A most unlikely temptation.Mrs. Joanna Thorne infinitely prefers being a wealthy widow to being a miserable wife, but she is constantly swarmed by suitors with eager, insincere compliments. Fortunately, she has become quite adept at handling fortune hunters. When she meets Lord Tyndale at her friends’ house party, she knows she can help him thwart the charming rascal pursuing his niece. But why … the charming rascal pursuing his niece. But why does it annoy him so? And why does she care for his good opinion anyway?
The last thing Lord Tyndale wants to do is accompany his beautiful, headstrong niece to a house party in Brighton. However, it is the only way to protect her from a disastrous marriage to the wastrel pursuing her. He should appreciate the help of a rather plain and meddlesome but capable young widow, but he finds himself increasingly annoyed as Joanna skillfully captures the fortune hunter’s attention.
She throws his life into disarray, won’t give him a moment’s peace, and drives him mad. So why does he find her so tempting? And why is he dreading the end of this very irregular house party?
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Strong, spirited characters who show wit and humor are the focus of this continuation of the series. It can be read as a stand alone but I enjoyed reading them together.
I really enjoyed reading this story and loved the way they thwarted the fortune hunter.
I loved going back to the Regency House Party in Havencrest. In this particular novella, we get the story of Mrs. Joanna Thorne and Lord Martin Tyndale. I enjoyed getting to know both of them, and see how they intrigued the other, both with their words and actions. While I certainly liked their interactions and their slowly growing romance, I would have liked for both the ending and the kisses to have been more detailed (as with the author’s To Love a Lord).
Still, this is a delightful and entertaining read which sheds a bit more light onto the life of Mrs. Garvey. Perfect continuation to the series.
I really like this series and I think the idea is a fun premise. I thought the h funny & witty. The H was great too, of course. I enjoyed how he softened to the h. I was rooting for the H &h to come together. Good characters, writing and dialogue. I appreciate the writing staying within the time period.
Joanna Thorne is a young wealthy widow who never plans to marry again, as all those who come calling on her only want her money. Every year she attends the house party of Mr. and Mrs. Garvey, who are quite the odd hosts. Lord Tyndale accompanies his niece to the house party in Brighton to keep an eye on her, and to keep her away from a young man who’s only after her dowry. Lord Tyndale meets Joanna his first morning there and she offers to help show his niece her suitor’s true colors.
This was such a fun book to read. Even if I hadn’t read the book blurb I would’ve known right away that Joanna and Lord Tyndale would end up together–just from the way they bantered back and forth. She drove him crazy with her schemes to help him with his niece.
There are so many colorful characters in this delightful book. Mrs. Pike aka Joanna’s “Dragon”, is something else. Mrs. Garvey, who seems to hate the summer house parties her husband insist on having is a hoot. My favorite line from Mrs. Garvey “The only things that improve a man are distance and death.” I laughed out loud at that one.
My favorite scenes were Joanna and Lord Tyndale’s interactions. I knew he’d eventually win her over once she could trust what he said. Joanna had never had a man pay her a sincere compliment before which I found extremely sad. Other than learning about Joanna’s father and the man he married her off to, this is a light read and a great way to spend a summer afternoon.
Joanna Thorne is content to be a wealthy widow for the rest of her life. She is tired of fortune hunters pursuing her for her wealth so she has resigned herself to never marrying again in order to keep any man from controlling her ever again. She has accepted the invitation to a house party. The party’s hostess is very odd and is determined to limit the amenities for her guests.
When Joanna first meets Lord Tyndale, she determines that he needs her help to keep his niece from accepting the hand of an obvious fortune hunter. Joanna begins to capture the attention of Lord Tyndale’s niece’s suitor in order to draw his attention away from her and expose him for the scoundrel that he is.
The more Lord Tyndale gets to know Joanna, the more he is intrigued and irritated that she intrigues him. She doesn’t trust that he could possibly have any genuine interest in her. But when they both begin to see the possibilities, maybe there could be a happy ever after. . .
This is the second in the series and I had already read the first and this was a wonderful continuation of the story of the guests at the house party and their very odd hostess. I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.
Joanna had been told all her life how she wasn’t pretty, so when she becomes a wealthy widow she thinks that the men courting her are only after her money and now that she is free of a man’s control she has no desire to relinquish that freedom. Lord Tyndale was only trying to prevent his niece from marrying a fortune hunter. He never expected to fall for the woman who was scheming to save his niece while putting herself in the bounder’s path. I felt for Joanna being put down in life and as a result not seeing her good qualities beyond her fortune. There were several funny moments in this story including towards the end, which was also sweet.
This Regency Romance has all the feels! There are wonderful characters, a beautiful location, a little bit of suspense, and lots of witty banter. It’s a fun clean read. There were some elements that could have been fleshed out further. For example, I thought Lord Tyndale would need to put his fencing skills to good use, but it only gets mentioned and nothing more. I wished the book could have been longer!
I received an ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.