Il sogno di Lady Lily (Convenienza e vero amore Vol. 2) By Anne Gracie
4.5 Stars for a lovely story. It would have been five, but the big mystery was a bit disappointing to me. Great marriage of convenience that turns into love transition. Really enjoyed listening to it! Italian Find this review and many more on my blog: Ipshita's Book Alley
I enjoyed this book. The characters sort of grew on me by the time I finished with it. One cannot help but fall for Gracie's characters. And I've been a devoted follower of Anne Gracie for several years. Having said that, I couldn't help but feel that this one wasn't up to par with her usual books.
Two things that bothered me were her dyslexia (not a spoiler, trust me) and the hero not returning to his estate despite having such a great relationship with his grandfather. I felt both of these issues were overly stretched, so much so that they lost their effectiveness. I'm not being insensitive to the issues but they could have been handled far better. The author certainly has the talent to do it, she's proved as much in The Perfect Stranger and The Gallant Waif (books whose copies have worn out due to my re-reading).
Italian 4.5 stelline
La dolcissima Lily rimane vittima di una trappola. Allontanata con l'inganno dalla sua famiglia si ritrova rapita e condotta a forza a Gretna Green da un furfante che vuole appropriarsi della sua eredità. Riuscita a fuggire si imbatte in Edward , Ned , amico di suo fratello che la aiuta a ritornare a Londra. Vittime di pettegolezzi saranno costretti a sposarsi e Ned mette in chiaro che oltre all'amicizia non potrà esserci nulla , ma ci riuscirà a non farsi coinvolgere ?
Sempre più conquistata da questa serie Italian Lady Lily Rutherford gets kidnapped by a jackass and she has a SECRET. Edward Galbraith rescues her and HE TOO HAS A SECRET. Kissing, scandal, marriage, sex, emotions, revealing of secrets, THE END.
1. HER SECRET IS THAT SHE CANNOT READ. OTHER BOOKS HAVE DONE IT BETTER.
2. HIS SECRET IS THAT HE HAS SURVIVOR'S GUILT. OTHER BOOKS HAVE DONE IT BETTER.
3. This just didn't stick. Lily just a golden-hearted idol with nothing to her beyond her dyslexia. Ned is 900% not present until his ~big reveal which is ultimately both too obvious and too small. So much of the plot felt underdeveloped and incomplete. Ned's realization of feelings happens off site, off page and without any narrative. Lily's realization of feelings happens so early as to mean practically nothing and then goes no where as she struggles with ~trying to make Ned love her.
4. It's just inoffensive and dull and I don't even have that much to say about it because it just—didn't do anything for me in any way. Italian 3.5. Rather abrupt last few chapters, very quick turnaround of events. I feel as if it was missing some buildup.
Aaaand, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, yeah, it was missing some filler. Some pasta or rice with all that meat.
The characters were great though. They conveyed genuine affection for each other, and there was a cute portrayal of growing feelings.
I also like that no easy solution was offered for her issue, at this stage of her life it might have been frustrating for her if everyone was trying to ‘fix’ her rather than being accepting. Italian
read & download ´ eBook or Kindle ePUB Û Anne Gracie
ARC provided by NetGalley and Publisher for an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
First time reading this author.
Lady Lily Rutherford is holding out for true love. Even though her not so nice Aunt is determined to marry her, her sister and niece off to cold, arrogant, titled men of the ton. But Lily dreams of true love.
She know she has some challenges that need to be overcome, as her dearest Aunt continues to point out. Lily can't read and as been disparaged by her Father and Aunt to be made to feel small and stupid. But thankfully she has a great support system with her sisters and niece.
Edward Galbraith, is known as cold and aloof. He's aware that he's being pursued for his future title and has no wish to marry. He has baggage that just is too burdensome and troubling to bring into a marriage. Edward sister and Lily are friends.
