The Runaway Heiress

The Seven Saints Hunt Club #2

by Brenda Hiatt

A Marriage of Inconvenience?

Dina's only chance to keep her inheritance from going to pay her brother's gaming debts is to marry before her twenty-fifth birthday. When her carefully planned elopement goes awry, in desperation, she travels to Gretna Green alone. There she finds herself rescuing a naïve young lady from a fortune hunter, which earns the gratitude of the young lady's handsome - and eligible - brother, who has come in hot pursuit. When he asks her to name her reward, she has her answer ready.

Grant Turpin, better known to his friends as Thor, is grateful to the girl who saved his sister's honor, but is stunned when she demands marriage in repayment of his debt to her. She insists she will not infringe on his freedom in the least, but the more time he spends with her, the less attractive that freedom appears. Instead, he becomes increasingly determined to win her heart along with her hand. Surely spending Christmas with her at his parents' estate will help him to do just that?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Fiction, Regency Romance, Marriage Of Convenience

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Brenda Hiatt is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sparkling romantic adventure. She's written twenty-five novels (so far), including sweet and spicy historical romance, time travel romance, humorous mystery, and her young adult science fiction STARSTRUCK series. Brenda began in traditional publishing with Harlequin, HarperCollins and Avon Books and later made a transition to indie publishing as she began getting rights back to her older books. So far, she hasn't been sorry! She is an active member of Romance Writers of America and Novelists, Inc, where she has served as president. In addition to writing, Brenda is passionate about embracing life to the fullest, to include scuba diving (she has over 60 dives to her credit), Taekwondo (where she is working toward her 4th degree black belt), hiking, traveling…and reading, of course!
Learn more at http://brendahiatt.com

Reviews

[Rhapsody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dina's inheritance is going to go to her gambling brother Silas if she doesn't marry in four days. After her fiance bails out on her, she goes to Scotland by herself hoping to snag someone and ends up married to Thor, whose young sister she rescued from an elopement with a fortune hunter.

I didn't have high expectations, but it was lousy. The characters were lousy and not well-developed. The romance between Dina and Thor was plausible, but not compelling. I hated Violet, Thor's younger sister. She's exactly the sort of regency female I despise; excessively romantic, naive, doesn't know how to mind her own business, and yet everyone loves her so much because she's so sweet and incorrigible.

Not that I know much about history, but the tone of this book really made me feel like the author didn't understand the regency period. Violet reminded me of Austen's character Lydia, except whereas in P&P that sort of character was hideous to behold, here she's just portrayed as feisty.

[Misfit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heroine, Dina, is on the run from her dastardly brother, and in a hurry to get married - once she hits 25 in a couple of days her gambling sibling gets control of her inheritance. For reasons that are too hard to explain (and I'm lazy), she ends up married to Grant Turpin (nicknamed Thor - what a dumb name) and supposedly it's just one of convenience - no marital relations to be found here.

You know that's not going to happen...

Well, this might have been more pleasing if most of the 'action' took place in the country with simple country dances and parties and what not. Peopled with characters with terribly silly names like Lord Uppingwood and Lady Killerby. Even that would have been tolerable for a lighter read, but the overkill on Thor's size and Dina's being teeny tiny petite and OMG what if he hurts her during the sex act just wore terribly thin.

Kindle copy obtained via library loan.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well Written, Engaging, Light Regency; Recommend

This was an extremely well written and well edited regency romance. I didn’t detect any anachronisms, except for the fact that everyone was rather cavalier about the hero’s sister’s elopement and abduction. In reality, it would have been a huge scandal and she would have been ostracized by ‘polite’ society. There’s no way that someone would artlessly babble about their aborted elopement.

The hero and heroine were likeable, as were most of the secondary characters. The story itself was entertaining and held my interest, although it was a very light, beach read, which is perfect when a reader is looking for an easy, but well written read. This book is traditional, however, so any reader who wants a lot of hot sex will be disappointed.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a clean, traditional regency/traditional regency historical romance book that is light and has a leisurely pace.

