The Earl's Inconvenient Wife (Marriage by Scandal) Paperback – July 19, 2012

This is an author that I am reading for the first time and this is the first book of her Regency collection. I liked the characters,the storyline and plot development,but I found that the details of their daily lives were a bit lacking. It seemed as if the countess sat around alone all day, when most Regency books refer to very busy lives in the social scenes of London and involvement in the neighborhoods and with tenants in the country. Also,while the Earl was involved with the business of the earldom, the new countess was not involved in any way with the household management, the servants or the house ledgers. I found it distracting.Miss Claire Lowell is having her first London season and not feeling very good about it. While she is pretty enough and well dowered,she is uncomfortable in large crowds,not particularly talented at dancing and shy with new people. She slips out of her first big ball for a breath of fresh air and to ward off either a faint or a panic attack. While she's on the terrace, the reluctantly wife seeking Earl of Roderick inquires after her health and informs her that she shouldn't be out on the terrace because people will think she's up to no good. Since she's feeling so shaky, when she tries to go in, she trips and falls onto the lawn in a near faint. As Lord Roderick tries to help her up,she and he get caught by her family and some guests in a "comprising" position. Since it looks as if they've been rolling around passionately on the ground, he dutifully offers marriage and her father insists that they marry, no matter how many times Claire tries to explain or decline.Lord Roderick is resentful of what he sees as a plot to entrap him and sees Claire as manipulative and calculating. He is angry at being forced to marry someone not of his choosing and resolves to treat her only with bare bones civility. Claire is terrified to marry a furious stranger and angry that he won't believe she wasn't part of any kind of plot against him. After lots of misunderstandings and an escape attempt by Claire, Nathan (Lord Roderick) finally begins to talk to his wife. They become friends and lovers,eventually falling in love with each other.Heat factor moderate.

Nathaniel Buford, Earl of Roderick, got his title once his older brother pasted in a freak accident.Now bound by duty he is required to have a wife & produce an heir.Funny, that he goes to one of the season's balls to meet his future wife to then be caught up in an accidently scandal when he tries to help a your lady at the veranda. Nathaniel was trying to be a gentleman & inform the young lady she shouldn't be outside alone for the sake of her reputation. Unfortunately she passes out & fall off the veranda with her dress above her knees & that compromising situation has now gotten the Earl of Roderick into hot water. He know has a wife by the end of the week.Miss Claire Lowell new she would have to get married. However, she wanted it on her own terms. Someone she admired, respected & possibly fell in love with. Not out of obligation due to scandal that didn't exist. Nor that her parents used the accidently falling as a way to trap an Earl.From the moment the incident occurred they started bickering. Neither wanting to listen or believe that Lady Claire didn't plan on this unholy wedding. Can these two put the assumptions aside & try to get along to have a prosperous life & maybe fall in love?The story premise was nice but the story of then antagonizing each other was way to LONG!!Claire was to childish& Lord Roderick to righteous for his own good. But once the two finally got a chance to talk to one another. Then the sparks flew. I would have like more of them when they finally started to compromise. Plus maybe another romantic love scene.Thank goodness that we didn't have any drama with that nasty Earl who was swindling people with their loans. I also didn't like Lily, & her relationship with Claire. Claire was able to be defensive & wanting her way. Why couldn't she stop Lily from spending her husband's money. Seriously! I did enjoy Perry - Nathaniel's long time friend. I did agree with Claire that they both need each other. Plus Mr. Robinson having to understand what the real world is like.

Nathaniel Buford, Earl of Roderick, has decided he wants a wife. In his thinking the best way to pick one is to talk to a lady's father first to see if he enjoys his conversation. After all he doesn't have to converse with his wife to get an heir. Claire Lowell isn't that interested in a husband. Unfortunately a sequence of circumstances with a breath of fresh air turns into a scandal. Claire finds herself married to Nate, who does not even know her name. Nate thinks his new countess is a money grabbing wife. Claire is just as angry being married to him and wants to live in London. She resents being stashed away in the country from her family. All they seem to do is fight, until Claire's antics break the ice. Funny, but frustrating with Claire's immaturity and Nate's rigid stance.

Two sisters with totally different ideas about the type of man they as to marry. Claire for love and Lillie a title and money.Nate The Earl of Roderick wanted to marry for love and companionship, definitely not anyone wanting title and money, he over over hears a conversation about the Lowell sister and their parents being set on them marrying for a title and all that goes with it, determined not to be the one he avoids them.He walks out to the veranda to cool down, sees young Lady, tries advise and help her, then WOW every nightmare either of them wanted begins.LOVED THIS STORYLINE . ON TOW BOOK TWO,

This is a historical novel with more credibility than some of the stories I have read. Like Jane Austen women's lives are centred around getting a husband and preferably one with a title and plenty of money. Nathaniel is the Earl of Roderick and like all titled men he needs an heir to succeed him and that necessitates getting married.Claire is the daughter of a father with aspirations, she is naive and when she slips away from the dancing to stand on the veranda she is unaware she is doing anything wrong. When Nate comes and explains that she can not be outside without a chaperone lest someone think she is up to something improper she dismisses his concerns. Ever the gentleman when he tries to guide her inside she falls and as he helps her up a crowd gathers. Today we would not see this as a source for scandal or marriage, but in the early 19th century this would be catastrophic for any young woman. A hasty marriage is arranged leaving Nate feeling he has been trapped by a scheming father and daughter.Claire feels equally trapped and when they move to the country she also feels cut off from her family, but as in all good novels love blossoms and they become the happy couple in the end. Her attempts at escape are interesting, dressing up as a stable boy only to be caught by Nate. This is not without precedent, Shakespeare uses it in Twelfth Night, but that was to protect the ladies virtue not put her in danger. A lady travelling alone at that time was very vulnerable to attack and she would not escape as a servant either.There were some nice touches grounding this in a historical context, but it was a little predictable.

Nate needs a wife, to secure his inheritance. Claire is attending her first season and looking, but in no rush, for a husband.after getting themselves into a scandalous, but highly amusing, situation, they end up being forced to marry to avoid said scandal.a very easy read, passed a lunch break in fine fashion. there is no complicated plot, no twists or turns that you don't see coming, but I do not mean this in a negative way. sometimes you just need a book to READ but not really have to concentrate on. this is such a book.2 things that I will say, the way Nate goes about wooing his wife was amusing. he gets a book on how to please a woman, and follows it to the letter. But what it came across as, is that Nate had NEVER had a woman, and there is nothing to suggest he has or hasn't, it just came across as such.and, the book is obviously written by an American, and American spellings are used. but its based in London. the characters have a chat about favourite colours. if you are going to write a book based in England, please use the English spellings!summed up, for a freebie, and it still is free, not a bad way to pass your lunch break :-)

We're women's lives really that boring and unfulfilled? No skills, no interests...all emotion and sense of self value tied to a man? It seems that without her sister in her life she as as isolated as if she were on an island, despite being surrounded by people. If the marriage had not come good a foresaw a woman either ending up a shadow or a suicide risk. When she got some gumption she was entertaining but if this was really how the gentry lived it is hardly surprising that they are no more. Even the idle rich of today have goals and purpose...don't they?

Great styles of writing that provoke hidden feelings. I enjoyed the narrative between the characters very much. I feel thoroughly entertained by the content and the context in which it has been written. More please.