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What does a handsome, confirmed bachelor do when he is injured in battle and suddenly becomes less of a prize with the ladies? The Viscount Radford Evers decides to end his bachelorhood and compiles a list of qualities desirable in a bride. Unfortunately, the woman who captures his heart has none of these qualities. So does he pursue the woman who meets his qualifications, or follow his heart?
Margaret “May” Sheffers is an abandoned daughter of questionable heritage. Although she has a family line through her mother, her father’s heritage brands her an outcast among the London elite. But May is satisfied to care for an ailing aunt, her only remaining relative that actually cares for her. A wicked uncle freezes her income when her parents remain absent for seven years, hoping to declare them dead and seize her funds. This shortfall of income makes her late on the rent she pays to shelter her ailing aunt and herself.
Radford Evers is bitter and angry after his war injury leaves him crippled. Trapped in his own body, he resigns himself to the thought of marriage and carrying on the family line. When May Sheffers barges into his home asking for leniency on her lease of his rental property, he is intrigued by the spirit in this less than attractive wood sprite.
The Marriage List follows this pair as they battle society and their predetermined places among the “ton.” The characterizations are strong and their adventures poignant. Ms. McFalls has an easy style that carried me through the book in one sitting.
Reviewed by Karla Brandenburg
for The Road to Romance
February 5, 2005
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