MARRIED TO THE VISCOUNT

Author: Sabrina Jeffries ISBN:0060092149 1/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: 1820's England

One kiss... Abigail Mercer was breathless with anticipation at being reunited with Spencer Law, whom she met once and later married by proxy. But now the dashing Viscount Ravenswood denies all knowledge of their union! Far too many witnesses have made it impossible for the secretive Spencer to reject his "bride" without causing a scandal. So he has proposed a marriage in-name-only until they can locate his mysteriously absent younger brother -- who is responsible for everything! -- and untangle this messy affair. Abigail is incensed, irate...and irresistibly attracted to this handsome, infuriating man who hides his smoldering passion behind a proper exterior. So the lady will agree to his terms on one condition: Spencer must seal their bargain with a kiss. But he finds that one deep, lingering, unforgettable kiss isn't nearly enough. And keeping his hands off his pretty wife is going to be much harder than he thought...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

That stuffy, boorishly proper viscount, Lord Ravenswood, is the male lead of Jeffries' latest offering, MARRIED TO THE VISCOUNT. We were previously introduced to him as a secondary character in Jeffries' DANCE OF SEDUCTION. Now it's Spencer's turn to take the lead and show us just what stuffy stuff he's really made of.

The story begins in America, where Lord Ravenswood encounters the half-Seneca Abigail Mercer, a merchant's daughter whom Spencer becomes enamored of, and in a drunken episode with his wayward brother Nat, he unknowingly reveals his desire for the raven-haired beauty. However, Spencer has vowed never, ever to marry, due to previous wounds to both his heart and body, so he sets sail for home leaving Abigail behind, going back to his stuffy, aristocratic life in England and leaving his brother Nat behind to finish up their affairs.

Spinster Abigail Mercer is a young woman who's suffered her share of prejudice and injustice, but managed to persevere in spite of it. She also has feelings for Spencer, but believes it's her mixed blooded heritage that keeps their relationship from growing. She also knows that back in England she would be considered way below Spencer's station. However, when her father becomes terminally ill, Nat steps in, deciding to take matters into his own hands and bring Spencer and Abby together by falsifying a proxy marriage between the two, then disappearing, taking Abby's dowery with him. Penniless, Abby then sails to meet her new husband, unaware that the entire marriage is a sham and that Spencer has no intention on keeping his newly acquired wife.

I liked the premise of this story very much, but had a few problems with a bit of the logic behind Spencer's proposing they keep the illusion of the sham marriage: why not just pay Abby off, annul the marriage and allow each to go their own way, since he's bound and determined not to be married. Jeffries gives us several reasons for this scenario throughout the story (including scandal), but it still seemed to me not to be very believable.

Despite that minor flaw, Jeffries is once again in good form with her characterizations and dialogue. We see Spencer learn to become less uptight, less rigid as he falls more in love with Abby; a man used to issuing orders and arranging others lives for them to suit himself, whether they want him to or not, Abby soon teaches him a much needed lesson in humility. Abby, on the other hand, is somewhat perplexing to me. One minute she's ready to fight the world and society for the man she loves, while in the next her bravery seems to wither and shrink.

As for sex and love, when the two get together the sparks do fly. The love scenes are not just hot, but sensual as well, making me think oh-do-I-wish-I-were-her as I read the sex taking place between the two.

The secondary characters were well drawn and I enjoyed the reappearance of some of the characters from her other books. I especially liked the reappearance of Clara (who plays more than just a minor role for a repeat performance character in this story) and her pickpockets in a short-lived episode involving Abby's "assembly line" bottling.

Overall, MARRIED TO THE VISCOUNT is a feel good romance that I enjoyed reading very much. Though this isn't a top form book by Sabrina Jeffries, in my opinion it's not that far from the mark, thus earning it a 4 Rose Read.

Nancy Davis