felt it had good bones and great promise, but needs a little more direction and polish (much like Jemima!).
I received an advance review copy for free via Booksirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
What a charmingly fun book!
Marcus Harlington, Earl Southwell, reluctantly inherited his father’s ward, Jemima Carlow, a 17-year-old orphan from Ireland. He has never made any effort to meet her, and believes her to be a typical, empty-headed girl. Marcus is a snob, with very traditional ideas about women, and is reluctant to marry because he thinks most women are superficial, uninformed chits.
After several years of living with his bitter old aunt, Jemima and her best friend, Kitty Elstone, devise a plan for Jemima’s escape to London for an adventure. While at a ball, Marcus encounters a mysterious and very beautiful young woman calling herself Lady Incognita. He is instantly charmed by her, but she doesn’t tell him her name and she doesn’t know his. Of course, the young lady is his ward, Jemima.
A hilarious series of plans and escapades ensue. There is so much good humor and fun, that I absolutely loved this book. Initially, I was distracted by some historical inaccuracies. I felt that it was a little contrived and somewhat incredulous. One example is that Marcus and Jemima danced together without an introduction. After reading further I understood why that had to be true. I read on Nöel Cades’ website, “It is as historically accurate as possible,” And in total honesty, I would rather sacrifice a little historical accuracy if the result is so entertaining.
There are numerous characters who contribute to the humor and the plot twists. I loved every one of them. They are extremely well written.
One reason I enjoyed this book so much is the gradual transformation of Marcus. He is very full of himself and thinks he knows what he wants. He believed that he would only marry an obedient and dutiful woman. He considers himself superior to Jemima due to his age, education, social position, and especially his gender. Jemima is a highly-intelligent, spirited, and quite mature young lady for her age. I loved the way she quietly brought Marcus to his knees.
“Yet even as he enjoyed his physical power over her, and her helplessness in resisting the desire he awoke in her, he knew that he could never fully subdue her. As young as she was, as inexperienced as she was, her strength of spirit made her his equal. And he was glad, for he realised he could never have fallen truly in love with someone who was not.”
This is a very sweet and well written book. I enjoyed it so much that I plan to read more books by Nöel Cades.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A missing ward seeks a season in London and escapes with the help from her friend using a different identity. Her neglectful guardian wouldn’t recognize her if he saw her. Attending a ball he sees her and becomes infatuated. When the game is up, he decides to exert his authority, but he may lose her if he goes too far. Absolutely loved reading this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
A. Comedy of errors.
Destitute orphan, Jemima Carlow is the ward of Marcus Harlington. The earl of Southwell who she’s never met. She lives with her strict and standoffish aunt and does what she is told without any questions for several years. Seventeen years later, Jemima wants to go with her best friend, lady Catherine; Kitty to a ball. Jemima asks her guardian if she can go to the ball. Marcus denies her request. Furious, Jemima escapes from her aunt’s house and goes to the ball anyway. Kitty and Jemima come up with the alias ”lady Julia” as a disguise to protect her reputation. At the ball, she meets a handsome, mysterious, masked man who asks her to dance for several dances. Jemima agrees to dance with the masked stranger not knowing it is really her guardian, the early of Southwell in disguise who has fallen desperately in love with ”Lady Julia.” I loved the book. It was engaging from beginning to end. It was well-written with intriguing characters. I loved the slow-burn and the misunderstandings between Jemima and Marcus. Their reactions when they realize all was just a misunderstanding was funny and satisfying. The sex scenes are written beautifully. They are erotic and steamy not vulgar. This book is a treat to read on a rainy weekend sipping on a cup of tea. I love this author. I’ve read ”The substitute bride.” by her and loved that too. Lol. I’ve also signed up for her newsletter. I’m on a mission to read every book Noel Cades has written. Lol. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Booksirens in exchange for an honest review.
I quite enjoyed reading this slow-burn, age-gap regency romance & found the plot to be interesting & authentic to the time period. The characters are well-developed but at times they are inclined to be secretive & often misunderstand each other’s intentions or opinions. There is good support from the secondary characters.
There is: a feisty young woman (Jemima) is determined to defy her rather staid male guardian “the Earl of Southwell” (Marcus Harlington) & decides to run away to London to make her debut but things quickly get out of hand when she falls for him & then discovers that he is making arrangements for her future marriage to a much older man naturally Jemima is not too happy about this, drama, intrigue, friendship, defiance, deceit, manipulations, disagreements, conflicting emotional feelings, disapproval, indecision, regrets, jealousy, decisions, misunderstandings, compromises, love, mild steam, contentment & a satisfying conclusion.
Miss Jemima Carlow wanted some liberty and a season but being the Ward of a Duke who cares non for her was too much to endure. When her heart blossom friend designed a convoluted plan, amusing scenes, mischief and romance was all that remained. Entertaining story with eager Misses, a negligent and non-too pleasant Duke, confusion, misunderstandings and a troup of friends intended to help. First book that I read by this author and liked the writing style, the amusing comments, the secondary characters, the romance, the passion and the HEA.
