The Marquis and I

This book is filled with excitement, danger, and romance as it shows us the underbelly of the sex trade during Regency times. Abductions were common and for a variety of reasons – no female or child was safe regardless of their rank. Yes, that is a dark theme, but this book isn’t dark even though it explores some of those very real issues during Regency times. Even though Charlotte totally annoyed me, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was exciting and I couldn’t wait to turn the page to see what happened next.

I have not read all of the books within this series, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. I did read the first book and those characters are prominently featured in this book. ** Smiles ** You might want to sit down with a pen and pad before you start to read – there are a LOT of characters (including dogs and cats) you’ll need to keep straight and most of them are delightful!

Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth is a happy man – he has his mistress that he likes very much and his other pursuits and the last thing he wants is any sort of entanglement with innocent young ladies of the ton. As he is driving his curricle to visit his mistress, he is run down by the butler of his friend, the Earl of Worthington. He’s a bit annoyed when the butler asks him to rescue the lady who was just kidnapped. (Now, I have to tell you – I didn’t like him at this point and figured he was irredeemable. Not so!) Finally, after turning his curricle and being convinced nobody else was around to rescue the lady – he takes off in hot pursuit. Where in the world are they heading? They are on backroads and he doesn’t recognize his surroundings.

Lady Charlotte Carpenter has just been kidnapped from the street right in front of her home! She doesn’t panic, she assesses her situation, inventories what tools she might have and plans her escape. At this point, I really liked and admired her for her intelligence, intrepid strength of will and undaunted spirit. That didn’t last long. Ongoing, she was a very hard character to like. I love strong, intelligent female leads – and Charlotte was both strong and intelligent. However, she was also naïve in the ways of the world, pig-headed, stubborn, unwilling to compromise, etc. Everything had to be her way and only her way – her opinion was the only correct one. If the hero misstepped (in her eyes), then the relationship was over. Her holier-than-thou attitude made me wonder why in the world he’d want her at all. Quite often, I found her moralistic, intractable attitude overpowered the story and just made me want to slap her. She did get better – sort of – but ONLY after he totally bowed to her and her views. I can understand his having an epiphany about mistresses not always being in that life by choice, but – sadly, the story made him sound pretty weak-willed when he bent to her every whim. I would have continued to admire her and her strong beliefs if she had been willing to give him a chance and have a logical two-sided discussion with him. She did finally give him a chance, but it was all his give and her take.

When Con first rescued Charlotte, she found him attractive and was drawn to him. Then she discovered who he was – and she remembered that she had seen him at the opera with courtesans – one of whom was his mistress. She immediately shrank from him and was physically afraid because – anyone who kept a mistress was an abuser of women. (I told you she was naïve in the ways of the world). Con senses her shrinking away and doesn’t understand why. His goal is to get her back to London before anyone sees them together and her reputation is ruined. You’d think she’d be grateful. However, since they took backroads and Con wasn’t sure where he was – he got lost and missed a turn. Charlotte had worked herself into a lather by that point imagining what an awful, debauched, woman abusing man he was – and she leaves the curricle and heads back toward an inn (so much for her intelligence). Con is intent on maintaining her reputation (frankly, if I were Con, I think I would have let her march herself into the inn and fend for herself) – he follows her and as the innkeeper is questioning her – there is also a notorious gossip there. So, Con announces that they are betrothed and they are visiting his mother who lives nearby – still in order to save her reputation.

She finally told Con why she shrank away – well, actually she blasted him and accused him, etc. There was no discourse, no discussion – he was automatically guilty of the most heinous abuses of women and she was going to have nothing to do with him. At one point she did challenge him to question his mistress, Aimee, to find out what she really thought of her role in life and if she was there willingly. He was shocked – absolutely, completely and totally shocked – to learn that Aimee did not choose that life and would dearly love to lead a respectable life with her family in France. Con’s response was to immediately make it possible for Aimee to do that – he deeded her the house in which she was living and provided funds for her to return to France and live a decent, respectable life. Then, he admits to Charlotte that he was wrong and told her what he’d done. Finally – a crack in Charlotte’s armor.

The story and the mystery don’t end there – there are more kidnappings, more chases, and more rescues before Con and Charlotte get their HEA.

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“I requested and received this e-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.”

Wonderful romance woven throughout a good story about trying to stop a villain who keeps trying to kidnap the heroine

Publisher’s Description:

Trouble is no match for a lady of the extended Worthington family—except when it comes in the form of a most irresistible gentleman . . .

Lady Charlotte Carpenter’s brother-in-law has put an infamous brothel owner out of business—yet it is Charlotte who suffers the consequences. Abducted by thugs and held at an inn, she is plotting her escape when she’s suddenly rescued by a dashing gentleman. Only afterward does she realize she’s seen him before—with two courtesans! Unwilling to tarry with such a man, Charlotte makes her second escape. But it is too late to repair her reputation . . .

A known gossip has spied Charlotte’s movements, and his report is speeding through the rumor mill. Soon, everyone knows that Charlotte spent the night with Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth. And everyone agrees the only answer is marriage—including Constantine himself, his overjoyed mother—and his mistress! But Charlotte’s abductors aren’t finished with her yet. Now Constantine will do anything to protect the spirited woman he loves and win her heart . . .

