It's Marriage Or Ruin

by Liz Tyner

Miss Emilie Catesby’s

A convenient marriage or ruin!

Miss Emilie Catesby lives to paint, but when her mother threatens to take her oils away if she doesn’t marry, she must either recklessly ruin herself, or marry jaded Lord Marcus. And when she finds herself compromised into a marriage of convenience with Marcus, her decision is made for her! However, she’s now surprised to discover her wifely duties hold much more appeal than her paints…

"What I love about Ms Tyner’s work [is that] she takes what is a very basic trope and storyline and gives it a twist and it ends up being fresh and new" — Chicks, Rogues and Scandals on To Win a Wallflower

"A lovely and original romance … Imaginative and complex" — Chicks, Rogues and Scandals on To Win a Wallflower

Genres: Romance

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

In fifth grade, Liz's teacher encouraged the students to write plays, and allowed them to cast their classmates as the characters. Then the students stood in front of the class and read their lines. Liz scribbled as fast as she could to finish her Little Red Riding hood series by the end of the year. She was writing plays she knew would be produced and she could cast any of her friends in the roles. In a rural Oklahoma town of approximately 500 people, it was an incredible experience, particularly because the actors couldn't refuse their parts and the audience was already assembled.

Liz always planned to write a novel, but she believed that only people from an imaginary world in which Stephen King, Hemmingway or the Bronte sisters lived could become writers. Getting a book published felt like an impossible dream but it came true for Liz when Harlequin Historical published her debut novel.

Now Liz writes from her home on a small acreage and takes breaks from plotting to walk in the woods while taking photos of wildflowers and nature. No wolves are in the area—she hopes—and her stories still have a similar theme to the ones she penned in fifth grade...a heroine who triumphs and a happily ever after!

Reviews

[Bea Tea · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF p. 69.

Had to give up on this one. The premise so far makes no sense what-so-ever and the heroine is unbearable.

So the heroine is really into art and has ambitions of being nationally recognized for her art... yet we're also told she's been faffing about for the past few years being silly and not really paying attention to her art. So which is it? Is she actually good at this and serious about being an artist or is she an amateur with daydreams?

Anyway - her mother is pressuring her to marry and in order to force the issue she takes away our heroine's paint brushes. So in order to return to her dream of being a famous artist her plan is to set up a rake so they can be caught in a compromising position... and then she'll be ruined... and then profit? She has some idea of marrying a rake and being abandoned to do her art, but she also goes on and on about just being ruined so she can be kicked out of society and go back to the country to be left alone to paint. How is this plan going to help her become a respected society artist?

Is she so staggeringly stupid that her grand plan, to get past a very temporary problem of 'mummy took my brushes away' is to ruin herself for life?

She's also ~*~one of those types~*~. I mean the type of person who will gush 'I can hear the symphony in a painting' and then start twirling about the room to imaginary music. What a free spirit, what an enchanting fairy, what a twat. I cringed so hard at this scene.

There is also a gut churningly cringe scene very early on when she gets our hero Marcus into the garden at ball (having literally just blanked him and ignored him because she couldn't be bothered to look at his face) and within seconds she's rubbing her hand all over his face and saying absolute tripe like 'Michelangelo's David is but a mere boy, a child, a weakling, when compared to this god like, stupendous, magnificent figure of a man' and I'm just curling up at this and saying 'oh shut up' because let's face it this overblown guff is making us all feel second-hand embarrassment.

Could not face the rest of this book - off to the charity shop it goes.

[Lisbet · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Would give zero stars if I could.

I should have quit reading when halfway through the second chapter I had to go back and re-read the dense, boring first chapter again because I didn’t have a clue WTF was happening or who was who.

But I kept reading.

Should have quit in chapter 4 when suddenly the male MC (literally don’t care enough to look up their names) visits an older woman that he has some sort of relationship with and the chapter is confusing and boring and dense like the previous chapters.

But I kept reading. Let me spoil the storyline for you: Blah, blah, blah. Two selfish, self-centered unlovable people are selfish, lying, manipulative jerks. I’m not even sure how or why but they decide to get married and at that point I figured they deserve each other and at least they’ll only make each other miserable and not ruin two other lives, so whatever. If the story was even halfway interesting and not just dense word vomit, might have persevered, but by chapter 10 when I realized I wasn’t even halfway through, I had to quit.

