This plot is rich from the start and thickens rapidly as
newcomers stir the situation. I found myself eager to keep
up with events in WHAT THE GROOM WANTS. The tale is set
during Regency times and tensions and twists are rife.
Londoner Wendy Drew works in a private gambling hell to pay
off her brother's debt, but the owner piles on interest.
By day Wendy is a seamstress, and lives virtuously with her
mother, needing to be of good character to attract wealthy
customers. Another brother was taken to sea by an older
lad,
and this has been the making of him. Now both Tom and
their friend Radley Lyncott arrive home from sea, unaware
of the fine line Wendy has been walking. Radley has been
dreaming of the day when he can start courting Wendy and he
lets her know his intentions with a kiss.
Radley is a distant cousin to a ducal family and at the
gaming table that night Wendy overhears that smallpox has
run through that ducal seat, carrying off all the men. Can
Radley inherit? And if he is now a duke, what would he
want with a common seamstress? The gambling boss becomes
very interested, claiming to have more money and influence
than the Prince of Wales - these treasonous words reveal
his true intentions when he offers Wendy and her mother
rent-free accommodations. Radley prefers to be a ship's
captain, but he'd be a target for every pirate and
kidnapper - instead he'll have to learn to manage pox-
devilled tenants, sheep and crops. He's also urged by his
solicitors to marry a cousin to secure the ducal line.
Radley feels that his life has been wrecked.
Seeing the competent seaman adjust to his new status and
profess his ignorance of protocol is highly entertaining.
Cousin Eleanor resents having no claim to the title, while
Radley's own mother and sister are predictably overcome.
The new lord has to keep explaining that assets don't equal
cash. I kept chuckling as I read. By contrast the
gambling boss proves a black-hearted villain, threatening
women and scarring them in a really unpleasant piece of
characterisation. The denouement is quite startling,
unusual for a romance, but author Jade Lee has had plenty
of practice with thirty previous novels and knows how to
write an explosive scene. This sexy saga WHAT THE GROOM
WANTS will hold your interest no matter how many Regency
romances you've read.
Radley Lyncott has been in love with Wendy Drew as long as
he can remember. When he went to sea, she was too young to
court. Now that he's returned to take up his Welsh title, he
is appalled to find that debt has ruined the Drew family,
and—even worse—Wendy is being courted by another man.
Or a dangerous attraction?
Family comes first for seamstress Wendy Drew, who is forced
to settle her brother's debt by working nights at a
notorious gambling den. But her double-life hasn't gone
unnoticed—she has captivated none other than Demon Damon, a
nefarious rake who understands Wendy's darkest desires and
is hell bent on luring her into his arms.
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