His Lady Mistressby Elizabeth Rollsreviewed by Leanne DavisOctober 2005, 304 pages, Publisher: Harlequin, ISBN: 0373293720 Back Cover Blurb: When Max, Earl Blakehurst, meets Verity he sees a downtrodden servant. He doesn't recognize her as the daughter of a colonel under whom he used to serve, the girl he'd once helped years before. The life Verity's now living is untenable. So he proposes a shocking solution; he will set her up as his mistress.
It's only once that Verity's finally agreed, once Max is beginning to lose his heart to her, that he discovers her true identity. Max is taken aback; he would never have suggested this lady become his mistress. Now, to avoid scandal, they'll have to marry!
Max first meets Verity Scott as a girl mourning the death of her father, who was Max's commanding officer. To his sorrow, Max was unable to prevent Col. Scott from commiting suicide. Max comforts Verity and helps her until the arrival of her uncle, Lord Faringdon.
Five years later, Max has inherited the title of Lord Blakehurst. He has come to the Faringdon home to see what has become of the the young Verity, only to be told by Lord Faringdon that she has died. Instead Max meets the woman known as Selina Dering and offers her a chance to be his mistress. Little does he know that Selina is the name that the Faringdons have insisted Verity go by to fool people into believing their tale of the death of Verity Scott.
Verity is thrilled to see Max again. The memories of his kindness have been all that kept her going through the miserable years she has lived with the Faringdons. She has been verbally and physically abused by the whole family while acting as a maid for them. Verity sees Max's offer as a kindness, and while she doesn't take him up on it, she does decide to be with him on the last night of his visit as chance to experience life in a way that may never come her way again.
When they are caught together and her identity is made known to him, Max has little choice but to marry Verity. Max has lived with guilt all his life; his mother has always blamed him for the accident in which his brother, Richard's, leg was injured and on her deathbed she extracts a promise from Max that he will never marry so Richard will inherit the title. He also regrets that he was unable to save Verity's father and feels guilty that he didn't do more for Verity.
Max and Verity's marriage will be a difficult, yet passionate one. Will they be able to overcome the obstacles presented by his guilt, her insecurity, and her difficult family?
Ms. Rolls has written a wonderful yet vulnerable heroine who only wants to be part of a loving family. Max is a complex individual who can't move past the awful burden of guilt he has had thrust upon him.
If you like tortured heroes and heroines, this is the book for you. For my part, this story pushed one too many of my pet peeve buttons. Max's behavior toward Verity moved from distrustful to loving and back again a little too often for my taste. His inconsistent behavior drove me wild. The other aspect of Max that I had a hard time getting past was his inability to accept the fact that not every problem was due to his failure. He had allowed his mother's view of the accident to color his entire life.
While I have enjoyed other books by this author in the past and hope to enjoy others, this book is not one of them.
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