Adasdair and Mary make quite an unusual marriage of convenience. He feels the need to rescue her and she wants to help him kick his addiction. On the way to their HEA, each one is plagued by doubts and won’t talk to the other fully or admit they love each other. I get frustrated when characters do that, it annoys me as a plot device. The obstacles were pretty easily overcome. I think more details, and a longer length would have benefitted the storyline.

from NetGalley ( )

*Book source ~ NetGalley

Mary Smith’s asshat half-brother sells her (and her virginity) in a seamy pub, but lucky for her Alasdair Thornham is there to save her from a nauseating fate. But is the marquess any better than the rabble who would have bought her? Damsel in distress meet wounded hero.

For the most part this is a decent tale of rescuing the damsel who, while not a totally strong heroine, is not simpering either. Mary has an interesting background as does Alasdair, but what could have been a heart-wrenching story turns out to be only so-so. Alasdair’s addiction recovery is totally unbelievable. In fact, it’s absurd. I do like the fact he’s an addict because who likes a perfect hero? But his addiction should have been handled a little more realistically. In addition, the characters do a few really stupid things. I wanted to bang their heads together like the Three Stooges. So frustrating. Finally, there wasn’t a lot of back story on the so-called villains of this piece and they were disposed of a little too easily. All-in-all, not a horribly written historical romance, but one that could have been so much better with a bit of work. ( )

This is a very nice plot poorly executed. I won't rehash the plot; the blurb sets things up. And I know this is HR and we suspend disbelief, but this author tested my powers of suspension. Alasdair is an opium addict, as a result of his war wounds and (apparently) an unscrupulous doctor in cahoots with Alasdair's cousin. He rescues Mary, and she wants to help rescue him. I'm no expert, but Alasdair's recovery from addiction seems astonishingly fast and fairly pain-free. After a couple of feverish days and one relapse, he seems fine. And while he's recovering, he and Mary are on the run cross-country with no money. And so, a potentially touching story is glossed over.

And here's a little thing that irritated me. Mary has no clothes other than what she's wearing when he brother puts her up for auction. Then, suddenly she has another dress. But later, when she and Alasdair arrive in London after marrying in Scotland, she has an entire fabulous wardrobe, because Alasdair has written ahead and ordered one. None of these dresses seems to need alteration, and the elegant slippers all fit. And Mary, a village vicar's daughter, has no problem navigating the ins and outs of ton etiquette.

In other words, everything -- from the serious to the frivolous -- happens too easily. The only thing that kept this from being a two-star for me was Alasdair's humor, integrity, and honor. ( )

When Mary Smith’s corrupt, debt-ridden brother drags her to a seedy pub to sell her virtue to the highest bidder, Alasdair Thornham leaps to the rescue. Of course the marquess is far from perfect husband material. Although he is exceedingly handsome, with a perfect, strong body, chiseled jaw, and piercing green eyes, Alasdair is also too fond of opium, preferring delirium to reality. Still, he has come to Mary’s aid, and now she intends to return the favor. She will show him that he is not evil, just troubled.

Mary was a damsel in need of a hero, but Alasdair’s plan is shortsighted. He never foresaw her desire to save him from himself. Alasdair is quite at home in his private torment, until this angel proves that a heart still beats in his broken soul. The devil may have kept her from hell, but will Mary’s good intentions lead them back to the brink—or to heaven in each other’s arms? (from Goodreads)

I had a really hard time grading this book. I liked the premise of it and the first chapters as well. But it went so downhill from there. The author missed so many opportunities in my opinion.

Alasdair rescues Mary, a vicar's daughter, from an auction where her brother sells her for her virginity. Alasdair is an opium addict and wants to save Mary as his "last good deed" and then succumb completely to the drug and eventually die, so he marries her. At first, his addiction was depicted really well. He was miserable without it and was just focused on taking the next pill. But along came Mary and of course, she has the healing touch and she just needs to stroke his hair and he gets all better. Wtf? You don't get cured from such an addiction with a simple stroking of hair! His addiction was all of a sudden not mentioned any more.

There are so many more problems I had with this book. Mary is supposedly a vicar's daughter but knows quite a lot about sex because of "her married friend who told her" *eyeroll*. She goes down on him (on a sidenote: there was rarely a bath mentioned and due to his addiction Alasdair was sweating a lot. ew!) and had absolute knowledge of what she did there. Really? At that time, a vicar's daughter?

Alasdair has to introduce his new wife to society, he is a marquess (or something) after all and you would think growing up sheltered in the country that Mary might not be comfortable with that but she just seems to fit in and society doesn't seem to mind that much either. This whole scenario was never really explained.

I wish I could have given more than two stars but the more I think about it the more I'm astonished that I even finished it.

(A review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley.)
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My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hero of My Heart by Megan Frampton is a Kensington Love Swept publication, released in April 2013. Mary, a vicar's daughter, finds herself at her half brother's mercy after her father passes away. She finds her virginity being auctioned off. When Alasdair Thornham, the Marquess of Datchworth stumbles into the establishment and sees the dullness in Mary's eyes, he immediately recognizes that look. The poor girl had been drugged to keep her under control. Warring with his conscience and his wallet, he steps up and rescues the damsel in distress. Not really one for making plans, Alasdair does plan to marry Mary and see that her reputation remains in tact, then he intends to give himself over to his drug addiction, not caring what happens to him. However, he and Mary embark on quite an adventure. She must continue to avoid her brother, then Alasdair's cousin, with his dastardly plans. Mary also wants to meet the mother she never knew. Mary never expected to find herself dealing with a man with an opium addiction. Alasdair has lost his entire family and went through the horrors of war where he sustained an injury. Mary discovers dark family secrets about her brother and her parents. Together they work to get to London and establish Mary in her role as Aladair's wife and hopefully to let Mary meet her mother. In the process they fall in love. Each one of them loves and needs the other , but is terrified of trusting too much in the other one. What if something happens to Mary like all the other people Alasdair has loved? What if Alasdair can't keep his opium addiction at bay? I would really like to give this one a 3.5 rating. I went back and forth between the three and four stars. The deciding factor was that ever present pet peeve of mine about using language that no "lady " of this time frame would use. In this instance we were talking about the vicar's daughter. The F-bomb- really? I didn't have a problem with Mary's sexual awakening and not being shy about expressing her physical needs to Alasdair. The other factor was that the ending seemed a bit rushed. Other than that, I like the flawed hero, and the strong woman that brings him back from the brink. I'm a sucker for that stuff. As the title suggest, Alasdair was a hero for Mary too. A nice, and saucy, historical romance. I will give this one a C+/B-. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the DRC of this book. ( )