Review: The Spurned Viscountess by Shelly Munro

The Spurned Viscountess by Shelley Munro
ebook
Published September 20th 2010 by Carina Press
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Author

Rosalind only wants to live an average life with the security of marriage and children.  But she has been cursed with ‘the sight’ and there are rumors that she is a witch that threaten her future.  She feels that marriage to Lucien, Viscount Hastings is her only hope to escape the rumors and her curse.  However when she arrives at Castle St. Clare to meet her betrothed, she is greeted by a man who is cold, distant and is clearly only marrying her out of duty.

Lucien has recently returned to the castle from the continent a cold and bitter man.  He has amnesia, is not even convinced he is actually Viscount Hastings, and is hell bent on avenging the death of his former wife and unborn child.  The last thing he wants is marriage to Rosalind.  If he must marry her, it will be in name only as he has no intention of ever having a family again.

After a series of odd accidents at the castle, particularly several directed toward Rosalind, Lucian is forced to protect his wife and get to the bottom of the strange goings on.  In the process he begins to grow fond quite of her.  Through her ‘sight’ Rosalind begins to learn about Lucien and his past and the reasons he is so bristly.  She also gets to know Lucien, the man underneath the cold exterior and begins to fall in love with him.

Rosalind seemed timid and a little skittish when she first arrived at the castle.  Thrust into a new environment with the hope of a fresh start her dreams are quickly crushed by her reluctant bridegroom.  However as the story develops she grows into a quite a courageous heroine capable of standing up to her less than welcoming new family, helping Lucien track down a killer and eventually seducing her reluctant husband.  Although the paranormal elements do not play a huge part in the story, Rosalind’s ‘sight’ was a nice twist and her use of her gift/curse enhanced the story for me as it was not overly dramatic and seemed believable.

Lucien’s character undergoes huge changes as he goes from cold, uncaring and bent on revenge to a warm, passionate marriageable gentleman.  His progression to a very likable hero was well paced and very natural as the events of the story unfolded.  I wouldn’t call him a swoon worthy hero, but I did enjoy watching as his character transformed.

The romance between Rosalind and Lucien is slow to develop but not so slow that I was bored or impatient.  Lucien had much to work out regarding his feelings for his former wife and the story was presented in a way that allowed for Lucien’s healing and reconciliation of his broken heart.  Rosalind was a bit quicker to fall in love than Lucien but her heart was more open in the first place.

What I liked about this romance was the incorporation of the mystery and how it eventually brought the hero and heroine together.  I was totally caught off guard with the reveal of the villain which doesn’t happen very often. Usually, I have an idea of who to keep my eye on.  Once the reveal was made all the pieces fell into place and it all made sense.

The Spurned Viscountess is an enjoyable historical read with suspense, mystery, romance and lightly laced with paranormal elements.  The romance was nice and I enjoyed the characters but I think the mystery that piqued my interest over the romance.  The story is nicely paced and held my attention from beginning to end with interesting characters, and an unexpected villain.

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