Review: Unique story line, but langage not authentic to time period.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 16, 2013
My rating: 3 of 5 starsHero of My Heart by Megan Frampton is a Kensington Love Swept publication, released in April 2013. Mary, a vicar's daughter, finds herself at her half brother's mercy after her father passes away. She finds her virginity being auctioned off. When Alasdair Thornham, the Marquess of Datchworth stumbles into the establishment and sees the dullness in Mary's eyes, he immediately recognizes that look. The poor girl had been drugged to keep her under control. Warring with his conscience and his wallet, he steps up and rescues the damsel in distress. Not really one for making plans, Alasdair does plan to marry Mary and see that her reputation remains in tact, then he intends to give himself over to his drug addiction, not caring what happens to him. However, he and Mary embark on quite an adventure. She must continue to avoid her brother, then Alasdair's cousin, with his dastardly plans. Mary also wants to meet the mother she never knew. Mary never expected to find herself dealing with a man with an opium addiction. Alasdair has lost his entire family and went through the horrors of war where he sustained an injury. Mary discovers dark family secrets about her brother and her parents. Together they work to get to London and establish Mary in her role as Aladair's wife and hopefully to let Mary meet her mother. In the process they fall in love. Each one of them loves and needs the other , but is terrified of trusting too much in the other one. What if something happens to Mary like all the other people Alasdair has loved? What if Alasdair can't keep his opium addiction at bay? I would really like to give this one a 3.5 rating. I went back and forth between the three and four stars. The deciding factor was that ever present pet peeve of mine about using language that no "lady " of this time frame would use. In this instance we were talking about the vicar's daughter. The F-bomb- really?  I didn't have a problem with Mary's sexual awakening and not being shy about expressing her physical needs to Alasdair. The other factor was that the ending seemed a bit rushed. Other than that, I like the flawed hero, and the strong woman that brings him back from the brink. I'm a sucker for that stuff. As the title suggest, Alasdair was a hero for Mary too. A nice, and saucy, historical romance. I will give this one a C+/B-. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the DRC of this book.