Series: Mail Order Brides (Book 4)Bitter Creek (Book 15)
Two years have passed since Josie Wentworth was bought
from the Sioux for a gold watch and whisked back to England by Marcus Wharton,
the Duke of Blackthorne. When Marcus breaks his promise to return Josie to
America, she ends up as a maid in the home of his charming but neglected
nephews. Once Josie’s long-lost family finds her,
however, the suddenly wealthy heiress sets out to save the two boys from
their indifferent uncle -- and teach the duke a lesson in honor.
Learning that Marcus is seeking a rich American bride to
save his estate, Josie plots to catch his eye -- certain he’ll never recognize
the beauty she’s become as the ragged
captive he rescued. But Josie doesn’t wager on her marital charade taking a
tender turn, as the nobleman she’s despised
for years proves to be a very different man than she’s imagined. And there’s no denying his passionate caresses, as
she falls deeper under the spell of a husband determined to claim her heart.
Good conclusion to
the Mail Order Brides series. In the earlier books, the four sisters had all
taken steps to escape the horror of their lives in a Chicago orphanage after
their parents' deaths. Josie was captured by
renegade Sioux warriors, and in the prologue of this book is whipped by
one of her captors because she resisted. Marcus, Duke of Blackthorne, and his
friend David, Earl of Seaton, happen upon the scene. Horrified by what he sees,
Marcus buys Josie from the Indian, determined to save her. Unwilling to leave
her behind to recover, Marcus takes her with him back to England, nursing her
himself during the journey. As he is to be married to David's sister on his
return home, he charges his friend with making certain that Josie is returned
to her family in America once she is healed.
Two years later, Josie is practically a prisoner at one
of the Duke's estates, working as a maid and caring for the Duke's two orphaned
nephews. She is furious at the Duke, both for his broken promise to her and for
his neglect of his nephews. She has written to him numerous times with no
response and her anger at him continues to grow. Her life takes a sudden and
drastic change when she is visited by a
Pinkerton detective. She is stunned when he informs her that her sisters
have been searching for her for two years
and that she has inherited a significant amount of money. She decides to use
that money to bribe Marcus to allow her to take his nephews back to America with
her. That decision undergoes a change
when she discovers that he is looking for a rich American to marry to save his
estates. I loved Josie's spirit and determination to protect the two little
boys she has come to love.
Marcus's life since his return has not been an easy one.
His father died, leaving the estate in debt. His brother also died, leaving
Marcus to care for his two nephews. His beloved wife also died, along with
their son, after an illness she had hidden from him. Though he doesn't want to
marry again, he needs an heir and the wherewithal to restore his estates. Throughout
it all, he has never forgotten the girl he rescued and has often wondered how
she is and why she has never contacted him. Marcus irritated me at the
beginning with the way he had neglected to follow up on his promise to Josie.
He also seemed far too willing to depend on other people's word instead of
checking things out himself.
I enjoyed the meeting between Josie and Marcus. He
doesn't recognize her as the woman he rescued, and he never knew her name. Josie
is determined to dislike Marcus, based on his broken promise and neglect of his
nephews. Neither expects the buzz of attraction between them. It was fun to see
Marcus begin to regret the bargain that he had made, promising that he would
not seek out the physical side of their marriage past their wedding night. Josie
keeps the secret of her identity as she still plans to leave him as soon as she
can. But as they spend their honeymoon preparing to restore his main estate,
they begin to get to know each other. There are some terrific scenes as Josie's
American outlook butts up against Marcus's British reserve. Josie discovers
that Marcus is not the unfeeling man she thought he was. Marcus is stunned when
he discovers the truth about Josie. The attraction between them continues to
grow as do their feelings, though neither is ready to admit it.
As Josie fights with herself over her best course of
action, family crises create complications. One of Marcus's sisters disappears,
and Marcus and Josie embark on a search for her. Josie receives word that one
of her sisters is fighting for her life. Josie and Marcus become separated, and he discovers the truth behind what happened
to Josie. I wasn't surprised by who was behind it, though the reasoning was
somewhat incredible. Josie's fear for her sister causes her to act
precipitously and by the time she realizes that she may have made a mistake
it's too late to change course. I liked their big moment at the end as they finally admit to their
feelings. I loved the epilogue as the family is reunited.
I enjoyed the occasional update on the other sisters as
they waited to hear that Josie has been found and is on her way home. I also
liked Marcus's sisters and their immediate acceptance of Josie into the family.
There is a good secondary storyline involving one of those sisters that shows
Marcus's love and protectiveness for his family, even though he sometimes has a
hard time showing it.
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