The Book Gourmet

William Fitch Minstead, the sixth Earl of Ackerman, receives a shocking news that before going off to war he sired a daughter. To make matters worse, the person who's delivered the news, Miss Hilary Compton, thinks him a philandering scoundrel who has neglected the child--even though he never knew she existed, and she, of course, demands he takes responsibility.

Before determining what is to be done (and if the girl is really a Minstead), Fitch decides to travel to Nottingham and meet the tyke. One look at little Lizzie confirms his parentage and Fitch is determined to right the wrong he's unknowingly committed, but to Hilary's great surprise and Lizzie's delight, he proposes a surprising arrangement: he and Hilary would get married so Fitch can legaly adopt his daughter without having her suffer the ramifications of being a bastard.

Of course, the man makes it clear this would be a little more than the usual marriage of convenience. He expects Hilary to be his wife in every way...heir included.



This is another HR that veered straight off the usual (template) path. Yes, the premise is the same - man meets woman, they fall in love, they live happily ever after...But this book has a love child thrown into the mix. Although little Lizzie is utterly adorable, as all the book tykes should be, it does seem the author wrote her into the book only to make the lead couple meet...and to spill the big secret in the end, providing the required HEA.

Fitch is the least rakish of the four Duke of Morland's protegees, harboring a difficult past shaped by the Crimea War and its consequences. He's "content" with spending his nights drinking himself to oblivion, trying to bury the memories that plague him. He's prepared to do the same even after the marriage, but he didn't count with the fact his wife would be such a nosy little creature. Of course it didn't even cross his mind to tell her anything about the war or why he locks himself in his library to brood.

This "dark secret" adds depth to the story and to the two main characters. And it's because of this silent war between Fitch and Hilary, where he's adamant to push her away and she equally determined to uncover the cause of his brooding, the chasm it draws between them, almost destroying their trust and marriage, that makes this story so much more realistic than your average romance book.