The Viscount and the Virgin (Harlequin Historical) [Mass Market Paperback]

Annie Burrows (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harlequin Historical | Publication Date: September 21, 2010

This is a season of secrets, scandal and seduction in high society! Set in Regency England, this continuity sweeps you from glittering ballrooms, to a smuggler's cove in Cornwall, to the wilds of Scotland, a Romany camp, and back again. Each story has a passionate, intense, central relationship but the thread linking them together is a darkly dangerous, yet sexy stranger, who is out for revenge, delivering a silken rope as his calling card. Through him, a long-forgotten past is stirred to life, and the notorious events of 1794 which saw one man murdered and another hanged for the crime, are brought in to question. Was the right man brought to justice or is there still a treacherous murderer at large?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (September 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373296126
• ISBN-13: 978-0373296125
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,170,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Series > Harlequin Historicals

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been so much more., December 28, 2010

By 

incognito (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Viscount and the Virgin (Harlequin Historical) (Kindle Edition)

First let me say i'm glad I made it through this book, though it was purely sheer force of will. The H/H were not that likeable, at least for the first half of the book.

Imogen "midge" was looking forward to meeting her step-brother's friend, Monty; she'd corresponded with him through her brother during the war. Midge and Monty looked forward to meeting each other. However, they're never properly introduced with nicknames. He thinks she's Ms. Hebden, daughter to a notoriously loose woman, and she thinks he's just another arrogant lord, Viscount Mildenhall to be exact. Midge mistakenly bumps into him, which convinces him she's doing her damndest to snag a rich husband and his poor opinion sets in.

The one night her brother, Rick, is at a ball with her; he promises to introduce her to Monty. She heads off onto the balcony with high hopes of meeting and falling in love with Monty, only to run into Mildenhall who she humiliated herself with her clumsy actions earlier, who happens to BE Monty. They still don't know each other as Midge and Monty and instead treat each other horribly. Mildenhall is a complete a** here and gets to thinking he should just marry this girl after what he'd done (nothing drastic just a kiss, though she bit him and punched him for it). Mildenhall/Monty thinks Ms. Hebden is no good, after him for his title, loose like her Mother, but wants to marry her anyways? Is this some extension of the weird level of anger / extreme mild attraction he had when he cussed at her for spilling champagne on him? With NO other meeting between them except the champagne incident and the balcony forgive me if i'm not sold on this relationship.

Only the following day does he realize Ms. Hebden is Midge and he pretty much threatened her not to repeat what happened the previous night to her brother. She listened out of some morose fear of shaming her Aunt and Uncle. He then tells her they're to be married. He still thinks the worst of her.

He has this grand revelation on his wedding day, that Ms. Hebden may very well be Midge of the letters, and only then do you actually start to like him. Before hitting this grand revelation, I put this book down numerous times, I just didn't like either character enough. Once I made it to this part, I ploughed on to a somewhat better read. I just couldn't wrap my mind around these characters, their misunderstandings and lack of communication was just ridiculous. Midge's character was likable, but didn't hold up, she was described one way, but acted another - I hate when authors do this.

The tail end of this book would easily get a 3 star, but the beginning was just bad. If you're looking for a good read, go elsewhere.

As an aside, I read this on a Kindle, and this book had some incredibly irritating spacing issues. Random words had spaces in the center of them. It also had misuse of words, it was weird. Like they scanned the book in and allowed whatever OCR program to just figure out what words belonged where. Not the first for a Kindle read, I wish they'd edit better before putting them out for publication.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, January 20, 2011

By 

J. Bergmann (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Viscount and the Virgin (Harlequin Historical) (Kindle Edition)

So I have read through the rest of the reviews and I think people have been rather harsh on this book. I agree the storyline left a bit to be desired--there were too many loose ends and unanswered questions. But frankly, when I read romances, I care less about the storyline and more about the relationship and character development. Because let's face it, most romances are predictable. As for the Viscount and the Virgin, I thought Annie Burrows created two deep, likable characters.

Imogen "Midge" Hebden is the daughter of two scandalous individuals. After her father was hung, her mother married a reclusive, old gentleman below her class and moved Imogen to the country. Here, Midge's life revolved around fishing, riding, and traipsing after her three older step-brothers. Unfortunately, after the death of her mother and her later her step-father, Midge is left with nothing and forced to live with her maternal uncle and aunt in London, who have promised to fund her for one season in hopes of her making a match. However, because of the scandal attached to her name as well as her tom-boyish nature, her prospects of marriage are few. Enter Viscount Mildenhall, aka "Monty". Monty, who recently inherited his title after the death of his brother, is ordered to London by his father to marry and produce an heir. The two meet at a ton party when Midge accidently spills champagne all over Monty. Monty does not believe in her innocence, but that this is a theatric to get close to him in hopes of marrying a rich titled peer. After the disastrous encounter, Midge is left strongly disliking Monty, while Monty, who neither respects nor likes Midge, is reluctantly attracted to her. But, as fortune would have it, Monty just happens to be an old solider friend of Midge's step-brother, Rick. Because both only know each other by their actual names, not nicknames (Midge and Monty), they do not realize that they are each the person Rick has talked about fondly. So long story short they end up married (Midge reluctantly, Monty happily). The rest of the story (which I admit I have greatly simplified) is about them getting to know one another, letting go of insecurities and coming to love, trust and rely on each other.

Like I said, I enjoyed the story immensely. However, I will point out that Midge's character is innately weak. She is self-deprecating and feels that she is unworthy of love--which could be because she has never really experienced it in any form before. On the other hand, I really liked Monty. He was rude and obnoxious in the beginning, but he explains his behavior, to me, satisfactorily. Later, he makes some poor decisions thinking he is protecting Midge, but his inner monologue redeems his character. Like I said, I liked the book, it's different from a lot of other romances and had really strong character development. However, I would like/hope, that Annie Burrows writes a follow up book, maybe about Rick, that ties up the loose ends.

2.0 out of 5 stars Just plain silly, January 28, 2012

By 

Woodbuckley (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Viscount and the Virgin (Historical Continuities Hc Lp) (Hardcover)

I started out wanting to like this book, the premise was promising, if a tad over-familiar. The much pursued titled gentleman making himself obnoxious to the heroine, and he in his turn mistaking her for yet another husband-hunting young lady. I liked the idea of them already knowing and liking each other through the agency of Imogen's (nicknamed Midge, frightful name that boded ill for her character)letters to her soldier brother which he shared with his friend Monty.
Alas, the promise shown was not fulfilled and I have to agree with many of the unfavourable comments already made here. Midge was a pain in the neck in more ways than one and truly lived up to that much used label for annoying historical romance heroines - TSTL (too stupid to live). She was just a silly young woman and didn't even try to use whatever intelligence she may have possessed. The absurd way in which she runs away from the hero beggared belief. A five year old would surely have more commonsense.
Sad.