Bought: The Penniless Lady by Deborah Hale

This is book two in Deborah Hales 'Gentleman of Fortune' miniseries and I think you will get the best feel for this book if you read the previous book, Married: The Virgin Widow but its not necessary. Lady Artemis Dearing is saddened and lonely after the death of her brother and sister but is comforted by her darling nephew. When Lees uncle, Hadrian Northmore, suddenly appears and tells her he will get custody of the young boy, Artemis is devastated and says some harsh words to him. After a bit of time to rethink the situation, the situation being that Artemis has been told by her uncles to find a new home for the illegitimate Lee and stop caring for him, she decides that the best plan would be for her to marry Hadrian and care for the boy as Hadrian plans to return to his life overseas and leave Lee with a nanny in England.
Hadrian reluctantly agrees to this plan but is a bit suspicious of Artemis' turnaround on her views. And when it becomes know after they are married that Artemis is penniless, it really drives home the point that she should not be trusted. Still, these two thankfully overcome these small obstacles and slowly realize they have some feelings for each other. Watching these two strong willed people fall in love was very sweet. There is a scene where Hadrian stands up to his housekeeper, who is bad mouthing Artemis that was excellent. This was yet another warm, sweet, fun Harlequin and I really enjoy the writing of Deborah Hale. The premise for the next book, Wanted: Mail-Order Mistress , was introduced a bit and I am looking forward to reading it! 3 1/2 stars

Married: The Virgin Widow by Deborah Hale

Well for being a book about a theme I'm not crazy about, the big misunderstanding, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this one. Laura Penrose was forced to marry her sweethearts ruthless cousin, Cyrus and it forced Ford Barrett away to make his fortune abroad. Laura was engaged to Ford but abruptly ended their engagement via a letter and it broke Fords heart, and as he had creditors after him, he had to flee. Ford has now returned to claim his late cousins title and with the plan to extract revenge on Laura by forcing her to marry him and finally laying claim to her.
Ah, but of course, the love that Laura and Ford once shared reflares almost instantly and they slowly start up a new relationship. Ford is very sweet to Lauras ailing mother and her two sisters and it helps break down a few barriers. Laura is holding a secret very close to her and eventually agrees to marry Ford to help her family, who is broke.

Now, there were many times I wanted to shake both of them and say "just talk to each other already" but the story moved along with bits and pieces of their battered past coming to light often enough that it helped with the flow. When all the secrets of the past are finally revealed, Ford naturally over reacts but thankfully Laura sticks to her guns and finds a happily ever after for both of them. Their is a sweet side story for one of Lauras sisters that was a cute bonus. I mainly read this one as I had picked up the next in this miniseries, Bought: The Penniless Lady and it was nice to get a quick glimpse of the next characters. Overall though, this is a good story about one of my least favorite story lines and well done with just enough steam that I look forward to more books by Deborah Hale. 3 1/2 stars