The Former Fiance

Lady Madeline Dalton (on the back of the book her last name was given as Donbigh, as stated in the other reviews, but throughout the book her name was Dalton) has a problem: a mad gentleman stalker whom no one seems to believe is dangerous except her. So she goes to Robinson Hollister, the eccentric Earl of Rosegoode, who runs a protection agency. Despite past misunderstandings and bitterness between them due to an aborted courtship and Lady Madeline's crying off from her engagement to Robinson's late older brother, he agrees to act as her protector until she is out of danger. Once they are on the run together, they discover they actually like one another, not to mention their strong mutual attraction. Soon the misunderstandings between them are cleared up, and they begin to tentatively renew their friendship, while hiding out and trying to convince Lady Madeline's stalker that she will never marry him. This is the best of DesJardien's books that I have read, enjoyable from start to finish. I read it twice in the first week I owned it, and I am sure I will read it again some rainy day--it's a keeper. The character development is strong and interesting. Lady Madeline, in particular, is a nice balance of a young woman who was raised to be a society miss, yet is sensible and intelligent and not willing to simply let men dictate how she should lead her life. The romance between her and Rosegoode grows believably and in a quietly joyful way, despite the rather desperate circumstances.

Lady Madeline Donbigh and Robinson Hollister had once been engaged - an engagement broken off due to foolishness and misunderstanding on every side. After that, she had been engaged to his older brother and broke off that engagement two months later (creating more misunderstandings between everyone but Madeline and the brother). Now, two years later, Robinson Hollister is running a company that provides protective services, and Madeline needs protection.Robinson is a strong but haunted character, tormented by memories of the death of his brother at Waterloo where he was restrained from going out on the battlefield to rescue him by Major Lord Soley. He is also an intelligent, idealistic young man doing what he can to help the less fortunate while trying to cope with becoming the Earl of Rosegoode upon the recent death of his brother and father. He's the sort to propose spiriting Madeline off to protect her from her crazed suitor, in spite of his personal opinion of the lady. And she's the type to change his mind about her just by being herself.Madeline is the sort of lady who can deal with traveling without a maid, in lower-class disguise, and roughing it with the oddest people. She is somewhat envious of Robinson's freedom to choose : he can turn his back on society and engage in trade. As an Earl's daughter, her choices are marriage or spinsterhood at home. She has gone through two unacceptable engagements and is working very hard to reject a man society would have no objections to - even her father, though he has hired a Runner to guard her, does not realize how dangerous Mr. Carmichael is. Though he treated her badly in the past, Robinson is her hero now.Robinson and Madeline have plenty to work on. There's the external - escaping from, planning how to deal with, and finally dealing with Carmichael. And there's the internal - untangling all the mistakes of the past, getting to know each other for the first time and deciding where they will go from there. I rooted for both of them.This is a good treatment of a serious subject - stalking - in what is normally a light format. I not only sympathized with Madeline and Robinson, I also believed in them as real characters. Highly recommended

Lady Madeline Donbeigh and Robinson Hollister, the sixth Earl of Rosegoode, have what could be described as a really twisted and entangled past history. Once upon a time, both Lady Madeline's father and Robinson's father thought it would be a good idea to promote a match between the two. Unfortunately a misunderstanding developed between both Lady Madeline and Hollister (each blaming the other for what happened), and the proposed match came to nothing. About a year following this episode, said fathers tipsily decide that it would be wonderful to promote a match between Lady Madeline and Robinson's elder brother, Elliott. This time there is an engagement, but for some reason or the other, Lady Madeline breaks off the engagement. Soon after this debacle, both brothers sign up to fight Bonarparte. Unfortunately, Elliott is killed in battle. And now, Robinson who never thought he would inherit his father's titles and lands, finds himself (following the death of his father) the uneasy new Earl of Rosegoode. Unwilling to become the typical English aristocrat, and wanting to retain some autonomy on his life, Robinson has used his new found wealth to start a protection agency. The last thing he ever expected was that Lady Madeline would walk into his office one day, asking for help. The very last person Lady Madeline would have expected to have turned to for help was Robinson Hollister. She still is bitter about his past behaviour towards her. Unfortunately beggars cannot be choosers. And Lady Madeline is in a very precarious and dangerous situation indeed: she's being harassed by a determined lunatic. For some reason or the other, Baldwin Carmichael has decided that he wants to marry Lady Madeline, and will not take 'no' for an answer. Things have gotten to such a state that Lady Madeline is afraid for her life. Unfortunately, no one seems to share her fears. And so she's decides to take her fate into her own hands and hire Robinson to protect her. In spite of his poor opinion of Lady Madeline, Robinson agrees to take on her case, and decides to personally see to her protection. Together, the pair take off for the country, hoping to elude Carmichael. What follows in an adventure in which two people who have preconceived (and bad) opinions of each other, begin to see that everything is not a case of black and white. And that there is much to admire (and love) in each other. But will either be willing to let down his or her guard again? And what of the madman that is after Lady Madeline? Will they successfully thwart his plans once and for all?"The Former Fiance" is an example of Teresa DesJadien's work at its best -- the story an exciting and engrossing one, and the main characters were engaging and interesting as well. I liked the manner in which the primary storyline -- the developing romance between Robinson and Lady Madeline -- was mapped out. It wasn't rushed, but progressed at a slow and steady rate, allowing for both principals to see that there w