Something Wonderful

Rating:
Summary: Melts your heart
Review: this was a good book but oh it could of been better miss macnaught if you read this review please have a heart to the female roles of your books they have to suffer so much before they can find true love, and the male leads as if they are the victims.this book could ofcut of a lot of chapters.

Rating:
Summary: An apt title for a really wonderful story
Review: While on his way to his grandmother's country estate, Jordan Townsende, the Duke of Hawthorne, is attacked by thieves then rescued by a knight who suddenly comes out of nowhere. When the knight is injured after killing one of the thieves, Jordan carries his rescuer into the local inn, and to his surprise, he discovers that his knight in rusty armour is actually a young girl. Unfortunately for Jordan, that 'young girl' is actually 17-year-old Alexandra Lawrence, whose virtue is now compromised.

When Alexandra's mother finds out, she blackmails Jordan into marrying Alex, much to their shock. Jordan is furious but feels sorry for Alex, as he knows that he's ruined her chance of finding a husband, and therefore he reluctantly agrees to marry her. Alex tries to change his mind, as she doesn't want to get married especially to someone who is disenchanted with life and doesn't share her love and enthusiasm for it. Still the marriage takes place and by then, Alex fancies herself in love with Jordan, whom she describes as noble and beautiful, while Jordan finds himself more and more fascinated by his bride, whose laugh and exuberance is infectious, and whose innocence and naiveté warms his heart.

However, before they even had a chance to make their marriage work, Jordan finds himself captured in France and presumed dead in England. Alex grieves for Jordan until she is shattered by the realization that the man she fell in love with was nothing but an illusion, and that he was not the noble man that she thought him to be. Meanwhile, while imprisoned, it was the thought of seeing Alex again that kept Jordan going, not knowing that his naive and artless wife has now been transformed into a sophisticated lady with the help of his grandmother, and is now the toast of the ton. So when he finally escapes, he was shocked by the news that Alex was about to marry his cousin, Tony.

With these discoveries, we see them suffer the consequences of disillusionment and betrayal, while trying at the same time to hang on to the dream that they can make it work. And some scenes are almost heartbreaking, like when Filbert tells Jordan how Alex has suffered as a child from her father's lack of affection or how, when she thought Jordan dead, she had stared for hours at his portrait and cried.

Despite a couple of issues - namely the inconsistency with the dates where Jordan was supposed to have been gone for only 15 months, yet some scenes mention how they didn't know each other 2 years before (haven't they only known each other for two weeks before he was shipped to France?), and the lack of details on Jordan's capture, I really loved this book. Alexandra's innocence, optimism and wit are captivating and I loved seeing the effect and transformation it had on Jordan. This book made me laugh and cry and I truly loved it.