Sophie believes that desperate measures are required to save her cousin from ruin, which is why she takes Alice’s place in the Marquis of Roxburghe’s planned seduction. Instead of the easy retreat she was anticipating, however, Sophie finds herself at the mercy of a man who shows no mercy when it comes to his desires. And she quickly discovers that Roxburghe is not a man who takes deception well…
| Title: | The Accidental Mistress |
| Author: | Kate Harper |
| Series: | Risque Regency Series (Book 5) |
| Pages: | 55 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Historical |
| Trope(s): | |
| Point of View: | |
| Location: | England |
| Setting: | Regency |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 30th July, 2011 |
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Bad, clichéd short story
I bought this at the same time as the disappointing His Wayward Ward by the same author. Had I waited until after I’d read that book, I would definitely not have downloaded this one, but I had so I felt I should at least give it a go. Unfortunately, I wish that I hadn’t bothered.
Within the first few paragraphs I had taken a huge dislike to our ‘hero’, Devereux. I normally like a dissolute rake that is redeemed by the love of the heroine but in this case it was his character and morals that were flawed and not just his behaviour. At one point he choked Sophie and bruised her but, don’t worry, he was sorry – he has a temper and it would never happen again!! What the f…? Shocking that such a leading man could be in a romance novel.
“At 55 pages it’s 55 pages too long.”
Sophie was a fair enough character but she lacked any excitement or strength and you felt it was only lust that the two characters felt for each other. I also couldn’t forgive her for putting up with Dev’s behaviour towards her.
The plot was staid and clichéd but nothing truly offensive. There was also nothing particularly sexy about the story despite it being billed as a risqué Regency romance.
Overall this isn’t worth buying and I can’t recommend it even if it was free. At 55 pages it’s 55 pages too long. Sorry.
Like most writers I’ve always read and I’ve always got something going on in my head, story-wise. Mostly dialogue – at least, I hope that’s dialogue and not something more serious – which inevitably makes demands on me. [JRR Note: Wow! Nothing like a mental health “joke”.]
I can recall lying under my bed when I was nine with a candle, a piece of scrap paper and a pencil, rewriting a disappointing ending to a book that had been pretty good up until those final pages. I’d ‘borrowed’ a highly unsuitable romance from an elderly lady and had gobbled it down in a day. I took away three things from that first sojourn into making up my own, far more satisfactory world. 1/ the hero really needs to end up with the heroine, no matter how irritating she is cause that is what romance is all about. Happy endings, even if they’re unexpected. 2/ I liked storytelling so much that maybe it was something I could do on a regular basis. My people could behave as they were supposed to. And… 3/ burning a candle under a pile of highly combustible bedding is a really stupid thing to do. Or so my mother pointed out. I’m lucky I’m not toast.
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Risque Regency Series:
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