A ruthless tycoon
Savage ambition has brought common-born Rhys Winterborne vast wealth and success. In business and beyond, Rhys gets exactly what he wants. And from the moment he meets the shy, aristocratic Lady Helen Ravenel, he is determined to possess her. If he must take her virtue to ensure she marries him, so much the better . . .
A sheltered beauty
Helen has had little contact with the glittering, cynical world of London society. Yet Rhys's determined seduction awakens an intense mutual passion. Helen's gentle upbringing belies a stubborn conviction that only she can tame her unruly husband. As Rhys's enemies conspire against them, Helen must trust him with her darkest secret. The risks are unthinkable . . . the reward, a lifetime of incomparable bliss. And it all begins with-- Marrying Mr. Winterborne
Sparrowgal's rating: 9.5/10
Sparrowgal's thoughts - Spoiler alert!
This book flows straight on from the first book in the series, Cold Hearted Rake. I really enjoyed the first book that I couldn't wait to read the second book and I enjoyed this book even MORE than the first book!
Admittedly I wasn't impressed with quiet, mousy Helen, who was the sweet unassuming and timid seeming sister of the Ravenels. She was so unlike her hot tempered siblings that it didn't surprise me that the twist in the book turned out to be that she was born out of an affair that her mother had with Rhys Winterborne's enemy, Albion Vance. Rhys was a bastard in the first book as well, threatening to compromise Kathleen, so I was highly unimpressed with him thinking how am I going to like this guy.
However, my opinion of her rapidly changed. She realises her own timidness is her weakness and she quietly confronts Rhys after their engagement is broken in the first book and wants it to be reinstated, and asks him to ruin her, because he her quietness was her disgust at his lowborn status and she was anxious because she didn't know how to let him know how she felt. After their first time together, their love for one another was sealed, and it is evident throughout the whole book.
The twist comes when Helen finds a letter hidden in some books that her mother wrote to her lover, saying that Helen was his daughter, and not the daughter of the Ravenel Earl. Helen is horrified and wants to tell Rhys but keeps it till later, until she suddenly finds out that Kathleen's English "foster parents'" nephew is in fact her father, who is also the man who caused the death of one of Rhys' close friends - Vance had an affair with the wife of Rhys' friend, and she died in childbirth, and his friend committed suicide. Rhys has told her that any child of that man is a devil so she is afraid to lose him when he finds out the truth about her birth.
Albion Vance is a snake who tries to blackmail Helen, threatening to expose her as his daughter and thus ruining the marriage between her and Rhys. Helen holds her own, and using her wiles finds out that her half sister, born out of an affair Vance had with Rhys' friend's wife, was being fostered. When she locates the carer, she finds that the little child has been put into one of the harshest orphanages in London, and she takes her new friend Garrett (London's only female surgeon, who helped Rhys after a building fell on him!) with her and takes the child as her own.
She runs away with the child to escape Vance, but Rhys catches up to her and is furious until she tells him the truth and of course, he still loves her and he adopts the child as his own.
I loved how Helen's nature showed how much she cared for everyone around her. She was a genuinely sweet woman! Rhys was very generous and loving towards Helen, and her family after he made up with Devon Ravenel.
I liked that Rhys made his fortune for hard work and cleverness, and how he loved Helen throughout the whole book. Helen's quiet assertiveness was endearing! The story also introduced Garrett and Ethan Ransom - who appear as the characters in the 4th book in the series.
This is a book I could easily read again!
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