My Thoughts:
I love this series. It is full of humor, a bit of danger and romance.
Charlotte is a bit adventurous. In spite of her warnings to the contrary she leaves her home to simply cross the street to the second residence and promptly is abducted by miscreants who work for the infamous Madame who Charlotte’s brother-in-law put out of business. Revenge is what the woman is after. She intends I’ll will against Charlotte.
Constantine wants no part of marriage but when he sees the abduction occur he follows to assist the young lady.
His help turns to what could easily be a scandal so he offers marriage.
When Charlotte discovers her savior’s identity she wants no part of thee scoundrel.
Can what starts as a rescue, turning to a scandalous occurrence end in love?
I gave this delightful book 4.5 of 5.0 stars for storyline and character development and a sensual rating of 3 of 5 flames. The attraction that ensues finally turns to intimacy.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley to read.
This in no way affected my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Ella Quinn does it again. I always enjoy reading her books. Good character development and interesting storyline keeps one turning the pages.

A kidnapping of a Lady starts off the search for other women who have been kidnapped. A lord in the wrong place at the wrong time, get caught up in saving a Lady. However after having to stay away over night he was forced to marry the Lady, which she wasn’t sure she wanted. This was a fast paced, high action story which kept me on the edge of my seat through out. Love overcomes them both and we have a HEA, Looking forward of this series.

The Marquis and I was my first exposure to author Ella Quinn. This work is a decent read in the Regency genre though I am not able to rate it more than 3 1/2 to 4 stars. There were several things I like about it and some I didn’t.

First of all, I like the storyline which focused on the abduction of Lady Charlotte Carpenter outside her home by thugs. There were some very nasty characters in this book. This is not the only abduction of Charlotte and there are other women who are abducted. Charlotte is taken to an inn and rescued shortly thereafter by Constantine, Marquess of Kenilworth. Initially, he didn’t want to help in her rescue but there was no one nearby who could go after her without losing all trace of where the abductors were taking her. He was able to rescue her a little later. On their way back home, Charlotte and Con engage in lively banter and it was obvious there were sparks between them. Throughout most of this book, the dialogue between Con and Charlotte was good. There was no chaperone when Charlotte was held hostage nor when he rescues her and they flee her captors to head home. Con knows he must offer his hand in marriage or her reputation will be irreparable. Some of the other things I liked about The Marquis and I, is that it also had some very good laugh-out-loud humor, including a wedding between a “couple” dressed in their wedding finery, of which the “bride” is enceinte, and a flower war between suitors. Really delightful scenes.

Things that bothered me include the overabundance of secondary characters, a great many who were featured in previous books in the Worthington series. It was hard to keep track of all of them and remember how they were, or were not, related to one another or just friends. Also, I felt that the relationship between Con and Charlotte did not become as heartwarming as I hoped it would be. It may have been because he was more likable than Charlotte, who tended to see things from a black or white perspective.

I skipped several chapters in the middle of the book because the first few chapters repeated the same thing over and over. Charlotte did not want to marry Con because he “purchased” his mistress’ body, and that made him a horrible person. This was repeated ad nauseum. I am not sure what was in the chapters I skipped, but I picked up the last few chapters and still knew what was going on so it was probably more of the same. I’m not sure what the point was of the surprise wedding, since it added nothing to the plot. I gave one star because I did finish it, sort of. Minus a few chapters in the middle. I wouldn’t buy any more in the series though.

This is an entertaining “accidental marriage“ tale that has a great deal more for the reader. Lady Charlotte has been kidnapped! Now Charlotte is lucky she has an elder brother who has taught his sisters how to help themselves out of a bad situation. So, Charlotte attempts to escape her captors. Constantine, aka “ Con”, is a Marquis and a friend of her older brother. He is alerted to the situation and as a gentleman feels he must intervene and come to her rescue. This IS the age of chivalry. While Con is able to save this one day, his actions and those of Charlotte, drag each of them into a mess. They can either marry to escape public ruin, for themselves and their families, or let the chips fall.
But while taking time to make this decision, both are drawn into a web of intrigue and danger that might interfere with that choice or any possible hea.
This is part of a wonderful series of books, each a stand alone, that includes colorful characters and rich descriptions of London and surrounding areas of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and recommend it to readers of historical romance and romance who enjoy action and a bit of heat.
I read this as an arc on Netgalley which affected my review in no way at all.

A fast past adventure that starts out with the heroine, Lady Charlotte Carpenter being kidnapped off the street! Taken to an inn, she is held by rapscallions to be handed off to an enemy of her family that was thought taken out of the picture. But Charlotte keeps her head and is looking for any chance to escape. In comes Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth who saw the incident happen and speeds off to rescue her. What he finds is a somewhat quirky miss who has her kitten in a handbasket she has carted with her and a gun hidden to defend herself! One thing leads to another and Charlotte appears compromised by Con because he takes her to an inn nearby and tries to pass her off as his wife. Wife you said? How smart is that?
This story has a lot of mishaps between Charlotte and Con but there is an underlying serious problem that is addressed with the kidnapping and selling of women and children. This seems to be part of the underbelly of society and Charlotte and her family have been trying to put a stop to what they can.
As the story continues, there are serious moments as well as a lot of humor and in the end the attraction between the two. Can true love come out of such a meeting and quick betrothed? Or will they be stuck with each other due to convention? Read to find out what happens in this entertaining story. I want to read the rest of the series now to catch up!

For the Worthington household, trouble is forever on the horizon. For Lady Charlotte, it started with an innocent act that spirals into a dangerous situation. When her hero turns out to be the town cad, the rumors start flying and her hopes of a good match start dying. For Con, a favor for a friend turns his world upside down. Now the roguish Marquis finds himself saddled with a bride he never wanted, but can’t seem to live without. With a mystery waiting to be solved and a heart needing to be won, Constantine will risk everything for a love he won’t live without. Ella Quinn draws readers in with her quickwitted characters and her intricately woven stories. The Marquis and I is a seductive adventure of love, lust and danger. Intriguing yet simple.