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Alec is the Earl of Iversley, and secretly the bastard son of the Prince of Wales. After being banished overseas for most of his life, he returns to England after the death of the previous Earl only to discover that the estate is suffering from a desperate lack of funds. He decides that the best solution to his issues is to marry a wealthy heiress, and contacts his half-brothers, the Viscount Draker and Mr. Byrne, for assistance.
Mr. Byrne points Alec in the direction of Katherine Merivale- as far as most people are aware, the Merivales aren't very well off, but Mr. Byrne knows that Katherine is due to inherit an immense fortune from her grandfather upon her marriage. Katherine's late father was a rakehell and terrible spendthrift, and as a result the Merivales owe Mr. Byrne a decent sum of money.
If Alec marries Katherine, he gains access to her inheritance and can both pay to help his estate and pay off the debt to Mr. Byrne. However, because of her father Katherine has a strong distrust of men, especially ones with spotty reputations like Alec's. Instead, she has her heart set on marrying her childhood friend, Sydney, a wealthy and conservative-minded poet. Katherine and Sydney have been unofficially engaged for several years, but Sydney continues to put off making the engagement official and is reluctant to so much as kiss Katherine.
Alec takes advantage of this and offers to "fake" court Katherine in order to stir Sydney's jealousy and prompt him to officially claim Katherine, but in truth Alec is hoping that he'll be able to seduce Katherine into marrying him instead. Besides the fortune, Alec quickly grows to enjoy Katherine's personality and is strongly attracted to her- Katherine feels likewise, but remains suspicious of Alec's motives.
I thought it was decent, overall. I did, however, end up more invested in the relationship between Katherine and Sydney than the relationship between Katherine and Alec. Not because I thought he'd be better for Katherine, but because we get some insight into his motivations during some scenes from his viewpoint, where it's revealed that ( Spoilers )
So I wound up more interested in if/how Sydney and Katherine would resolve their issues and remain friends, rather than in how Katherine and Alec would work things out. (Though the latter was decent enough to keep me reading through the end.) ( More spoilers. )
Mr. Byrne points Alec in the direction of Katherine Merivale- as far as most people are aware, the Merivales aren't very well off, but Mr. Byrne knows that Katherine is due to inherit an immense fortune from her grandfather upon her marriage. Katherine's late father was a rakehell and terrible spendthrift, and as a result the Merivales owe Mr. Byrne a decent sum of money.
If Alec marries Katherine, he gains access to her inheritance and can both pay to help his estate and pay off the debt to Mr. Byrne. However, because of her father Katherine has a strong distrust of men, especially ones with spotty reputations like Alec's. Instead, she has her heart set on marrying her childhood friend, Sydney, a wealthy and conservative-minded poet. Katherine and Sydney have been unofficially engaged for several years, but Sydney continues to put off making the engagement official and is reluctant to so much as kiss Katherine.
Alec takes advantage of this and offers to "fake" court Katherine in order to stir Sydney's jealousy and prompt him to officially claim Katherine, but in truth Alec is hoping that he'll be able to seduce Katherine into marrying him instead. Besides the fortune, Alec quickly grows to enjoy Katherine's personality and is strongly attracted to her- Katherine feels likewise, but remains suspicious of Alec's motives.
I thought it was decent, overall. I did, however, end up more invested in the relationship between Katherine and Sydney than the relationship between Katherine and Alec. Not because I thought he'd be better for Katherine, but because we get some insight into his motivations during some scenes from his viewpoint, where it's revealed that ( Spoilers )
So I wound up more interested in if/how Sydney and Katherine would resolve their issues and remain friends, rather than in how Katherine and Alec would work things out. (Though the latter was decent enough to keep me reading through the end.) ( More spoilers. )
