Review: Is it a ghost he lusts after. . . or a real woman?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 16, 2012
Giles is a womanizer par excellence. He finds willing women everywhere he goes, and indulges himself without restraint. But sometimes as he's pounding inside another woman, he notices a silent wraith watching him. He finds himself yearning for her touch, wishing she were real, and being haunted by her in his dreams.Lillian was at one time Giles's betrothed, but the betrothal was severed after she suffered a near-fatal accident at the age of fourteen. Giles had heard--from her own mother--that she was dead, but he discovers otherwise one night when her father appears on his doorstep with a near-comatose Lilly in his arms, and demands that Giles watch over her for a few weeks until he can make arrangements for her placement in some sort of institution.Of course, Giles is absolutely the worst person to be put in charge of a beautiful young innocent, invalid or not. But he cannot avoid the duty, and once he has weaned her off the large doses of laudanum that kept her an invalid, he discovers that she is a charming young lady. A dangerous one, too, since she evokes feelings in him that he never thought to have for any woman. Protectiveness, yes. But he wants her as a man wants a woman, and she deserves much better than him.Once free from the mind-numbing drugs, Lillian becomes aware of life again. It doesn't take much for her to fall for Giles, but she knows she's too fragile to be the woman for him. . . and she knows for a fact that he takes pleasure in many, many women. But how can she manage to live her life without him? Her mother wants her dead, her father loves her but is clueless about her needs, and her cousin who is his heir does not wish her well.We will also meet the hero of the next installmentCharity (The Distinguished Rogues ~ Book 3), who plays a significant part in the resolution of the plot. I really liked both Giles and Lilly and wanted to slap the father for his idiocy, but the most aggravation came from the fact that the mother who wished her daughter dead was still alive.Frankly, I wasn't sure I would like a book where the heroine was an invalid, so I procrastinated reading it until I recognized these characters in the third book and was intrigued enough by them to look it up on my Kindle. I'm so glad I did! Ms. Boyd has a way of drawing you in when you least expect it. I look forward to reading more!