Lady Serena's Surrender

After the cruelty of her father and brothers, Serena's distrust of men can certainly be understood, even by her new husband, who married her to comply with the deathbed wish of his older brother. He agrees not to consummate the marriage so that Serena, on gaining her majority, will be able to get an annulment and manage her own inheritance. Of course, he knows that the annulment is unlikely ever to take place because of legal complications, but he hopes that in the few months remaining she will change her mind and agree to remain his wife.But Serena is a tough cookie. The misery she has endured from her own family members makes her unlikely to easily trust a stranger. However, Ian is a patient and gentle man, as interested in helping the less fortunate (on his part, a school for lower-class boys) as Serena is (on her part, a desire to found an institution for mistreated women). He realizes much sooner than she does that they are made for each other. But he does not know if the bitterness in her heart from the past will ever melt into love for him.I found this a very enjoyable, if not unflawed, Regency love story. The mistakes with characters' names, the lack of closure on the matter of Serena's father's previous marriage, the constant "are you not" at the end of statements, the lack of clarity about what Ian's brother actually wanted when he made his deathbed statement--all of these managed to leave me with a sense of frustration at the end, which is why it doesn't get five stars from me.But you can be sure I will read the tales remaining in Savery's "Six" series (in fact, I have already read the ones taking place before and after this one), primarily because I find them overall delightful romances and secondarily because of my decidedly curious nature....

You will ache for these characters. Of course, this is a regency, so you know that everything will work out. Savery, however, does it so well that you suspend belief and root for the romantic triumph.

This book is about Serena, a twenty-four year old lady, and a man named Ian whom she is forced to marry. It takes place in the early 1800s, an era I personaly like very much. She doesn't want to get married, and neither does her fiancee, James. There have been two attempts at the marriage, and James has always found a way to be suddenly be unavailable. The third time a date is set he suddenly gets sick and dies. He makes his brother Ian promise him something but dies before he can say what it was. Ian assumes James wanted him to marry Serena, and then does. From there on it's about her learning to love him, despite her efforts not to. The things that are talked about in this book are plausable, and it is a very good, short, fun romance for anyone who's in the mood for such a thing.