Heart’s desire is the second instalment in Wendy LaCapra’s Lords of Chance Series. Each book can be read as a standalone but does feature the couple from the previous book.
Lady Clarissa is tired of living her life at the mercy of men’s whims. The end of her ten year betrothal and brother’s recent abandonment have driven her to take control. Her first act of defiance is to refuse to smile when commanded by Lord Moultonbury. He is furious at her actions and sets out to destroy her.
Percival Stanley, Earl of Markham, affectionately known as Hearts, has been aware of Lady Clarissa but she knows she would only welcome his attention with disdain. When he finds himself drawn into Lord Moultonbury’s wager he seeks to protect her by announcing that he and Lady Clarissa are betrothed and have only been waiting for her brother to return to make a formal announcement.
Clarissa reluctantly agrees to the charade to save her reputation and discovers there is more to Markham than his reckless and impulsive persona.
While I enjoy a strong independent woman I have noticed a trend with historical authors recently to take a twenty-first century woman and transplant her into a historical setting. This does not fit with the given genre. Many authors have written strong women within the historical genre and done to well but this book is not one of them, I found the characters as a whole unlikeable and this made the book difficult to read.
A huge issue for me was the constant reference to Lord Markham as a pup. Every character used the term when addressing him. We get it, Markham is to be viewed as young and impulsive, stop hammering it home.
I received a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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