Eleanor Chivenham's good-for-nothing brother is in desperate need of cash, but even Eleanor was unprepared for his latest dastardly scheme to improve his finances. He masterminds a plot to have Eleanor drugged and raped by the (also drugged) Earl of Stainbridge. With her reputation in tatters, Eleanor is forced to agree to a hasty marriage - but Nicholas Delaney, her rapist's scapegrace brother, proves to be a kind, patient, and irresistibly charming man.

Nicholas once again finds himself bailing his brother out of one of his scrapes, despite the fact that it lands him in even more trouble. For now, Nicholas has a spirited wife to reckon with. Even as he tries to keep her in the background in order to keep his vital political mission secret, he finds himself more and more drawn to her - and repulsed by the sacrifices he must make for his country.

This book was only about average for me. Nicholas' secret mission means that the main characters spend most of the book either emotionally or physically apart and resisting being drawn together. Given the rape, I felt that Eleanor bounced back and essentially forgot the entire thing far too soon. This simply didn't ring true for me. After such a devastating experience, even a strong character like Eleanor would need someone to lean on, and I felt that her reaction to his sudden distance was unrealistic. We won't even go into the 'sex as a cure for rape' concept.

One thing is for certain - Beverley invariably takes on difficult, often uncomfortable, plotlines. Here, however, there was simply too much going on, so that it felt that both of the major characters got jilted. As usual, however, I was very intrigued by the secondary characters. Arabella Hurstman was a treat, and both Francis and Lucien de Vaux have me looking forward to their books in the Company of Rogues series. ( )

When Eleanor Chivenham is raped, her rapist tries to lovingly pawn the blame off on his brother and then arranges for them to elope together to save appearances all around. Very strange main plot and a number of sub-plots with rather disturbing themes. Not highly recommended. ( )

Finally got my hands on the first Company of Rogues novel, after I've read all the others! It was good, but I would have enjoyed it so much more if the whole plot hadn't been told in the other books. Serves me right for reading them out of order, eh?

Synopsis: An Arranged Marriage is the first novel in Jo Beverley's "Company of Rogues" regency romance series. This story takes place in England during the period between Napoleon's abdication and the Hundred Days. The plot has some kind of convoluted beginnings but then becomes pretty straightforward about halfway through. In brief: The heroine, Eleanor, is drugged and raped by the earl of Stainbridge, one Christopher Delaney (who was also drugged at the time) - all as a part of a plot by Eleanor's good for nothing brother to win the favor of this really mean old lord named Deveril, who inexplicably wants Eleanor for himself. Meanwhile, Christopher's roguish twin brother, Nicholas Delaney, has been asked to serve his country by wooing his former mistress, Madame Bellaire, who is under suspicion of plotting to bring Napoleon back to power. A guilty Christopher, who really isn't the rapist sort, pretty much forces his brother into marrying poor Eleanor in order to do right by the girl. Now poor Nicholas, who really is quite a nice guy, has to try to juggle his new, skittish bride and his evil, traitorous mistress - all somehow without looking like a total jerk. (Don't try to work it out; I've tried and it's all way too complicated).

I didn't like this book all that much. I think part of the problem is the confusing style. There were several times when I had to re-read passages over and over to figure out what the heck was going on. It's one of Beverley's earlier works and I think part of it can be chalked up to a new writer testing her wings.

I didn't feel that there was quite enough interaction between the hero and the heroine for my taste. Due to the clandestine nature of his "mission," Nicholas is forced to maintain a cool distance between himself and his wife. This aspect of the story reminded me a LOT of The Scarlet Pimpernel. The details are different, but the basics seem similar: He loves his wife, but has to pretend indifference/stay away from her because of his secret life of espionage. That alone is probably what kept me reading. But whereas in Pimpernel, this served to really make you feel deeply for the plight of the hero and heroine, in An Arranged Marriage it becomes tiresome and frustrating for the reader. I kept wanting to yell at the characters, "Just talk to each other, for pete's sake!"

In spite of it all, I found myself liking the secondary characters in the novel immensely, particularly Francis and Lucien. So much so, in fact, that I still want to read the next book in the series. I'm hoping I'll find that in subsequent books the author will have found her stride. You can tell she's got lots of talent, and I'm not one to give up on an author just based on one less-than-stellar experience. ( )