Black Knight by Elizabeth Johns
A rake and an independent female find themselves tangled in the web of a marriage of convenience…
Lord Heath Knight is the quintessential wastrel second son. He has spent his youth raking and making merry to be as opposite of his brother as possible. When he finds himself almost dead, his dictatorial older brother has had enough and issues an edict for him to marry or be cut off. Heath decides to marry the most unsuitable lady he can in order to vex his brother the duke.
Cecilia Dudley is an heiress with a catch—her father is a cit. Her dowry is so vulgar that she has decided she would rather avoid marriage in favor of an independent life where she can live as she likes. When she suddenly finds herself married, she quickly realizes a marriage of convenience is not so convenient.
Heath quickly realizes he cannot ignore his new wife. Cecilia cannot accept his wild past and the baggage that follows him. Will Cecilia be able to resist the charms of a seasoned rogue?
- File Name:black-knight-by-elizabeth-johns.epub
- Original Title:Black Knight
- Creator:Johns, Elizabeth
- Language:en
- Identifier:734723381
- Publisher:Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
- Date:2020-06-11
- Subject:Fiction,Historical,Romance
- File Size:316.146 KB
Table of Content
- 1. Title Page
- 2. Copyright Page
- 3. Publisher’s Note
- 4. Additional Dragonblade books by Author Elizabeth Johns
- 5. Table of Contents
- 6. Prologue
- 7. Chapter One
- 8. Chapter Two
- 9. Chapter Three
- 10. Chapter Four
- 11. Chapter Five
- 12. Chapter Six
- 13. Chapter Seven
- 14. Chapter Eight
- 15. Chapter Nine
- 16. Chapter Ten
- 17. Chapter Eleven
- 18. Chapter Twelve
- 19. Chapter Thirteen
- 20. Chapter Fourteen
- 21. Chapter Fifteen
- 22. Chapter Sixteen
- 23. Chapter Seventeen
- 24. Chapter Eighteen
- 25. Chapter Nineteen
- 26. Chapter Twenty
- 27. Chapter Twenty-One
- 28. Epilogue
- 29. About the Author
Spoiler Alert! Don't read this review if you don't want to learn about the story ahead of reading the book. NO stars for this book! A book about a marriage-by-proxy in the 1800s should have been at least a little bit interesting, but it came across as hokey and stiff. Once again, as in Book 1 of this series, Book 2 has way too much animosity for a good romance novel. I struggled reading to Chapter 3 because all I seemed to read was angst so high one could cut it with a knife. There was little to no intrigue and there was absolutely no chemistry, again, between the Hero and the Heroine. The father of the Heroine is an atrocious man who uses his daughter to move up in society...and yes, I know that's the way things worked in the 1800s, but the way in which he used his daughter, and the things he subjected her to, was appalling. The Heroine, however, is a spoiled brat who thinks she should be able to "live life the way she wants" in spite of the marriage vows, even though she wasn't made aware of the proxy wedding until after the fact. We were all made aware of the reputation of the Hero in Book 1 of this series, so no one should be surprised he is still a selfish jerk in this one. Unfortunately for the both of them, his past rears its ugly head and bites them hard in the derriere. Two spoiled brats in a proxy/marriage-of-convenience relationship does not make for a good story...and this is nowhere near a good story. Some of the characters from Book 1 that spill over into Book 2 brought their haughty, snobbish and/or selfish/naive reputations with them, unfortunately. It seems no one from Book 1 made any great changes before appearing in Book 2, sad to say. It would have been nice to see the Duke from Book 1 relaxed in character a bit, and the sister be a little less conceited and selfish, for she had no problem with guilt-tripping people into doing things her way and for her personal gain. Perhaps the vicar brother could have been a little less pleasant, too. I mean, sure, he's a vicar, but even he has seen the dredges of society and should, at this point, have a bit of an edge to him. And all of this took place before Chapter 5...and there are 21 Chapters total! Oh, but in Chapter 5...surprise, surprise, surprise, the Hero begins thinking, "So far, he actually liked his wife"! Up to that point, he really hadn't been focused on her...at all. Not that he was focused on anyone else either. He was more or less the selfish jerk he portrayed in Book 1 and only wanted to renovate and get his estate to working properly. I didn't like that the author made it appear the Heroine was building a closer relationship with the Hero's vicar brother, and then slapped the reader in the face when, upon feeling jealous about the Heroine's seemingly romantic relationship with his vicar brother, the Hero told the Heroine he meant to honor his vows and then the Heroine told the Hero she had signed no such agreement. So, did that mean she was open to cheating? Well, let's see...Upon visiting the Vicar at the church, "She gave him a coy look" when she told him to call her Cece. That sure looked like she might be considering it, right? Then there's the conversation where the vicar proceeds to inquire into the manner of her marriage to his brother. Chapter 8 has the Heroine and the Vicar brother having breakfast together...alone? Cheating, I'm against. Potential cheating or the appearance of cheating with a family member is totally unacceptable! Can you say...inappropriate for BOTH of them? This crosses SO many lines! Again, all this occurs before Chapter 9, with 12 more chapters to go. The author has the Heroine continuing on as if she were a single woman in the 21st Century with little to no scruples instead of a woman born in the 1800s. Past Chapter 9, there is still little to no romance, no passion between the Hero and Heroine. How could there be with them living separate lives? The fact that their marriage became food for gossips and scandal should never have surprised them (OR the reader) since they chose to thumb their noses at society. The way the book took a sudden turn was quite...confusing. It went from zero passion to a hot fire in very short span of time. Not quite a 5 alarm fire though. Just a sizzle. How can an author expect the reader to make that leap convincingly when it had no chemistry until the very end? These first two books in the series were such a disappointment that this particular reader has decided not to waste any more time in finishing the series. Sorry, Author.