[Eugenea Pollock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diverting, light, as predictable as most of its genre

[Theresa Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had great characters and all were well rounded. It also had a great storyline.

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took over 3/4 of the pages before these two stopped assuming what the other felt and finally talked to each other. The heroine of the book was especially incapacitated by her negative thoughts. She was a great example of the funk one can get into and why cognitive therapy is so effective with depression. Add to that a hero who did the same thing, though without the accompanying funk, and I felt I was reading a textbook example of how not to be happy even when ones life is okay. I had high expectations since the heroine was armed with self-defense skills that should have increased her self-confidence. I skipped a great deal of the middle because I got tired of the gloom. The hero's sister, Violet, carried the story. She was a bright sprite although she lacked skill keeping her mouth shut when her words would be inappropriate. Her lines read like an precocious five year old rather than a 17 year old.

Headed for the dustbin.

[Cielo Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATING:4.2/5.0



Good day! ~(‾▿‾~)

To start, I would like to remind anyone reading this that I tend to have a bunch of spoilers here and there so be warned (It was so much easier to just hide the entire review).

So! Before actually reading this one, I read a few reviews here and there and because of that, I thought this book would be a gloriously horrid find. Unfortunately, I find it gloriously entertaining and loveable so you will see that the review is more on the positive than negative. Also, my rating was rounded to 5 stars because I liked it instead of 4 stars only though my true rating was only 4.2.



SYNOPSIS:
To safeguard her inheritance, Undine Moore (Dina for short) tried to elope with an acquaintance, Diggory Tallow. Tried because Diggory, at the day of their elopement refused to go through with it due to Dina's brother's machinations. This would not do because Dina's twenty-fifth birthday would be in four days, and in four days, her brother would be her guardian and her inheritance would go to him. Unfortunately, her brother have gambled all of his inheritance and he needed Dina's share to cover all his other gambling debts.

In desperation, Dina decided to still go to Gretna by herself, hoping to find a last minute groom. Reaching her destination in the late afternoon without finding one, she was starting to loose hope when a young woman and a dandy came in the inn she was staying in. She later on realized that the two were eloping, and that the man was actually a fortune hunter. Dina approached the two, talked to them a bit and then through the course of the conversation, suggested they wait till tomorrow to have a nuptial. As she and the woman (named Violet) shared a room together, Dina tried to talk sense to the girl, in which, to Dina's surprise, was easily persuaded. Also, Dina got to thinking that if the man (Mr. Plunkett) was a fortune hunter, she can bargain with him to marry her and save the woman in the process. However, Victoria's brother, Grant (who was called Thor by his friends) came just in time in the morning to threaten the fortune hunter and the coward fled, leaving Dina without a groom.

In gratitude for helping his sister, Grant asked Dina what he could do for her. Of course, in desperation, Dina asked Grant to marry her.



THE COVER:
I actually don't like the cover shown here. My first thought when I saw this one is that it kind of reminded me of Cinderella. By her posture, the woman seems to be trying to walk down the stairs stealthily. Her posture here thus appeared awkward (what with her clutching her skirts a bit high) and I think, not worthy to be considered as a cover. It didn't help that only the body is shown without the face of the woman, which is covered by the author's name. It felt weird.
What I like is the other cover. The purple one with two people on it. The pose was intimate yet tasteful that I didn't mind that the guy is topless (why don't they always have one?) and that the woman's bodice defies gravity by clinging to her breasts. The balance of the picture and the sizes of the title and the author's name was well done also.



THE CHARACTERS:
Undine Moore or Dina can be described as a pocket Venus. She was petite and beautiful and feminine, but she was also pretty fit and strong (she likes doing exercises, boxing and fencing), and she was insecure about her attraction to the opposite sex (because of her a****** brother). I find her sweet and adorable, and I quite like her. The girl has guts and has a golden heart.

