TOO WILDE TO WED is book two in the Wildes
of Lindow
Castle series by the redoubtable Eloisa James. Lord
Roland Northbridge Wilde has just come back from several
years away at war in the colonies to discover that the
fiancé who jilted him is living in his house, acting as
governess to his young siblings. Diana also has with her
in the castle nursery a young boy purported to be North's
illegitimate son, and the scandal rags have been accusing
North of raping Diana, causing her to flee their betrothal
party two years ago.
TOO WILDE TO WED's characters are not quite as likeable
to me as those in book one, WILDE IN LOVE. I think Diana's
lack of forethought is a serious character flaw, as she
blunders about in her life causing upheaval around her.
Diana has certainly been hamstrung by her caricature of a
mother, a grasping harpy who shoves her daughters toward
the aristocracy in her attempts to leave behind her own
plebeian background of a grocer for a father. Diana was
forced her hide her true flighty self as her mother
maneuvered her into an engagement with North, and it's sad
to realize the sorry state she was crammed into despite
her wishes. My fury toward Diana's mother knows no bounds
at many points in the story! It's certainly entertaining
to watch Diana "let it all hang out" now that she's been
disowned and isn't trying to land an aristocrat. She
doesn't have to try to restrain her natural ebullience any
longer.
North is patient and kind man, and is certainly more
understanding of Diana's peccadilloes than I would be.
North is suffering from PTSD, and finds (initially chaste)
solace in Diana's room at night when he cannot sleep. She
feeds him toast with honey and warm milk, just like her
nursery charges, and North discovers he can relax with
Diana. His sweetness of spirit combined with his
remembered love of Diana from when he first met her do a
lot to reconcile me to their budding romance. Diana
resists North for "reasons" for far too long. Diana's
care of North is beautifully delivered with a glad heart;
that is, when she's not spurning his marriage proposals.
There is a good mix of sorrow and silly mistakes in the
first part of the story. There is a definite shift in the
feeling of the book halfway through, when their physical
interactions begin to flower and they begin to communicate
on a deeper basis. Eloisa James gets me to buy into the
romance,
even when I'm not enamored of both characters, so I count
that as a win. James does a good set up for book three, and
I'm looking forward to watching Diane's cousin Lavinia and
North's brother Parth fall in love. TOO WILDE TO WED is a
diverting second chance romance.
New York TimesBestselling Author Eloisa James
returns with the second in her fun and flirtatious
Wildes of Lindow Castle series…
The handsome, rakish heir to a dukedom, Lord Roland
Northbridge Wilde—known to his friends as North—left England
two years ago, after being jilted by Miss Diana Belgrave. He
returns from war to find that he’s notorious: polite society
has ruled him “too wild to wed.”
Diana never meant to tarnish North’s reputation, or his
heart, but in her rush to save a helpless child, there was
no time to consider the consequences of working as a
governess in Lindow Castle. Now everyone has drawn the worst
conclusions about the child’s father, and Diana is left with
bittersweet regret.
When North makes it clear that he still wants her for his
own, scandal or no, Diana has to fight to keep from losing
her heart to the man whom she still has no intention of
marrying.
Yet North is returning a hardened warrior—and this is one
battle he’s determined to win.
He wants Diana, and he’ll risk everything to call her his own.
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