Spoiler Alert! Don't read this review if you don't want to learn about the story ahead of reading the book. NO stars for this book! A book about a marriage-by-proxy in the 1800s should have been at least a little bit interesting, but it came across as hokey and stiff. Once again, as in Book 1 of this series, Book 2 has way too much animosity for a good romance novel. I struggled reading to Chapter 3 because all I seemed to read was angst so high one could cut it with a knife. There was little to no intrigue and there was absolutely no chemistry, again, between the Hero and the Heroine. The father of the Heroine is an atrocious man who uses his daughter to move up in society...and yes, I know that's the way things worked in the 1800s, but the way in which he used his daughter, and the things he subjected her to, was appalling. The Heroine, however, is a spoiled brat who thinks she should be able to "live life the way she wants" in spite of the marriage vows, even though she wasn't made aware of the proxy wedding until after the fact. We were all made aware of the reputation of the Hero in Book 1 of this series, so no one should be surprised he is still a selfish jerk in this one. Unfortunately for the both of them, his past rears its ugly head and bites them hard in the derriere. Two spoiled brats in a proxy/marriage-of-convenience relationship does not make for a good story...and this is nowhere near a good story. Some of the characters from Book 1 that spill over into Book 2 brought their haughty, snobbish and/or selfish/naive reputations with them, unfortunately. It seems no one from Book 1 made any great changes before appearing in Book 2, sad to say. It would have been nice to see the Duke from Book 1 relaxed in character a bit, and the sister be a little less conceited and selfish, for she had no problem with guilt-tripping people into doing things her way and for her personal gain. Perhaps the vicar brother could have been a little less pleasant, too. I mean, sure, he's a vicar, but even he has seen the dredges of society and should, at this point, have a bit of an edge to him. And all of this took place before Chapter 5...and there are 21 Chapters total! Oh, but in Chapter 5...surprise, surprise, surprise, the Hero begins thinking, "So far, he actually liked his wife"! Up to that point, he really hadn't been focused on her...at all. Not that he was focused on anyone else either. He was more or less the selfish jerk he portrayed in Book 1 and only wanted to renovate and get his estate to working properly. I didn't like that the author made it appear the Heroine was building a closer relationship with the Hero's vicar brother, and then slapped the reader in the face when, upon feeling jealous about the Heroine's seemingly romantic relationship with his vicar brother, the Hero told the Heroine he meant to honor his vows and then the Heroine told the Hero she had signed no such agreement. So, did that mean she was open to cheating? Well, let's see...Upon visiting the Vicar at the church, "She gave him a coy look" when she told him to call her Cece. That sure looked like she might be considering it, right? Then there's the conversation where the vicar proceeds to inquire into the manner of her marriage to his brother. Chapter 8 has the Heroine and the Vicar brother having breakfast together...alone? Cheating, I'm against. Potential cheating or the appearance of cheating with a family member is totally unacceptable! Can you say...inappropriate for BOTH of them? This crosses SO many lines! Again, all this occurs before Chapter 9, with 12 more chapters to go. The author has the Heroine continuing on as if she were a single woman in the 21st Century with little to no scruples instead of a woman born in the 1800s. Past Chapter 9, there is still little to no romance, no passion between the Hero and Heroine. How could there be with them living separate lives? The fact that their marriage became food for gossips and scandal should never have surprised them (OR the reader) since they chose to thumb their noses at society. The way the book took a sudden turn was quite...confusing. It went from zero passion to a hot fire in very short span of time. Not quite a 5 alarm fire though. Just a sizzle. How can an author expect the reader to make that leap convincingly when it had no chemistry until the very end? These first two books in the series were such a disappointment that this particular reader has decided not to waste any more time in finishing the series. Sorry, Author.