Grant Turpin, the heir of a barony, was taller and bigger than Tina (most genteel woman actually). Despite that, he was gentle (as seen by the way he handles his dogs) and very protective of his sister and the people he love. He was truthful and straightforward. He was also a bumbling fool when it comes to complementing the woman he likes. It was adorable. Though I wanted to box his ears when he keeps on believing that Dina would be hurt because of him (particularly when it came to the consummation part of their marriage), it was also endearing.

The other characters playing a huge role in the story:
Violet, she was a "romantic" and sometimes a fool (i.e. the girl talked about her elopement to Dina's brother even though she knows that she could be ruined and that Dina's brother couldn't be trusted). No wonder that in most of the reviews, the girl was infinitely bashed. However, on my part, yes I do get annoyed sometimes because of her attitude and her penchant for "romance" but it was not to the point of wishing she would be hit by a carriage and that's that. I guess I kept her age into consideration in this (she was twenty though in my mind I adjusted it to sixteen I guess; and I just viewed her as an annoying brat that I have to tolerate). Good thing also that I like the hero and heroine to pay her much mind.

Silas, Dina's brother, was a great villain but not someone I wanted to shoot-to-kill on sight. The way he treated Dina when they were children were unacceptable, yes, and that he would use Dina's inheritance to cover his debt, but I think I just pitied him more for his addiction to gambling and given him leniency because apparently, he has no capacity to kill. He was even proud of Dina at times, and over all, maybe that's why I didn't hate him as much as any other villain I have encountered.

Other characters like Thor's parents and his friends, the members of the Odd-Sock Hunt Club, were great and easy to like throughout the story.



THE PLOT, THE WRITING, THE WHOLE SHEBANG:
The plot was interesting, and slightly unique. The writing was smooth and easy to understand, though I didn't find anything special about it at all. It was just good.

People who couldn't tolerate Violet would not like this book I think, because the girl have a lot of scenes here. It's also quite unacceptable for me that the story progressed with one of the concern of the hero is for Violet's well-being and probable elopement. Of course a kidnapping happened instead near the end, and I don't think that it should've happened because it was Dina's and Thor's story and not hers. Violet's moment of trouble should've ended on her first foray to Gretna. Violet's being called a "romantic" was also questionable to me because at times, her way of thinking and talking about romance was not it. I think the author just wanted her to be a romantic, but the effort to make her a romantic fall flat. I'm too lazy to provide an example, but I hope I'm not the only one who find her thus.

There's also a frustration for me about the part where Thor refused to make love to Dina because of his concerns about their sizes. It was a great concern at the time, yes, but to have it foisted at the reader from start to finish was beyond frustrating, I get it the first time, so I didn't need it to be repeated again and again.

Beyond that, I love Thor's and Dina's developing love. I find the scenes between the two authentic and their connection sweet. They are both lovely people, that I think that's why it made the story just sweet. Both have flaws, yes, but so minor that there's not much layer to their characters. Yes, they became alive for the reader all throughout the book, but I think I'm still looking for that something that would make me empathize with them more.



OVERALL:
I would definitely recommend it for a sweet read, though if you have no patience for a character that is bratty, annoying, "romantic" and have a lot of appearance in a book, then don't read this one. You'll end up damaging the book (or your electronic gadget). I am also looking forward to reading the other books from this series because I liked this one and liked what I have read about the other members of the Odd-Sock Hunt Club introduced. And that's it. Hope you do read it.

Good reads to you! ★~(◠ω◕✿)

[Jo Reads Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable Regency romance
4 stars

Dina Moore's only chance to claim her rightful inheritance from her scheming brother is to wed before she's 25. But when her intended ditches her two days before her birthday, she decides to take her chances of finding a husband in Gretna Green. Her plans go awry however, when instead of finding a husband she saves a naïve young woman from the clutches of a fortune hunter and earns the gratitude of the lady's handsome brother.

