His Wayward Ward by Kate Harper

Eliza knows exactly what she wants from life and has already found the man of her dreams in the handsome Mr. Henry. But she hadn't counted on the intervention of her guardian, the wicked Lord Carlton. Carlton has come by his responsibilities by default and is determined not to let the sudden intrusion of two feckless orphans interfere with his pleasures. But then he meets Eliza and the sparks start to fly. Can Eliza persuade Lord Carlton that she knows her own heart? Especially when the man seems determined to change everything she thinks she knows about love...

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I was quite looking forward to this story. Billed as a risqué Regency romance and at only 89p what could go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

I have read and enjoyed a number of stories where wards and guardians get together and never before have I read one where I felt slightly uncomfortable by the relationship between the two. Eliza is 18 but young with it. She's naive, hot tempered and brattish. In contrast, Carlton is 32 and a disillusioned rake. There was just something off about their interactions in my opinion. Perhaps it was because he continually referred to her as a child or girl that, to be truthful, gave me the creeps.

As well as that, there were a large number of typesetting errors which is just sloppy and irritating when you're trying to get into a story.

The story itself was very short but you know something's not going quite right when you feel a little bored and unenthusiastic about the story even with such limited pages. The writing wasn't terrible (hence the 2 stars rather than just 1) but it seriously lacked any emotion or depth which made it doubly hard to feel anything for the characters.

My last complaint has to be about the term 'risqué' romance because it wasn't in the least sexy or sensual. Perhaps that harks back to the lack of emotion in the text but I still think it's terribly misleading and makes the story even more of a disappointment.

Overall, even at only 89p I really can't recommend this story and would suggest you avoid.

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49 pages

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