No Longer a Gentleman by Mary Jo Putney

The Lost Lords, Book 4

Synopsis: Grey Sommers, Lord Wyndham, never met a predicament he couldn’t charm his way out of. Then a tryst with a government official’s wife during a bit of casual espionage in France condemns him to a decade in a dungeon, leaving him a shadow of his former self. Yet his greatest challenge may be the enigmatic spy sent to free his body—the only woman who might heal his soul.
Cassie Fox lost everything in the chaos of revolution, leaving only a determination to help destroy Napoleon’s empire through her perilous calling. Rescuing Grey is merely one more mission. She hadn’t counted on a man with the stark beauty of a ravaged angel, whose desperate courage and vulnerability thaw her frozen heart. But a spy and a lord are divided by an impassable gulf even if they manage to survive one last, terrifying mission….

Review: I was very curious to try another volume in this series after spending a great time with the first one. This is Volume 4, but fear not, there’s really no problem reading it separately from the others as each couple highlighted in the novels is different. I admit that I was expecting a lot from this story, hoping that it would be at the height of the first one, but even though I found it a bit below, I had a good time.

Cassie Fox is a halt-French half-English spy in a time when war raged between the two countries. She is very good at disguising herself, to pass incognito and thus act when the need is felt. Her skills will send her after an English Lord who has been missing for 10 years, locked in a tower and left to die there. Yet it does not take much to the young woman to save him and help him back to England. But it’s also like that that a story begins to develop between them, evolving over the chapters. This relationship will also allow the woman to recover some of her past, but they may well be forced to return to France to save another of their friends.

As I said, I was pretty excited to discover this new story, but it’s true that I was a little disappointed because I was expecting to be completely swept away. Finally I do not know, but I did not feel the passion between the two characters and I found that we didn’t have much happening for a book such as this one. Maybe I have not really thought that our Lord could return to a fairly normal life after living reclusive and locked up in a prison such as this one for a decade. After that, I’m not saying this is not good because the author writes very well and it was lovely to read it but I thought we would have a little more. However it was interesting to learn more about Cassie and find out who she really was.

It was a good novel even if it is a tone below the one I loved but I’m curious to read more in this series!

3

mellianefini

Loving a Lost Lord by Mary Jo Putney

Lost Lords, Book 1

Synopsis: In the first of a dazzling series, Mary Jo Putney introduces the Lost Lords—maverick childhood friends with a flair for defying convention. Each is about to discover the woman who is his perfect match—but perfection doesn’t come easily, even for the noble Duke of Ashton…

Battered by the sea, Adam remembers nothing of his past, his ducal rank, nor the shipwreck that almost claimed his life. However, he’s delighted to hear that the golden-haired vision tending his wounds is his wife. Mariah’s name and face may be familiar, but her touch, her warmth, feel deliciously right.

When Mariah Clarke prayed for a way to deter a bullying suitor, she didn’t imagine she’d find the answer washed ashore on a desolate beach. Convincing Adam that he is her husband is surprisingly easy. Resisting the temptation to act his wife, in every way, will prove anything but. And now a passion begun in fantasy has become dangerously real—and completely irresistible.

Review: This Mary Jo Putney romance was a real surprise and I really enjoyed discovering this first volume. I did not expect to be so blown away by the story and our two heroes, but it was the case and I am looking forward to read more about the characters coming.

Mariah Clarke finally has a home, a place for her, something she never had before, having always lived on the road with her father. Yet it was not easy for her and even if it still is, the man who has lost his house on a play cards is not very happy with the consequences. And to recover it, he is determined to marry this woman and recover his land. After learning that her father was dead, she knows she can’t resist forever to this man. So, to be left alone, she explains that she is married and deeply hopes to find a solution to her problems. And it happened with the appearance of Adam, a young man hanging between life and death on the shores of her villa. Adam is amnesic, and she decides without thinking to tell him she is her wife, which of course suits him well. But she had not thought about the consequences, as though she knew the truth this is not the case of the young man who believes he needs to be a good husband to his wife who saved him.

I enjoyed following these two very different characters. Mariah is a young yet very strong and sensitive woman. She never thinks of the consequences of her actions, which puts her in rather complicated situations. So when she finds herself with a husband, she does not expect to fall in love with him, much less what to do to behave herself with him. Yet it is difficult to resist and especially to find an explanation for her refusal. But she doesn’t know how to live with the lies, as well as the idea that he could have a family looking for him somewhere. Adam, meanwhile, is filled with doubts, yet he knows one thing, his wife is there for him and helps him to remember the man he was. Yet he tries to move forward despite the difficulty he has to understand what is happening and the memories that come to him at night. I was really curious to see what would happen once he would discover the truth. I must say a lot of things happen here and I struggled to put the book down until finishing it.

This is a beautiful romance with lots of twists of all kinds. A very nice surprise and as I said I can not wait to read more about the friends of our beloved hero.

 4

mellianefini