he Lady’s Disgrace by Callie Hutton –  a Review

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Description:
A lady is nothing without her reputation. Jilted and humiliated by her once-betrothed, Lady Abigail Lacey is the laughingstock of London. Worse still, the humiliation is now reflecting badly on her family. Now her brother, the Duke of Manchester, is desperate… until he finds a way to rescue his sister’s damaged reputation, and remove her from the glare of disapproving society.

He must marry her off. Quickly.

When Rector Joseph Fox drops by the Lacey household, he certainly didn’t expect to leave as a man engaged to a long-time family friend! Yet while he never could have aspired to have her, Lady Abigail always ignited a forbidden longing in him. But Abigail has one condition—their marriage is to be void of passion or physical pleasures. Faced with a platonic marriage of convenience, Joseph is determined to embark on a sensuous adventure with only one goal: to seduce his new wife…

Review:

The Lady’s Disgrace is book 3 in Callie Hutton’s Marriage Mart Mayhem series. I was lucky enough to read and review the previous book in this series The Duke’s Quandry and was glad to be able to follow it up with The Ladies Disgrace. This is Lady Abigail and Joseph’s story. We met both character’s in The Duke’s Quandry and learned a little about both, but now get to see the full picture and history of this couple.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Callie Hutton has a special knack for writing historical romance, and I’ve become a fan of hers. The humour, witty banter, romance and overall storyline she creates before your very eyes sweeps you back in time and carries you away on a fun filled and sometimes dangerous adventure. This time, Ms. Hutton adds the mystery of ‘who done it’ to Joseph and Abigail’s story. Someone out there isn’t too happy about Rector Joseph Fox’s new wife and is determined to do away with her, but just who is it, will keep you guessing throughout the entire story, while keeping you riveted to the slowly developing and lovely romance between the newly weds.

Ms. Hutton does a wonderful job of slowly building the relationship and romance between Abigail and Joseph. Abigail and Joseph are wonderfully written characters that the reader is able to identify with and like from the get go. Joseph is patient, and understanding with Abigail about her ‘terms’ for their marriage, but knows deep down he can win his Lady’s love with the love he’s been carrying around for her since her 1st come out ball. He’s loved her all his life, but always felt his station was beneath her families, now he’s not giving that chance up, he’ll do anything to win her love. Joseph’s everything you could want in a husband and those qualities just shine through on the pages and watching him woo his Lady was one of my favourite parts of the story. Abigail on the other hand isn’t too sure about opening up her heart again to the hope of love after she was jilted at the alter by her former betrothed. Even though I could see her point of view, there were many times I wanted to shake her silly and tell her to grow up, open her eyes and see that Joseph isn’t like her former betrothed. Joseph is everything that he could only hope to be in a husband, and a man for that fact.

Ms. Hutton writes the perfect ‘aha’ scene with Abigail when she finally realizes she loves Joseph, which then sets the story up for a dramatic and nail biting ending to a beautifully written tender and romantic story. I just love it when an author sets the ending up in just this way. Nothing like a good old fashioned ‘who done it’ mystery weaved into a romantic story that creates the kind of nail biting suspenseful ending we get here in The Lady’s Disgrace. Even though we have the underlying ‘who done it’ storyline that keeps us on our toes throughout, there were also many comical scenes where we get to see the witty banter and fun that I’ve come to know Ms. Hutton has a knack for incorporating into her storytelling. I really enjoy these scenes, and they let the characters true personalities shine through and endear them to the reader even more.

Once again I think it’s safe to say Ms. Hutton has another winner on her hands. The Lady’s Disgrace is a fun and fast paced read. The characters are real, with a well- developed storyline that keeps us riveted from the very beginning. The romance between Abigail and Joseph is brilliantly written, with just the right amount of ‘who done it’ thrown in to complicate things for them on their path to trusting and loving each other fully. For anyone who is a fan of Ms. Hutton or historical romances, then this one’s a welcomed addition to your library.

Until next time, happy reading!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher