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The Secret Bride by Jo Beverley
Feb. 6th, 2010 10:43 pmWhen he was 16, Christian Hill, newly enlisted into the army, heard a companion bragging about tricking a young heiress into eloping with him. Christian, head full of heroic acts, rushed off to rescue the girl and killed the other man in a duel, only to have her aunt barge in and demand he marry the girl instead. Whoops.
Ten years later, Christian and his bride, Dorcas, have both believed the other dead since shortly after their shotgun wedding. Then Christian learns that someone is looking for “Jack Hill” the pseudonym he used at the wedding, and he begins to wonder if his wife may still be alive. Dorcas, meanwhile, has become rich because of the businesses she inherited from her aunt, and plans to marry a nice, dull young man. Wouldn’t you if you were carried off by a fortunehunter and then rescued by a man who killed your abductor, married you, and ran off 5 minutes later? First, she wants to make sure she isn’t actually married to someone else.
Once they meet, they both spend most of the book pretending to be someone else-he an interested third party, she initially a maid, and then a traveler. It’s another adventurous one by Jo Beverley (maybe she’s mostly writing those now?) with mob hunts and vengeful relatives and multiple disguises and all such. Unlike a lot of Beverleys, it also manages to avoid derailing somewhat in the tail end, which I’m rather grateful for.
This is connected to the Malloren books, but is apparently book 2 in another Georgian series about Christian and two of his friends, though all the couples are connected to Rothgar in one way or another. Apparently, he knows everyone.
Ten years later, Christian and his bride, Dorcas, have both believed the other dead since shortly after their shotgun wedding. Then Christian learns that someone is looking for “Jack Hill” the pseudonym he used at the wedding, and he begins to wonder if his wife may still be alive. Dorcas, meanwhile, has become rich because of the businesses she inherited from her aunt, and plans to marry a nice, dull young man. Wouldn’t you if you were carried off by a fortunehunter and then rescued by a man who killed your abductor, married you, and ran off 5 minutes later? First, she wants to make sure she isn’t actually married to someone else.
Once they meet, they both spend most of the book pretending to be someone else-he an interested third party, she initially a maid, and then a traveler. It’s another adventurous one by Jo Beverley (maybe she’s mostly writing those now?) with mob hunts and vengeful relatives and multiple disguises and all such. Unlike a lot of Beverleys, it also manages to avoid derailing somewhat in the tail end, which I’m rather grateful for.
This is connected to the Malloren books, but is apparently book 2 in another Georgian series about Christian and two of his friends, though all the couples are connected to Rothgar in one way or another. Apparently, he knows everyone.