MERELY THE GROOM

Author: Rebecca Hagan Lee ISBN: 0425195252 4/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Colin McElreath, twenty-seventh Viscount Grantham, was about to become a very wealthy man and his new solvency had only cost him his good name, his title, his future, and his freedom. He had sold his soul to the devil. An English devil. A ruthless merchant devil. Life, as he knew it, was over. Colin was relinquishing his Free Fellow status, sealing his fate for cash because duty required it.  Because he had sworn to protect the Free Fellows League at all costs, because his father had gambled away a fortune, and because the newly created Baron Davies urgently required a respectable son-in-law for his disgraced daughter. Colin didn't know whether to laugh or to cry at the irony. After a lifetime of avoiding society misses, he was about to marry one. His betrothed was damaged goods, but her good name and her place in society were safe. Miss Gillian Davies was about to become a blushing bride. He was merely the groom…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Hooray for good sequels! Or in this case, the second book about the men of the Free Fellows League, MERELY THE GROOM, by Rebecca Hagan Lee. Its fun, witty, and mysterious. Just the way I like them!

The preceding title, BARELY A BRIDE, introduced us to the Free Fellows and their cause, but MERELY THE GROOM goes deeper, into their friendships and confidences. Besides the love story involving Colin and Gillian, all of the Free Fellows pull together to help out and support one another. You catch glimpses of the other stories sure to come, while really getting to know the characters and their specialties.

Colin and Gillian's love story are in the back drop, so to speak, since the mystery involving Colin's stolen identity takes center stage. Gillian is not one of my favorite heroines, especially in the beginning, but she evolves into a woman of substance near the end. Colin is a likeable hero (He has a Scottish burr. Yummy!) and a substantial Free Fellow that will be hard to replace now that he is leg-shackled to Gillian. As a couple they suit each other very well.

With lots of intrigue, great characters, a fitting love story, humor, and so much more, there is no doubt you will love MERELY THE GROOM.

Shannon Johnson