Miss Olivia Dunne was the darling of society until a thwarted abduction and elopement scheme by an unscrupulous man left her reputation in tatters. But having moved from paragon to pariah, Olivia realizes that there is no reason for her to continue abiding by society’s mandates. In fact, she decides to embrace her scandalous nature and do the very thing she’s been accused of… take a lover. The … man she’s chosen is one she’s secretly loved for years, but she’ll need to employ the aid of an unlikely ally to carry it off.
Lord Burke, Viscount Holland, has loved Olivia for years. He even offered for her once, only to be summarily dismissed by her older brother, his oldest friend. With his pride still stinging, Burke is confronted with the horrible truth that Olivia had never rejected him at all. Her brother never told her of Burke’s interest in her. But if he tells her now, she’ll take it for pity and reject him out of hand. The only way to make her his wife is to first accept her offer to be his mistress.
But not everyone wishes to see the couple achieve a happy ending. Some will do whatever it takes to keep them apart. Can true love prevail or will pride and greed conspire to keep them apart forever?
This is a novella (not a novel) of approximately 30,000 words, which is half the length of a typical novel. It is however a complete story with no cliffhangers. It’s a perfect read for when you don’t have a lot of time to invest.
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I definitely feel like this book needed to be longer. There was just too much crammed into such a short amount of time that I don’t feel like any one particular piece was as fully developed as it could have been.
Olivia has no sense of self-preservation as knowing that there are men who tried to abduct her lurking in London, she still flees the safety of Burke’s home in Bath when he tries to propose. Although, there had to have been an easier way of a man to get a wealthy wife than by trying to have her kidnapped twice. I also wish she had done her villain justice, it was wholly disappointing to have him keel over of a heart-attack. I would have loved to have seen Olivia whack him before Burke burst in to rescue her.
I also wasn’t sure why Burke thought he was in love with Olivia (and had claimed to have been for years, so much so that he changed his entire personality to be a better man for her). I would have liked to have seen more of their early friendship before the first botched kidnapping attempt. I also would have liked to have “seen” evidence of Olivia being considered ruined, even though she was a victim, and what finally pushed her over the edge into considering taking a lover.
One thing that bothered me about her plan, is that she not only openly tells her brother what she plans on, and who she plans on choosing, but then her brother runs along and tells the man in question what she is planning. Who knows how Burke would have reacted initially had he not been forewarned. The brother then goes a step forward and essentially not only gives his blessing, but proceeds to give him advice on what not to do (in this case reveal the fact that he supposedly was in love with her).
Another thing that kind of annoyed me about this story was the fact that when Burke does confess his feelings (and man do I wish we had gotten more scenes of them together before he spilled the beans), Olivia immediately rejects him saying that she was a fallen woman, and even though he had quite the scandalous past himself, he had become “better” and she didn’t want to “ruin” him. In fact, she barely let him explain that he didn’t care for what society thought, something that she should have been happy about considering how little she claimed to care for society herself.
Despite the things I mentioned above, I do believe this story will appeal to others more than it did to me. And I would give this author another chance.
It was dumb.
She was dumb. The villains were dumb. And he was dumb. The sex was mediocre. The plot development was god awful. I’m sorry but when you have to put in a half-hearted villain to make an argument stretch then obviously it isn’t strong enough. I like that the idiot finally pointed out that purpose of Society is to create heirs.
The story was too short but The Last Offer focused on the dilemma of the heroine who is an outcast of society for no fault of her own and decides to take a lover. The twist is interesting, especially since the man is in love with her and wants to marry her. I would like to see a longer version of the story where the villain and other characters are fully developed.
When you are having a difficult or sad day, disappear into a world where you like & dislike the characters and root for an ending. This is one of those books
Really liked the story line about a woman (Olivia) of means who was kidnapped for her inheritance. Things went awry and her kidnapper was killed and she was seriously injured. A close friend of her brothers was the one who found her, but there was a disagreement with her brother. He had been in love with Olivia for years but wanted to change his lifestyle and rebuild his finances before offering for her. Since her kidnapping she had been a social outcast so she figured she might live the life she was accused of and picked Burke for her lover. Olivia had been in love with Burke most of her life, but she thought since her kidnapping he would only want her for a mistress.
I liked this more than the run of the mill Regency romance. The characters were interesting, and the details of the romance left some of it to your imagination, which is a plus.
With her respectable reputation gone through no fault of her own, however still innocent Olivia cops the attitude that if she’s going to be branded a woman of loose morals she may as well live the part. So she picks Burke to be her partner in crime (lover). Throw in another villain to create trouble and this makes for an interesting adventure. I enjoyed the escapade in her life.
This is a well written story of courage and true love.
What a nice book, what a nice hero!!! This is the first book I have ready by Chasity Bowlin, and I don’t know why it took me so long to read one of her books. I will be adding more of her books on my “To be read list”. Now I can not wait for Olivia’s brothers book…..
A stubborn heiress finally gets what she deserves once her brother figures out how to undo how he did her wrong. Abductions and rescues and a fling that was anything but temporary finally come around to happily ever after.
4.5 STARS
I really enjoy this author, she pulls you into a story quickly, even in a novella. I see the book on the brother is just now going to be released.
The H has cared for the h for years. He use to be good friends with the h’s brother and they had a falling out because he didn’t want the H for his sister. They used to be rakes together, but the H turned his life around.
The H is honorable and shows his emotions on his sleeve. The h has been treated so unkindly by the ton and is not welcomed at many events. What happened to the h was awful. The author does an amazing job filling us in after the abduction. Even though we do not see it unfold, you still felt the aftereffects.
What I didn’t like about the h was when she hears the truth from the H how he feels, she dismisses him. She’d rather be his lover than his wife. Her reasons were not to my liking. I loved how the H explains himself passionately, that she finally realizes his feelings.
There is descriptive lovemaking several times, outside of marriage – heat level 3.5 out of 5.
No cheating, no cliffhanger, HEA, little on romance and steam. I did want at least one more chapter so we knew how the Ton excepted her after she married.
I received this from Bookfunnel, all opinions are my own and voluntarily given. (ljb)
This was a lovely tale. I am looking forward to exploring more of this author.
Couldn’t put this one down till the last page. Great characters and believable story. It truly was…. the Last Proposal.
Fun to read, easy to forget.
If you were a woman back then life was hard. If you had money it was ridiculous.
I enjoyed the couple finally making it to their happy ending.
Enjoyed the plot that kept you guessing right up to the end.
A woman who denies herself and a man who needs for himself to help her find that what they both want is each other
A good, quick read
Children kept my interest, this was my first time to read this author but I’m ready to read more