The Stranger She Married by Donna Hatch
My Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis
When her parents and only brother die within weeks of each other, Alicia and her younger sister are left in the hands of an uncle who has brought them all to financial and social ruin. Desperate to save her family from debtor's prison, Alicia vows to marry the first wealthy man to propose. She meets the dashing Lord Amesbury, and her heart whispers that this is the man she is destined to love, but his tainted past may forever stand in their way. Her choices in potential husbands narrow to either a scarred cripple with the heart of a poet, or a handsome rake with a deadly secret.
Cole Amesbury is tormented by his own ghosts, and believes he is beyond redemption, yet he cannot deny his attraction for the girl whose genuine goodness touches the heart he'd thought long dead. He fears the scars in his soul cut so deeply that he may never be able to offer Alicia a love that is true.
When yet another bizarre mishap threatens her life, Alicia suspects the seemingly unrelated accidents that have plagued her loved ones are actually a killer's attempt to exterminate every member of her family. Despite the threat looming over her, learning to love the stranger she married may pose the greatest danger to her heart.
Cole Amesbury is tormented by his own ghosts, and believes he is beyond redemption, yet he cannot deny his attraction for the girl whose genuine goodness touches the heart he'd thought long dead. He fears the scars in his soul cut so deeply that he may never be able to offer Alicia a love that is true.
When yet another bizarre mishap threatens her life, Alicia suspects the seemingly unrelated accidents that have plagued her loved ones are actually a killer's attempt to exterminate every member of her family. Despite the threat looming over her, learning to love the stranger she married may pose the greatest danger to her heart.
My Review
I love regency and I love a clean romance. Ahhhhhh. So it's only natural to say that I really love Donna Hatch's writing. She has a way of making the words flow while painting the perfect picture. When I read her books, I get so into the story. I feel like I'm watching a movie in my mind and I get swept away on a fantastic ride. She always has some sort of twist in her stories which makes it a lot of fun.
I actually read the second book in The Rogue Hearts series first (which I loved), so I was already acquainted with the characters a bit. I ate up this story. The characters were so real and the whole story just came to life. It's a bit steamy in parts, but nothing that crossed my conservative boundaries. It might have bothered me that Cole was trying to woo (is that the right word) Alicia, except that I had some suspicions that made it okay for me. How is that for cryptic? I'm trying to write a review without adding spoilers. It's very difficult. Let's just say that I loved it and it made me want to read the second book in The Rogue Hearts series, The Guise of a Gentleman, again. And then it made me hungry for more...next book Donna?
Thanks so much for the lovely review!
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