Noble Intentions

Author: Katie MacAlister
Published: February 2002 (Leisure Books)
Category: Regency Romance

This is the first of MacAlister's historical romances. I guess it was okay for the first one. I felt like it had a lot of potential that was never realized. For Noble Intentions, we have the "emotionally damaged hero rescued by plucky, ahead-of-her-time heroine" plot device.

The hero is Noble Britton (unfortunate name), a.k.a. "The Black Earl," so called because he was involved in quite a scandal several years ago. He was accused with murdering his wife, but that isn't a proven fact. Just the doings of the gossip mill.

The heroine is Gillian, visiting her cousin Charlotte, who is looking for a husband. Gillian doesn't mind being around since she's practically a spinster. She also has something she refers to as an "unfortunate habit," which encompasses speaking her inner monologue (like Austin Powers, as a side effect of the unfreezing process), setting curtains on fire, and touching wet paint in the most unfortunate of colors (blue).

Despite her unfortunate habit, Noble makes an offer for Gillian after just a couple days and they get married within a week. Their relationship is a little weird. They're extremely passionate in bed, but outside of it, Noble becomes distant, guarding his heart against her. Gillian, not one to back down from a challenge, keeps on trying to break down Noble's walls, no matter what destruction occurs along the way.

I felt like too much was going on at the same time. It probably could've been balanced better. There were a lot of characters, between Noble's friends, Gillian's relatives, Noble's servants (three of which are identical triplets, all going by their last name), and Noble's mute bastard son. There's a plot working against Noble and Gillian, most likely by the person responsible for Noble's first wife's murder. Oh, and there's a ghost too.

I got a little tired of Noble's indecision. He loves Gillian, then he doesn't. Then he doesn't trust her. Then he loves her again. Now he's going to yell at her, and then love her, etc. Of course, everything works out in the end, despite the unbelievability of their relationship.