To Take This Lord (The Brides of Bath #4) by Cheryl Bolen

 To Take This Lord by Cheryl Bolen

Blurb:

George Pembroke, the Viscount Sedgewick, is a man bent on self-destruction. Even though it's been two years since his cherished wife died on childbed, George continues to rely on liquor to blunt his grief.

Worried about him and his children, George's sisters urge him to ask spinster Sally Spenser – a longtime family friend – to help care for his daughter and son. Sally's the perfect person. She's of high birth, has no money, and she adores his children. But George can't ask an earl's niece to become a servant! However. . .since he'll never love again, why not make Sally his viscountess? It would be a marriage in name only. For the children.

Sally's deep love of the children and fear that their father might marry an unfeeling stepmother that prompt Sally to agree George's proposal. Even though it will be unbearable living under the roof of the man she loves and knowing she can never have him.
Previously published in mass market paperback as An Improper Proposal

Oookay, unfortunately, this was another book that infuriated me and well, it also disappointed me as I've read other books by Cheryl Bolen that I really enjoyed. Alas, this one is not among them.

Somehow this story and its characters felt as if they weren't finished, rather a rough draw than an elaborate piece of art, you know. The characters remained distant and flat, while their actions infuriated me again and again, there is no chemistry at all between the two main characters, no sparks, no whatever and the story itself...welllllll...... 

Things happen very fast, the hero learns of the heroine's involvement with his kids (and how is it possible that she has been visiting them for ages and he didn't know about it and, I mean, he is a widower so it wouldn't have been appropriate that she went there on her own and...?), realizes that she is the solution to all his problems despite the fact that they never get along. The realization that she would be ruined if she would live under his roof as his children's governess leads to a proposal and consequently to a marriage - just for the sake of the kids, of course. 

Everybody is happy, well, almost everybody, the heroine takes over the reins of his household and somehow those of his personal life as well. His children blossom, their father starts to interact with them more and cares for them and of course, somehow Sally claims a part of his heart as well. He realizes that she might even be pretty when she has her hair curled (seriously?!?) but when tragedy strikes somehow, while fighting for his life, he learns to love her even when she doesn't have those curls. (Okay, that sounds mean and maybe a bit...bitchy? ...when I write it like that but those curls and their importance really annoyed me)

Oh, that tragedy, yes...I mentioned that maybe not everybody was happy, right? Well, one of those who were not happy, decided to act upon those feelings. I must admit that this part of the story didn't convince me at all. An unlikely villain with an equally unlikely helper, well, I was already skipping pages then because I just wanted to know what happened but I didn't feel like reading every single page anymore, but neither convinced me. 

Fortunately love inspired some rather miraculously quick healing and so everybody is soon up and about and love will win. And so on.

★★