Brought up on an island off Brazil, and later in Jamaica, Lily Wallace is far from the conventional society miss. Unexpectedly finding herself heiress to Hollywell House, Lily encounters the dashing Lord Alan Ravenscar who was in the process of purchasing the house when the previous owner suddenly dies, thus beginning a joyous and heartwarming story of two lonely souls who don’t play by the rules and have no intention of falling for each other, although fate clearly has other ideas.
Lara Temple creates wonderful characters who don’t fit the typical Regency Lord and Lady model, and in Alan and Lily she has written two vivid, likeable characters who need a little help realising that happiness is within reach if they would just let the other in to their lives.
Lily has been brought up away from the rigid structure of society, so, the first time she meets Alan, thinking him an intruder, she threatens him with a mace, and she has no qualms about confronting him, being alone in his company, or looking after him by herself when he falls ill. A betrothal is the last thing on Alan’s mind, but, after two days and nights alone with Lily whilst he fights a fever, he knows an engagement must be announced to avoid a scandal.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Lily already has a bit of an understanding with Philip Marston, but Alan is unconcerned; he will marry Lily if only to satisfy their mutual attraction to each other. In this context, Lily really comes into her own, and her sparkly wit leaps off the page as she gives as good as she gets, refusing to bow to Alan’s decisions and the decrees of society. Indeed, she will make her own mind up, and if she decides to stick with Mr. Marston, that is what she intends to do.
The supporting characters are also delightful, particularly Alan’s grandmother, Lady Jezebel (yes, that really is her name!) whose relationship with Alan is strained to say the least, and they give extra depth to a strong story with some well timed witty exchanges. Alan’s niece, Nicky also deserves a mention as she plays matchmaker and has her uncle wrapped around her finger with him realising.
Whilst there are comedic moments, the author has a talent for weaving tragedy into the story, and writes strongly the emotional scene regarding the death of Alan’s brother, and a young Lily’s experience with a premature baby during her time abroad. These insights give the characters extra depth, and it is a moving moment for the reader as you really feel for Alan and his loss, whilst also wanting him to move forward.
As this is the second book in the ‘Wild Lords and Innocent Ladies’ series, it was nice to hear about Hunter and Nell from the first book, and learn a bit more about the mysterious past of Lord Stanton who is to be the subject of book three. However, this story easily works as a stand alone novel, and the reader is not required to know what happened in the first book in order to thoroughly enjoy this story.
I look forward to reading Lord Stanton’s story and re-visiting Alan and Lily in the next book.
Thank you to Lara Temple for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great read for anyone who first fell in love with the Regency romance genre because they read Jane Austen. It's full of interesting characters who match wits and attempt to navigate the tricky social eddies of their time. The novel's pacing is precisely on-beat, creating a satisfying story.

LTs plot are really quite wonderful. They’re subtle and frequently don’t follow the expected. My only complaint is that, even though her monologues are often very good and have great depth, there are a lot of them and the can feel repetitive.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Plot/Storyline:

Must try harder I get it, consent was a bit more problematic in the period but nowadays you have to respect the "no means no" line in a story.  Our hero failing to win the heroine with words but breaking into her room at night and knowing that despite her protests she wants him, to be honest wasn't comfortable reading.
 
Despite some problems I had with it overall I enjoyed it, the problematic bits jarred me from an otherwise good read.