An Indecent Proposal!
Lady Lucy MacMorlan may have forsworn men and marriage, but that doesn’t mean she won’t agree to profit from writing love letters for her brother’s friends – letters that become increasingly racy as her fame grows. That is, until she deliberately ruins the betrothal of a notorious laird, Robert, Marquis of Methven.
Past centuries of bloodshed have left the Methven and MacMorlan families bitter enemies and Robert is furious that Lady Lucy’s letters have cost him the bride he needs so urgently to save his ancestral clan lands. Now he makes Lucy a shocking proposal; in return for his silence she must become his wife and provide him with the heir he needs. It is an inconvenient marriage of convenience but can the rugged laird and the bluestocking beauty fight against the power of love?
Lord Methven needs a wife in order to fulfill an ancient treaty and to keep his lands. He needs to marry someone from a particular family line (the family the treaty is bound to) but after being left at the altar by one woman there’s only one left and that is Lucy MacMorlan. Lucy, however, has no desire to marry nor have children…ever…due to a tragedy involving her twin when she was 16. The treaty says Methven must marry within a year and have an heir within 2 years. Nothing like rushing things. Methven likes Lucy a lot so he’s not having a hard time imagining her as his wife but Lucy would rather face a horrible reputation than marry anyone. Robert manages to work his charms and after traveling on their own with no chaperone Lucy knows she has to marry.
The first part of the story is Robert and Lucy and their struggles with themselves and each other – with Robert asking Lucy to marry him at every turn – as well as dealing with the villain of the story, Lucy’s cousin Wilfred. Wilfred will claim the Methven lands if Robert can’t fulfill the treaty so of course he’ll do anything to stop Lucy and Robert. In the second part of the story Robert and Lucy are still dealing with Wilfred but Lucy is also struggling with Robert as they head to the island where he grew up and he becomes stoic and uncommunicative as the island holds such good and some horrible memories.
The story was very well done and I really enjoyed it. Lucy did pull a couple of stupid stunts during the story and those were frustrating as she just seemed too smart to do what she did. I liked the different stages that the characters went through with their emotions. Lucy was so proper yet had an underlying passion for life in her that she tried to squash down. Coming to terms with her true self and facing the emotions and fears she had been carrying around for the past eight years wasn’t easy but she did it well and the author didn’t rush this which I appreciated.
Robert was gorgeous and charming yet could be a jerk. The thing I liked about him though was that he knew when he was being a jerk and always apologized for it. I liked that about him. He was fiercely loyal to those under his care and it showed what kind of a man he truly was. He was a good match for Lucy, that’s for sure.
Overall a story well done. I look forward to reading more in this series.
Rating: 4 out of 5
I enjoy this author's work but haven't read this one, thanks for the review.