{"id":10079,"date":"2018-03-31T08:50:30","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T12:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=10079"},"modified":"2022-10-30T20:51:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T00:51:41","slug":"bewitching-benedict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10079","title":{"rendered":"Bewitching Benedict"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bewitching Benedict<\/a><\/em> (2017) C.E. Murphy<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I really enjoyed CE Murphy’s Magic and Manners<\/a><\/em>, so when I saw she had a straight-up historical romance, I put it on my wish list, and then got a surprise when Tania got it for me.<\/p>\n

Set in the late 1700s (Many of the male characters fought in the Napoleonic wars)<\/p>\n

Charles had returned from the Peninsular War some weeks ago only to be accosted by his parents’ hopes of a swift and suitable marriage, a barrage as ceaseless as the guns of war. He consequently spent as many waking hours as possible in the Lads’ company, avoiding not only his mother’s unsubtle hints but what few parties and socials that nice society held in the autumn.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was a very interesting story that kept me guessing the entire time–in fact I kept reading even when I needed to go to sleep, because I was certain the end was coming soon. (It wasn’t)<\/p>\n

Claire Dalton is a country Miss, ready for her first season, who is excited when her cousin visits, bringing with him two of his friends. However, both friends inadvertently insult her, leading to the tension between the romantic leads.<\/p>\n

“With all due respect to my cousin, if your gentlemen friends are all so poorly raised that exposure to them causes you to forget your manners, perhaps you should consider finding new friends.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Benedict Fairburn has been best friends with Charles Dalton since their school days–one of Charles’ “Lads” with whom Charles has surrounded himself. When he is told that his great-aunt will leave her fortune to an orphanage if he doesn’t marry before she does, he immediately goes on the marriage mart–whether he wants to or not.<\/p>\n

Although Claire and Benedict are the main characters in this story, it was as much about Charles’ Lads and all the other characters as it was about Claire and Benedict. And I’ll be honest, I wasn’t rooting for Benedict. With good reason.<\/p>\n

I do not wish a husband with only the makings of a gentleman. He must already be one. A woman’s job is to raise her children, not her husband; that is his mother’s duty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But instead wanted Claire to marry Jack Graham, the competing male lead, who I liked much much more than Benedict. All of which made the story that much more compelling and interesting, because Jack had A Secret, and was also in love with someone else.<\/p>\n

And I find it difficult to say much more without giving away all the complicated bits. Suffice to say that I really enjoyed this story, and was extremely concerned as to how things were going to work out for everyone, and was prepared to be very offended if Jack was left in the lurch. (He wasn’t. This is a romance after all.)<\/p>\n

But really the strength of the story was the secondary characters, who I very much liked, and very much want to learn more about. (Good job there CE Murphy.)
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: Miz Kit Productions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bewitching Benedict (2017) C.E. Murphy I really enjoyed CE Murphy’s Magic and Manners, so when I saw she had a straight-up historical romance, I put it on my wish list, and then got a surprise when Tania got it for me. Set in the late 1700s (Many of the male characters fought in the Napoleonic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,33,26],"tags":[84,548],"class_list":["post-10079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-romance","tag-c-e-murphy","tag-regency"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2Cz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20852,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20852","url_meta":{"origin":10079,"position":0},"title":"Bewitching Benedict","author":"Michelle","date":"October 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bewitching Benedict (2017) C. E. Murphy (The Lovelorn Lads) Set in England ~1800 (Napoleonic Wars) Claire Dalton is excited her cousin and two friends are coming to visit. She hasn't seen her cousin since he left for the war, and hopes he and his friends are as dashing as she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bewitching Benedict","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Bewitching-Benedict.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":301,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/301","url_meta":{"origin":10079,"position":1},"title":"Winter Moon","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Winter Moon (2005) Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee, and C.E. Murphy Winter Moon contains three novellas all centered around the moon: Moontide by Mercedes Lackey, The Heart of the Moon by Tanith Lee, and Banshee Cries by C.E. Murphy. Moontide and Heart of the Moon are traditional fantasies, while Banshee Cries\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/Winter-Moon.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4734,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4734","url_meta":{"origin":10079,"position":2},"title":"Urban Shaman","author":"Michelle","date":"July 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Urban Shaman (2005) C.E. Murphy I read this several years ago, and never read any further in the series, though I remember finding the book and the premise interesting. But I'd forgotten the story completely, and decided I needed to re-read the start before I dove into any sequels. Joanne\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban-Shaman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Urban-Shaman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6196,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6196","url_meta":{"origin":10079,"position":3},"title":"Magic and Manners","author":"Michelle","date":"November 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic and Manners (2016) C.E. Murphy Set in alternate Regency England, with magic. First, I really liked the magic and world-building. Magic is stigmatized in England, worked only by the lower-classes who are useful to the crown in warfare. The new Mrs Dover marked no complaints about a home where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Magic and Manners","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Magic-and-Manners-187x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":602,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/602","url_meta":{"origin":10079,"position":4},"title":"Heart of Stone","author":"Michelle","date":"June 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Heart of Stone (2007) C.E. Murphy I inadvertently picked up the second book in this series, so being me, I had to go back and find the first book in the series, and by then I'd gotten sucked into the Repairman Jack series and the Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/Heart-of-Stone.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":604,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/604","url_meta":{"origin":10079,"position":5},"title":"House of Cards","author":"Michelle","date":"June 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"House of Cards (2008) C.E. Murphy Book two in the Negotiator series, House of Cards, continues the story of Margrit Knight, who has stumbled upon the existence of the Old Races: gargoyles, djinn, dragons, selkie, and vampires remain hidden in the world, although their numbers are diminished. I enjoyed this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/House-of-Cards.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}