Ransomed Jewels – Laura Landon – 4*

Ransomed Jewels – Laura Landon – 4*

 

Ransomed Jewels is a historical romance set in 1855 in England.  The Marquess of Huntingdon is a spy for England.  While on a mission in Paris where he and Major Samuel Bennett were tasked with stealing some jewels which were being used to finance war.  Instead of just taking what he was supposed to the Marquess stole a necklace and some papers.  He is killed in front of Major Bennett and with his dying words he says his Marchioness has them.  This sets the Major and a handful of bad men after Lady Claire.  The Major and Lady Claire meet when he interrupts her being assaulted by a Russian.  The major believes she has the necklace and papers through most of their interactions he demands she hand them over.  Through most of the book Sam and Claire bump heads until the conclusion where they end up together.

For the most part I enjoyed this book a lot.  There were some things that rubbed me the wrong way.  One of the big ones is no matter how much Claire’s actions show Sam the kind of person she is he keeps thinking horrible things about her.  He blames her for his friend stealing the jewels, for not giving the Marquess an heir, and then how she resolves the necklace conflict.  It was very frustrating the way most of the men in Claire’s life treated her. 

This next part is a HUGE spoiler so if you don’t want to know stop reading!!!!

 

Claire’s husband never slept with her because he was already married to someone else at the time of their wedding.  He married an actress who his father didn’t like and would disinherit him it came out.  Yes he was in love with this woman and had four children with her and in his own way he was staying true to his wife by not sleeping with Claire but he committed bigamy to keep his father happy.  He guaranteed his first family, heir and wife, would be shunned by society as well as making it almost impossible for Claire to be able to marry someone else.  This plot line really bothered me for a number of reasons.  First and foremost is the father could not disinherit his son of the title.  He could take away the money and land that wasn’t entailed but anything that was entailed would have to go to the son/grandson.  Second he guaranteed Claire would live a loveless marriage without children and once it came out she would not be welcomed by most.  The Marquess basically made his family he loved live in secret to appease his father and was a bastard to the wife he was forced to marry who was also forced to marry him.  Yes he kept her virginity intact but seriously it would not have mattered.

If it wasn’t for that plotline this book would have been a 5 star book for me.  I cruised through it and wanted more but it really really pissed me off.