Trial by Desire (Hqn) [Mass Market Paperback]

Courtney Milan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 28, 2010 | Series: Hqn

She cannot forget the fire he ignited...

In the three years since her husband left her, Lady Kathleen Carhart has managed to forge a fulfilling life for herself. But when Ned Carhart unexpectedly returns, she finds her tranquility uprooted--and her deepest secrets threatened. Though she has no intention of falling for Ned's charms, Kate can no longer deny the desire that still burns in her heart.

Or the promise of his love...

Ned is determined to regain his wife's trust by using unbridled seduction. But just as Kate surrenders to Ned's passion, her carefully guarded past threatens to destroy her. Now Kate must place her faith in the only man she's ever loved, and the only one who has ever betrayed her...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Readers will be blown away by Milan’s second historical romance, following her excellent debut, Proof by Seduction (2010). At the outset, Lady Kate Carhart’s marriage is perfect in every way except one: her husband, Ned, doesn’t love her. Ned is always the perfect gentleman, but Kate wants a bit more passion and a lot less politeness from her new spouse. Just as Kate is about to set her plan to seduce Ned into motion, however, he announces that he is leaving the country on business. Now, after three years apart, Kate is certain that she has successfully gotten Ned out of her system; but when he unexpectedly returns home, Kate discovers she isn’t quite as over him as she believes. Milan deftly incorporates realistic historical grit in her coverage of the Opium Wars, social candor in her treatment of domestic violence, and stunning emotional depth in the mesmerizing plot, and the result is an exquisitely sensual and unforgettable romance by one of the genre’s incandescent new stars. --John Charles

Review

"Romantic yet brimming over with sexual tension and marvelous characters...filled with enough wit and wisdom to make it a 'keeper.'"

--4 ½ star review, TOP Pick!, from RT Book Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: HQN Books; Original edition (September 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373774850
• ISBN-13: 978-0373774852
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Courtney Milan's debut novel was published in 2010. Since then, she's been a New York Times and a USA Today bestseller, and her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. She's been a RITA finalist and an RT Reviewer's Choice nominee for Best First Historical Romance. Her second book was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010.

Courtney lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband, a medium-sized dog, and an attack cat. Before she started writing historical romance, she experimented with various occupations: computer programming, dog-training, scientificating.... But her favorite job is the one she's now doing full time--writing romance.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#29 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#31 in Books > Romance > Historical

#29 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#31 in Books > Romance > Historical

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and interesting, full of 'feelings' and some introspection. October 1, 2010

By Old Latin teacher TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I was late to read Courtney Milan's debut novel PROOF BY SEDUCTION because the love story of a peer and a commoner (and not only a commoner but one working as a fortune teller) is never one of my favorites. But after seeing all the favorable reviews, I picked it up at the library and loved it.

This new book, about the nephew of the hero of book one, is not quite as good as the first, but it's close. Hero Ned Carhart had emotional problems in PROOF BY SEDUCTION and they carry over into this one. At the end of PBS he is found in a compromising situation with Lady Kate, the daughter of a duke, and they must marry. But 3 months into the marriage he leaves for China on a mission for his uncle (but actually on a soul-searching mission for himself). At the beginning of this book he returns after 3 years away. He and heroine Kate are almost strangers to each other (although the physical attraction has always been there) and this is a story about their learning to really know and understand each other and, of course, develop a deep, mutual love.

Kate is considered a vapid, superficial female shopaholic by members of the ton, but she is hiding her true depth. She has a secret mission to help women abused by their husbands. So the plot of this story, beyond the romantic aspects, involves Kate's help in hiding the wife and baby son of one of Ned's friends. (Ned and other members of the ton are not aware that this friend is an abuser, BTW.)

Kate does not confide in Ned about what she is doing and Ned does not discuss with Kate his emotional and mental problems. My take on his problem, BTW, is that he suffers from clinical depression with dangerous periodic episodes where he feels almost suicidal, although we only have allusions to this. And since there probably wasn't medication for this in 1838 (other than laudanum) it must have been very difficult for him to cope during these episodes.

So we have these two main plotlines going: 1) Ned and Kate learning about each other, and 2) the abused wife being helped by Kate. The second plotline gives us an interesting look into women's role in society then, their lack of real power even to escape abuse, and we even have a look at trials and the judicial system at that time. Milan may be taking a few liberties there (in the trial section) but it's still interesting. For me, this was a rewarding read and it's nice to have a new author who writes so well.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Depression November 6, 2010

By feysidhe VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

While I agree with some of those who posted about the abundance of "navel gazing" the hero does in this book, I do wonder whether they are out of sympathy with him because they don't understand how devastating bipolar disorder can be. The clues as to what he's experiencing are there long before he admits it explicitly, either to himself or the reader (his manic tossing of hay, for example). Even today, people suffering from bouts of depression have a hard time coping or admitting to others what they are going through because they've been taught to see it as a weakness. A hundred years ago, the situation was far worse. One might end up diagnosed as a madman and put away in an asylum for the rest of one's life.

Of course, truths don't always make for the best fiction, and perhaps Ms. Milan might have cut out some of the angsty bits from the hero, but that's a fairly trivial complaint in what is overall an emotionally satisfying read.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much navel gazing and not enough story October 23, 2010

By sarah stewart

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I absolutely loved Courtney Milan's debut novel Proof by Seduction (Hqn) so was really looking forward to the follow-up which is the story of Ned. In 'Proof by seduction'. Ned is a shallow, weak and unstable young man, so I really looked forward to see how Milan made him into a leading man that the readers could believe in.

Ned spends three years in China fighting his demons, trying to find a way of managing his bouts of depression. When he comes home he has to make his peace with his wife, Kate, proving to her that he can be a worthy husband that she can rely on. And boy, she needs all the help she can get. Kate has been harbouring the wife of a nobleman who is the victim of domestic violence. Kate has been dreadfully hurt by her husband's absence. Yet at the same time, she loves him as much as she did when he left her. What she does not understand is why he keeps his distance from her...why he always needs to keep himself fully in control...not even to make love to her. And so the story unfolds with the development of the relationship between Kate and Ned, as well as the plot involving the battered wife.

I really struggled with this book for the first half. I love lots of emotion and angst from a hero, but I just could not make sense of what was going on. I struggled to understand how Ned was feeling or why he was acting the way he was acting. It wasn't until the end of the book that I really understood the motivation for his behaviour. I felt there were lots of words saying nothing about nothing. Never the less, I am glad I kept going because in the second half of the book everything fell into place. Ned was a gorgeous main man...a real hero...and I adored him. Kate was also an engaging and strong heroine. With some good editing this book could have been another 5 star effort from Milan, but as it stand, I think it comes in at 3 stars.