Five stars!!! I loved this story about Beatrice, one of the Merry Widows, and Gabriel, who is slightly younger than Beatrice. Definitely not the predictable, run-of-the-mill regency. I can't wait for Grace's story coming up next in "Lady, Be Bad."

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In 1813 single mother widow Countess Beatrice Campton chaperones her niece Emily to a masquerade party where she is dressed as Artemis. Marquess Thayne just back in England after eight years in India wants her; boldly Gabriel tells Artemis that. They surrender to their desire sharing a pleasing tryst.

Not long afterward, the latest catch of the season Gabriel searches for his masked lover as he knows she shared his passion as this is not JUST ONE OF THOSE FLINGS. He also surprisingly finds himself attracted to the standoffish older Beatrice especially when he looks into the heat her eyes emit. When Gabriel realizes that Beatrice, not a simpering debutante, is his beloved lover, he decides to go all out to make her his knowing full well the scandal that will percolate and even understands the difficulty of convince his beloved. He tries to persuade one of the card carrying Merry Widows that they can share a life together especially IN THE THRILL OF THE NIGHT if she would take a chance on love with his best weapon, kisses.

Once again Candice Hern provides readers with a wonderful May-December regency romance filled with humor, wit, and romance as the catch of the season courts the Merry Widow. The story line is fast-paced; however, the interrelationships between the fully developed cast (not just the lead couple) make for a fun intelligent historical. Fans will know the sub-genre is hale and hearty after reading Candice Hern's latest tale.

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Gagriel Thayne returns home after years of travel and at 29 must begin to find a wife due to the promise he made his parents to settle down and marry by 30

Beatrice is a 35 yr old widow with 2 teenage daughters, and has taken on the task of overseeing her niece during the season.

Unknown to each other they meet at a masqurade ball and after that one night each wonder who the other was. They meet without disquises but do not know the other was the one from that one night.

This book is pretty good and has many twists and turns and keeps you wondering what will happen!

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I will admit, this book took me a while to get excited about. A few chapters. But I loved the first book in The Merry Widows Series, In The Thrill of the Night. So I had to continue. And I will say I am very glad I did. Candice Hern paints a wonderful picture of romance. An older woman, a widow finding herself against all odds and against her own better sensibilities falling in love with a man six years her Junior. OH MY! What woman wouldn't love that?! They embark on an affair that turns into me, and we follow them through several hard turns of their love. For them to come out on the other side.

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Candice Hern writes an excellent book! Her Merry Widow series is very clever and highly entertaining. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

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More fun than the first. A cute series.

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The first two chapters are rather exciting and contain a very sexually illicit encounter. This exciting start is followed by 100 pages of boring back and forth while the H/H find each other again. This almost made me put down the book. It was that boring. At chapter 7, page 106 it heats up again and contains til the end.

I really liked the characters of Lord Thayne and Beatrice. They were very likable and real. If it wasn't for those 100 pages, this would be a 4 star book.

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From the cover, Beatrice, Lady Somerfield, is too busy chaperoning her headstrong neice and overseeing her own young daughters to find time to take a lover---until one night at a ball when a masked stranger makes her relize the delights she's been missing. When she learns his identity, however, an affair seems impossible. He is Gabriel, the Marques of Thayne, just returned from India, the catch of the season-- and the one man half the debutantes of London(including Beatrice's neice!) want for a husband. But Thayne is thoroughly captivated by Beatrice, and their attraction leads to several mutually satisfying encounters. As he searches for a bride among the season's young ladies, he finds hemself increasingly drawn to the beautiful, sensual, more sophisticated Lady somerfield, and suspects his mistress might make the perfect wife. But will Beatrice's deepening feelings for Thayne be enough to overcome her vow never to marry again, and the scandal once their relationship is revealed?

cute story!!

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