Grant Turpin owes the beautiful stranger a debt of gratitude for saving his sister but he did not anticipate that Dina would request his hand in marriage as a reward. And he certainly didn't anticipate that he would find his new wife so attractive, or that with every bit more independence that Dina offers him - the less he desires to take it.

This was my first novel by Brenda Hiatt and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Both Dina and Grant (or Thor as he's known to his friends) along with the large cast of supporting characters were all well developed and extremely likeable.

The storyline was fast moving, interesting and kept the pages turning. While possibly not the most original of storylines - there were enough unique plot points to keep it from being clichéd or dull.

There were, however, a few things that stopped the book from getting 5 stars in my opinion. Dina was written as a small woman and Thor as a large man and the more intimate aspects of marriage were a source of conflict within the book. However, despite this raised anticipation - the sex scenes really lacked sizzle which was a little disappointing.

There were also a few oddities within the book that while maybe not historically inaccurate - did seem slightly out of place in a Regency set novel. Dina's love of exercise and callisthenics and Thor not having a house of his own and living with his parents were two things that struck me as odd. But although unusual - neither changed what is essentially a very enjoyable read and one that I would recommend if you're looking for a little light entertainment. I will definitely be looking out for more of Brenda Hiatt's books in the future.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful story.
Dina’s childhood was far from ideal and now with her brother fixing to annex her fortune she feels she has no option but a marriage of convenience to take her money out of his reach. Her plans go sadly awry though and instead she finds herself married to a man she has no hope of managing. A very enjoyable read with an unusually athletic heroine and a mountainous but gentle hero. Dina’s original intention is to allow her new husband to go his own way and live apart from him but Grant quickly feels protective of her and she finds herself enfolded into his family. The villainous brother however will not be silenced and attempts to disrupt their journey to marital harmony.
I loved the fact that Dina, in response to her slight stature, learnt as a girl to protect herself and has carried on with a regular fitness regime unusual for a woman of her time.
Disclaimer: I was gifted this book in a competition held by the author.

[Virginia Tican · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dina had to get married before her brother could also gamble away her share of their inheritance... so an elopement to Gretna was imperative and for that she needs a groom, unfortunately her bully of a brother got to Digby (their neighbor and Dina's easily cowed groom) first and he bailed out on her. Undaunted, she proceeded to Gretna as planned and there find somebody she could pay to play the groom. So she discouraged the female half of a runaway couple she met at the inn to ditch her fortune~hunting and plagiarist (stealing Shakespeare's words to impress an ignorant impressionable heiress) beau to be her groom instead... then Dina's new friend's brother came and scared away the slimy basket scrambler who slithered his way past the inn's window into freedom. This has its hilarious moments as well as its tedious ones but it is still a Good read.

[Cait M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dina needs to get married before her birthday so her wastrel brother won't get access to her inheritance. When her chance to elope fizzes she decides to go alone to Gretna Green. Any man will do. She meets a couple on their way to elope and can clearly see the girl us about to be taken advantage of by a fortune hunter, so Dina manages to convince the lady not to marry and hopes to encourage the man to marry her instead.

The grateful lady, Violet can't thank Dina enough, but when her brother Grant, nicknamed Thor for his Viking stature and good looks, appears to rescue her from the elopement, Dina's potential husband runs away.

Dina and Grant make a marriage of convenience. They agree to a platonic relationship which is tested from the outset (cue the coaching inn with only one bed trope).

The chemistry is good. Dina's brother Silas is suitably nasty. Dina is a secret proficient at boxing and exercises regularly in secret because she is petite and was always worried about the possibility her brother might become rough with her. Her size makes Grant very wary of having a physical relationship with her as he's worried he will hurt her. This causes him a bit of angst for a good portion of the book. They eventually get over it.

This book contains descriptive love scenes.

[JulianneWells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked most of this story; strangers elope and romance unfolds. A dastardly brother kept the story moving and interesting. I enjoyed that the heroine was physically fit and learning a bit about historical exercise in the story.

