The Shameless Flirt

Loved this book. Couldn’t put it down.

Ambrose has spent his life hiding. Even his family sees nothing but the roguish facade he carefully crafted to conceal the secret burdening his heart. He finds an abandoned infant, and he ends all pretenses with one look at her dimpled smile. His sister is far better equipped to deal with the babe, so Ambrose trikes out for the country. He is determined to give the baby a better future than the foundling homes have to offer. In the travel coach, Ambrose meets Mary, who cannot abide empty compliments and false flattery. Such things turned her head once, and she will never allow it to happen again. Ambrose is clearly incapable of caring for the baby. Mary has no choice but to step in and lend a hand. If only Ambrose would stop spouting his flirtatious nonsense. She does not think a charming and handsome man could sincerely flatter a plain spinster like herself. – This is a tale about a rogue with a silver tongue and a spinster with an iron heart. Ambrose has been misunderstood-misjudged by everyone except his sister. Friends Ben and Bess betrayed Mary, and she was mistreated all her life by her selfish parents. It is interesting to see the friendship develop between Ambrose and Mary and then to see it blossom into more. This is an entertaining historical romance.

‘Ambrose Ashbrook has spent his life hiding. Even his family see nothing but the roguish facade he has carefully crafted to conceal the secret burdening his heart. But when he finds an abandoned infant, all his pretenses are upended with one look at her dimpled smile. Knowing his sister is far better equipped to deal with the babe, Ambrose strikes out for the country, determined to give her a better future than the foundling homes have to offer.

It is only a day’s journey. An easy distance. Caring for an infant cannot be that difficult…

Mary Hayward cannot abide empty compliments and false flattery. Such things turned her head once and landed her with a shattered heart, and she would never allow that to happen again. So being trapped in a public coach with a gentleman who has an overabundance of both is the last thing Mary wants. But the gentleman is so clearly incapable of caring for his young charge that she had no choice but to step in and lend a hand.

If only the gentleman would stop spouting his flirtatious nonsense! No charming and handsome gentleman could sincerely flatter a plain spinster like herself…Or could he?’
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3.5 stars, rounded up to four stars.

The Shameless Flirt is the third book in M.A. Nichols Regency Love series. It is the first book from this series and this author that I have read before, but it s the third book in the series. I don’t feel that not reading the earlier books altered my enjoyment or understanding of this book at all. Even though the previous two books focus on other member’s in Ambrose’s family, this book can still serve as a stand-alone.

I was a bit disappointed that Dottie, who was such a big part of the book for the first half, faded into rarely being seen and infrequently mentioned. I knew going into this book that the whole purpose of his travels was to bring this baby to his sister’s home in order to find her a good home, but then once he had bonded with her and started spending less time with her I was disappointed in him. I know he was purposely trying to keep his distance, but still…it bothered me because then her character felt like merely a plot device.

The treatment Mary’s family subjected her to was just awful. And it was all the worse because the don’t see any fault in their behavior toward her and that Mary is complacent in their mistreatment. So with being pushed aside and made to feel insignificant her entire life, her incredibly low self-esteem comes as no surprise. I felt terrible for her and sympathized with her. But once we got about 3/4 into the book and she kept dismissing the idea that he or anyone could care for her despite a plethora of evidence and words to the contrary, it got to be a bit annoying. She would twist and turn everything that happened between them to convince herself he was using her poorly and then treat him abismally as a result, which he in no way deserved because he was nothing but kind the entire book. I was losing my patience with her, but, she came round in the end and sense finally prevailed. I wish there had been a bit less dithering in this regard, but overall it was an enjoyable book.

I will continue on to read more in this series. I am curious to see how Ambrose was portrayed in the previous books, to understand why the majority of his family felt justified in treating him so dismissively.

“I enjoyed Mary and Ambrose’s story. It was well written with great caracters and so much emotion!

A delightful book. The shameless flirt of the title is the baby our hero is suddenly landed with. Not his, though people assume it is. A delightful and decent man for a hero, a feisty and determined heroine. Catnip to this reader.

Really good. I truly enjoyed this book. I love a hero who doesn’t give up. I felt the heroines pain. My only complaint was how it ended. I wanted it wrapped up better then it was. But still HEA!

Good characters, well crafted story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I enjoyed reading this book.

I loved this romance and all the ups and downs that came with it. It’s clean enough to recommend to my mom and daughter. I didn’t realize it was part of a series, I may read the rest of the series,it’s worth the time.

Fun to see how the main characters get past their insecurities and achieve a happy ending.