Lily defies her dearest Aunt and attends an event to meet up with some past schoolmate. Unbeknownst to Lily a plan has been hatched to abduct and take her inheritance. But she finds a knight in shining armor in Edward. The two are put in a compromising situation (due to traveling together) and her reputation is in jeopardy. So again Edward, being a gentleman does the right thing and marries Lily.
And so the two begin learning about each other and they start developing feelings for each other. But insecurities come in to play as well as deep secrets and hurts that need to be revealed.
The writing at times was good, flow of the book in there first couple chapters anyway (though I did think it took a little to long to introduce Edward). But as I progress I found the flow to be stifled as characters seemed to disappear or drop off. Also some issues seemed unresolved, Auntie needed some closer. And then there was Sylvia that was unresolved in my book. I also found some of Lily's behavior a little to naive, like why meet someone who hands you a note that you can't really read?!?! And Edwards reveal could have been dealt with sooner in my opinion. Also the end seemed rush and clumsily put together.
I will try this author again, this one book was just not as promising as I hoped. Italian For my thoughts, comments, and quotes: Marry in Scandal Buddy Read
This started off promising for me but meandered in the middle and then had an ending that was full of pointless, annoying, quickly done with reveals. Italian Readers first met Lily Rutherford, heroine of Marry in Scandal (the second book in Anne Gracie’s Marriage of Convenience series), in Marry in Haste, where she was introduced as one of the two somewhat unruly sisters of its hero, Cal, Earl of Ashendon. Now eighteen years old, Lily, her sister, Rose and their niece, Georgiana (who is of an age with them) are all partaking of the London season under the chaperonage of their dragon of an Aunt Augusta, who orders them about, and bullies them (or tries to) into doing whatever she wants them to.
Being the quieter of the three, Lily is usually the main target for Aunt Augusta’s lectures and disparaging comments, many of which relate to the fact that Lily has never been able to learn to read or write, and was regarded by their late father as stupid. Lily’s ‘shortcoming’ is not widely known however, and given she is an heiress, their aunt holds out hope that there may be a man out there who is desperate enough to marry her. All Lily wants is someone who will love and care for her, and whom she can love and care for in return, yet Aunt Agatha insists on thrusting the trio of young ladies into the paths of the sorts of cold, ennui-laden, self-important gentlemen they dislike - and Lily’s refusal to attend the opera so she can meet a duke and two of his friends all but sends the older lady into apoplexy.
It’s unusual for Lily to stand up to their aunt so strongly, but she refuses to be cowed on this occasion. Agatha always makes her feel fat (naturally, Lily isn’t fat, but lusciously curved) and stupid, and she wants to escape from her aunt’s censure for a few hours; and besides, she has agreed to attend another event because she has promised to meet an old schoolmate there. Sadly for Lily however, her promise almost proves her undoing. At the function, she is introduced to the handsome and charming Victor Nixon – who proceeds to slip Lily a mickey, construct a weak excuse to get her outside and then bundle her into a carriage that immediately takes off at speed. Drugged, bound and confused, Lily doesn’t know what’s happening until she hears her captor and his companion bandying around words like ‘bride’ and ‘heiress’ – and realises they must be heading to Gretna Green.
Lily may be quiet and shy, but she discovers her backbone during the uncomfortable journey, and at last manages to escape, running headlong into the path of the coach containing Mr. Edward Galbraith, a notorious rake and friend of Cal’s, who immediately comes to her rescue. Nixon and his henchman are summarily dispatched and, having ascertained Lily’s identity, Edward determines to take her home.
The difficulty is going to be in keeping Lily’s identity and standing as an unmarried lady a secret while they are on the way back to London. Edward has no wish to be forced into marriage because society perceives Lily has been compromised – so they have to be incredibly careful to stop in out-of-the-way places where it’s unlikely anyone of their acquaintance will see them. Things go in their favour – until the very last leg of the journey when one of Aunt Agatha’s rivals sees Lily and starts spreading rumours of her ruin the moment she gets back to London.
