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The Secret Love of a Gentleman

(Marlow Intrigues #6)

Jane Lark (Goodreads Author)

3.96 · Rating details · 52 ratings · 10 reviews

Inferior and seduction are bitter tasting words...

How could Caro love and hate the same man? How could she be foolish enough to harbour that love for years; to hide herself away from the world because of her embarrassment over her failure to be loved in return? Because she is a fool... Yet Rob Marlow sees not that but courage in her, and this beautiful young man, who gives ...more

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Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Published August 27th 2015 by HarperImpulse (first published July 23rd 2015)

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2015 Historical Romance (July - December)

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Apr 07, 2017 Lissy Liz rated it really liked it

3.5 STARS

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Jan 09, 2019 Nina Hutson-farley rated it it was amazing

Loving

This was a loving story - love the tidbits that Jane Lark adds in her stories that most books don’t give. She is one of my favorite writers.

Read her books for yourself.

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Aug 18, 2015 Book Gannet rated it really liked it

Shelves: 3-5-stars-review, regency-romance

3.5 stars. I’m still a relative newcomer to this series, having only read the previous book, but I have to say there’s something curiously compelling about Jane Lark’s writing and I find the books very hard to put down – even when I have questions about historical accuracy and even when I know which way the plot is clearly going.

Picking up where the previous book (The Dangerous Love of a Rogue) left off, we learn a bit more about the cruelty of Caro’s marriage. Even though her husband beats her 3.5 stars. I’m still a relative newcomer to this series, having only read the previous book, but I have to say there’s something curiously compelling about Jane Lark’s writing and I find the books very hard to put down – even when I have questions about historical accuracy and even when I know which way the plot is clearly going.

Picking up where the previous book (The Dangerous Love of a Rogue) left off, we learn a bit more about the cruelty of Caro’s marriage. Even though her husband beats her and is generally awful, I appreciated how complicated Caro’s feelings are towards him, especially when she thinks back before he laid a hand on her and she thought he loved her. Combined with her neglectful childhood, it’s easy to see why Caro fell in love with her husband and why it hurts so much for her to be without him, even after he accused her of incest and divorced her.

I also liked that she didn’t simply bounce back from everything. Instead she is not only deeply hurt, but also almost frightened of the world. She essentially locks herself away for years, under her brother’s care, and it’s not until Rob decides to help her that she emerges into the world again. Actually, I was a little unhappy with Rob’s pushiness when he first decides that Caro should live again. Yet he is young and sensible and he does give her back her courage and confidence, so I didn’t hold it against him too much. And I loved their little ritual of asking for forgiveness before kisses – it’s adorable.

In fact both of them are so inherently good that the first half of the book is merely a pleasant exploration of halcyon summer days. He may be six years younger, but he definitely acts older than his years and is a perfect match for her. Except that he has political aspirations, which he intends to achieve on his own, rather than rely on the wealth and prestige of his family.

It was at this point that I thought Caro’s divorce would become an issue, since divorces were terribly scandalous. Except it doesn’t. In fact the whole issue of the divorce felt off to me. Regency divorces were expensive and time-consuming and not easy to obtain, and since Caro’s husband didn’t make the incest charge stick, I’m not sure what his grounds for divorce would have been, since infertility wasn’t eligible. Caro would have been allowed to sue for divorce on grounds of lethal cruelty – although proving that would be near impossible, since a wife was regarded as her husband’s property to do with as he wished – but a man could only divorce due to adultery, which would have involved a humiliating criminal conversation trial with her husband suing her lover for damages. Without which he could not then obtain a divorce. Since none of this is even mentioned in the book, I’m assuming that didn’t happen. Also divorced women were effectively shunned by society, which made it highly unlikely she would have had such a busy time in London. I’m also fairly positive she would not have been allowed to then remarry in a church.

In other words, it would have caused a lot of fuss. There is no fuss in this book regarding Caro’s divorced status. Instead the fuss is caused by inferiority complexes, unstable ex-spouses and other such things. After the sweet ease of the first half, it does all become rather dramatic, with touches of darkness, but it also allows the Marlow family to shine through as all that is good, great and noble – well, apart from a few of those pesky cousins. There’s also a fair potential for heartache, and I really appreciated how certain fears were dealt with. However, that ending was too abrupt for me. I know there’s an epilogue to make it all neat and tidy, but it still felt a bit sudden.

