A Gentleman's PromiseScandalous Series #1
Release Date: November 18, 2013
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Kindle Freebie
Rating: 3 Bookworms
Synopsis
Against her better judgement, Charlotte King bows to family duty and marries a man who is not as he seems. Now trapped in a marriage of the worst kind, her life is an endless cycle of pain and fear. That is until Lord Helsing shows her another way to live...
Lord Mason Helsing walked away from the one woman he'd always cared for, but upon returning to London, he finds Charlotte is in a loveless and cruel marriage. Should he throw away the principles by which he lives and follow a different path than he ought?
But divorce for Charlotte means ruination. And Mason is relied upon to marry well and continue his family. Can they overcome thr strictures of society and live the life they've always wanted? Or will they bow to pressure and do as society deems appropriate?
**I read A Gentleman's Promise as part of Lexxie @Unconventional Book Views' COYER 3 Historical Romances in 3 Weeks Mini-Challenge.**
A Gentleman's Promise was a pretty compelling read. I felt it was fairly realistic in it's portrayal of marriage in the 1800's - where a woman would be stuck in a marriage because her family couldn't withstand the scandal of divorce. But there were other parts I felt were unrealistic portrayals.
Charlotte seemed a typical young woman - bewitched by Lord Remmick's charm. Her heart did belong to someone else - but she though that was a dead-end. By the time she began having misgivings about the arrangement with Lord Remmick, it was too late.
Lord Remmick was a despicable man. The way he treated his wife, and women in general, was disgusting. There was nothing redeeming about him.
Lord Helsing was infatuated with Charlotte but didn't make his intentions known in time. He did offer a gentle warning about Lord Remmick, but was rebuffed. He left London, unable to deal with Charlotte's marriage mistake, but returns when he hears that she may be unhappily married.
As I said, this was a fairly compelling read. The reasons I'm not giving it a higher rating are thus:
- Some of the dialog didn't seem period to me - I don't believe a Regency-era woman would have said "sleep with me"..."lie with me" maybe, but...
- Transitions weren't smooth in places, and it affected the pacing.
- Events happened too quickly for me to really feel the connection between Charlotte and Lord Helsing
- The change in Charlotte wasn't explained so it was confusing (I'm being vague so as not to spoil things)
I think my issues were a result of this being a novella, and therefore too few pages. I would have enjoyed a longer length for the character development. I did like the story and description of London life though, so I will read Ms. Gill again.
