The Love Affair Of An English Lord (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Hunter weaves an entertaining tale of romance and suspense with “The Love Affair of an English Lord.” Chloe Boscastle, the headstrong younger sister of Grayson Boscastle, the Marquess of Sedgecroft, has been banished to the country for her compromising behavior. Chloe has barely settled in when she meets Dominic Breckland, Viscount Stratfield. The only problem to their blossoming romance is that the town thinks Dominic is a ghost! Hunter’s novel engages the reader from the first page with an intriguing scene that has Dominic hiding in Chloe’s closet. Dominic and Chloe’s story walks a tight rope of romantic suspense, keeping the reader riveted to the page to find out what happens next. The novel opens with Chloe staying with her Uncle Humphrey and Aunt Gwendolyn in Chistlebury. She’s been banished to the country for her daring behavior in London. Chistlebury is buzzing about the recent death of Viscount Stratfield, Dominic Breckland. Dominic, however, isn’t really dead. He staged his death in order to fret out the criminal who was trying to kill him. After a pursuit, Dominic hides in Chloe’s closet, where she finds the ghost very much alive. The two are drawn to each other, seeing vulnerabilities in each other they normally wouldn’t due to their own “banished” situations. Dominic leaves, but not before igniting Chloe’s curiosity, and her heart. Despite her better judgment, she keeps the fact he’s alive to herself. Dominic’s estate has been taken over by his uncle, Edgar. Dominic quickly realizes that it’s his uncle who tried to kill him. Time is of the essence to Dominic. Now that he’s met Chloe, he’s determined to prove his uncle’s guilt so he can court Chloe openly.While the legend of Dominic’s ghost grows, Chloe and Dominic meet in secret, kindling their love with hot, smoldering kisses and sensual caresses. The couple’s love quickly turns into a burning flame, one that Dominic hungers to make public. He enlists the help of his friend, Adrian Ruxley, to bring his uncle’s crimes to light. After Dominic sets his plan in motion, he confronts his uncle in a harrowing showdown, and narrowly escapes with his life. Chloe reunites with Dominic who no longer has to masquerade as a ghost. This is the second in the Boscastle series, and I’ve enjoyed all the novels in the series. The story is past paced and hard to put down. The plot comes together nicely. Chloe and Dominic each have an interesting back story, but they seem to come together as a couple quickly, without really getting to know each other first. The supporting cast has a personality that will endear them to the reader. Hunter’s love scenes are graphic, yet tasteful, full of passion.“The Love Affair of an English Lord” is a delicious romantic romp.
Chloe Bocastle may be a member of an infamous family, but her brothers seem to think that because she is female, she should be held to a higher standard. Plus, she needs to get away from town after being seen kissing a man to whom she is not married. But, just because she is in the country, it doesn't mean she's going to be proper. Instead, she's too busy falling in love with a man most people believe to be a ghost.Someone tried to kill Dominic Breckland so he decided to play dead. Only he's been attacked again and ends up hiding in Chloe's unmentionables. He blackmails her into helping him until she starts to help him of her own volition, because, well, he's hot and she's hot for him.
What do You think about The Love Affair Of An English Lord (2005)?
I liked the previous book in the series. It wasn't mind-blowing awesomeness, but it was a nice historical romance, with some humor thrown in. This one, however, was just boring and easily put down.The heroine, Chloe, is a spirited young woman, looking for adventure and entertainment in some wrong places. The hero, what's-his-name, was... good-looking? Also, people were trying to kill him, even though he faked his own death because somebody tried to kill him. Don't ask. I was not impressed with the plot, and the language was strange--one moment it's way to stilted, the next moment they almost talk like in a contemporary romance. Also, their banter was not cute, it sounded forced to me, like the author thought every line the hero/heroine uttered needed to zing! Some of the secondary characters were fun, though, and since I have the next book, I just might read it to see if things improved.Basically, I didn't care about the characters, the plot, anything. This was just too basic for me. YMMV.
—Mara
I should have liked this book more than I did. The hero and his best friend are both everything you might want in a romantic hero; brave, handsome and intriguing. But I'm not sure that it was ever made entirely clear why the hero needed to hatch an elaborate plot to ambush the villain rather than simply turning him in to the sheriff; even a little post-traumatic amnesia might have been nice. The heroine-helps-hero-recover-from-suppurating-wound has been done better in other books. The heroine is beautiful and daring (reckless?) but there were little things about her character that were lacking and resulted in her being somewhat shallow.
—Roberta
NOTE: This is more a detailed plot summary than a review. I write these so I can remember what happened in any given book, especially those in a series. But if anyone else finds this helpful - awesome.In the first Boscastle book, Chloe was the only sibling to share with Jane Grayson’s true feelings towards her and his resulting, confused treachery. In return, Jane was always a stanch opponent of Chloe being banished to the countryside, but this was a battle Jane lost in her desire to win the war
—Megan
