Title: Six Weeks with a Lord
Author: Eve Pendle
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest
Publisher: Entangled Publishing: Amara
Release Date: June 25, 2018
Genre: Historical, Romance
ARC Received From: Entangled Publishing via NetGalley
Reviewed For: Author's Pal
Hosted By: Author's Pal
Grace Alnott is out of time. To save her younger brother from an abusive guardian, her merchant father’s will demands she must marry a peer. Handsome but destitute Everett Hetherington, Earl of Westbury agrees to her offer of a marriage of convenience but stipulates she must live with him for six weeks. No matter how honorable he seems she can’t allow him to get too close, because the aristocracy cannot be trusted.
Six weeks. Major Everett Hetherington, new Earl of Westbury, has exactly six weeks to convince the very independent Grace Alnott to spend the rest of her life with him. Despite her belief she doesn't belong in his world, he must tempt the alluring Grace into staying, because he has fallen for her. Hard. He just has to ensure she never discovers his secret.
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Marriage of convenience is commonplace in historical romances. Often times it's done for political or social gain, sometimes both. There is little love lost between the two parties; marriage vows are easily broken and affairs are as frequent as breathing. So the trope isn't one I'm not familiar with, neither are the reasons for Grace and Everett's marriage. Like all stories before and after this one that will follow this trope, it's the journey from beginning to end that will make it unique.
I can't say it's the most outstanding reason, but it is a rare one for me to find, is the absolute refusal to indulge in sex simply because they were married. Everett showed a great deal of respect for Grace in that regards, unwilling to press his advantage but wanting to let their relationship develop naturally. Their attraction was mutual and it developed over time into much more. But it was Everett's high regard of Grace as a woman, as a person, that fortified their union and placed it on an even keel in a time when women were little more than bargaining chips.
When Everett and Grace finally consummated their marriage, it became their focus and, to be honest, it was lovely to see that kind of excitement in characters. I liked that they indulged in one another, that the author took time to let physical intimacy be the center of the moment. It's a honeymoon of old, before times of living together, of premarital sex, and it was beautiful to see. It felt like they'd lost sight of their reasons for marrying one another, but reality is never truly forgotten even in moments of bliss.
I will say that the only shrug-worthy aspect of this story is her brother's guardian. In truth, he was no different than nobility of the time who thought themselves free to do as they pleased with and to others beneath them. His lecherous personality wasn't a surprise, neither were his indiscretions with house staff. He wasn't a dark lord or fire-breathing dragon; he was just a dirty old man who didn't know what he was up against when he went up against Grace.
For a debut novel, Ms. Pendle did a terrific job of pulling me in with setting and characters. This isn't written like a first novel; it's written like this is her twelfth. Everett and Grace are typical of their time period yet not, their circumstance is a mirror image of someone else's yet not. Ms. Pendle did them justice, giving them a happy ending that was well-deserved, and a journey to it that is memorable.
Eve lives in England and writes angsty, snarky and passionate Victorian era romance. She has National Trust membership, a big-boned cat, and a crazy dog. She loves wearing dresses and eating chocolate.
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