Helpful Score: 1
~ Wonderful romance with witty dialogue, great verbal sparring, and well-written chemistry (5 stars) ~
Suzanne Enoch is an extremely talented writer and I absolutely loved BY LOVE UNDONE, the first of the Bancroft Brothers books (followed by TAMING RAFE). Maddie and Quin are wonderful characters and their romance is so enjoyable to read. The witty dialogue and verbal sparring is highly entertaining and Maddie is a great heroine, a real spitfire who is not afraid to stand up for herself. It was also a wonderful change to have the hero be unafraid to declare that he's in love (in this book, it's the heroine who is reluctant to admit her feelings out loud). The secondary characters were well-written and three dimensional; the Duke and Duchess (Quin's parents) were both complex characters and neither of them was portrayed as being simply "good" or "bad," making them very realistic. I loved Rafe, Quin's younger brother, and cannot wait to read his story.
SUMMARY:
Madeleine Willits was 18 years old when she was ruined after being caught kissing a young man who was not her fiance (the guy was actually drunk and forcing himself on her). Her friends and fiance abandon her and her parents lock her in her room; she escapes and decides to create a new life for herself, leaving London behind and vowing to have nothing more to do with London society or the nobility. When we meet Maddie, she is 23 years old and has been been the companion to an elderly gentleman, Mr. Malcolm Bancroft, for four years. Malcolm receives a letter from his brother, the Duke of Highbarrow, telling him that Malcolm's nephew Quinlan Bancroft, Marquis of Warefield (30), is coming to visit. Although Maddie has promised her employer she will be on her best behavior, she can barely control her antipathy and antagonism towards Quin (she pretends to cover it by being sickeningly sweet).
Quin is the upstanding and obedient elder son who has always fulfilled his obligations and taken care of his responsibilities, yet he is confounded by the immediate hostility he encounters upon meeting his uncle's companion - whom he assumes is actually Malcolm's mistress. When Malcolm (a great secondary character!) catches Maddie and Quin kissing, he insists that Quin help reintroduce Maddie to society to make up for it. The battle of wits that ensues is highly entertaining and you will greatly enjoy seeing Quin and Maddie getting to know, like, and eventually love one another.
There is a subplot involving characters who are trying to stop Quin and Maddie from getting their HEA and although I don't usually like contrived obstacles that get in the way of the hero and heroine's love story, there were none of those major misunderstandings/mix-ups between the main characters that sometimes ensue, so it didn't really detract from the book.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Maddie is a strong and independent heroine; she's very likable and admirably overcomes a painful past and creates a new life for herself. Like I said before, she's a spitfire who sticks up for herself and it's fun to watch her clash with Quin (and the Duke!!). Quin is a terrific hero; a lot of times the guys are rakes whom the heroine tames, so it was a nice change to have the hero be a man who is normally Mr. Respectable Nice Guy and who meets in the heroine a woman who makes him want to let passion and his heart guide him.
BOTTOM LINE:
A must-read that I would recommend buying; classified as a keeper and definite re-read in my library. Other Enoch books that I have read and enjoyed include A MATTER OF SCANDAL and LONDON'S PERFECT SCOUNDREL, as well as TAMING RAFE which is this book's sequel.
(http://historical-romance-heaven.blogspot.com)
Suzanne Enoch is an extremely talented writer and I absolutely loved BY LOVE UNDONE, the first of the Bancroft Brothers books (followed by TAMING RAFE). Maddie and Quin are wonderful characters and their romance is so enjoyable to read. The witty dialogue and verbal sparring is highly entertaining and Maddie is a great heroine, a real spitfire who is not afraid to stand up for herself. It was also a wonderful change to have the hero be unafraid to declare that he's in love (in this book, it's the heroine who is reluctant to admit her feelings out loud). The secondary characters were well-written and three dimensional; the Duke and Duchess (Quin's parents) were both complex characters and neither of them was portrayed as being simply "good" or "bad," making them very realistic. I loved Rafe, Quin's younger brother, and cannot wait to read his story.
SUMMARY:
Madeleine Willits was 18 years old when she was ruined after being caught kissing a young man who was not her fiance (the guy was actually drunk and forcing himself on her). Her friends and fiance abandon her and her parents lock her in her room; she escapes and decides to create a new life for herself, leaving London behind and vowing to have nothing more to do with London society or the nobility. When we meet Maddie, she is 23 years old and has been been the companion to an elderly gentleman, Mr. Malcolm Bancroft, for four years. Malcolm receives a letter from his brother, the Duke of Highbarrow, telling him that Malcolm's nephew Quinlan Bancroft, Marquis of Warefield (30), is coming to visit. Although Maddie has promised her employer she will be on her best behavior, she can barely control her antipathy and antagonism towards Quin (she pretends to cover it by being sickeningly sweet).
Quin is the upstanding and obedient elder son who has always fulfilled his obligations and taken care of his responsibilities, yet he is confounded by the immediate hostility he encounters upon meeting his uncle's companion - whom he assumes is actually Malcolm's mistress. When Malcolm (a great secondary character!) catches Maddie and Quin kissing, he insists that Quin help reintroduce Maddie to society to make up for it. The battle of wits that ensues is highly entertaining and you will greatly enjoy seeing Quin and Maddie getting to know, like, and eventually love one another.
There is a subplot involving characters who are trying to stop Quin and Maddie from getting their HEA and although I don't usually like contrived obstacles that get in the way of the hero and heroine's love story, there were none of those major misunderstandings/mix-ups between the main characters that sometimes ensue, so it didn't really detract from the book.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Maddie is a strong and independent heroine; she's very likable and admirably overcomes a painful past and creates a new life for herself. Like I said before, she's a spitfire who sticks up for herself and it's fun to watch her clash with Quin (and the Duke!!). Quin is a terrific hero; a lot of times the guys are rakes whom the heroine tames, so it was a nice change to have the hero be a man who is normally Mr. Respectable Nice Guy and who meets in the heroine a woman who makes him want to let passion and his heart guide him.
BOTTOM LINE:
A must-read that I would recommend buying; classified as a keeper and definite re-read in my library. Other Enoch books that I have read and enjoyed include A MATTER OF SCANDAL and LONDON'S PERFECT SCOUNDREL, as well as TAMING RAFE which is this book's sequel.
(http://historical-romance-heaven.blogspot.com)
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