Customer Reviews

He Said Now (Gentleman's Club, Book 3)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my second book by this author, my first being the enjoyable HE SAID NO which came out in February. This is actually the fourth in the Gentleman's Club series which started with short story LOVE LETTERS (from anthology CUPID CALLING), then continued in HE SAID YES and concluding with HE SAID NEVER coming this fall. The series follows five titled friends in 1860's England and their various adventures in love.

William Fitch Minstead, the Earl of Ackerman has just received some shocking news. He apparently fathered a child he never knew about, the result of an affair 10 years before when he was a young military man about to ship out to the Crimea. The feisty yet alluring Miss Hilary Compton who has been acting as the child's guardian since the death of her mother delivers the news. Fitch decides to meet and see this little girl for himself and travels to Miss Compton's home in Nottingham to see her for himself. One look at little Lizzie confirms his parentage, as she is the image of his late mother. Fitch is determined to be a part of his daughter's life and proposes a surprising arrangement: that he and Miss Compton marry so that Fitch can then adopt Lizzie as his daughter. But Fitch makes it clear he wants more than the usual marriage of convenience. He expects her to be his wife in every way, including providing him with an heir.

When Hilary undertook her mission to inform the earl of his child, she had fully expected him to be a rake and a scoundrel uninterested in his child. Instead, she finds him to be kind, warm, witty and all too willing to have Lizzie in his life. She has noted the attraction that swirls between them and wonders if a real marriage is possible. She agrees to his proposal and soon finds herself in London, the new countess of Ackerman! But as the days and weeks pass, her early optimism for a happy marriage begins to dim as Fitch persists in keeping a part of himself from her. She knows his withdrawal has something to do with his war experiences, but he adamantly refuses to discuss it with her. Her attempts to get closer to him just seem to make things worse until she begins to wonder if he wanted a real wife afterall. Or did he just marry her to get his daughter and the rest was all talk? As for Fitch, he wonders why Hilary can't just leave well enough alone. She's got his protection, his name and his daughter - what more can she possibly want from him?

I really enjoyed this story and I liked Fitch a lot! His relationship with his daughter was very cute and sweet and his relationship with Hilary was sensual and poignant. I liked Hilary, but felt she pushed Fitch too hard too fast to share things with her he felt he could not. But all in all a nice story that I recommend to others. I'm looking forward to the next book which will be the rascally Viscount Rathbone's story.

Pat Waddell has another winner in He Said Now. And so does her heroine. The hero, a confirmed bachelor, can not maintain his emotional distance when his new bride repeatedly probes his wounds. She makes mistakes but wins his love in the end by risking everything to help him leave the devastating memories of the carnage of war behind him. Take his advice...read it now.

Having read the previous books in this series (He Said Yes, He Said No) I was expecting the same format. The man meets a woman, pursues her and falls in love with her, she runs away and he finds her and marries her. He Said Now however did not go this way--Fitch learns he impregnated a woman 9 years earlier and after the mother perishes, he wants to give his daughter a normal life. He becomes intrigued with her guardian, Hilary, and to remedy the situation he marries her. They fall in love and in this book she gets pregnant within the story of the book unlike in the other novels we find out characters get pregnant. It's a quick read and the author's voice improves since her writing has more meaning.

This is my favorite of this series of books by Patricia Waddell. I have never written a review for Amazon before, but I felt I had to after reading this book. It's not the same story lines you normally find. The characters are real, they have depth, and you find yourself routing for them to find the way to say "I Love You". I reccommend this book and series. You won't regret it.

William Fitch Minstead is a man who just recieved a major shock thanks to Hilary Compton. He is a father due a past affair. Fitch is a man knows what he wants and he want to be with his daughter, so decided to married the woman he has been raising his daughter. So now Hilary goes from a country miss to the new Countess of Ackerman.
"He said Now" is the first book tha have read from Patricia Waddell and it was pretty good read. Ms. Waddell makes her characters real with real emotions. The only reason that I did not give five stars is that the ending was not very strong.

THIS WONDERFUL LOVE STORY WAS TRULY AMAZINGLY BETWEEN LORD MILSTEAD "FITCH", WITH THE LOVELY VIRGINAL HILLARY, WHO WAS RAISING HIS CHILD, HE NEVER KNEW ABOUT, TIL NOW. GOOD READ!!!!

of the series. I like the way the author made the short courtship romantic with love scenes that are passionate at the same time sweet. Looking forward to the next one.

HE SAID NOW is written in Ms. Waddell's exceptional style, bringing the characters and story to life immediately. The drama that unfolds between the hero, the Earl of Ackerman, and the heroine, Miss Hilary Compton, is emotional, believable, and very well written. The history of the Crimean War is part of the plot, not overdone or boring, but essential to the hero's motivation. I enjoyed this book, very much and am looking forward to the next one in the series.