Series:
Lyon's Den (Book 81)
In this high-stakes game of love and marriage, when love
equals surrender, who will be the victor?
Lady Amelia Duval is used to being indulged. The reckless
daughter of an earl has evaded each and every suitor her father has put before
her. She knows she's pushed him too far, however, when her litter of
mud-covered puppies upends a meeting between him and the darkly handsome
colonel, Lord Chase Culver, aka the "Iron Lion of Barrosa."
Lord Culver stays calm in the face of disaster—such as
when his uncle informs him of the fortune-crushing bet he lost in the notorious
Lyon's Den. To satisfy the debt, Culver must marry Lady Amelia Duval, a woman
he's glimpsed only once, and bring her to heel—or the loss doubles.
The stern tactician's simple plan to tame the
raven-haired beauty by any means hits a serious snag when he finds himself
reluctantly drawn to his wife's tender heart and unladylike eccentricities.
Quickly softening toward her magnetic and oddly
scandal-averse new husband, Amelia struggles to reign in her less-than-proper
tendencies, and with little success.
When she confesses she's fallen head-over-heels in love
with Culver, she unwittingly dismantles his entire scheme and achieves the
unthinkable, garnering the Iron Lion's unconditional surrender.
Knowing the terrible secret he guards would destroy her,
he will bet everything to protect the woman who owns him, heart and soul, even
if it means losing her forever.
Will his gamble on love win them a happily-ever-after, or
cost them both all they hold dear?
Fun story where a high-stakes card game brings two people
together - Colonel Lord Chase Culver, a man who prefers order and stability,
and Lady Amelia Duval, a free-spirited young woman whose antics concern her
father.
After Chase's return from the war, he concentrates on
revitalizing the property awarded to him by the king. He also finds himself
attempting to make his uncle's properties solvent again after the man's
gambling debts bring him close to bankruptcy. He has no interest in marriage
until everything is in order. But when his uncle loses a substantial amount to
Amelia's father, the two men decide that if Chase marries Amelia and turns her
into a "proper lady," the debt will be fulfilled. If he does not,
Chase's uncle will owe twice the amount.
Though not entirely happy about the forced marriage and
its requirements, Chase is intrigued by Amelia. He met her briefly a few days
earlier and hasn't been able to forget her. With his reputation for bringing
order out of chaos, he anticipates little trouble in fulfilling the earl's
demands. Amelia doesn't give in easily. I loved seeing her confront Chase with
her own demands.
I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. Amelia's
sunnier attitude nicely balances Chase's seriousness. Though Chase is initially
disturbed by Amelia's seemingly reckless actions, it doesn't take him long to
see that it is her soft heart that motivates her. I laughed to see him fall
under her spell, with the pup Roddy wiggling his way past Chase's walls. I
especially enjoyed seeing Chase's growing appreciation of Amelia's differing
viewpoints and his willingness to stand up for her. Amelia quickly loses her
heart to Chase despite his occasional attempts to rein her in. Neither can deny
the sparks of attraction between them, which help bring them closer together.
There is a bit of suspense included in the story. Someone
is setting fires on his property, destroying the timber he sells to get his
finances back in order. Chase is determined to stop the culprit and is none too
pleased when Amelia gets involved in the investigation. Some interesting
developments provided a twist at the end that I didn't see coming.
I especially enjoyed the puppies in this book and how
they affected some of the plot points. Roddy was my favorite. It was fun to see
his effect on Chase.
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