Hero was a good, honest likeable guy, which tend to be my favorite. His reluctance and severe anxiety about hurting her during sex made no sense and was never explained- I kept waiting for some backstory and it never happened.

Good story telling, I would read more from this author.

[PollyAnna Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grant (Thor) & Dina (Undina)

OMG!! Such fun!!! I was extremely concerned for Dina's state of mind at the beginning. Whew! Violet was a welcome I was glad for even before getting to know both Dina and Thor! Violet is a delight! I love her enough that I am absolutely going to read her story, too! Thor's concerns over Dina's tiny-ness made me want to punch him...as it appears Dina would gladly have done had she understood that was his reluctance to pursue an intimate relationship with her. The pool is inspired. Inspired, I say!!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love historical romances and series books!!

If you are a fan of historical romances, or just reading for the first time, then Brenda Hiatt is a wonderful story teller for the time period.
I have enjoyed the full series starting with the Saint of Seven Dials, and I'm looking forward to the next Seven Saints Hunt Club book.
I am also looking forward to reading more by Ms. Hiatt!

[Linda A.]

Great book

This was a very enjoyable book to read. The h is a very capable woman whose physical capabilities belie her fragile appearance. The one bothersome issue is that the H, who is a large man, is overly concerned that he cannot make love to his wife because he is afraid he will hurt her. Of course this leads the h to feel that her husband is not attracted to her. The two villans were very satisfactorily taken care of in the end.

[Sue Gosland]

This was an older book, but I really enjoyed it. Dina is trying to save her inheritance from her gambling brother. She goes up to Scotland, to find a groom, and in the process meets Violet Turpin, whom she saves from a fortune hunter. Violet's brother Grant shows up, and he and Dina end up married. The adventure here is how and if they fall in love. I loved it!

[Laura]

DNF ~75%. Listen. If you reach the sex scene and you procrastinate reading it, it's time to close the book. All I can say is that I'm glad I read Violet's book first because she was so annoying in this one. I like this author and I was mostly entertained, so I'll leave this one unrated since it wasn't actually bad.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the heroine - she may be petite and a red head but she’s learned to hold her own and is not to be treated as a delicate creature by a very large man who becomes her husband out of honor for her role in protecting his sisters reputation.

I wouldn’t term it a clean romance novel as there are sex scenes but short enough they can be skipped by those who prefer.

[Janet Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual match

Dina needs a husband tout suite Thor is racing to save his sister from a mistake. Dina saves sister Thor offers a boon and Dina quickly says marry me a marriage of convenience that soon turns into a love match with a most unusual very petite woman

[patti meis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highest praise! Superb read!

Best reason to love this Regency Romance
Trope. Dazzling fun with strong heroines that
Dare convention. Dashing he-men and shameless scoundrels. Altogether, a fine example or a well written and thoughtfully
Plotted novel!

[MA Bower · Rating 5 out of 5]

delightful

There are plenty of surprises in this story. The main gentleman encounters many of those surprises due to his sister’s errors as well as his meeting a very unique young lady.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot an action involving Dina, desperate to marry soon to claim her inheritance, and the man, Thor, who she ends up conveniently marrying after she assists his sister out of an attempted elopemen. After a few issues and misunderstandings occur and are overcome they find thir he’s

[Jim H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. The interplay of the characters and the unique outcomes surprised me, in a good way. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes a good read.

[Christine Renaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read from the Seven Saints Hunting Club Series and I love it. They are stand alone books, however it makes you want to read the whole series. Thor and Dina meet by mistake and get married the next day. Read to see why and what happens in their marriage...

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a favourite

The story was quite interesting to begin with but then the nasty characters seemed to get the upper hand. Also Dina and Thor had a lot of misunderstandings and I found it difficult to read.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book. There were some things I think it would have helped to have read the first one so I could follow a little better. I enjoyed and recommend this one.

[Denise Kearney · Rating 2 out of 5]

IBook-$.99-Bookbub

[Su M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heroine is selfishly selfless!

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated 3.5

[Gail H Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable for a romantic read.