*** 3.5 Stars Rounded Up ***

This was a lovely story of two people who had nothing against love and marriage, they just didn’t want it for themselves. I really liked both of the main characters, Frances and Evan, and I adored Evan’s brothers, Jasper, Bobby, and Mark. What I didn’t like – nor understand – was Frances’s family. This could have been a 5-star read without the way her family behaved. Why would your sisters, to whom you are close – especially your twin – stand by and allow you to be imprisoned and forced to marry someone you don’t even like? These sisters are all married and autonomous and certainly have the power to raise a ruckus if nothing else – but they do nothing. Well, nothing except ‘argue’ her case with her captor who happens to be her brother, Charles. No, Charles doesn’t even gain anything from his actions. I just failed to comprehend that whole plot point and it all felt very contrived. The same ending could have happened if the sisters (one or all) had gone to the hero with the information. He could have still rescued her – but her sisters would have remained likable rather than disliked (at least by me).

Miss Frances Cherrington’s brother Charles stepped in to protect his sisters from most of his father’s debacles from the time he was a young man and then took control when his father passed. Charles desperately wanted to rebuild the family's reputation and coffers. He insisted that his sisters become all that was prim and proper and that they married well. That worked for all of her sisters – and even Charles himself – all of them found love and married for love. It did not, however, work for Frances. Frances’s family never really saw or understood who she was and they all tried to force her into a mold she just didn’t fit. After several seasons of haranguing from her family – especially this season – Frances decided that ruination would be the way for her to go. After all, if she was ruined, she wouldn’t be marriageable, and she could forge her future in her own way. However, when she deliberately ruined herself, she set in motion several reactions that had not occurred to her. Oops!

Ethan, the Earl of Winthrop, had always been drawn to Miss Frances Cherrington but never pursued anything with her – especially after he received some extremely disconcerting news. Part of that disconcerting news was discovering the existence of illegitimate half-brothers – whom he then decided to acknowledge and raise in his household.

I loved Ethan and Frances together because each of them was so much more than either of them expected – and they really were perfect for each other. Their relationship just grew as they spent time together, there wasn’t any great angst and woe-is-me. I loved that part. There were some great romantic adventures – even featuring row boats – and you could feel the attraction between the two. The love and respect were growing – and yet the storm clouds were brewing in the form of her brother Charles. It was a very near thing. I loved that there was a nice epilogue set six months in the future because it showed the continuing love and growth of their relationship.

I enjoyed the read, but I did not like any of Frances’s siblings, though I think I was supposed to feel more understanding for the sisters than I did. I don’t think I’d read the book a second time, but I will be looking forward to the third book in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

Frances Cherrington has no interest whatsoever in capturing a suitable husband. Truly, she'd rather be a spinster. Alas, her well-meaning family is determined to see her married well, and keeps thrusting her at eligible men. After a final few bad experiences -- the dancer whose body odor is utterly disgusting, numerous family abjurations to smile, and the totally unobjectionable but uninteresting Mr. Salt -- Frances decides the only way to avoid being encaged in a loveless marriage is to be ruined. And so she sets out to become a scandal.

She succeeds beyond her wildest dreams.

In the aftermath of her ruination, Frances is perfectly content to have all of the ton avoiding her like the plague. But she reckons without the effect on her family, just as she reckoned without the effect of her spinsterhood on her brother, who had the care and feeding of his family thrust upon him at an early age.

And she definitely reckoned without the Earl of Winthrop. Evan thought he was the only son of a satyr of a father, but he has recently discovered that his father left something of a trail of bastards behind him. When he attempts to ask his widowed mother about the situation, he finds out considerably more than he expected, enough so that he vows to never have any children of his own, which, he knows, means that marriage is not the best idea. But he is powerfully attracted to Frances, and before long she realizes that she, too, finds him surprisingly attractive.

I was delighted by this tale of a strong woman who takes charge of her life, even under the strictures of the early 19th century. The romance here was delightful, and the sex hot. The problems the characters dealt with were of their time, even if their solutions might not have been -- satisfyingly so. I was particularly taken by the shape of the HEA, which did my book-loving heart good. Indeed, I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately purchased the first book in the Lion and Lilies series, The Duke's Rules of Engagement, and am looking forward to further romances by Jennifer Haymore. ( )