Review: The Wrong Marquess

The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

Even though they had never been formally introduced, there wasn’t a woman in society who didn’t know of London’s most elusive bachelor, the Marquess of Hullworth. 

When their friend Prudence gets outcast to the country because of a labeled scandalous moment with a man she'll only identify as Lord F., Winnie, Jane, and Ellie decide to write a book to warn other debutantes of the dangers of men. With Winnie and Jane married, it's up to Ellie to take over writing the marriage habits of the native aristocrat, but Ellie hopes to very soon have her own wedding to look forward too. As neighbors, Ellie and George grew-up together and with them both orphans, at age seven, George promises to marry her so they both can have a family. However, at age twenty-five, Ellie is still waiting for George to sow his wild oats. 

But surely, considering the parasol came from London’s most elusive bachelor— a man who was neither interested in marriage nor willing to trust his sister’s newfound friend— it meant nothing at all. 

The Wrong Marquess was a story that started off with very common elements that readers enjoy in the Regency sub-genre, began to highlight the skill Lorret has with chemistry and dialogue between her leads, and gave a latter second half that left me frustrated with the heroine. Ellie was a character that grew up with her two loving aunts but had several fears and phobias because of losing her parents so young; she feared death around every corner. This explained why she found comfort in the steady presence of George in her life and latter it's revealed that she knew she didn't fully love George, because how can a woman love a man-child, but that was what made him safe. Still, the whole plot hinged on Ellie wanting to marry George and just waiting for him to propose, instead of diving at the more mature Marquess of Hullworth. There just wasn't enough there for me to support a full novel, I got a little bored and restless for Ellie to wise up. 

She was his. The only problem was, she didn’t know it yet. But Brandon was willing to do whatever it took to have her fall in love with him. 

Our wrong marquess Brandon comes on the scene in all his odious and grumpy glory. He's had a lifetime of marriage minded misses contriving to be his wife and had his heart broken over a woman who refused him when he was younger because she wanted to marry up, so he has instant distrust of Ellie. His distrust attitude went on a bit long, again, not enough to support it for so long for me, but when he decides that he wants/loves Ellie, around the half-way point, Brandon gives us a pretty sweet hero. He gives Ellie gifts that show how much he pays attention to her wants and needs and knows that he has to gently ease his way into her heart. 

“This is all your fault. Every time I’m near you, I feel like I’m coming apart at the seams.” “I’ll hold you together,” he rasped, even as he tugged her spencer from her shoulder. 

I thought the beginning was slow and especially in the latter second half, you'll want to take Ellie aside and give her a shake. Lorret wrote George so obviously uncaring and man-child, that it's no competition between him and Brandon, unless you're dragging things out for page count. The only plot is really the attraction between Brandon and Ellie and Ellie eventually getting over her revealed fear to truly love someone. This simpler plot can work and, like I said, Lorret has skill with chemistry but this easily could have been a novella. 

“Well, for starters. No more calling me sweetheart and no more mentions of inevitability.” He nodded, but in the back of his mind he was already planning an I told you so on their tenth anniversary. 

In terms of connecting to the series, we get a few appearances by prior series heroines, Winnie and Jane, and finally a look and reveal regarding shunned Prudence. There was also an epilogue giving a Devil in Winter vibe between Prudence and a Lord Savage that more than peaked my interest. If you read a lot of Regency romance, you'll like some elements here, but the overall effect left it feeling uninspired to me. The hero has some heartfelt and sweet moments but when the heroine declares her love around eighty percent, I couldn't help feeling it should and could have happened around forty percent.

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