A Daring Pursuit (Ruthless Rivals #2)

Kate Bateman

Blurb:

TWO ENEMIES

Carys Davies is doing everything in her power to avoid marriage. Staying single is the only way to hide the secret that could ruin her—and her family—if it was revealed. For the past two seasons she’s scandalized the ton with her outrageous outfits and brazen ways in a futile bid to deter potential suitors. Outwardly confident and carefree, inside she’s disillusioned with both men and love. There’s only one person who’s never bought her act—the only man who makes her heart race: Tristan Montgomery, one of her family’s greatest rivals.

ONE SCANDALOUS BARGAIN

Wickedly proper architect Tristan needs a respectable woman to wed, but he’s never stopped wanting bold, red-headed Carys. When she mockingly challenges him to show her what she’s missing by not getting married, Tristan shocks them both by accepting her indecent proposal: one week of clandestine meetings, after which they’ll go their separate ways. But kissing each other is almost as much fun as arguing, and their affair burns hotter than either of them expects. When they find themselves embroiled in a treasonous plot, can they trust each other with their hearts, their secrets…and their lives?

Themes: Historical

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

Being from the south no one better understands a good family feud, even one that has been going on for centuries, and no one better understands the draw between the enemies that can ultimately lead to the most passionate of associations when enemies become lovers. I stumbled onto the first book in this series when I was killing time in the book aisle at the local department store and figured the story sounded interesting enough to give a new author a try and I am really glad I did. The Davies/Montgomery families and Kate Bateman are intriguing, passionate, and hilarious as the dazzle, confuse, and mortify the haute ton and find their way into and out of the most fascinating of problems. I am thoroughly looking forward to the rest of the family finding their matches and learning just how easy it is to fall in love with the enemy. Carys Davies is doing her best to prevent a match, but not for the reasons the ton and her family might believe; in order to protect herself and her family from the blackmailer that is threatening to ruin them all, she does her best to keep others in the dark and away from her. But the one man that has always intrigued and drawn her is the one man who can see through her mask to the woman within, and the one man she wishes to keep furthest away. Tristan Montgomery has always watched Carys as she flaunted her beauty and outrageousness, but she has become too much to bear of late and he is determined to get to the bottom of it. But when he learns the truth, it opens the world to all new possibilities between the, and gives him the chance to do the one thing he’s never imagine—ravish the beautiful adversary. Spending time together, even in secret, is a dangerous proposition for them both, but truly neither can resist the chance to embrace the passion between them, but once their time is up, with they be able to deny the deeper connection that was always there or will they forever leave one another in the past? Carys was the perfect hoyden to brazen her way through this plotline and find love in these circumstances, her obvious love of life, care for those she sees in needs, and determination to protect those she loves showed she wasn’t just an emptyheaded aristocratic lady like so many of her time. She is intelligent, brave, witty, sassy, and I loved watching her not only stand up and fight for herself but for her brothers, Tristan, and even any animal being abused she came across. She truly was a woman well before her time and I can see that she needed a man to support and stand beside her, never one to fight her battles for her or try to tame her as so many would have. Tristan was the perfect man for the job, if he didn’t know it until it was almost too late. Tristian is the quintessential stick-in-the-mud soldier type that all women want to ruffle up and see come undone, and if was beautiful to see him as the more time he spent with Carys the more he found freedom and peace. He’s had a rough time of it, serving in the war and then trying to make his mark in his chosen profession, but it seems that resisting the pull of the woman he’s wanted so long but thought was not for him was the hardest challenge of his life. His strength, courage, dedication, kindness, and love for his family showed him to be a truly good man, but the way that he was just that little bit naughty when around Carys reminded us that even those that were the most proper were still men with desires and needs. The heat and fire these two generated was enough to warm and light all of the British fires for months, even through a rainy winter, and there was no denying that when they let loose together it go even hotter, surprising even themselves, I think. I am dying for the next in this series and looking forward to seeing more of the mated couples and the rest of the crazy characters in these two more and more intertwined families with their craziness and their never-ending hilarity. Bateman is a true find with a skill for mirth and sensuality all while showing us the most surprising side of the haute ton some of us have ever seen.