Hero: Jordan Townsende, Duke of Hawthorne
Heroine: Alexandra Lawrence
Grade: 5 out of 5
The tempestuous marriage of Alexandra Lawrence, an innocent country girl, and Jordan Townsende, the rich and powerful Duke of Hawthorne, is about to face its ultimate test of tender loyalty. Swept into the endlessly fascinating world of London society, free-spirited Alexandra becomes ensnared in a tangled web of jealousy and revenge, stormy pride and overwhelming passion. But behind her husband’s cold, arrogant mask, there lives a tender, vital, sensual man…the man Alexandra married. Now, she will fight for his very life…and the rapturous bond they alone can share.
This has got to be one of my most favorite Judith McNaught reads.
It’s one of those romances that you love but can’t read too often because there are parts of the story that really makes your heart hurt and then there are times in the story where you want to karate chop both the hero and the heroine in the knee caps because of all of the misunderstandings and all of the assumptions.
On the other hand, this is the book that you can’t help but reread as often as you can because there are fantastic scenes that make this book just so lovable. The first kiss, the first time they made love, the fencing match in the glade, the grovel scene at the end…all of those scenes make this book just amazing.
I love, love, loved this book.
I have read it more times than I can count and with each reading, I love it just a little more. Jordan and Alex were fantastic characters. Their story was filled with angst, a solid storyline and a great cast of characters that added the right amount of goodness to make the story work.
I loved Jordan Townsende and his cynical personality. I loved how serious he always was and how hard working, handsome and smart he was. He was so confident in himself and strong. I loved almost everything and I say almost everything because there were times aplenty that I wanted to throttle the snot out of this man. All of his assumptions drove me right up the wall and instead of just coming out and asking Alex flat out if she was trying to kill him would have saved him so much time, money and energy…but then where would the drama be? But, Jordan will always be one of my most favorite heroes and I will always love his big, stubborn ass!
Alex was a great heroine. She grew up to be such an incredible woman. When we first meet her, she’s so young, naive and very trusting but then she grows up when Jordan goes missing and the way she held herself and the Dowager Duchess together was nothing short of amazing. She held her own against Jordan and she didn’t let the ton get her down. She won me over when after Jordan disappears, she took care of Jordan’s grandmother even though she was such a hag to her when Alex and Jordan got married. The way that she faced down the ton and braved the whispers and the gossip surrounding her and Jordan made me so hot damn proud of her.
Together, these two would become one of my favorite JM couples of all time. I loved them both that much. I loved Anthony as well but not nearly as much as I loved Jordan. The whole story was just one drama after the other but it made for a beautiful story where two people came together in love and worked really hard for their happy ending. JM knows how to write incredible love stories that don’t come easy.
This is one of them.
I think anyone will enjoy this story, everyone will enjoy this story because it’s just the best…and you should read this story if you haven’t already because it’s the best thing you’ll read all month, I promise!
This book is available from Pocket Books. You can buy it here.
Me too! I love this book as well, it’s my favorite of her historicals!! I wished the ending had been extended a little though.
Yup – love this book, and love Jordan, and love them as a couple. Agree with you that I wanted to kill him after he came back and he automatically assumed the worst. But that’s what McNaught does so well. Great book.
Lori,
Oh goodness…all those assumptions he made, made me want choke him the heck out! But you’re right, only JM could write a story like this and totally make it work.
Nath,
I wouldn’t have minded more at the end but I loved the ending to this book, it was too cute..a little more would have been icing on the cake! =)
This is my favorite McNaught book