This was a charming regency romance.
Jemima is the nearly 18-year-old ward of the much older Earl of Southwell Marcus.
Though he has yet to properly meet her placing her in the care of an elderly aunt while he continues his career abroad.
After Jemima and her friend, Kitty plot for her to accompany kitty on her London season she accidentally makes the Earl’s acquaintance masquerading as the Lady Julia and they are both instantly enamoured unaware of each other’s true identity.
On uncovering the truth Marcus is more than shocked but decides he wants Jemima as much more than his ward he wants her as his wife after that is he’s tamed some of her wildness.
So that’s the basic premise here and though I enjoyed this Marcus did irritate me slightly at times.
I would have definitely preferred he be more forthcoming with Jemima instead of playing games after all he’s meant to be the more mature and experienced of the two and him allowing Jemima to think what’s she did in regard to her future was just cruel.
There was also too much miscomprehension with this and it did become a bit tiring to have the constant confusion over intentions.
I was glad that Marcus finally realised he didn’t want to change Jemima and loved her for who she was but still found myself very annoyed at his blame game and constant unreasonable annoyances that were really caused more by his insecurities than anything Jemima had actually done here.
I also would have preferred it if Marcus had been a bit more alpha and commanding than he was here taking the reigns so to speak.
Jemima herself was lovely if rather passive but to be fair to her considering the time this is set in she was incredibly spirited indeed.
I also would have liked much more interaction between Marcus and Jemima they actually didn’t seem to spend that much time getting to know each other as individuals after the identity reveal.
There were also some interesting side characters here and this was well written but in a very formal style fitting to the period involved.
In fact, this had a very authentic feel to it all.
I also found this one an easy read.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of Teaching His Ward.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
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Jemima became the ward of Marcus, Earl of Southwell, when she was a young girl. When he was made aware of his ward, he had her travel from her native Ireland to England to live with his elderly aunt. He then proceeded to forget she existed as he avoided the parson’s trap. At the tender age of 17, Jemima decides she needs to make her debut into society with her best friend, Kitty. It does not matter neither her caregiver nor guardian have decided she is not ready for her debut. He rebelliousness leads to confusion and misunderstandings.
I was expecting more from this novel since the title is “Teaching His Ward”. I had expected more deception or mishaps with the couple and the secondary characters. I was secretly hoping for some discipline. For me the novel was intriguing until the truth comes out and then it turns into a boring historical romance. Jemima was rebellious, intelligent and self-assured. However Marcus and everyone else endlessly talking and obsessing about his age was annoying. The story ran a little long for me and the “epilogue” did not add more to the story for me. It was a nice read, yet it did not have enough spice for my tastes.
I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The plot for this story is only half the story. It’s what he does with his ward after finding out that his runaway ward is the woman whom he became enamored with in London. The story is intriguing while addressing the age difference between these two. Still when one falls in love, age does not make a difference. The problem with our hero is he is cruel. How Jemima could continue to love this man is beyond me. So the phrase “What the heart wants, the heart wants” must apply here. For me the sex scene is a failure, and would probably been better without it.
Loved this read. It all works so well together. It is well rounded and smooth. It is exciting, amusing, intriguing, suspenseful, emotional and has lots of twists and turns. She gets bored with her life and wants a season with her friend in London. The only way to get it is to run away and take on someone else’s identity and a lie for a life. She has a few encounters with a man and he turns out to be her guardian. She runs back home hoping to fool him with another story not knowing he already knows. I highly recommend it. I received a review copy and voluntarily review it.
Well written
This is my first time reading this author and she impressed me with this book, I shall look out for more by her in the future. The author does a wonderful job maintaining the dialogue to suit the time period. The plot is an interesting one and the characters are not only interesting but also highly likable. If historical romance is your genre then this is a book you do not want to miss. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Very enjoyable regency romance. The main characters, Marcus and Jemima, were very likable as well as the other characters in this book.
Jemima is the seventeen year old ward of Marcus, the Earl of Southwell. Jemima writes Marcus requesting a season in London to which Marcus refuses. Jemima and her dearest friend Kitty concoct a plan to give Jemima her season, hopefully without the Earl being none the wiser. When Marcus learns of his ward’s disappearance, he puts off his diplomatic trip to Spain to search for her.
The pair meet at a ball with neither knowing who the other is. After Jemima discovers her handsome stranger is none other than her guardian she flees back to her aunt’s home.
When Marcus receives word that his ward has returned he goes to visit her himself and discover that she is the very person he had become enchanted with in London. At this point, Marcus decides to make Jemima his wife because he can not imagine not having her at his side.
When Jemima misunderstands Marcus about marriage, he decides to allow her to believe that he is going to marry her off to a man three times her age. Jemima is devastated as she has fallen in love with Marcus and would rather become a spinster than marry any other man.
This book did have some mild language and some sexual content but nothing steamy or really descriptive. All in all, a very good book and I do recommend it to anyone who likes regency romances.
I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.