A Certain Reputation - Emma Lange

And another new to me author to end this week of traditional regency reading. I'm happy to say it was a good read and I hope to read a few more of her books in the future.

She was no better than she should be, according to the Duke of Buckingham's uncle. She had somehow tricked the Duke's ne'er-do-well cousin into marriage under havey-cavey circumstances and now refused to hand over her son to his grandfather's custody after her husband's death. Still, she certainly would be no match for the powers of persuasion of one of the most handsome lords of the realm.

Anne de Montforte is not at all what Trevelyan de Montforte expects her to be. Her valiant defence of her deceased husband and determined refusal to give up her son touches something in his heart, even as he embarks on a well-planned seduction to prove her an unfit guardian. And now the duke finds himself caught in his own trap as he unexpectedly falls in love with the lady instead.

When Trev meets Anne she is receiving money from a cousin so assumes she is the courtesan his uncle believes him to be. He fails to convince her to let her son be educated by his grandfather but she accepts an invitation to visit his estate with her children as he tells her that's part of the world they should be living in. I quite liked that despite Trev believing the worst when he gets to know Anne better and spend time with her is sufficient open minded to see that she can't be as bad as he thought. Not only that but she is also a wonderful mother to Nell and Alex. Lange is very good at showing how their relationship develops, how they get to know each other better and they start to have feelings for each other. Anne is strong heroine who holds her own against Trev when he tries to be offensive and overbearing. The secrets of Anne's past are revealed slowly when Anne starts to feel she can trust Trev.

However she left one detail left unsaid that when Trev finds out leads him to a towering rage and to say some very harsh things to Anne. in this part is my only complaint of the story. For such a strong heroine I think Anne have had the chance to answer back and confront him regarding some of things he said. Instead when they are reunited again is because Alex has gone missing and there's never a chance for Trev to actually grovel and ask forgiveness as they end up joining forces to find him and the revelation of the truth comes about in a rather low key scene. I think it needed a stronger ending.

Grade: B