Unlikely Guardian

Evelyn Lovelace, the Earl of Sinamor (the name gave me pause) has a rather rakish reputation. But arriving home after a singularly disappointing night out - breaking up with his mistress, losing at cards, drinking with a friend, he finds a unusual young woman and her chaperone at his home. A compatriot from the Napoleonic War has made him the guardian of his daughter Phillipa. Sinamor's war injury which causes him to limp is evident in the storyline but not to extreme. Sinamor quickly takes Phillipa to the home of his cousin and childhood friend, Lady Dearborne. Winifred Dearborn with five sons takes on the task of educating Phillipa on the ways of the "ton." She treats her like a daughter. There are lots of fun situations involving all the sons. Phillipa barely keeps her reputation secure with all the scrapes that transpire. Along the way, the mutual feelings of anger and distrust between Sinamor and Phillipa turn to love. Every Regency has a villain and in this case one is Phillipa's cousin Gervase Wakehurst. He poisons her mind against any other suitor including her guardian. Of course we realize he is a fortune hunter, card shark and all around horrid person. Another villain is Sinamor's discarded mistress Helene. She stirs up trouble in a very unique way. For some reason, my heart was not stirred by either the hero or heroine. Although we are given insight into Sinamor's character due to his horrible loveless upbringing, his tormented soul was not really projected well in this book. Phillipa cried too much and I felt was a bit immature for a supposedly hardened rake. She also appeared to be terribly uneducated and bored with everything. Also, there really was no evidence of Sinamor's wickedness, except for a mistress which was commonplace. Despite the above, I did enjoy the interesting cast of characters and the horse-mad Phillipa! My favorite part is when Phillipa puts herself in danger to save the youngest Dearborne and Sinamor is frightened by her near miss and FINALLY declares his feelings with words and action - (my paraphrase) - "You little fool - You might have been killed!" She had little time to fret over his words ... for he took her crushingly in his arms and kissed her violently. (She returns his kiss with equal passion.) Nice afternoon read --

In all of London, every young lady's dream and every mother's fear was the heartlessly handsome Efelyn Lovelace, the Earl of Sinamor. But now society's most notorious rake had to play guardian to Miss Phillipa Raithby, a girl who was as innocent as she was enticing. Could he abandon his wicked ways with this adorable young beauty? And could she in turn resist the irresistible in this devilishly dashin lord? The aristocratic community held its breath, and thunderclouds of rumor readied for a storm of scandal at each step of the whirligig romance between the audacious nobleman who made women his prey and the vulnerable maiden who made love her goal... The author did a great job! This story was put together really well