The Chadwick Ring - Julia Jeffries

It was no secret that Ginevra had a rival for her husband. All of London knew that Richard Glover, the Marquess of Chadwick, kept Amalie de Villeneuve as his mistress-and every rake in town smiled at the idea of a chit of a girl like Ginevra competing with the red-haired love goddess of the demi-monde. But Chadwick also had a rival. Bysshe, his own grown son, was head over heels in love with Ginevra-and passionately determined to free a stepmother young enough to be Bysshe's mate from a husband old enough to be not only his father but hers. When Amalie and Bysshe formed an alliance to smash once and for all the crumbling Chadwick marriage, the feuding couple had to decide if they should stop fighting each other-and start fighting for their lives together.

Another romance with a very young heroine. Although I have nothing against that and in fact have enjoyed some stories with this plot I don't think this one worked all that well. Mainly because it mixed it with a big misunderstanding and for the first half of the book Chadwick was not a very sympathetic character. Not only that but Ginevra had first been promised to his older son, who died, than she marries him and his younger son falls in love with her. It was a bit too many family connections for my taste.

I like the older heroes I read about to be sensible people, who can guide and protect their heroine when need be and love her as well. Chadwick unfortunately doesn't really live to those expectations, getting mad at Ginevra instead of explaining her what's to be expected. Their lack of communication makes it easy for other people to create conflict between them and for Ginevra to feel rather self conscious and inferior. Things do get better but in the end I liked Ginevra and all her naiveté more than I did Chadwick.

Grade: 3.5/5