{"id":10998,"date":"2018-08-09T19:16:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T23:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=10998"},"modified":"2021-12-16T08:09:23","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T13:09:23","slug":"an-unexpected-gentleman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10998","title":{"rendered":"An Unexpected Gentleman"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Unexpected Gentleman<\/a><\/em> (2011) Alissa Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in Scotland in the 1800s.<\/p>\n

Connor Brice wants nothing more from the world than revenge against his half brother, Robert Maxwell. Breaking up Robert’s probable engagement to Adelaide would give him the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n

Sir Robert had held his ground in the garden longer than expected as well. Apparently, the baronet had grown some sort of backbone over the years. Connor estimated his half brother to now be in possession of two, possibly three, full vertebrae.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adelaide Ward sees an end to her struggle of keeping her family together: marriage to Sir Robert. The marriage will allow her to give her sister a season and her young nephew the clothes and toys a toddler should have. But she becomes a piece in the battle between Robert and Connor.<\/p>\n

This was a very interesting story. Adelaide was immediately likable, struggling as she was to keep her family together and willing to sacrifice herself for their safety.<\/p>\n

Oh, what she wouldn\u2019t give to go back fifteen years and tell her parents, no, she did not wish to learn how to paint and play the pianoforte. She would learn carpentry, estate management, and how to navigate a stock exchange. How different her life would be now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Connor is another matter entirely. He hates his half-brother, but also seems to have a true interest in Adelaide’s well-being.<\/p>\n

I also very much liked Isobel, Adelaide’s sister.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman swept away by the dark thrill of a secret romance,\u201d Isobel corrected. \u201cThe ladies will still tsk behind your back, but their tongues will taste of envy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was sorry not to get more of her in this story.<\/p>\n

One thing that I particularly liked about the story was Connor’s reaction of George, Adelaide’s nephew.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all. I wasn\u2019t certain if he cared for gingerbread, but I thought\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

He broke off when George shoved the step stool into Connor\u2019s leg and, biscuit caught between his teeth, scrambled his way onto Connor\u2019s lap. <\/p>\n

George turned about, nestled his back against Connor\u2019s chest, and went about the messy business of eating his treat. <\/p>\n

Connor went very still and stared at the top of George\u2019s head. \u201cEr . . . Is this safe?\u201d <\/p>\n

A choking sound came from Isobel. Adelaide forced a bland expression. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Small children have been known to sit on a lap or two and emerge from the experience unscathed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cRight . . . Right, of course.\u201d He neither sounded nor appeared particularly convinced.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love that Connor is allowed to have the kind of reaction that a single gentleman with no exposure to young children would have. He obviously likes George, but he just as obviously has no idea how to deal with him.<\/p>\n

And I also enjoyed that George got to act like a young child should.<\/p>\n

The only whirlwind was George, who strenuously objected to having to bathe and wear Sunday clothes on a Friday and made his displeasure known by leaping out of the tub and streaking about the house while screeching at the top of his lungs like a soapy, irate piglet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And as single-minded as Connor is in his quest for revenge, he also quite obviously wants Adelaide to be happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure it will be a fine garden.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s yours.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d She looked around her, studying the grounds. She was mistress of Ashbury Hall now, though that fact seemed distant and surreal to her. \u201cThere\u2019s quite a bit for the architect and gardener to see done, but\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I mean . . .\u201d He gestured at the tilled earth. \u201cThat. On this side of the house. It\u2019s yours.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe dirt?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the end was what I particularly liked. Their problems were not magically solved with the wedding, and there wasn’t immediate understanding between the two. It was a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n

Fuming\u2014 and comfortable with that sensation on every level\u2014 he stormed across the great hall and up the steps. He took them two at a time and came to an abrupt halt halfway up the staircase. <\/p>\n

This . . . was not a wise course of action.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was a fun story, but most importantly the romance felt more real that many, since it WAS a lot of hard work. I also liked the order of events in the ending.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Unexpected Gentleman (2011) Alissa Johnson Set in Scotland in the 1800s. Connor Brice wants nothing more from the world than revenge against his half brother, Robert Maxwell. Breaking up Robert’s probable engagement to Adelaide would give him the best of both worlds. Sir Robert had held his ground in the garden longer than expected […]<\/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":[12,30,33,26,56],"tags":[156,50,556],"class_list":["post-10998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-alissa-johnson","tag-boinking","tag-georgian-era"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2Ro","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23588,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23588","url_meta":{"origin":10998,"position":0},"title":"An Unexpected Gentleman","author":"Michelle","date":"May 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unexpected Gentleman (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set in the early 1800s in Scotland All Adelaide Ward wants is to marry for the security of her family: her sister, her nephew, and (probably) her brother. And if doing that means marrying Baron Robert Maxwell, she is willing to do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unexpected Gentleman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/An-Unexpected-Gentleman.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13284,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13284","url_meta":{"origin":10998,"position":1},"title":"An Unexpected Gentleman","author":"Michelle","date":"July 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unexpected Gentleman (2011) Alissa Johnson (The Haverston Family Trilogy) Set in Scotland in the early 1800s. Adelaide Ward is her family's only hope. Her brother is in debtor's prison and Adelaide is in charge of her younger sister and her even younger nephew. Connor Brice has one over-arching goal--revenge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unexpected Gentleman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/An-Unexpected-Gentleman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25476,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25476","url_meta":{"origin":10998,"position":2},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"October 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family #1) \"He needs something to do. Something to accomplish.\u201d Something, the marquess thought, that might lighten the shadows his brother attempted to hide behind a cheerful wit and careless smile. Being knocked unconscious by two small women was a degree better than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly a Lady","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20113,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20113","url_meta":{"origin":10998,"position":3},"title":"A Talent for Trickery","author":"Michelle","date":"July 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A Talent for Trickery (2015) Alissa Johnson (The Thief-Takers) Set in England in 1872 Owen Renderwell, the first Viscount Renderwell and Gentleman Thief-Taker needs to solve a series of crimes. And to do so, he needs the help of a woman he hasn't spoken to in eight years. A woman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Talent for Trickery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/A-Talent-for-Trickery-e1511012717126.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24126,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24126","url_meta":{"origin":10998,"position":4},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family #1) Set in England during the Napoleonic wars She pushed forward again, into the noise and smell and great wall of people. She\u2019d never seen so many people. She felt as if she were on the verge of being trampled. Panic began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly a Lady","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-e1511016913295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11394,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11394","url_meta":{"origin":10998,"position":5},"title":"A Christmas Dance","author":"Michelle","date":"January 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson Set in London in an indeterminate historical time. William Renwick, Earl of Casslebury has decided it's time for him to find a wife. It was his sense of responsibility that had necessitated his most recently constructed plan. He would marry a young lady of\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":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/A-Christmas-Dance.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\/10998","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=10998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}