A Promise of More by Bronwen Evans
Publication date: April 15, 2014
Publisher: Loveswept
Series: Disgraced Lords #2
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~~Reviewed by Bonnie~~
Would you marry the person who killed your brother? Beatrice Hennessey has decided to do just
that. Her brother was about to be
married to a rich heiress, and this would have solved the family’s financial
woes, but before the wedding took place, he was killed in a duel. Sebastian Hawkestone, Marquis Coldhurst, did
not want to duel. He even apologized,
but the hotheaded young man was not having it.
Sebastian knows he fired wide, yet somehow the young man is dead, and it
must be his fault. Beatrice confronts
Sebastian, and insists that he make reparation to her family by marrying her,
and providing for them. While Sebastian
really isn’t eager to marry, his conscience prods him into accepting. And since Beatrice hates him, there will be
no messy love involved, so he won’t have to deal with that.
Beatrice is a spinster, who was cruelly given the nickname
of “Henpeck Hennessey” because she was constantly picking at her (now deceased)
brother, trying to keep him from frittering away the family’s little money. The dreams she had of finding true love when
she was younger are long gone, and she’s willing to live with a murderer if it
means keeping her remaining family alive and well. So Sebastian and Beatrice are married, both
having low expectations. But despite
everything else, there is an attraction between them, and Sebastian has made it
clear that he needs an heir.
Here is where the story weakened for me. Sebastian states that he wants no part of
love because his parents were a great love match and it almost destroyed
them. He also plans to continue his
rakish ways, while he expects Beatrice to be faithful, because, you know, he
has to be sure the children are his.
It’s different for men. This
really infuriated me, and I can’t say how far he took this without giving
spoilers, but it certainly didn’t paint him as a hero in my eyes. As for Beatrice, while she intended to remain
faithful, she told lies, was evasive, and made some very unintelligent
decisions. By the book’s end, I found
myself doubting that they could break away from that horrible pattern they
started and have a loving life with each other.
Despite that, Bronwen Evans, has created a very intriguing series of the
Disgraced Lords with a mysterious figure out to destroy them. I recommend this book to
those following this series, although I found Book One, A Kiss of Lies to be a
much stronger story.
*Review copy complimentary of the publisher via Netgalley; yes it’s an honest review
Rating:
Nice Review!
ReplyDeleteAhhh! I long for a historical romance hero who believes in being faithful and actually waits for marriage. These type of non-rakish heroes are so hard to come by.
I read one so similar to that just recently where he'd killed her best friend (though he'd shot wide too). He was quite the scoundrel as well. They do seem to be everywhere don't think? The series does sound good. I'll have to hunt up book one :)
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