The Divided Heart

by Marcy Elias Rothman

A Cold-blooded Bargain

"I came here to offer to have your child." Young and beautiful Lady Colby Mannering's proposal to Lord Nevil Browning shocked even him, the most notorious rake in the realm. Yet what she suggested made sense. Lord Nevil badly needed an heir but dreaded the weight of a wife. Lady Colby was in desperate need of funds to rescue her family from ruin.

Theirs would be a fair if frigid trade, a marriage in the physical deed only, ignoring all vows to love, honour, and obey. Hopefully their honeymoon in the sinful city of Paris would produce the result that would let them return to their separate lives forever. Surely nothing could change minds so made up or melt dislike as icy as theirs - until a lady who wanted to give only her body and a lord who guarded his heartstrings with his purse strings discovered how hard it was to play with passion without having their bridges burnt...

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Spazfungus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awesome awesome beginning! med middle (colby's refusal to acknowledge the enjoyment of her wifely duties and her parisian friend's obvious enjoyment was a little hard to read) and even weirder ending

"I call you a whoremaster and defiler".."You'll not fornicate among my people" Lady Colby Mannering publicly horsewhips Lord Nevil Browning's estate manager, for raping her 14 years old housemaid and causing her suicide. Colby then proceeds to london to sell off any treasures left on her estate, then makes Nevil a deal, to marry him, have his child, and leave him with his enjoyment of London, in return for money. Nevil refuses, but then his nephew heir is killed and he promises his mother that the suspected killer (his cousin? other nephew?) will never inherit and seeks Colby out. Colby at first refuses, due to Nevil's initial caustic refusal, but for survival, acquiesces. Due to a secret government job, they go to france for their honeymoon, they miscommunicate during the day, but have a great physical night time no-talking relationship, eventually Colby is pregnant and runs away from France and her husband (because running is more conductive than talking). He eventually seeks her out at her estate, realizes his old estate manager is trying to kill her for revenge, decides to stay to keep her safe, lures the now crazy trigger happy ex-estate manager out and kills him. hea?

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The lack of communication between these two soon to be love birds is glaring. If only she told him how she felt. If only he told her? But then, nothing good ever comes up when showing up on a man's door offering to bear his babies?