"Engaging Marriage of Conveniece story"
TO MARRY AN HEIRESS continues Lorraine Heath's excellent
series involving characters from Fortune, Texas--although
this book takes place completely in Regency England. The Earl of Huntingdon, Devon Sheridan, is so desperate for
money to replenish his coffers that he proposes an exchange
of Georgina (Gina) Pierce's inheritance for his title in a
marriage. Gina's rich Texas father is eager to see her
marry well and accepts the proposition on the condition
that Devon court Gina and not tell her the truth about his
interest in her. But, Gina is very bright and quickly
figures out what is up. She agrees to the match as she
knows her father wants it for her, but only IF Devon
promises to never lie to her. After a promising wedding night, where the pair discovers
mutual passion, the entire bargain falls apart when
Georgina's father dies and it is discovered that he gambled
away all of his money. He even leaves IOU's that put Devon
even deeper in debt. Devon initially takes his anger out on
Georgina and declares their marriage will now be in name
only and takes her with him to his impoverished estate. When they arrive, Gina is astounded to discover that Devon
has two children by his first wife, that he never bothered
to mention. They are in the nursery and Gina is
disheartened to see how cold Devon is with them. Devon
follows the traditions of the austere English upbringing
and Gina who grew up with warm and loving parents is
determined to change his children's situation. Devon sticks Gina in the unused part of the house and
proceeds to do his best to ignore her. He mysteriously
disappears after breakfast every day and goes to great
lengths to keep Gina from discovering his whereabouts. Devon is working in the fields trying to save his estates
and is ashamed of his labors. He has been raised that
a 'gentleman' does not work with his hands and his
deceased 'lady' wife made him feel less than a man because
of his endeavors. Devon is sure that if Gina discovers
that he spends his days as a common laborer in his fields,
she will be disgusted. What Devon doesn't realize is that
Gina, with her hardworking American sensibilities is more
disgusted by the idle rich then by one who honestly works.
He also has a fit when he discovers Gina doing housework
and is horrified to discover that she had even enlisted his
children in the cleaning. The leisurely life of the idle
rich has been bred into Devon's bones and watching him come
to grips with his circumstances and gain a new perspective
on his life with Gina's help was just a joy to read. Heath is a wonderful writer, who really brings her
characters to life. I for one am glad that Fortune, Texas
has a large enough population to keep sequels coming and
let us hear of the latest adventures of characters from
past books in this series. Perhaps setting some of the new
adventures in Regency England will bring deservedly bring
Heath new readers, who have missed reading her books
because they don't read 'westerns'. This whole series
about the settlers of Fortune, Texas has been excellent and
while each book is self-contained, I highly recommend
reading the entire series (preferably in order). The second
sons sent to Fortune, Texas by their English fathers have
all been extremely entertaining.
Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted October 7, 2002
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