From reluctant debutante
To scandalous bride!
After a disastrous first Season, Lady Daisy Patterdale is
relieved to be back home with her books. Looking for peace, she rows out to the
island on the lake, where she encounters Captain Benjamin Flinders, the Earl of
Bramhall -- who's been tricked and left there with no clothes! It's a
scandalous encounter that rushes them straight to the altar… But despite her
unwillingness to wed, Daisy's drawn to charismatic Ben. If only he felt more
for her than a sense of duty…
Good book about two people who feel like misfits yet find
that they are the perfect fit for each other. The story is intensely emotional
at times, where sometimes I wanted to hug them both, and at others, I wanted to
shake them until their teeth rattled.
Daisy is a quiet girl who prefers her books to the men
she's introduced to during the Season. After returning home unattached, she must
deal with her father's vocal disappointment and disdain. After overhearing one
of her brothers pushing marriage to her onto his friends, she wants to get away
from them all. But a peaceful row to her island refuge on the lake turns into a
disaster when she rescues one of those same friends. Ben was left on the island
with no clothes during a drunken prank. But when Daisy rows him back to shore,
they are caught, and the resulting scandal forces them to marry.
I ached for both Daisy and Ben. Daisy wants no part of
marriage after her father's treatment of her mother and her. But she'll go
through with it to protect Ben from her father's wrath. If she has to marry
someone, Ben is the least objectionable. She knows him best after spending time
with him several years earlier after he suffered from a broken collar bone
while visiting. Ben has no objection to Daisy herself. He's been in love with
her since that time. But he's keeping a secret that makes him feel unworthy of
her and fears the disgust he's sure she'll feel if she finds out about it.
I enjoyed watching the development of the relationship
between Daisy and Ben, but it also frustrated me. They don't talk to each other
about their expectations for their marriage. Ben's belief in his unworthiness
makes him keep his distance. Meanwhile, Daisy has accepted the marriage but
feels rejected when Ben doesn't consummate it. So, she pays him back by being
cold to him, making him think she sees him for who he is. It doesn't help anything
that his estate is badly rundown, thanks to the previous earl, adding to Ben's
feelings of shame. I was disappointed in Daisy's behavior which seemed petty
and childish.
She got quite a shock when she saw the (misinterpreted)
encounter between Ben and Miss Fairfax. While I felt bad for her dismay, I
liked how it served as a wake-up call about her attitude. It also served as a
catalyst for the confrontation that finally got Daisy and Ben talking to each
other. They were astonished to learn that the other was not upset about their
marriage. Ben finally takes the chance to demonstrate the depth of his
attraction and finds Daisy unexpectedly receptive. With that misunderstanding
out of the way, I loved seeing Ben and Daisy exchange ideas on improving the
estate, especially Ben's vision of helping fellow veterans.
But trouble isn't done with them yet. The vindictive Miss
Fairfax tries to sow discord by telling Daisy the one bit of his past Ben
hasn't been able to share with her. Daisy won my heart with her reaction once
he confessed all. Then Ben gets called back to the war, and they face
separation just when they have finally settled into life together. Their reactions
are predictable, but I enjoyed seeing Daisy fight for what she needed from him.
The book ended abruptly, with no indication of how things went for them. I hope
that future books in the series remedy that omission.
I can't finish this review without commenting on Daisy's
family. I detested her father. He claims to love his wife, but his constant
belittling of her looks and how she treats Daisy says otherwise. His positive
attitude about their sons and their antics, as opposed to Daisy's actions, was
hypocritical. And don't get me started on his "talk" with his sons
and Ben. Meanwhile, Daisy's mother is a doormat, taking whatever emotional
abuse her husband deals out. Even her one attempt to stand up for Daisy was
shot down. Her brothers' teasing and pranks against her were obnoxious (that
wedding bouquet! <shudder>). I didn't care for how Ben passed it off as a
form of protecting her. It will be interesting to see what the author does to
redeem them in future books.
To scandalous bride!
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