Merely the Groom

I've read all of her books, but I agree that the editing is flawed and the minor details are unresearched. I am currently trying my hand at writing a regency romance and I strive to find accurate accounts: such as when the little season begins, down to details of dress and eating. It's disappointing that Ms. Lee didn't put as much effort into it. But the story is very touching and I enjoyed both the characters. Don't analyze it too much and you'll be fine.

I thought this book was FABULOUS! I'm not a historian, so I did not pick up on any incorrect historical facts, not that it really matters. The book is fiction, and I enjoyed it for the incredible romance. Rebecca Hagan Lee does a great job telling the story--I felt like I was actually there, watching everything take place. When a book succeeds in taking me to another place, I consider it successful. I had a hard time making myself put this one down. In my opinion, it is a must read!

Setting - England, 1812 --- In the second installment of Lee's 'Free Fellows League' Colin McElreath (Viscount Grantham) becomes the second victim to become leg-shackled in marriage - a state that to the young adolescent boys who had originated the league considered as a fate worse than death. Now grown up and working as a spy for the war office, Colin had established his spy persona as a smuggler working out of the Blue Bottle Inn. It was on one of his nightly excursions that he spied a lovely lady keeping vigil in an upper room of the inn and wished that it were for him that she kept said vigil - that wish would somehow became prophetic in more ways than one. When Colin and his fellow Free Fellows learn that a Bow Street runner is closing in on Colin Fox (Colin's alias as a spy) they discovered that someone else had been using that name to seduce unsuspecting young woman into elopement and ruination. One woman's father was determined to hunt him down. Baron Davies, is no man's fool and when Colin is dispatched to try and convince the Baron to call off the hunt, the Baron decides that now that his daughter has been compromised, a husband is required to save Gillian's reputation and Viscount Grantham, whose financial situation was less than promising, but whose title was old and honorable, would fit the bill. Marriage to his daughter, or the Baron would continue his investigation thereby totally compromising Colin's cover - and after all, marriage with a handsome dowry and Gillian Davies would certainly be worth the sacrifice. Once again, Ms. Lee has crafted an engaging and darling Regency-era novel set in the midst of the Napoleonic conflicts. With the use of the prologue that is a repeat from BARELY A BRIDE, the first book in this trilogy, one has no problem with this book standing alone. Though the marriage was 'forced' the two protagonists were 'known' to one another and their mutual attraction turned out to be their destiny. I loved that it allowed Gillian, who had made a foolish mistake in being such a romantic and eloping with the wrong person, was given a second chance at love. Colin, whose old and honorable title and empty pockets, due to his fathers gambling addiction, was truly Gillian's 'knight in shining armor' - her true Galahad. The intrigue subplot of the cad who had left Gillian in such dire straits, ended up playing a very small but secondary part in what was primarily a very loving and romantic read that is sure to warm many a readers heart. --- Marilyn Rondeau, Official Reviewer for www.hsitoricromancewriters.com ---

I didn't like this one quite as much as Barely a Bride because of the repetition at the beginning regarding the Free Fellows League (needful for the book to stand alone, but annoying to those who have recently read the first) and because of an irritating but thankfully not-too-frequent tendency to repeat information as though the reader cannot remember it. For example, how many times do we really need to be told that Jarrod's ability to gather information is astounding, even to his friends?All that aside, however, Merely a Groom is a delight to read thanks to its lead characters and the rest of the Free Fellows (and gal pals). It's fun to read these books and see the future begin to unfold before you: other Free Fellows with potential ladies mentioned in these books. You'll like them all.This book does not keep the reader's interest quite as well as the first, hence the small drop in rating. But Collin is a sweet and sensitive man that no woman in her right mind could avoid falling in love with. Gillian is a woman who truly appreciates this wonderful man and the second chance at love she has been given. They are so obviously good for each other that the heart warms reading about them. I can't wait for the next installment.

In 1793 the three preadolescent aristocratic heirs sign in blood the charter of the Free Fellow League, which includes amongst its rules not to marry unless there is no choice until they reach thirty. Instead Griffin Abernathy, Colin McElreath, and Jarrod Sheperdston plan to become England's greatest heroes.In 1812 London Baron Carter Davies, a merchant just recently raised to peerage, is angry and upset because his daughter Gillian vanished without a trace one week ago while attending a musicale chaperoned by her mother. Bow St informs him that Gillian apparently eloped with a Mr. Colin Fox. Eloping with a mister is worse than kidnapping to Gillian's father, who expected his daughter to wed an aristocrat.At the Blue Bottle Inn by the Edinburgh docks, Gillian waits for her Colin who seemingly deserted her. Instead her father accuses Colin McElreath of compromising Gillian. To avoid a scandal Colin marries Gillian, but also hopes she can be the bait to capture the rogue impersonating him. Neither of the newlyweds expected love to freely flow between them as it has, but Colin has a mission that is pulling his heart apart as he must place his beloved in jeopardy to succeed.The second Free Fellow League book, MERELY THE GROOM, is an exciting Regency romantic suspense that contains a wonderful love subplot inside a powerful tale of intrigue. The fine story line contains characters from the first tale (see BARELY THE BRIDE) playing significant parts in this novel, but that also tends to take away from the romantic interludes of the lead couple. Still Rebecca Hagan Lee furbishes a delightful charmer that will have readers awaiting Jarrod's avoidance of marriage story.Harriet Klausner