As the fourth son with no hopes of inheriting, Alex Rawlings went for a career in the military, but a series of accidents bumps off his father and three older brothers. Now Marquis of Coverstone, Alex married his eldest brother's fiancé Charlotte (she'd been engaged to the heir since she was a child), was a drunken boor on his wedding night, left his wife in his mother's care and headed back to the peninsula and his regiment.FF three years, three years of poor Charlotte having to listen to Alex's mother harping on about the lack of an heir, and it's all her fault (it isn't). Alex has been seriously wounded and returns home hoping to make a go of his marriage, but events and big misunderstandings keep getting in the way of true love…Regencies are a dime a dozen these days, and IMHO have become rather same old/same old with a stubborn independent Miss and a wounded, boorish jerk of a rake just begging for the right woman to reform him. The premise of this one with the H/h already married was a refreshing change, and at the core this is a fairly good story, but it is also a book in dire need of an editor. Mores instead of more's, err instead of ere, reigned instead of reined, it's instead of its, missing apostrophes, commas where there should not be commas and no commas where they should have been. I also found the descriptions overdone and much too heavy handed - I got it the first time that Alex was built like a man of steel and Charlotte was beauty personified - I don't need to be clubbed over the head with it over and over and over again. Garbed in sleek charcoal gray the perfectly tailored suit clung to his lean, hulking frame in a sensually dangerous manner. The black vest and cravat offset his raven hair and contrasted beautifully with his vivid eyes. Toned sinew shifted in a primal display beneath the layers of fabric and despite herself—despite all the hurt and anger—Charley knew the sudden urge to tear the layers from his body and smooth her palms along the equally thick layers of muscle.Sex in the carriage warning for Karla and Tammy :DIn the end, this is a good (but not great) story, but not one I would recommend to others until it has been through a rigorous treatment from a good editor. I obtained this as a freebie, but I'd have been mightily ticked off if I'd paid the $2.99 list price.