I read romances for feel-good fluff, not to make me bitterly resent the time spent reading.

[Toth Jo-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a interesting story. You meet a woman of 25 which is considered old and on the shelf by the standards of people of that time Miss Emily Catesby. Then there is Lord Marcus. Its a interesting story to read for its got a neat flair to it. She has a love of painting but her husband introduces her to a new world. Its a well written book that is worth reading just for the different conflicts going on. Its a interesting book. J

[Mimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t believe I managed to finish this book. I can’t believe this book got published.

First of all, who even are these characters? They’re both really rude and cold to each other for the entirety of the book and then you’re just supposed to buy it when they suddenly declare their love for each other? AT THE END? Give me a break. This isn’t a romance novel, this is some random words on a page.

[Shirleen]

Miss Emilie wants to paint not to get married but mother insists so she thinks she will get herself in a compromising situation and then be ruined so no one will have her and she can paint
But Lord MaRCUS is willing to marry her and let her paint. Fun and romantic

[Kimberly Bowie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book ok and I like that it has a HEA. The writing, itself, is good. The main character is fairly selfish and has a one-track brain. She only cares about painting and ignores the man that is offering her the world. Despite having a husband that offers her everything her heart desires, she chooses to ignore him and wants to only focus on painting. I just didn't find her overly believable.

[Rosangela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if I like the heroine or not, she is a lot of selfish and only in the end she speaks of sentiments.

[Jess Milner · Rating 3 out of 5]

.

[Sophie Buckingham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf a mess of a book with the most unlikeable heroine. Don't waste your money buying it!

[Bonnie Derosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a trainwreck. The heroine is self-centered. The writing is weak and sometimes hard to follow requiring re-reading or just skipping and continuing on. Don't bother with this one.

[Alexandra St'Siege · Rating 1 out of 5]

Péssimo
A autora se julga uma escritora mas não passa de uma chata. Os personagens se entregam a grandes divagações buscando demonstrar aprofundamento mas é só... Chato. Chato

[Onazol17 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Found it hilarious. Emilie a 25 yrs old artist just wants 2 sketch/paint but is being told by parents she must marry. Marcus a peer just wants 2 be a rake but is being told by parents he must marry n produce an heir. They meet at a soiree n he remembers having met her when they were younger. He being a few yrs older.
He decides that if he has to settle down she is a good candidate. She decides she would rather be ruined and remain a spinster so she can do her art. Marcus agrees to meet at his bachelor pad to ruin her, but much to her surprise, he insists on marrying her. They move outside London where he owns an estate which is in deplorable condition but she loves it because it means she is away from society and can paint to her hearts content. Marcus has a valet, Robert (a bastard) which turns out to be his mother's half brother. This valet/butler/maid/uncle is hilarious.
Get ready to enjoy his shenanigans. All characters were likable & believable. The story concentrated on the relationship between Emilie, Marcus and their HEA.
I kept picturing this story as being a play/movie with Robert stealing the show. I give it 5 stars for the laughter. I will always remember "Robert" the valet :-)

[Kathryn Minn · Rating 2 out of 5]

To start off with it was a little difficult to really get into the storyline but once I'd finally got to grips with what the story was and the characters, it was an enjoyable read. Normally, the Mills & Boon books that I've read have been rather on the heavy side with the attempts at erotic style writing, however, this one I found had hardly any in it which I think rather benefitted the book overall. It being a historical romance style book meant that because it is based in the past the merest touch can be interrupted as erotic, which meant the book wasn't just filled with raunchy scenes which these publishers' tend to overdo. I would recommend this book to someone who wanted a quick, easy read, that wasn't to over complicated. A book which you could say easily read on a train or coach journey, or say on a plane journey or on a holiday.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

WTF is this book about"

I’m still trying to figure out this book. The writing is convoluted and missing things. Then, it adds things that make no sense. Good luck with this one. I gave up at the 4th chapter. Maybe you’ll get farther.