[TKN]≫ PDF The Earl Secret Bargain Marriage by Deceit Book 1 edition by Ruth Ann Nordin Romance eBooks

The Earl Secret Bargain Marriage by Deceit Book 1 edition by Ruth Ann Nordin Romance eBooks

Download As PDF : The Earl Secret Bargain Marriage by Deceit Book 1 edition by Ruth Ann Nordin Romance eBooks

The Earl Secret Bargain Marriage by Deceit Book 1 edition by Ruth Ann Nordin Romance eBooks

I've read several of Ms. Nordin's books, and in general, they fall in the 3-4 star range, not the "can't put it down variety" but neither are they sexually explicit. To be honest,if this had been the first of her's I'd read, it would also be the last. Typically her character's either wear white hats or black and behave accordingly. Her plots are uncomplicated with a happily ever after-just easy, feel good reads. I have no idea what happened to "The Earl's Secret Bargain", perhaps the author is stretching her wings a bit, but it left the book and this reader flat. The characters change attitudes and outlooks for barely discernible reasons, the hero was mostly wimpy, and the heroine wishy-washy. The author used a lot of repetitive conversation with insufficient action to carry the plot. There were even a couple of explicit sexual scenes thrown in that just left me cold. I read about 40% of the book last week and picked it back up late last night...bad decision. Even for a free download, it just wasn't worth the time!


Tags : The Earl's Secret Bargain (Marriage by Deceit Book 1) - Kindle edition by Ruth Ann Nordin. Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.,ebook,Ruth Ann Nordin,The Earl's Secret Bargain (Marriage by Deceit Book 1),Fiction Romance Historical Regency,Fiction Romance Historical Victorian

The Earl Secret Bargain Marriage by Deceit Book 1 edition by Ruth Ann Nordin Romance eBooks Reviews

Sadly, this book was just okay. The writing was competent, but the pace was slow and predictable. What really was a turn off for me was the grammar and dialog. Although clean, neither were period and many phrases and words were all too contemporary.

Regina (heroine) was refreshingly candid with dry wit, but with a fickle side. Add to that an annoying mother and all I could do was roll my eyes.
Toby (hero) is a really nice, quiet gentleman, with emphasis on the gentle. However, he forfeited his honor by letting his pride pull draw him into a bet that would hurt the heroine. Thankfully, he was good and kind enough to be worthy of redemption and forgiveness.
Villain was an obnoxious, self-absorbed bully. But except for one deciding confrontation, he really didn't play that big a part in the story.

I put down this book several times and almost didn't finish it. As the pace finally picked up, I was about to reconsider my opinion, but then the story seemed to rush to the end with a complimentary but brief epilog.
How this got published I'll never know because it is terrible. I'm mad I even took the time to read this free book, so I hope my review will save others from wasting their time. This was written at a fifth grade reading level, so the love scenes are actually creepy. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is true to period. It's a story that's been retold a million times A bet at Whites over a marriage proposal and the terms are exposed in the scandal sheets. In this book it's called a gossip column, so you can tell the author didn't care enough to do even a little research to get that small detail right. After highlighting 19 inconsistencies in the first 30 pages, I gave up on the book and skipped to the end just to see if the couple was married by the queen, drove away in a car, and honeymooned on Mars, because that is how absurd the author made this story.
This book fell solidly in the middle of the road for me. There were some good points, and there were some not-so-good points. To begin with, I enjoyed the characters and what they brought to the story. I felt that the opening of the story (where Pennella and Davenport originally make the wager) was a true statement to the life of the ton at that time. They have always been presented as a society who felt they were not only better than everyone else, but were also entitled to certain things that others were not, and the fact that these two lord were willing to wager their estates over the hand of a woman who was being used as nothing more than a pawn was a prime example of that.

The story started off strong, the chemistry between Lord Davenport and Miss Giles was evident, and even Lord Pannella was interesting in the beginning (I felt he was the polar opposite of Lord Danveport in that he was the complete epitome of a ton member where Lord Davenport was more sincere).

Unfortunately, near the middle of the story, things began to slowly unravel. I felt that the story became repetitive, and in some areas, downright boring. I think what sealed the deal for me lowering the star rating started when Lord Panella seemingly scampered off with his tail between his legs after being confronted by Miss Giles, and ended when Lord Danveport because jealous and cold towards Miss Giles when she tried to form a friendship with his best friend Orlando.

After the way Lord Panella's character was set up throughout the entire story, his sudden departure seemed completely out of character for him. In fact I spent the rest of the story wondering when he was going to reappear with his next "evil scheme". And as far as Lord Davenport is concerned, after all he had been through with Miss Giles, his behavior seemed overly juvenile.

Lastly, word of caution to those of you who only read "clean" romances, there are instances of "after-marriage" sexual relations.
I've read several of Ms. Nordin's books, and in general, they fall in the 3-4 star range, not the "can't put it down variety" but neither are they sexually explicit. To be honest,if this had been the first of her's I'd read, it would also be the last. Typically her character's either wear white hats or black and behave accordingly. Her plots are uncomplicated with a happily ever after-just easy, feel good reads. I have no idea what happened to "The Earl's Secret Bargain", perhaps the author is stretching her wings a bit, but it left the book and this reader flat. The characters change attitudes and outlooks for barely discernible reasons, the hero was mostly wimpy, and the heroine wishy-washy. The author used a lot of repetitive conversation with insufficient action to carry the plot. There were even a couple of explicit sexual scenes thrown in that just left me cold. I read about 40% of the book last week and picked it back up late last night...bad decision. Even for a free download, it just wasn't worth the time!