The Billingham Bastards, Book 2
Jenna Petersen
Avon Books/HarperCollins
September 2010/ ISBN 978-0-06-193499-5
Romance – Historical (England, 1816)
Amazon
Reviewed
by Leslie Halpern
A prologue
from 1796 reveals the beginnings of Anne Danvers’s crush on
Rhys Carlisle, Duke of Waverly. His adolescent allure increased
dramatically when he came to her rescue during children’s
games at a picnic. Her crush continued throughout her childhood
and into her adult years. None of this would seem strange except
for the fact that Rhys had been her betrothed since birth, an arranged
English marriage where love was never expected and often undesired.
In the case of rank-obsessed Rhys, tending to his Dukedom and snobbishly
putting everyone else in their place below him kept him busy most
of the time. Although he acknowledged Anne’s beauty and suitability
throughout the years and submitted to marriage with her when the
time was right, he had no intention of ever letting her into his
heart. Even so, his mysterious abandonment of his wife and home
right after their honeymoon left Anne feeling humiliated and betrayed.
This is where the official story begins. Determined to locate her
missing husband, Anne contacts his good friend, Simon Crathorne,
the new Duke of Billingham, who visited Rhys right before his departure.
Through Simon, Anne learns that a terrible secret has been revealed
to Rhys that threatens not only their marriage, but also his very
life. Undeterred by Simon’s refusal to reveal the details
of the dangerous secret, Anne journeys to the Carlisle country home
where Rhys may have gone as a refuge. When she finds him there,
she tries to bond with him physically and emotionally, but Rhys
still refuses to reveal the secret, only saying that their marriage
must end in order to “save” her. Throughout their stay
at the country home and even after their return, Anne repeatedly
and unpleasantly uses sex as a weapon to try to force him into staying
with her.
This novel follows the first in The Billingham Bastards series,
which began with What
The Duke Desires the highly compelling story of how Simon
and his wife, Lillian, met and fell in love. Rhys, however, is much
harder to love – at least for the reader – than Simon.
His coldness toward his friends and family, his disdain for the
untitled or lower titled, and his preoccupation with rank give him
lots of room for growth as a human. Although Anne helps him with
this personal development, she seems to get the short end of the
stick in this particular match.
Reviewer's
Note: Sexuality, Profanity
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