Will Ives, the bastard of the late marquess, is as strong, handsome, and smart as his titled brothers, but he has no interest in society or book learning. His unique gift for training highly-prized rescue dogs is all he needs. His peace is shattered the day the beautiful but eccentric Lady Aurelia demands his help in finding a child no one knows is missing.The daughter of a duke, Lady Aurelia has … of a duke, Lady Aurelia has everything: wealth, beauty, and a family known for their good works. Unfortunately afflicted with hyper-acute hearing, she spends most of her time cringing in her room. She wants to please her father and make a good match, but how can she when every dinner, tea, and ball is pure torture?
When a child only she can hear cries for help, Aurelia must find a way to turn her affliction into the gift it is, before it’s too late. Will, in turn, must overcome his reluctance to work with a lady who makes him feel inadequate in all ways but one.
With the reluctant aid of Will and his dogs, the pair sets out on an unusual journey that will surely lead to heartbreak— or a love against all reason.
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Will Ives-Madden mostly avoids people and sticks with the dogs he trains and can communicate with mentally. However he finds himself attracted to Lady Aurelia, one of the Malcolm family and as eccentric as the rest. After he rescues her from the unwanted attention of a suitor, she seeks his help to rescue a child that only she can here. Nevertheless, he takes her to search and rescue the child, who to his surprise does exist. This leads to the discovery of a mother and her infant son who are nearly dying. Will cannot abandon Lady Aurelia when she is in danger as she tries to protect this mother and her children. As they attempt to solve the myster of this endangered family, their attraction grows. Will cannot picture himself in the society Lady Aurelia inhabits and she cannot picture herself without the calming influence Will exerts on her hearing. There are many twists and turns until there is an HEA.
The magical talents of Will and Aurelia are perfectly complementary, making the couple a powerful team. However, both (repeatedly) have their thoughts of the difference of their station and try to mask their mutual attraction.
In this story there are some mysteries to be solved, the solution of one leading to the next.
I enjoyed “seeing” Bridey, Pascoe and the twins (from Book 4) again and the roles they played, the twins again supplying a wee bit of comic relief in this otherwise serious story.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
I’ve read and loved all of the magic series by Ms Rice All of the stories are romantic, funny and the characters are so real. Grabs you from the first word and doesn’t let go until the last one. Always leaves me saying “I can’t wait for the next one”
love the whole series.
Delightfully entertaining and witty with a perfect hero and heroine. Any book that has a beginning paragraph like “Dead meat, lemme, lemme, oh no, heel! Yummy bite, wiggle, flower lady now, please. . .” just has to be a delightful read!
I have loved the entire Unexpected Magic series. Each hero and heroine are perfectly matched to compliment the others ‘powers’. This is another match-up of an Ives male and a Malcom female, so you know sparks fly. It is part of a series but could be read as a stand-alone book. However, I would strongly suggest reading the entire series from beginning to end because it is wonderfully delightful and the characters are so very interesting.
Lady Aurelia is the daughter of a duke. She lives in pampered luxury with lots of love and every material want or desire completely fulfilled. Yet, she is a prisoner in all that luxury. No, she isn’t a physical prisoner but is imprisoned none-the-less. Aurelia has ultra-sensitive hearing and sounds from everywhere bombard her so much that she cannot focus or even carry on a normal conversation. Aurelia stays at their country estate because she cannot tolerate all of the cacophony in London.
William Ives-Madden is the bastard son of a marquess and half-brother to the current marquess. William is quiet, very quiet. He seldom speaks and spends all of his time with the dogs that he trains for others. His dream is to purchase his own property where he could train the dogs rather than traveling all over the country to do it. He also has the lady he plans to marry all picked out. His life is all planned out and set and he’ll have enough money saved to buy the property he wants within the next year. William not only trains the dogs, he ‘communes’ with them. He can read their thoughts and send them commands with his thoughts.
William is training a dog for Aurelia’s father at their country estate when Aurelia comes running out to him just at dusk. She is very upset and says she hears a child crying in great distress and they must hurry to find her. Will hears nothing, but since Aurelia is so distressed, he decides to help her conduct the search. Will sees this as an excellent opportunity to work Argyle (the duke’s dog) further. At first, Argyle cannot pick up the sounds either, but finally, between Argyle and Aurelia, they find a badly injured little girl and her also badly injured pet.
That is how the mystery began – and quite a mystery it is. The search for the little girl is hindered by the fact that she is deaf and mute and very, very frightened. You’ll love the search for her family and what happened to them. It is filled with twists and turns and leaves you guessing right up to the very end!
During the course of their investigations, Aurelia discovers that William has a dampening effect on all of the noise that tortures her life. When Will is around, she can actually focus and carry on a conversation. Will admires Aurelia but knows that there is no chance of him ever being able to marry the daughter of a powerful duke. It would also require him to live in London, which he hates and there wouldn’t be a place to train his dogs. So, what is a girl and guy who have complimentary ‘gifts’ to do? Read the book and you’ll see.
A delightful read that I’m sure you’ll enjoy!
“I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”