Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Bow Street Runners, Book 3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Hero: Nick Gentry / Lord John Sydney
Heroine: Charlotte Howard (Lottie)
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2003
Started On: October 14, 2010
Finished On: October 16, 2010

I remember starting on this book a long time back, when I first discovered Lisa Kleypas’s talent for weaving a great historical romance. However at that time for some reason or the other I left this book half way through the second chapter or so and forgot about it. After my sister read this book and seemed to be quite taken with Nick Gentry at the point of being unable to stop talking about the guy *winks*, I decided to see what all the fuss is about and finally read the third book in the Bow Street Runners series, not that I have read the other two books in the series before.

Nick Gentry who is reputed to be the most skillful lover in all of England acquires the knowledge that goes along with his inherent skill from Mrs. Gemma Bradshaw, the owner of the most well trained house of prostitutes in London. Nick who has always been sensual by nature had refused to seek out just any woman to satisfy his hungers until holding back becomes too much for him and he finally seeks out Mrs. Bradshaw’s brothel after he turns 24 of age. Nick who is disreputable at best is described as a man who is popular with the public, feared in the underworld and detested by the Bow Street Runners who continuously try to hunt him down until Sir Ross Cannon who has now retired from the Bow Street Runners finally catches up with him and convinces Nick to work for them.

Charlotte Howard (Lottie) is a woman who is on the run. Having being betrothed to Lord Radnor since childhood by her parents who had practically made a deal with the devil himself to keep themselves ensconced in the lap of luxury, Charlotte had found every aspect of her life being controlled by Radnor himself. Knowing that marriage to the controlling mad man that Charlotte’s parents refused to see that he was would be a fate worse than death itself, Charlotte flees from home and seeks employment at Lord Westcliff’s residence as a companion to his mother.

Lord Radnor who is besides himself for the fact that Charlotte dared run away from him hires Nick to bring back his bride to be whether she is willing to come back or not. When Nick encounters the woman whom he had been hunting after for the past 2 months, Nick is surprised to find himself enchanted with the woman who for the first time in his life seems to be calling to something deep inside of himself that Nick refuses to recognize.

When Lord Westcliffe finds out that Nick is not who he is pretending to be, all hell breaks loose when Charlotte finds out that  the man whose warm sensual kisses had drugged her to no end was actually the man who her detested groom to be had hired to hunt her down. With Nick determined to make Charlotte his regardless of the consequences, these two make a deal to get married, Charlotte refusing to let love enter the equation knowing that being that vulnerable to any man was not for her and Nick who only thinks that he wants the sensual delights that Charlotte’s body promises and nothing more.

These two are certainly in for a delightful surprise when each of them finds more than they have bargained for in the other. Charlotte for the first time in her life begins to feel safe in the heady warmth of Nick’s arms, whose lightest touch sets her senses afire. Nick who refuses to be bewitched by any woman finds himself relentlessly in need of his wife’s gentle touch and the warmth and understanding that she so effortlessly wields that creates havoc on his heart and emotions which he keeps under tight rein.

Before the story is through, Nick who has always continued to run from his viscountcy finds himself forced to face his future as a viscount with Charlotte by his side whose unwavering faith in him leaves him completely astounded at times. Before these two can finally achieve their happily ever after, Lord Radnor and his evil plans as well as Nick’s restlessness with the inactivity brought about by claiming his title threatens to tear them apart, a lesson well learnt by Nick who is brought to his knees at the thought of losing his Lottie forever.

Basically this was an enjoyable read though I always find myself a tiny bit irritated at the fact that the hero who is described as so tortured by his past becomes a wuss at the first scent of the heroine. I think I am one of those readers who likes a bit of angst in my romances, someone who doesn’t like the path to true love be a walk through the park – if you know what I mean. Out of all the Kleypas books that I have read, my favorite still would have to be Suddenly You though there are still a couple of more titles that I have yet to read from her. I think Lady Sophia’s Lover which I have somewhere on my bookshelves would pretty soon end up in my TBR pile as my interest has been very much piqued by glimpses of Nick’s sister Sophia and her husband Sir Ross Cannon who apparently sentenced Nick to 10 years in a prison hulk when he was 14 years old.

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