The Unromantic Lady - Softcover

Diantha Halstow has no title but she does have a fortune. She is beautiful, intelligent and has a liberal spirit. Rexford Lytham has just become the seventh Earl of Chartridge and his inheritance is threatening to ruin him. He needs a fortune to save his ancestral home, and Diantha prefers to marry a title so she can be independent. Diantha, with her cousins Elinor and Bertie, go for a ride in the park and Bertie loses control of his horse causing a catastrophe with a carriage and they wind up in the lake. Rex comes to the rescue and Diantha sees him as he emerges from the lake with his clothes clinging to his powerful body, and she is impressed. Rex goes home and has a conversation with his brother George and his man of business who tells Rex he needs to marry money to keep his estate. And he tells Rex about Diantha. She does not believe in love and she thinks love is an illusion to trap fools. Rex was once burnt by falling in love, and he agrees with those sentiments, better to marry someone he can be honest with. They meet and talk and later they agree to a marriage based on reason and honesty - he needs her money and she wants his title and the privileges it provides. They marry. The marriage is consummated and Diantha enjoys being with Rex; she wants to sleep with him all night long and wake up in his arms, but he leaves her bed each time. She and Rex have agreed not to impose on the others amusements and Diantha becomes the toast of the town. Then everyone around them marries for love, and suddenly Diantha wants Rex to care about her the way Bertie and George care for their wives. Diantha has fallen in love with her husband and she wants him to love her too. Napoleon threatens war and they all go to Brussels where George joins his troop. Rex?s former love, Lady Bartlett, shows up and Diantha is jealous because she suspects that they have become lovers. Lady Bartlett holds the key to Diantha?s past and future and after Diantha does a kindness for Lady Bartlett, she tells Diantha the truth. If Rex is alive and if she can find him on the battlefield, they could have a chance for a loving marriage and a happy future together.Extremely well developed and strong heroine! Her point of view prevails and runs the gamut of emotions which grows and changes with each turn of the page! Ms. Stratton pulls you emotionally into the lives of her characters! The Unromantic Lady is totally romantic! The Unromantic Lady is delightful! A terrific historical romance! The Unromantic Lady is anything but. . . it is wonderful, warm and . . . romantic! Penelope Stratton knows her stuff and it is showcased in The Unromantic Lady!Gloria Miller -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times