Return to New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Hoyt’s signature drama and intrigue, where two enemies will discover if their marriage of convenience can survive — ‘til death do they part. Ambitious, sly, and lethally intelligent, Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the gutter. For the last ten years, he’s acted as the Duke of Windemere’s fixer, performing the … acted as the Duke of Windemere’s fixer, performing the duke’s dirty work without question. Now Gideon’s ready to quit the duke’s service and work solely for himself. But Windermere tempts Gideon with an irresistible offer: one last task for Messalina Greycourt’s hand in marriage.
When a Rogue Meets His Match
Witty, vivacious Messalina Greycourt has her pick of suitors, so when her uncle demands Messalina marry Mr. Hawthorne, she is appalled. But Gideon offers her a devil’s bargain of his own: protection and freedom in exchange for a true marriage. Messalina feigns agreement and plots to escape their deal. Only the more time she spends with Gideon, the more her fierce, loyal husband arouses her affections. But will Gideon’s final deed for Windemere destroy the love growing between them?
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Duke of Windemere has offered his niece Messalina Greycourt’s hand in marriage to his henchman. Gideon Hawthorne started his life in the gutters of London as has sense clawed his way up to do all the Duke’s dirty work. He wants out, but the Duke has offered his niece to Gideon and there’s nothing he wants more than to marry the one woman he’s longed for forever. Messalina is afraid of her uncle and what he might do to her family if she doesn’t agree to this marriage to Gideon. I love how this story progresses Messalina being leery of her husband to her trusting him with her heart and soul. Gideon knows if his secret is revealed he’ll lose the wife he’s become to rely on. Her family are a huge part of her life and she’ll do anything to protect them, even marry the enemy. I have voluntarily read and reviewed these excellent story.
Messalina will do anything to get away from her evil guardian uncle, even marry his henchman, Gideon. While Messalina plans to have a marriage of convenience, Gideon plans for much more. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Forever for my honest review.
I enjoyed this book. The book opens mid-kidnapping. Messalina has been taken by her uncle’s henchman. Gideon grew up on the streets of London and had to fight for survival until he met the Duke of Windemere. Since that point, he has taken care of all kinds of unsavory things for the Duke, including kidnapping his niece and surprising her with a wedding. The Duke promised Messalina to Gideon under a secret agreement that he carry out one final task.
The beginning was a bit problematic for me. Gideon was truly cold (as was the Duke) and the forced wedding was a bit too much for me. That being said, Hoyt takes Gideon from a character that you truly despise to one you begin to understand and that is a truly flawed character with growth. By the end, I liked Gideon so much more as he changed through his relationship with Messalina. I definitely loved her sister, Lucretia. She was funny and the sisterly bond was a nice addition to the book. I liked the conversations between Gideon and Messalina and how they came to get to know one another better and that he opened up new ideas for her as well.
Overall, I would say this was a good book and definitely has me wanting to read more from Hoyt. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an ARC of this book. The opinions here are my own.
Gideon Hawthorne hadn’t experienced an easy earlier life but had become wealthy by his own endeavours. Gideon works for the Duke of Windermere. Messalina Greycourt, has been manipulated into marriage by her devious and hateful uncle, the Duke of Windermere. As they spend more time in each other’s company, so Messalina sees a different side to Gideon. This was an absorbing read, I was routing for all to work out well for Messalina and Gideon. However, there are many factors that have a part in this story, including the rest of Messalina’s family. I hadn’t read the first in the series but this didn’t affect my enjoyment. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series. I received a copy and have voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ambitious, sly, and lethally intelligent, Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the gutter. For the last ten years, he’s acted as the Duke of Windemere’s fixer, performing the most dangerous tasks without question. Now Gideon’s ready to quit the duke’s service and work solely for himself. But Windermere wants Gideon to complete one last task, and his reward is impossible to resist: Messalina Greycourt’s hand in marriage. Witty, vivacious Messalina Greycourt has her pick of suitors. When Windermere summons Messalina to inform his niece that she must marry Mr. Hawthorne, she is appalled. But she’s surprised when Gideon offers her a compromise: as long as she plays the complacent wife, he promises to leave her alone until she asks for his touch. Since Messalina is confident that she’ll never ask Gideon for anything, she readily agrees. However, the more time she spends with Gideon, the harder it is to stay away.
This is the second book in the series & it’s been a while since the first. I’m a bit on the fence with this book, there were things I loved but I was left feeling dissatisfied & had lots of questions, which made me want to be able to dive into the next book in the series so I hope there’s not another long wait for it. I liked both Gideon & Messalina but I didn’t love them, enemies to lovers is my favourite trope but again this story just didn’t rock my boat & I found my interest wandering, I think it was the intricacy of the plot & sub plots of which there were many. A well written book but not the best the author has written
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
An enemies to lovers book where both the hero and heroine are stubborn but learn to love each other and their differences. There was a huge twist in the end that kept me on the edge of my seat while reading. I love Elizabeth Hoyts books and this book is wonderful just like the others. I look forward to reading the other books in the series.
I am not usually a fan of historical novels, but I enjoyed this book quite a bit. This is the second in a series, but I read it as a stand-alone and was able to follow everything going on. I enjoyed Gideon and Messalina, and their push and pull throughout this book. I liked that Messalina learned a lot about those around her, and her growth as a person in coming to care for them and wish to help them. I was a little confused by the ending, and wish an extra chapter or two had been added to set up and explain the ending a bit better. But overall I enjoyed the book.
This is my honest review of an ARC I received from netgalley.
3.5 stars
Gideon Hawthorne was born on the streets and clawed his way out of the rookeries, his break came when the Duke of Windemere hired him as a henchman. But after years of servitude and clever investments, Gideon wants his freedom. He is ready to break with the duke when he is offered a reward he can’t pass up – marriage to Messalina Greycourt, Windemere’s niece, that will give him the connection to society he needs to advance his businesses along with her substantial dowry – the catch? He must kill her brother Julian, the duke’s heir.
Messalina is shocked that her uncle plans to marry her off to Gideon and refuses, but soon changes her mind after learning that Windemere will let Gideon marry her younger sister, Lucretia if she refuses. She makes a deal with Gideon, she will marry him, but wants a portion of her dowry and stipulates that her sister must live with them. She plans to use the money to run away and take Lucretia with her. But from the first she is surprised by Gideon and slowly begins to fall for him. Things are progressing and Messalina is reconsidering her plans, but any chance for a HEA is shattered when she learns the truth.
Gideon has also reconsidered his plans and to win his wife back he will have to thwart the duke, figure out who is trying to kill him and prove to Messalina that he is capable of love. Easier said than done…
This was a well written, fast paced book with an interesting mix of characters and a lot of surprising twists. The book has a little bit of everything; steamy love scenes, action, mystery, vile villains, betrayal, cameos from former characters, surprising twists and turns and finally a HEA. I did feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions and I still don’t understand why the duke wanted Julian dead. I also didn’t care for Messalina’s reaction to learning the truth – I expected better of her. Overall, I liked this book and would be happy to recommend it. This is the second book in the series, but it is very loosely connected to the first book and can easily be read as standalone title.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher*