Viscount in Love (Accidental Brides)
Torie Sutton is used to being dismissed and infantilized when people learn she can’t read. She hasn’t let this deflate her naturally sunny spirit, and when her sister’s fiancé, Dominic, the Viscount Kelbourne, becomes guardian to his twin niece and nephew, Torie befriends them instantly. After her sister Leonora jilts him for being too physically robust, Dominic, who has awakened to Torie’s physical attractions, extorts Torie into marrying him. Fortunately, Torie is equally attracted, plus she cares about the children. Matrimony allows many sportive tricks in bed, and this ultimately bonds the two.
James excels at the trope of two protagonists who don’t even like each other drawn together by undeniable lust, and her signature shows also in the very precocious children, an unusual pet, and an eccentric duchess who steals every scene she’s in. Readers looking for a magnificent grovel won’t find it here; Dom essentially blames Torie that he couldn’t figure out for himself how wonderful she is. Though occasional fashion details don’t mesh with the 1802 setting, readers who enjoy lust-ruled heroes and repartee will be thoroughly satisfied with this first in an inventive, irreverent new series filled with James’s trademark wit and style.
