Helpful Score: 1
Well, I wouldn't go so far as to call Sir Gerald was an intellectual giant, but rather I'd call him a very ordinary man with scars from being rejected that left him with commitment issues and an intense distrust of women. Prissy is a lady raised to be elegant with a good education, including an appreciation of art, literature, and all the other refinements of the age. When she lost her family and any fortune and was left without a sponsor other than an old governess that had become a madame she took the only job available and was good at it. Sir Gerald knew he wanted her but could not reconcile his problems and her station in life. He did overlook the obvious, that is that she was no ordinary prostitute/mistress but just thought was was good at her job. I must say this is a very readable book, though there were times I wanted to tell Prissy to speak up, but I suppose she knew that wasn't the way to handle Sir Gerald. As the other reviewer said, it is a book that will cry out to be read in one sitting! Good for an all-nighter or a rainy day inside.
Though a little sad to think she had to become a prostitute we girls are survivors and if i had a love story i think i`d like this one to be mine. A great story and a grand read would recomend it to all romance fans historical and other .
Sir Gerald is a total wus, neither as smart as or as classy as Prissy his whore/mistress. He's intellectually slow, weak of character and not even particularly good looking. Alas Prissy is smitten by him and he's smitten by her but refuses to acknowledge or accept that, even to himself. If you can overlook his attributes it's a great romance.
Actually read this in one sitting. I cannot recommend this enough! Mary Balogh is a wonderful story teller.
From the back cover...
She was unlike any woman he's ever met in the ton or the demimonde. But Sir Gerald Stapleton frequented Mrs. Blythe's euphemistically dubbed "finished school" for pure, uncomplicated pleasure-and nothing else. So why was this confirmed bachelor so thoroughly captivated by one woman in particular? Why did he find himself wondering how such a rare jewel of grace, beauty, and refinement as Priss had ended up a courtesan? And when she needed protection, why did Gerald, who's sworn he's never get entangled in affairs of the heart, hasten to set her up as his own pampered mistress to ensure her safety-and have her all to himself?
For Priscilla Wentworth, the path leading to Sir Gerald's bed had been as filled with misfortune as it suddenly seemed charmed. but Priss wouldn't allow herself to believe she'd ever be more to a man like Sir Gerald than a well-cared for object of pleasure. Now, despite Gerald's deep distrust of marriage, neither sandal nor society's censure can keep them apart-only the fear of trusting their hearts.
She was unlike any woman he's ever met in the ton or the demimonde. But Sir Gerald Stapleton frequented Mrs. Blythe's euphemistically dubbed "finished school" for pure, uncomplicated pleasure-and nothing else. So why was this confirmed bachelor so thoroughly captivated by one woman in particular? Why did he find himself wondering how such a rare jewel of grace, beauty, and refinement as Priss had ended up a courtesan? And when she needed protection, why did Gerald, who's sworn he's never get entangled in affairs of the heart, hasten to set her up as his own pampered mistress to ensure her safety-and have her all to himself?
For Priscilla Wentworth, the path leading to Sir Gerald's bed had been as filled with misfortune as it suddenly seemed charmed. but Priss wouldn't allow herself to believe she'd ever be more to a man like Sir Gerald than a well-cared for object of pleasure. Now, despite Gerald's deep distrust of marriage, neither sandal nor society's censure can keep them apart-only the fear of trusting their hearts.
One of my favorite Balogh stories
An impoverished gentlewoman, rejected by her relatives, Prissy is a prostitute in a high-class brothel when Sir Gerald decides to make her his mistress. Not the most intelligent of men, he doesn't realize that he has fallen in love with her, while she knows that she has fallen in love with him, but can't forget that she is his employee. The crisis comes when she becomes pregnant. This is not my favorite of Mary Balogh's Regency romances, most of which I enjoy very much.
