Why Lords Lose Their Hearts by Manda Collins

Why Lords Lose Their Hearts (Wicked Widows, #3)

by Manda Collins

For over a year, the widowed Perdita, Duchess of Ormonde has been keeping a secret. A secret about how her husband really died. So it's almost a relief when her mama-in-law finally approaches her with a proposal: Perdita will remarry, thus removing her from the Ormonde family, or the dowager will inform the town and the authorities just how her son died. Though she knows that she isn't really to blame for her late husband's death, Perdita also knows that just the suggestion of wrongdoing is sometimes enough to bring shame upon oneself. For help, she turns to the one man she's always been able to trust: Lord Archer Lisle, a younger son, and her late husband's secretary. The youngest son of the Duke of Pendleton, Lord Archer Lisle has spent his entire life in second place. But, now, finally he has a chance to do something purely for himself. For years he watched helpless as Perdita was brutalized by her husband, his employer. Now she needs another husband to ensure her secret remains hidden, and he'll step up and do the one thing that will fulfil both their needs. And when a threat emerges from a source none of them expected, he'll do whatever it takes to protect the woman he loves.

Reviewed by stacey_is_sassy on

4 of 5 stars

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The Hero wins...

Why Lords Lose Their Hearts was a wonderful tale about Perdita and Archer. We met both characters in the two previous stories in this series. The main plot of the series is based around the death of Perdita's husband Gervase. He had been a horrible husband who regularly beat Perdita. Archer had been Gervase's secretary and had regular contact with the couple. In this time Archer's feelings for Perdita grew, but he knew that because he didn't hold a title (even though his father is a Duke) no match could be made.

There is someone out to make Perdita, her sister Isabella and friend Georgina's life a misery because they blamed the three women for killing Gervase. This third installment brings the mystery to a conclusion...and I didn't guess until the murderer was smack bang in front of me with a sign hanging above their heads saying I did it! Sometimes I can work out the mystery and sometimes I can't, this one surprised me.

I dropped a star because Perdita drove me crazy. She was an absolute ninny throughout most of this story and if I was Archer, I would not have put up with her. Her logic behind her decisions was silly. There was no way Archer was capable of acting the way her previous husband did. He proved regularly how much he loved her, not just in his protection of her, but also in the way he approached her knowing what she had been through. I wanted better for Archer.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. Manda Collins writes very well and her heroes are the best specimens of male virility. Great to see some of the old characters and some new ones as well. Definitely looking forward to seeing Archer's brothers get their own stories.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 April, 2015: Finished reading
  • 20 April, 2015: Reviewed