Miss Lizzie Howard is tired of waiting.Miss Lizzie Howard has waited ten long years for the man of her dreams to return from the army and marry her. But when Lizzie learns that Jack is still reluctant to wed her after their long engagement, she does the only sensible thing and runs away.Viscount Cavendish, Jack to his friends and family, has known Lizzie his entire life. She has dogged his heels, … friends and family, has known Lizzie his entire life. She has dogged his heels, bruised his ego, and an eye once for good measure. At the tender age of eighteen, Jack lost a drunken wager and was cajoled into asking for her hand in marriage. The next morning, he promptly joined the army and hasn’t returned home in ten years.
No longer a child, Jack knows that it’s time to face up to his responsibilities. But when he goes to fetch her, he learns she has run away to escape him. Embarrassed and angry that she has once again thwarted him, Jack chases after her.
Tempers clash, and hijinks ensue when you add in a pair of scapegrace cousins and a meddling inn keeper. Will Lizzie forgive Jack for running off to war and forgetting about her?
Fall in love with these two in The Viscount’s Valentine.
A clean and wholesome Regency novella, with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed happily ever after.
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Not Enough Time Together for H&h; Character Extremes
This book started out with such promise. I loved the introductory scene of our young hero as the lad of 9 and the butler as the boy is trying to explain to him how he got a black eye and tore his trousers. It takes a bit for him to explain it all, and it is absolutely darling. The primary instigator who made this happen is, of course, the young heroine. Unfortunately, the book went south from here pretty quickly. We are taken 10 years forward when the hero is returning from the Napoleonic Wars. Even though he is a viscount in line for a dukedom, he spends time serving King and country. But while doing so, he left behind the heroine, who somehow had become betrothed to him in some kind of wager (which doesn’t seem to be fully explained or was not memorable). In his time away, she suffers both pity and derision from those around her because of her odd in-between status: not quite a spinster, not quite a betrothed (as her future groom has been gone for so long). She awaits his arrival at his father’s home from behind a tree. While there, she happens to overhear him and his father discussing her as “the situation” that needed to be resolved. Peeved by that after all she has suffered, she decided to break it off and head to town with her two male cousins.
Doesn’t sound too bad for a Regency, right? The bones of the story are potentially good or could have been in the hands of a more adept writer, although I do question that his father the earl or his grandfather the duke would allow him to be in grave danger for so long as the heir of both the earldom and eventually the dukedom. So what went wrong? First, the hero and heroine actually never met face to face until the 43% mark. We see things happening on both sides, and sometimes they see each other from a distance, but there is no true interaction between them until nearly the halfway point of the book! Seriously, for a romance to build, we have to see the evolution of the relationship, and that certainly cannot happen when they are physically separated from each other for so long. Perhaps worse, though, is that all the characters seem to act in extreme. Once the hero is back in town, so to speak, everyone’s emotions and reactions are on high alert. I would call it melodramatic, but that might suggest that it was good. It wasn’t. The hero had all this anger that just seemed completely out of place; he was the one who acted like the jerk for so long. The heroine was right to be angry with him, as were her cousins as they defended her. Two, everything seemed to be very black and white. Everyone’s always exceedingly angry or shouting or else they are calm and tranquil. Human nature doesn’t work that way, so it didn’t seem realistic or sympathetic at all. There were no shadings whatsoever in terms of character reactions or the characters themselves. This book was just poorly written in terms of plot and pacing as well as characters. Oh, and the title; the hero’s father made a wager with him that he had to win the heroine’s heart before Valentine’s Day or lose his prized horse. I don’t like it in Regency books when they wager on the heroine like that. If you’re looking for some lovely Regency Valentine romance, I suggest looking elsewhere.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
This was a cute novella. I loved how the Viscount finally realized what a wonderful women was right in front of his face and that he finally realized how his actions had hurt her. I thought the characters were fun and that for how short the book was, it was impressive how well developed they were. This was a sweet story and I was glad to see the characters come together.
I received a complimentary book from publishers, publicists, and or authors. A review was not required and all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.
Clean read
This was such a cute story. The telling of when Jack fell out the tree I found hilarious. And who doesn’t love a good monster and a couple of helpful cousins. The happy ever after for Jack and Lizzie just goes to show that just because you lost the wager it doesn’t mean you didn’t win. True love always wins in the end.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a fast pace, easy to read romance that has you rooting for the Hero. After being away for 10 years Jack returns home to marry his fiancee only to find out she left for London and is releasing him from his engagement. Through twists and turns, Jack realizes that marrying Lizzie is not the chore he thought it would be and does everything in his power to win her back. Jack has a hard sell because Lizzie does not want to be someone’s “duty”. Can Jack convince Lizzie he’s sincere and is not marrying her out of a sense of duty but because he loves her. Can Lizzie let bygones be bygones and marry the man she’s loved since childhood. You will not be disappointed in the sweet story that had you laughing and yelling at the same time
A fast pace cutie.
This fast pace cutie was such fun to read. Take a young lady who is proposed to then made a laughing stock when said fiancé’ runs off, then 10 years later he is back to marry really? Well, that is what Jack does but oh no Lizzie has other ideas. You will love this tale it is so well-written with truly grand characters. Chelli Larsen is an author I am going to keep track of I just loved her piece. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
This is a new Author to me and I could not stop reading until I had finished it. For ten years Miss Lizzie Howard has waited for Jack Billingsworth, Viscount Cavendish to come back and marry her. When he comes home he does something that upon her hearing about it makes her decide she has had enough. With her male cousins Andrew and Edward and her ladies maid Martin she starts off for London. When Jack finds out where she is going he goes after her. From there to the end of the story I found myself laughing more than I had done at the start with the tree episode. I recommend this book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When I was offered a chance to read this ARC, I jumped at the chance. This is such a great read. I love the way Chelli Larsen can bring a world to life and suck me right into the story. There’s all manner of hijinks. Some will make you chuckle, some will bring a tear, and some will definitely melt your heart. These are the kind of stories I’ve come to know and love from her. I highly recommend this book. You’ll love it and this is my voluntary review.
This author has done it again!! This story was seriously amazing! The plot raced along and the storyline was addictive grabbing my attention. Lizzie and the Jack is a wonderful second chance story with compelling and realistic characters. Their story was touching and I couldn’t wait to see how everything was resolved.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
In the beginning Lizzie wasn’t a very nice girl with the way she acted around Jack, but he left her hanging for ten years after he found himself engaged to her over a bet. I don’t blame her for having enough and I didn’t like how at first he was blaming her when his absence made her the laughing stock of York society. This was a clean Regency romance novella with plenty of funny and sweet moments.