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The Marquess of Yew Park House, the second in Lotte R. James’ Gentleman of Mystery series , features the titular marquess, Henry Spencer, Marquess of Clairborne, and his neighbor, widow Genevieve de l’Omont. Both are trying to outrun their pasts when they meet, but they learn that is simply not possible as their attraction grows, and they begin learning about each other.
The story begins three weeks after the very respectable and logical Spencer fled London in a purely emotional response to his mother wanting him to become engaged. Arriving at the Scottish stated he has not been to since he was a child, the whisper of a memory tickles his mind. He dismisses it and moves along. Spencer then takes a walk in his garden and discovers Elizabeth, Genevieve’s daughter, and is delighted to also meet Ginny as she comes to find her. Spencer is immediately fascinated by Ginny, especially since she very clearly wants nothing to do with him and even seems fearful of him despite the fact they have never met before. Ginny is wary for good reason, as she, her daughter, and their maid all left London in the midst of a scandal. Ginny is now terrified someone, such as the lord next door, will recognize her and they will have to move on. Rebuffed by Ginny, Spencer sets out following his servants about, learning their jobs and making a nuisance of himself in the process, in a quest to find out who he really is as a person rather than a title.
Spencer is pleasantly surprised to find that Ginny and Elizabeth have accepted (however reluctantly on Ginny’s part) his invitation to return and make use of his gardens. From there, the two begin spending more and more time together, with Spencer often visiting Ginny and Elizabeth’s home. After she and Spencer give in to their mutual attraction, Ginny is finally forced to tell Spencer her secret: she is not the widow he has assumed her to be, but instead is a divorcée, shamed in court by her mentally abusive husband as an adulteress. Spencer reacts quite predictably and is horrified. Soon after, he realizes that the Ginny he knows could never have done the things her ex-husband accused her of – but before they can reconcile, he turns his attention to the mystery memories surrounding the dower house on his estate. It is only after this that Spencer returns to Ginny so they can find their HEA.
I enjoyed the The Marquess of Yew Park House, even if I liked the first book in the series (The Housekeeper of Thornhallow Hall) more. There is not a lot in terms of a plot to keep the reader going, beyond the great mystery of why Ginny fled London and the even greater mystery of why exactly Spencer gets such a chill when near the dower house. The latter of the two mysteries is more interesting, especially as I could not guess what was going on until the reveal. However, a sizable chunk of the story is made up of internal dialogue, often the same thoughts repeating, and this makes for some sluggish pacing as the intervals between the action of the plot move along slowly – but this was not enough of a problem to make me stop reading.
I found Ginny very irritating, even if I understood the motivations for her actions. Her main method of dealing with unwanted things, such as her attraction to Spencer, is to just avoid them as much as possible. It’s clear that this is how she coped with a deeply unhappy marriage to a man who berated her every move, but I would have liked to have seen her begin to grow past this tendency much earlier than she does. I do admire her bravery and strength in extracting herself and her daughter from her husband’s clutches, especially in a time when divorces were incredibly rare, and the wife always came out the loser. I tend to dislike widows as romantic heroines, so this is a pleasant change for me. Spencer has less of an emotional journey to go through, but I liked him better regardless. He is not aggravating in the way that Ginny is, as he prefers to face his problems head on rather than running away at the slightest unpleasantness. One of my favorite scenes is the one where Spencer begins learning his servants’ tasks.
Although the heroine is somewhat aggravating and some spots are a bit slow, The Marquess of Yew Park House is still an enjoyable romance. The mysteries involving Ginny’s divorce and Spencer’s memories are enough to keep one reading, along with the hero’s journey towards self-discovery. I will certainly read whatever Lotte R. James writes next.
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Grade: B-
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 12/03/22
Publication Date: 02/2022
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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Sounds like a bit of a research fail on the author’s part. Oh well!
If Ginny was a divorced woman, her ex must have had a lot of money and/or influence to obtain a divorce through the House of Lords and it would not have been possible to keep the details out of the press; the rarity of divorce meant it was a cause celebre. Second, children of a marriage were automatically considered to be the property of the husband until a change in the law in 1839 so if Ginny had her child with her she must have abducted her (more or less). Finally, I don’t think that the stubbled look was fashionable in the early 19th century – I am assuming this is a Regency? Three reasons for me to avoid this one.
I haven’t read this, but if it is taking place in Scotland, the laws were different. Women could sue for divorce, remarry afterward, and the House of Lords had nothing to do with it. So her research may be fine. I don’t know. But I do wish they’d get rid of that stubble.