Title: So Wild a Heart (Aincourt #1)

Author: Candace Camp

Publisher: Harlequin 2002

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 408

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR

Devin Aincourt, Earl of Ravenscar, makes no apologies for who he is—a drinker, a womanizer, a gambler. Having been cast aside by his disapproving father years before, Dev is content to live out his cursed life in this hedonistic manner. Until his mother asks him to make a bold move to restore the family name and fortune: marry a rich American heiress.

Believing it will be a marriage in name only, Dev agrees to marry Miranda. But he never imagined that this feisty, unconventional foreigner would have plans of her own: to restore Blackwater, the old abbey, to its former glory, to extricate Dev from the clutches of a devious mistress and to win his heart for her own. All while risking her own life to an unknown enemy.

For Dev and Miranda, love may be the most lasting curse of all.

I'm usually all for the ridiculous historical romances, but this one had a few problematic points. 1) I was very uneasy about the initial relationship between Miranda and Devin. There were too many references to submission and even alluded to rape. I was not a fan of their power struggle. 2) The early on sex scene between Devin and his mistress was strange and unnecessary to the storyline. Not sure why it had to be in there. Not to mention the inclusion of a "slave." Left a bad taste in my mouth. 3) The side storyline involved Elizabeth was a little too much coincidence for me. Usually there's some deus ex machina, but this one was a bit much... I enjoyed Miranda and Devin once they decided to marry and while working out their life together. It was just the beginning that really threw me.

Aincourt

• #1 So Wild a Heart
• #2 The Hidden Heart
• #3 Secrets of the Heart