Untie My Heart (original 2002; edition 2002)

I love the plucky heroine, with her audacious past and unique skill-set. I love the hero, with his unexpected weaknesses and deliberate speach. A favorite quote:


"A bit odd, are you?" She was being sarcastic, trying to taunt him into a sense of guilt. While perhaps bursting any bubble in herself of misguided, soft-hearted concern for a man with sad eyes and complicated wealth.

Though his sexual inclinations were perhaps not the wisest of barbs to do either. he looked down at her, speculative. "Difficult to say." He actually answered the question seriously. "Legally? Decidedly. But then British laws on the subject are so guilt-ridden I'm surprised we've propagated as a race." He made a small, grim smile. "How delightful we're having this conversation. And what is it you like?" ( )

Great, great, great! I read it in one day, fantastic chemistry between hero and heroine.

http://ktleyed.blogspot.com/2012/04/untie-my-heart-by-judith-ivory.html ( )

UNTIE MY HEART
Stuart Aysgarth, the new Viscount Mount Villiars, doesn't know he's playing with fire when he inadvertently runs afoul of Emma Hotchkiss. True, the exquisite Yorkshire lady is a mere sheep farmer, but she also guards a most colorful past that makes her only more appealing to the handsome, haunted lord. Emma has come to him seeking justice—and Stuart is determined that she will not leave until she has shared her secrets . . . and his bed. Her clever revenge scheme must fail in the face of his soft words and tender caress—and then he turns the tables on his bewitching adversary, seducing her into a daring deception of his own . . . ( )

Judith Ivory's UNTIE MY HEART is a historical romance set in the late Victorian period.
Emma Hotchkiss, the delightful heroine, is a former con artist. She is also the widow of the local vicar [who was also on the game] and a sheep farmer. Emma is described as 'short and rounded,' 'pudgy' in a certain light; she is smart, sassy, and unconventional. And she is determined to force the local lord to repay her for the sheep his coach and eight accidentallly dispatched.

Stuart Aysgarth, the new Viscount Mount Villiars, has financial trouble since his uncle has stolen most of his assets, and he brushes Emma's claims for her sheep aside. This is a mistake, since Emma is then forced to resort to a con to get her compensation, and the chase is on.

Emma and Stuart have a delightful chemistry; at times kinky and at times thoughtful, they are forced to deal with immediate physical attraction and a more slowly developing love. Neither is a conventional stock romantic lead: Emma is a woman with a past and Stuart deals daily with a stutter. Ivory very ably catches the nuances of an adult stutter who copes successfully with his problem, hiding it in shifts in rhythm and phrasing. Neither character completely trusts the other nor wants to open themselves to love.

Watchting Emma and Stuart together is just plain fun. And I will never view chairs in quite the same light.

This book not only makes my keeper shelf [used bookstore eat your heart out], I have made it my #1 book in my Top 10 Romance List. What more can I say? ( )

"Judith Ivory is famous for adult romances about complex people. . .. I've spent years looking for a romance that didn't talk down to me, but I don't want to open an Excel spreadsheet to folllow the financial plot contrivances."

http://romancepicayune.blogspot.com/2008/07/untie-my-heart.html ( )