When Edwards hears them, he’s furious. He doesn’t want to be married, but he can’t stand by and let an innocent young woman be falsely accused and publicly ruined. He likes Lily, admires her intelligence and pluck and is most definitely attracted to her lush body, but he knows she wants to marry for love and that’s the one thing he cannot give her. If, however, he offers for Lily but makes it clear from the start that love isn’t an option… then perhaps marriage isn’t completely out of the question.
Marry is Scandal doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s an easy, undemanding read featuring two attractive principals who have lots of lovely romantic chemistry, and I enjoyed it. Lily is the more well-drawn of the two protagonists and undergoes the most character growth; she has spent all her life hurting and lacking confidence because of her father’s rejection and belief that she must be stupid because she was unable to learn to read or write, and I was rooting for her as she learnt to stand up for herself and to fight for the man she loves. Edward is rather stereotypical; another of those marriage-shy bachelors with such deep hurt in his past that he believes himself unworthy of love or happiness, but for all that, he’s an attractive hero, and Ms. Gracie clearly shows the reader that he’s falling hard for Lily in spite of his determination to remain detached. She injects a little bit of mystery into the story courtesy of his flat refusal to return home, even though he loves the place and the grandfather who practically raised him – but his about-face and coming to terms with the past come rather too late in the story to feel anything other than rushed and glossed over.
There’s an engaging and well-characterised secondary cast in the story, and it’s refreshing to discover Edward’s grandfather is a decent, kind man who loves his grandson dearly rather than one of those ruthless, harsh and dictatorial father-figures so often found in the genre. The writing is smooth and laced with warmth and gentle humour, and in short, Marry in Scandal is sure to appeal to fans of the marriage-of-convenience trope and to anyone looking for a charming and sweetly sensual historical romance without too much overblown drama. Italian Mmmm... It could be that the heroine is too young for my taste...
She reminded me of Melanie Hamilton from Gone with the Wind, remember?
She has a golden heart and is full of good intentions, but she's soooo naive!!!
She also has a big problem: she cannot read (I think she's dyslexic, but it is never throughly explained).
I can understand that's a big problem, but she's been hiding it from the hero for too long.
I had the feeling that the hero was kind of absent from the story... she's the main character. He was present, but also somehow suspended from it all... I don't know how to explain better...
It was kind of bland romance. Yes, full of good intentions, but also with kind of stupid villains...
It's not completly bad, but I could do without it. Lily is such an insignificant heroine and I wasn't involved. she and her navie actions almost gave me a toothache, they're so sweet! Italian The author is really good at writing endings. The last quarter is pretty amazing. Like the 1st book, it takes way too long for the buildup of the plot.
I was looking forward to Lily’s book, but she was kinda eh for most of it except for a bit in the beginning and the ending. I like Edward, especially when we get his backstory towards the end. His grandfather is the sweetest!
So overall. 3 stars (maybe 2.5). Solid last quarter of the book, but the middle was so blah.
Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
Happy/satisfying ending?
Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level?
Tears-worthy?
Humor?
Favorite scenes?
What age level would be appropriate?
Italian
Convenienza e vero amore 2
Inghilterra, 1819
Giovane e timida, Lady Lily Rutherford non ha alcuna fretta di sposarsi, poiché sogna di trovare il vero amore. Purtroppo per lei, però, è un'ereditiera e sua zia mira a procurarle quanto prima un marito, possibilmente titolato, freddo e distaccato al punto giusto da non accorgersi della sua imbarazzante incapacità di leggere e scrivere e ancora meno delle sue forme un po' troppo rigogliose. Desiderosa di sfuggire, almeno per qualche ora, alle pesanti critiche e ai piani matrimoniali della zia, Lily rifiuta di seguirla a un ricevimento e si presenta a un altro ballo per incontrare quella che ritiene un'amica. Tradita da chi credeva sincero, cade invece in una crudele trappola. A causa di sfortunati eventi e malelingue, Lily è infine costretta a sposare il suo salvatore per evitare un rovinoso scandalo. Ma che ne sarà ora del suo sogno d'amore? Il sogno di Lady Lily (Convenienza e vero amore Vol. 2)
