An outcast fighting for her future… the marriage won’t be valid. Thea’s idea? Keep pretending to be her sister until she can run away.
A recluse haunted by his past…
Rafe Landcross, Earl of Luxborough, has no love for mischief. Or marriage. Or people, for that matter. The last thing he wants is a wife—but if he marries, he’ll receive a large sum of much-needed money.
Then he learns that Thea Knight is using a false name. Rafe’s idea? Pretend he doesn’t know her true identity, marry her, and send her packing once the money is his.
A compelling attraction that changes their lives
But as passion ignites and secrets emerge, the mutual deception turns tricky fast. Rafe and Thea face irresistible temptations, unsettling revelations, and a countdown to the day when Thea must leave…
Fun, tender, and steamy, this Gothic-flavored historical romance tells of a fake marriage between a grumpy, scarred hero and a trickster heroine who reminds him how to play.
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I loved this book, my only complaint is that it says Rafe doesn’t love mischief but I think its more he forgot how fun it could be before Thea entered his life. Other than that nothing is wrong with this book. I read it because I love the HEA you get from historical romances and sometimes you just need to know you getting a win in the end. But this was not a typical historical romance (though I love those as well). It was deep and soulful. It had backstory and emotional anguish. It had a witty female lead that is to clever for her own good and Rafe is to good at tormenting himself. The banter between them has you giggling out loud every few minutes, when the heart wrenching isn’t making you want to hug them. This is a rereader for sure!
“Ignorance has never stopped anyone from talking knowledgeably about a subject.”
~~Arabella Larke
Such profound words from a secondary character that had so much influence on the story, although she didn’t spend a lot of time in the book overall. But it was the premise of this novel and something we can all agree on. Those who speak the loudest and with most authority are usually the most ignorant.
Thea Knight was set up and shamed by a couple of mean aristocrats. They told some vicious lies and she was ruined. Her parents, believing them over their own daughter, disowned her and she was exiled, shamed for life while these two miscreants of the ton who didn’t have enough to do thought it was hilarious. She’s the daughter of a shopkeeper, her parents were social climbers and wanted their daughters to marry well. She was shamed and couldn’t show her face in polite society again. To make matters worse, Viscount Ventnor, the father of Percy Russell, one of the miscreants, condoned this activity and even threw in some of his own trash talk, threats, and wickedness.
Rafe Landcross is the Earl of Luxborough and a botanist (this is the first time I’ve read of an earl having an occupation like this.) But nobody understands. They call him a sorcerer, a witch, think he’s evil because of the scars on his face and think he killed his wife. Ventnor pays actors to hawk out the lies in front of Rafe’s London home just to make sure everybody knows about it and keeps him suitably at a distance. Ventnor never wanted to look bad to society so when his daughter, Katharine, ends up dead, the best thing to do is to blame her husband who happened to be Rafe Landcross.
Helen, Thea’s sister, is in love with Beau Russell and wants to marry him, but since she is a commoner, Viscount Ventnor has forbidden the marriage. So she, Thea, and Arabella plan a scheme to let Helen elope with Beau. What Thea and Arabella weren’t counting on is Lord Luxborough being there to collect some exotic plants and becoming a part of this.
“O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive”~~Walter Scott
What they don’t know is that Rafe has an agenda of his own that includes a marriage to get some money to fund his idea of getting medicines onto the market. But he wasn’t the only one who was deceiving. Thea was deceptive, too and wanted enough money to market her pamphlets that explained what happened to her at the hands of Percy Russell and Francis Upton, low-lives that they are.
To avoid spoilers, I don’t want to say too much about the scheme. It was clever and created many opportunities for humor. Thea played with Rafe, something nobody had ever done. She teased him about “Earl School” and how he hadn’t learned anything there. He was rough around the edges, didn’t like to associate with anyone, didn’t like to talk, and she was a little chatterbox. It annoyed him yet endeared her at the same time. They were so amusing, I found myself laughing out loud at times.
But Rafe was haunted, not necessarily by the scars on his face or how he got them, but more over the death of Katharine. Then to add Thea to the mix, who was a polar opposite, had him rocking. At one time, he was so bothered that he took some medicine called “Bhang” so he could sleep. I have to admit that it’s unusual to see any character stoned in a historical romance, but there it was. And it worked for that scene and the advancement of the plot and revealed more about Rafe and his work.
There are secondary characters in the story that made a huge difference in the story. It was easy to care about them, what they’d been through, how they are, and how they came to live in Rafe’s household. Their stories intermingled with Rafe’s in a surprising way, even to him. Nicholas was my favorite. He cracked me up in every scene he was in.
Ultimately, this is a story about two broken people who meet under the pretense of marriage and find love. Rafe with his hauntings and guilt; Thea with her desire for the truth to be told, stability, having good things torn from her, people betraying her, and her lack of trust, despite her optimism and sunny disposition. It was sad that they’d been through so much.
The book is filled with humor, feels, a bit of steam (one scene), taboo subjects, and is just an all around great story, earning it a solid five stars.
***
I read A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy, which has nothing to do with this book, but after reading Joshua in that book and Rafe in this book, I appreciate the fact that Ms. Vincy has a a way with creating viable, eccentric heroes. Joshua and Rafe both have their idiosyncrasies and quirks and it made me love them all the more. The heroines are perfect for them and can hold their own, working for relationships that seem impossible, loving and nurturing these men despite it all.
Not that it matters, but A Wicked Kind of Husband was #3 on my Top Ten Best Novels of 2019 on my blog.
The MUCH anticipated second book from Ms. Vincy, it’s loosely connected to her award winning debut last year, A Wicked Kind of Husband. This book was also charming in UN-anticipated ways, funny and bright and sparkling, in a refreshing Beauty and the Beast take.
After reading this author’s first book and loving every moment of it, I immediately ran and preordered this one. I was not disappointed. The characters make the book – their chemistry and banter is perfection. That’s not to say there isn’t much to love about everything else: plotting, set, incorporated historical gems. This author is now on my “auto-buy” list.
Drop everything to read this book!
After being blown away by this author’s first book last year, I was anxiously awaiting her next story. As soon as this book arrived – at four in the morning, even – I put everything else on hold to dive right in, and I was not disappointed.
This breathtaking story involved Rafe and Thea, each of whom concocts their own deliciously wicked plan, without quite knowing what the other is up to. Not only is there an exquisitely complex plot with layers of secrets and intrigue, but we’re treated to a subtle dose of social commentary on the expectations of women during that time.
Rafe is a charming beast, adorably growly yet burdened with a cynicism born of a grief-stricken heart. His history with the villainous Lord Ventnor puts him directly in Thea’s path, and her vivacious zeal for life is nearly his undoing.
The writing is clever, witty, inventive, and fresh and sparkles with unexpected humor and insight. There’s a hilarious scene where Thea comments on the etymology of the orchid that was just pure magic. She’s not afraid to call Rafe on his attempts to “educate” her (what we’d call mansplaining today) and her repeated references to “earl school” had me laughing to tears more than once. Demonstrating her rare gift with words, the author never lets the humor override the emotional interplay between the characters, nor make light of the very real and serious situations they are facing.
This book is every bit as moving and delightful as the previous book. It’s a fine example of the very best in Regency romance, and I highly recommend it. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.