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A review by ssejig
The Bride Wore Pearls by Liz Carlyle
3.0
Another book in the Fraternitas series. This happens mostly concurrently with the previous book in this series," "The Bride Wore Scarlet"." There are definitely some gaps about character development that you'll miss if you don't read the other two books in this series.
Lady Anisha Stafford is half-Scottish, half-Indian. She has moved to England with her two sons (by an English husband) to be closer to her brother, theman who reformed the Fraternitas in that country.
Rance Welham, the Earl of Weham, is very attracted to Lady Anisha. Unfortunately, he's got a murky background. Like, he-was-accused-of-murdering-a-man-and-only-escaped-because-his-hanging-didn't-work kind of murky. He wasn't exactly a good person when that happened. Though young, when accused of murdering Percevil, he was already known as a rake and there were many who thought he cheated at cards. So when he escaped the noose, many in society thought that his Daddy's money had saved his life.
In many romance stories, getting out of a murder charge would open up the hero's eyes making him a better person. Not Rance. He's still getting drunk and sleeping with loose women. Basically, trying to escape his past.
There's a powerful attraction between Rance and Anisha that she is willing to explore, but he is not. Anisha is already on the outskirts of the ton because of her blood and Rance doesn't want to pull her further from the place he thinks that she belongs.
An interesting story, I felt like there were parts of the story missing. Carlyle packs a lot into this book. There is more about his past than hers. I would have liked a little more about what she was going through. Rance was so worried about her position in society, I would have liked to see more than just the women who were so open and accepting of her.
I would have given this two and a half stars if Goodreads allowed, but I'm gonna round up. None of the individual books in this series have particularly caught my interest but I am enjoying the overall development of the Fraternitas and its members.
Lady Anisha Stafford is half-Scottish, half-Indian. She has moved to England with her two sons (by an English husband) to be closer to her brother, theman who reformed the Fraternitas in that country.
Rance Welham, the Earl of Weham, is very attracted to Lady Anisha. Unfortunately, he's got a murky background. Like, he-was-accused-of-murdering-a-man-and-only-escaped-because-his-hanging-didn't-work kind of murky. He wasn't exactly a good person when that happened. Though young, when accused of murdering Percevil, he was already known as a rake and there were many who thought he cheated at cards. So when he escaped the noose, many in society thought that his Daddy's money had saved his life.
In many romance stories, getting out of a murder charge would open up the hero's eyes making him a better person. Not Rance. He's still getting drunk and sleeping with loose women. Basically, trying to escape his past.
There's a powerful attraction between Rance and Anisha that she is willing to explore, but he is not. Anisha is already on the outskirts of the ton because of her blood and Rance doesn't want to pull her further from the place he thinks that she belongs.
An interesting story, I felt like there were parts of the story missing. Carlyle packs a lot into this book. There is more about his past than hers. I would have liked a little more about what she was going through. Rance was so worried about her position in society, I would have liked to see more than just the women who were so open and accepting of her.
I would have given this two and a half stars if Goodreads allowed, but I'm gonna round up. None of the individual books in this series have particularly caught my interest but I am enjoying the overall development of the Fraternitas and its members.