So, if you’re already a fan of this series, you will probably find lots to enjoy here. Also, if you’re not too concerned with historical detail, then that side of things won’t bother you. If you are, however (and it’s not just the divorce, the titles are still a mess that make me cringe with every Lady Framlington moment – she’d be Lady Andrew!), then your enjoyment might be effected. Which would be a shame, because even though both Caro and Rob are so very good, their story is still worth a read. I certainly enjoyed it enough to keep going anyway. I look forward to seeing which of the extended Marlow’s is up next – and catching up on a few other in the meantime.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.) ...more

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Jun 10, 2015 Sorcha O'Dowd rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, historical, drama, adult, netgalley, kindle, arc-s, standalones, kindle-read

Jane Lark always knows how to deliver a gorgeous historical romance, with twists and turns, smiles, heartbreak and most importantly, dashing heroes!

I adore the ‘Marlow Intrigues’ series, and love seeing the stories of all the different characters who have been introduced since I was introduced to Edward and Ellen. What makes these books so special is that each novel shows such devotion to the couple whose story is being told. There is no bias shown in favour of the characters that we have loved Jane Lark always knows how to deliver a gorgeous historical romance, with twists and turns, smiles, heartbreak and most importantly, dashing heroes!

I adore the ‘Marlow Intrigues’ series, and love seeing the stories of all the different characters who have been introduced since I was introduced to Edward and Ellen. What makes these books so special is that each novel shows such devotion to the couple whose story is being told. There is no bias shown in favour of the characters that we have loved in previous books, and we are given a realistic portrayal of the grievances, fallings-out, and general favour that every family has with each other. In Rob’s story, we see his distaste for John’s interference in his life, and despite John being my favourite Marlow, I felt no irritation with Rob for his bad feelings. They were genuine, and so realistic of family life that I connected with Rob far more than I would have should he have been all-loving and all-forgiving.

Caro was another character I adored. She had a strong core that whilst had been in hiding, was brought out by Rob’s love and belief in her. I loved seeing how she grew as her own person, became more independent, and less guilty for the tragic loss of her children during pregnancy. She shone through this novel, and even when she made mistakes, I always believed in her to make the right decision.

There is only one small, tiny even, thing that I didn’t feel as strongly about in this book, and that was the early chapters where we see the start of Caro’s story, years prior to the later events of the novel. For some reason I just didn’t feel that they were necessary to the story, and by showing first hand Caro’s situation so early on, I felt that some of the suspense that could have been built between her and Rob as he comes to understand her, was missing. Though, as soon as we skipped forward to where Rob joined our story, I was immediately hooked, and loved every moment.

So another great addition to the ‘Marlow Intrigues’ series. I just can’t get enough of them!

4.5 Stars!

Afterthought: Just a little note. After researching writing historical novels for my Masters dissertation in Creative Writing, I noticed a very small historical blunder. Caro would likely not have worn underwear, as was described! (Reference: Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders)

*Review copy was kindly provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Jane Hunt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley-read-and-reviewed

The Secret Love of a Gentleman by Jane Lark

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In 'The Secret Love of a Gentleman', Caro and Rob are not the archetypical 'Regency Ton' couple, for many reasons, including a disparity in their ages. Caro has fled a troubled marriage and now survives as a dependant of her brother, Drew. Rob is a younger son, who is desperate to make his own way in life and he lives in the shadow of his elder step-brother John, the Duke of Pembroke.

In ...more

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Aug 20, 2015 Alison rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley-arc

I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley.

Having read some of Jane Lark's historicals before, I decided that I was interested in reading her latest Marlow family story. I'm still not sure whether I liked it that much, so my three star rating is more of a three and half star as it falls between the two.

I like the Marlows, Jane Lark's writing style and the emotion contained within it, I just feel that in this particular story I did not connect with the hero and heroine Rob and Caro. ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Sissy's Romance Book Review rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-netgalley

This is book five in the "Marlow Intrigues" series. I have not read all the books...so I am jumping around in th series. So, with that said I wanted to let you know that I feel this is a stand alone book. So don't worry if you are jumping around in the series too..if won't hurt your enjoyment of this book. Jane Lark books are always very "hot" books. They are easy reads that I can do in one setting...unless I am trying to go slowly with them. I was kinda of put off by the hero, Rob Marlow being ...more

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Nov 30, 2015 Ginny added it

Shelves: history-romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 02, 2015 Mary Hart rated it it was amazing

Really enjoyed this book.

Jane Lark takes interesting ideas from the era and weaves believable stories.

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About Jane Lark

Jane Lark

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Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance, and a Kindle top 25 bestselling author.

She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis.

When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write.

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