Nick Gentry, underworld figure turned Bow Street Runner, was hired to find runaway bride Charlotte Howard. Upon finding her, he decides that he won't return her to her villainous fiance, but instead marries her.

Trashy, not very good and too much sex.

Not bad, but I didn't love it - but frankly, I'll like anything LK writes!

http://ktleyed.blogspot.com/2009/02/w... ( )

The only aspect of Lady Sophia's Lover that I liked was the thief-taker Nick Gentry, Sir Ross's arch nemesis. He seemed like a compelling character - dashing and dangerous but still with a soft spot for his sister. So I was interested to see how his own story would turn out in Worth Any Price. Sadly my complaints against Kleypas' style and the way she packages her romances were still reaffirmed here, though Worth Any Price was still palatable - at least more so than the few others by her that I've read. Nick Gentry has been recruited as a Bow Street Runner and, under the commission of Lord Radnor, he's on the trail of Radnor's runaway bride Charlotte (Lottie) Howard. When he finally catches up with Lottie, Nick's trials and tribulations in love begin. Love is a trial to him because he has a dark secret that makes intimacy difficult. I didn't find his dark secret all that terrible or traumatic, but neither did his handling of it interfere pointlessly with his romance with the heroine (as was the case with Again the Magic, which drove me crazy). He does keep Lottie at a distance a bit, but from the start there's not much substance to or enough conviction behind the conflict, and their happily ever after is a guarantee (which makes for a bland romance, but at least it wasn't aggravating.) I'm sure I was supposed to take his deep dark secret much more seriously than I did, but since his emotional trauma is dealt with so superficially, I was able to enjoy the book more than if I had taken him seriously (if that makes any sense.) Basically I had low expectations, and so I wasn't disappointed.

My other complaint is that Nick's charm and bad boy persona, as introduced in Lady Sophia's Lover, and in which I was able to believe, peters out in the course of Worth Any Price, which charts Nick's reform, his transformation into Lord Sydney at the hands of Sir Ross, and his taming under the influence of marriage. I really liked the first part of the book, when Nick is still a Bow Street Runner, still his own man, still reckless and a little dangerous. After marriage and his reentry into society, however, and the struggles with his past and his dark secrets, he becomes much less interesting. Actually, I feel sorry for him, beset as he is on all sides, trapped and manipulated to change "for his own good." This turn of events is endorsed in no uncertain terms by the end of the book, when Nick accepts that it has all indeed been for his own good. He realizes that he’s happy with this wife, his marriage, his new life as Lord Sydney. I won't presume to say which life he should have chosen or gainsay his belief in his happiness, but I will protest how heavy handed the book is in reinforcing how "right" the hero is to become Lord Sydney, and how "wrong" he was in his former life as naughty Nick Gentry.

Enough about Nick. Like I said, I really liked him in the first part of the book, before his marriage to the heroine. As for Lottie, she's been living under cover as a lady's maid in the country for two years. When Nick finds her, there's that trademark instant connection, but I like their chemistry and for a brief while, their romance grabs my interest. Lottie seems like a capable, resourceful young woman with some spunk. She's been able to look after herself this far and best of all refuses to become a martyr for her family, whose hopes for financial stability rely solely on her marriage to Lord Radnor. I particularly liked that she doesn't have to rely on the hero to rescue her from the dire straights she inevitably finds herself in by the time of the book's climactic (that is, melodramatic or hair raising, depending on your perspective) finale. Not that she actually has to do anything to extract herself from her difficulties, but I liked how her problems were resolved without any knight in shining armor theatrics from Nick, while he in turn has his own harrowing brush with death in order to realize how much he has to live for with Lottie in his life. Baggage dispensed with, they get to reunite and all is well. However, after, by a brilliant stroke of luck, she marries Gentry, Lottie's personality fades into the background and narrows to her enjoyment of the amazing sexual super powers of her well endowed, oh so knowledgeable husband. Oh and she gets to break through his fears and shame and find true love. It’s all very pat and predictable, the story a steady progression towards an easily won happily ever after. Still, Nick and Lottie are cute together, so this is one of the more enjoyable books by Kleypas that I've come across. ( )

Nick Gentry is just... great. The best. I love a good tortured hero, and Nick takes the cake with his dark past and his rejection of his social rank. My only criticism is that maybe the heroine doesn't quite live up to the awesome-ness that is Nick Gentry. ( )

FROM THE BACK COVER:
What is the price of love?

Nick Gentry is reputed to be the most skillful lover in all England. Known for solving delicate situations, he is hired to seek out Miss Charlotte Howard. He believes his mission will be easily accomplished - but that was before he met the lady in question.

For instead of a willful female, he discovers one in desperate circumstances, hiding from a man who would destroy her very soul. So Nick shockingly offers her a very different kind of proposition - one he has never offered before.

He asks her to be his bride.

And he knows that this will be much more than a union in name only. For he senses what Charlotte does not yet know - that her appetite for sensuality matches his own. But what Nick learns surprises him. For while London's most notorious lover might claim Charlotte's body, he quickly discovers it will take much more than passion to win her love. ( )