Claudia (BrokenWing) reviewed on
Helpful Score: 5
What a delightful romance. Offbeat, interesting characters and strong character development. The heroine, Emma, is a 30ish "plump" reformed con-artist widow who is trying to run her own Yorkshire sheep farm after the death of her alcoholic husband, also a reformed con artist, who was the local vicar.
The old viscount has died and the new viscount (Stuart) is the stuttering, son of an abusive father estranged from his father and living in Russia. He receives the notice from his solicitor three weeks after his father's death. In the meantime, his uncle has had him declared dead and looted his estates in an attempt to usurp the title. On his way to claim his estate and title, his speeding coach tramples to death Emma's only male lamb.
Emma is outraged that the lamb she had planned to use for breeding has been killed and writes the new viscount a letter demanding compensation for her loss. When he doesn't respond, she pays a personal visit to his estate and is told he is unavailable to meet with her.
Finally, she receives a visit from his under-secretary who offers her a bank draft of 10 pounds as recompense for her losses. She is outraged because she feels the lamb was worth much more as breeding stock and Yorkshire courts normally take into consideration the offspring that a lamb would have produced when calculating damages for killing a lamb.
She files suit in a local court and when she is awarded 50 pounds, the viscount appeals to a higher court in London. She is outraged because she doesn't have the money to travel to London and continue fighting him. She decides to obtain the money through devious means and swindles him out of the 50 pounds by posing as a temporary bookkeeper at his bank.
Wonderful character development, interesting plot about two less than perfect characters who overcome their tragic pasts to heal each other and find love in the process.
The old viscount has died and the new viscount (Stuart) is the stuttering, son of an abusive father estranged from his father and living in Russia. He receives the notice from his solicitor three weeks after his father's death. In the meantime, his uncle has had him declared dead and looted his estates in an attempt to usurp the title. On his way to claim his estate and title, his speeding coach tramples to death Emma's only male lamb.
Emma is outraged that the lamb she had planned to use for breeding has been killed and writes the new viscount a letter demanding compensation for her loss. When he doesn't respond, she pays a personal visit to his estate and is told he is unavailable to meet with her.
Finally, she receives a visit from his under-secretary who offers her a bank draft of 10 pounds as recompense for her losses. She is outraged because she feels the lamb was worth much more as breeding stock and Yorkshire courts normally take into consideration the offspring that a lamb would have produced when calculating damages for killing a lamb.
She files suit in a local court and when she is awarded 50 pounds, the viscount appeals to a higher court in London. She is outraged because she doesn't have the money to travel to London and continue fighting him. She decides to obtain the money through devious means and swindles him out of the 50 pounds by posing as a temporary bookkeeper at his bank.
Wonderful character development, interesting plot about two less than perfect characters who overcome their tragic pasts to heal each other and find love in the process.
