Loving Lady Marcia (House of Brady, #1)

by Kieran Kramer

In the House of Brady, three very lovely girls have hair of gold - and hearts to match - but finding a match among the gentlemen of London is one comedy of errors that could bring down the house...Marcia Gets Schooled: Of the three Brady sisters, Lady Marcia has always seemed the girl most likely to lead a perfectly charmed life. But after a handsome cad breaks her heart, she swears off love and devotes her life to teaching girls at a private school. In spite of her family's wish for a London debut, Marcia is happy where she is - until terrible news sends her back to the Brady clan...and into the arms of an unexpected suitor. On The Subject of Love: A dark and dashing earl who knows Marcia's past, Duncan Lattimore is surprised by what a fascinating and independent woman she's become. Marcia, too, is surprised - by the fiery attraction she feels for Duncan. But why - why - must he be the brother of the scoundrel who broke her heart? Why must Marcia's rival at school forbid her from seeing him? How can this lady possibly resist this fellow - when they know that it's much more than a hunch...?

• ISBN10: 1466805501
• ISBN13: 9781466805507
• Publish Date: 28 August 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: St. Martin's Press
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

I was drawn to this book because it’s the historical Brady family, how could I not want to read this book? This first book in the House of Brady series is Marcia’s book. Marcia is first introduced in this book when she’s traveling to Ireland with the two Lattimore brothers. She’s almost sixteen years old and she takes quite the fancy to the younger Lattimore brother, Finn. The older Lattimore brother just inherited his earldom and has a lot of things on his mind. Making nice with the young woman that they’re traveling with is not one of them. Marcia takes quite the offense to Duncan (the older Lattimore) and his neglect in proper manners toward her but let’s it slide because the younger Lattimore returns her crush.

On Marcia’s sixteenth birthday, she’s with Finn and she’s in love and he makes her the happiest sixteen year old on the planet until she wakes up the next morning and is thrown from cloud 9 and falls flat on her face, back on planet reality. With her heart broken, Marcia has no choice but to move on.

Fast forward all of these years later and Duncan Lattimore is once again thrown into her world. Of course, this doesn’t make Marcia happy at all. She holds him responsible for crushing her young and in love with his younger brother Finn’s heart. Duncan, on the other hand is happy to see her as he’s got a few years under his belt at the helm of the family title and he’s got a son that he can dote on. He’s got a family. He may not have a wife but he’s got a son and a house full of servants that dote on him and his son. His life is good and when he meets Marcia on the street, she’s grown into a beautiful woman and Duncan wants to reacquaint himself with her.

Seeing how far Marcia came from the first time she met Duncan to all of those years later made for some interesting reading. She went from being that starry eyed young woman who was in love with the man of her dreams and ready to run away and get married to the headmistress of a school who is a realist through and through. Watching as Duncan removed those walls around her heart was cute.

I really liked Duncan. He was such a strong and solid presence in Marcia’s life and I wanted to hug him close and give him the family he longed for. There were times when I didn’t think Marcia was good enough for him because when things got bad, she ran and that bothered me. I understood her mistrust of him at first because all she had to go on before she learns the truth about Finn is Finn’s word and she was in love with him all those years ago so why wouldn’t she believe him? But when things between them progressed and they were friends and she knew where his head was, and she shied away from him anyway? I wanted to wring her neck.

There was plenty to enjoy in this book. From the Brady family (they had me laughing quite a bit, especially young Cynthia) to seeing Alice and even Tiger to Duncan’s son, Joe. They all added fun to the story and I really enjoyed getting to know them. I loved that the Brady family embraced Duncan and his son and I loved how they were there for Marcia when she finally came clean about what happened to her back in the day. There were times when I wanted to wring Marcia’s next though. When she becomes engaged to Duncan and all that madness that followed that? I wanted to kick her in her teeth but when the end came, I forgave her. How could I not?

Overall, I’m not at all mad that I read this book. I enjoyed the way that the story unfolds and I enjoyed getting to know the different characters. I’m mighty curious to see who’s story will be next and I will most definitely be reading it too.

[Cocktails and Books]

If the fact that the heroine's name is Marcia and her father's title has Brady in it has you thinking this is going to be a cheesy take off of some Brady Bunch episode, you'd be wrong. Sure, there are some similarities between the TV Brady's and those in the book, but there is no comparing the TV Marcia with the strong and independent Lady Marcia Sherwood.

Lady Marcia Sherwood and Duncan Lattimore, the Earl of Chadwick, meet as he and his brother, Finn, escort Marcia to Ireland. Finn is fun loving, entertaining and attentive to Marcia, while Duncan is standoffish and pensive on their journey. While Marcia and Finn haven't a care in the world, Duncan contemplates his newly obtained title and what he is going to do to restore the Earldom. So it's no surprise Marcia and Finn strike up an immediate friendship which soon turns into something more, including devastating heartbreak.

Duncan and Marcia lives took a decidedly different paths after that fateful trip to Ireland. Marcia took the only course she thought she could after what happened with Finn and became the Headmistress of the school she attended. She's sworn off romantic entanglements for the security of caring for "her girls". But what she really lost that summer was the belief that someone could want her the way her stepfather wants/loves her mother. When she was tossed so easily aside, she figured no one would ever want her. To save herself any grief, she decided to close herself off at the school. But Duncan opened her eyes and showed her that she could be loved for who she was, which included her ideals and aspirations.

Duncan is a fixer. He tried to protect his mother from his father's infidelities, tried to help Finn grow up and become a better man, and tried to make a home full of love for his son, Joe, himself and his servants. He craved the love of those he felt close to and longed to have anyone of those he held dear tell him they loved him in return. Duncan had to learn he couldn't fix everyone or fix a situation for those he cared for. He had to let go of those that truly didn't deserve his affection and focus on those that did and realize they would love him even if he or they failed.

Duncan and Marcia didn't have the easiest path to their HEA. Their demons were their own worst enemy, but in the end the discovered their relationship worked much better when the words were said rather than hoping someone understood their actions.

A wonderful start to the House of Brady series. I can't wait for the next book.