Review: Liked the hero more than the heroine
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 26, 2011
Emma Wildes short novella about an innocent aristocrat and a rake works very well in places and other times its a tad flat.The opening scenes of this novel are well written because it gives the reader a good background of the characters and they have a history which makes this novel believable.  Cassandra has always had a big crush on her brother's best friend nobleman Ross Benson.  Cassandra is young only nineteen and she is a bluestocking enjoying country pursuits much more than London gaiety.Ross and his friend are drunk and when Cassandra helps him to his room he engages in some romantic kisses that end up with the two in bed.  Ross does the honorable deed of course and offers for her and Cassandra agrees to the wedding.  She is astute enough to realize she could be pregnant.What follows mostly in this short story is their adjustment to married life.  Ross simply loves London and his wife does not.  Ross genuinely likes Cassandra but his feelings are not fully engaged until later.  I liked Ross because he did not take himself too seriously and he had a teasing but kind sense of humor.I cannot say the same about Cassandra who was tart, somewhat priggish (surprising for a woman whose first intimacies are outside marriage) and she just did not respond well to Ross's sweet teasing and innuendo.  He was a dynamic interesting person while Cassandra comes off as humorless and interested more in her books than her surroundings.  She never was as charismatic as her lead which leaves this book with a three star rating.