*part of my year-end review: upping this from 4 to 5 stars because fuck yea Mary Balogh.

This book kind of devastated me. Balogh wrote and actual RAKE - a fortune hunter who drinks, gambles, and sleeps around until almost the end! I interpreted Freddie's portrayal as sympathetic - he is living with multiple addictions and he cannot just muster up some "self-control" and stop doing things that are destructive to himself (because this is not possible for people experiencing addictions!). In the previous book, Courting Julia, Freddie abducted the FMC in that book to Gretna Green and threatened to rape her . . . which was a similar backstory to one Mr. Sebastian from Devil in Winter. However, imo, Balogh has the courage of her convictions and did not give Freddie a personality transplant simply because he had sex with his virgin wife. Freddie was never written and wholly bad just someone who is experiencing gambling addiction and is embarrassed by what he believes is his inability to "control" it. I am so impressed with what Balogh attempted here - and some of what she was doing didn't land perfectly for me but I tip my hat.

(Clara is a disabled woman who has been unable to use her legs since childhood due to illness. As the story goes on, we learn Clara's late father prevented her from a full recovery due to his over-protection after Clara's mother died of the same illness. There is no magical cure for her legs but by the end of the book, she has begun to practice physical therapy with hopes of walking and possibly even dancing in the future.) ( )

I am very fond of this book. It's great to see a character who was a villian in other books be the hero in this one. He isn't however cleaned up and we are not expected to believe that he was totally misunderstood in the previous books. Freddie has to grow and change and try hard to become a better man. Much more interesting reading than a cardboard gentleman. Clara is well written too. She is a smart woman who doesn't tell herself lies but lives the life she is given. But she also has the courage to try to become something more. A wonderful example of why early Balogh's are so much better than later ones in my opinion. ( )

Ms. Balogh's earlier books can be hit or miss, but this one from her back catalog is a delight. Freddie Sullivan is a gambler and needs a rich wife desperately. The trouble is all the heiresses and their mamas are onto him. Clara Danforth is wheelchair-bound due to a wasting disease and cynically decides to marry Freddie; she's rich enough to afford him and wants a handsome husband.
It's a thoroughly enjoyable read. Freddie does have some good qualities and Clara learns to trust her rapscallion husband and herself a bit too. It's not your typical Regency romance which makes it all the better in my opinion. ( )

Meh. The heroine was too patiently perfect, and of course it turned out she could walk after all.

Meh. Not my favorite Balogh at all. I dislike when disability goes *poof* and when a hero cheats his way clear through the book. ( )