How Not To Chaperon a Lady (The Talk of the Beau Monde #3) by Virginia Heath
ABOUT THE BOOK
His childhood nemesis…is the woman he can’t resist!
Chaperoning Charity Brookes while she’s on a singing tour should be easy for Griffith Philpot—he’s spent his whole life sparring with her over her flighty ways! But as he discovers that she’s much more than the impetuous girl he thought he knew, a passion ignites between them… Sharing a steamy kiss leaves him torn – he’s supposed to be responsible for guarding her virtue!
MY REVIEW
For those of you who haven’t read a Virginia Heath novel, you are in for a treat. Her characters are feisty, opinionated, and brooding as they fight their feelings for that one irresistible person they are hopelessly in love with. Let’s just say that the dull and irritating Griffith Philpot and the outspoken and impetuous Charity Brookes are about to be forced to confront their feelings with an audience no less.
Miss Charity Brookes is a popular sought-after soprano much like her mother. Charity is going on tour and being accompanied by her best friend Dorothy “Dottie” Philpot. Over Dottie’s brother’s dead body. He doesn’t trust Charity’s impulsive and reckless behavior and has appointed himself chaperon. Who better qualified to contain his nemesis and protect his sister in the same bargain?
Sparks fly when Charity and Griff are in the room and it’s more than hostility. It’s seventeen years of pent-up love and lust that comes to a head one frustrating and volatile night only to result in a hasty marriage and a lot of awkwardness. Can you say stubborn? Both of these two need their heads knocked together, but finally with the help of Charity’s sisters and brothers-in-law Charity and Griff are given enlightening insights into each other’s feelings. Griff was pretty rough and nasty towards Charity at the beginning as he tried to hide his true feelings from her, but he slowly comes around by carefully analyzing his methods of making her fall in love with him. A particularly endearing quality of Griff’s that I enjoyed as well as his brilliant mind to which Charity wholeheartedly and proudly impresses upon a potential buyer for Griff’s potential new steam engine invention. Charity’s natural charm and love of singing are evident in her impromptu stops to entertain the masses everywhere she goes. Her hardworking work ethic is something Griff respects and supports until it affects her health and well being which he naturally convinces her to take a well-earned break. The buildup to the happy ending is slow but worth the wait.
I am happy to say I have read book 2 in this series, The Marquess Next Door, and was delighted to see Hope and Luke as well as the whole Brookes family again. The family is essential in this book because…well, they are unexpectedly and hilariously privy to Charity and Griff’s revealing indiscretions and full confessions as well as eventual supporters of the two lovebirds. May I add that the drunken escapades of the husbands as noted in the local rag are particularly hysterical and notable?
I highly recommend Ms. Heath’s latest historical romance filled with unrequited love and stubborn, lovable characters making the most of an unconventional marriage.
Thank you once again to Ms. Heath for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Despite that, it still takes her forever to fall asleep.
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