Enticing Miss Eugenie Villaret

Enticing Miss Eugenie Villaret by Ella Quinn

William, Viscount Wivenly, is tired of fighting off title-hungry misses trying to trap him into marriage.  After overhearing plans for yet another attack on his bachelorhood, Will flees into the night, across the seas, and straight into danger.  Arriving in the West Indies with his best friend in tow, Will is determined to find out why his late-uncle's manager is telling his father that the business is thriving, but telling his aunt that the business is failing.  Of course, the investigation shouldn't get in the way of romancing a lovely widow he would like to get better acquainted with.  If only she actually WAS a widow.

Eugenie Villaret de Joyeuse is trying to find out why her beloved "beau-papa's" company is failing when it should be prosperous.  Her efforts have thus-far been thwarted by her grieving maman, who is determined to keep the rest of her family safe from harm.  Yet little does her mother know that Eugenie is no stranger to covert activities.  With her best friend by her side, Eugenie lands in trouble and love all at once in the form of the mysterious factor from her father's uncle in England.  Not wanting her mother to discover her doings she remains vague about her identity and allows the man to believe what he will.  Except he's NOT just the factor and she is NOT what he believes.  Can they move past the lies of their beginnings and survive to see a trustful future?

The story had A LOT of intertwining plots, including not one but two love stories.  Most of these plots were kept fresh and in line, but a couple managed to sneak below the surface and popped up at the end, surprising the reader who may or may not have forgotten about its part in the initial story.  In the end though, all loose ends got tied and a new plot-line was thrown into the mix for the next book in the series.

Being a huge fan of secondary characters was quite an adventure with this book, because there were a ton of secondary characters.  Some of the characters were developed in an optional-main character style (Andrew, Cicely, and Nathan), others were true supporting characters (Sidonie, Griff, Tidwell, Marisole, and the Whitecliffs), and still others were written in a style that their allegiances could have swung either way.  That last style is a difficult and brilliant task to manage.  To write an accessory in such a way that you can sympathize with them, but still be unsure about them is captivating.

Overall, I loved that this book read like a stand-alone, but was in truth the fifth book in a series.  There were enough details to make the story make sense, and enough teasers to win the heart of new readers and drive them to the other books.  In short, Quinn rocks in her character building, and I can't wait for the next book.

Ratings:

(1=unacceptable, 2=poor, 3=acceptable, 4=good, 5=excellent)

Continuity/Flow – 4

Sex – 4 

Characters – 5

Storyline – 4

Overall – 4