When Alaric Defford, Lord Stafford, hammers at the door of Milton Cottage, desperate to find his runaway niece, he never expects it to be opened by a beautiful widow. For her part, Marianne Turner shares the powerful physical attraction which springs up between them immediately, and the better they get to know each other, the stronger it becomes. There are, however, obstacles. Since both are headstrong, they do argue a lot. The social divide is, moreover, disconcertingly wide: though a gentleman’s sister, Marianne married ‘beneath her’ to a sergeant killed in the Peninsular War. Finally, since she is childless after several years of marriage, she is unlikely to provide an heir. She is, she insists and as the title proclaims, an unsuitable bride for a viscount. But Alaric believes that ‘love is all that matters in the end,’ and he is equally determined.

Since this is the second book in this Regency series, the early sections can be confusing as the backstory from the first is gradually introduced, and Marianne’s resistance does begin to drag after a while. The lovers are, nevertheless, attractive characters, and the insight into the impact of societal prejudices upon the individual is revealing, Recommended.

Alaric Defford, Lord Stafford, races across England to find his runaway niece Juno in a small village. He encounters widow Marianne Turner and he's smitten. Marianne has been grieving for 2 years for her war hero husband. She never believed she would fall in love again, that is, until she meets Alaric Defford.

This book was a difficult read and it took me 3 days to get through it. The author uses overly long sentences constantly and it had me skipping over much of the paragraphs. I almost stopped reading a number of times, but I did want to see what Alaric would do to convince Marianne to marry him. Marianne's constant bemoaning that she is not good enough to be a viscountess really gets old. At the 75% mark, I just skipped to the end to see if Marianne's secret anguish of being barren would be resolved and unfortunately, the author chose to end the book before it was fully resolved.

Elizabeth Beacon’s Yelverton Marriages series continues charmingly with a new volume a peer and the commoner with whom he finds romance in Unsuitable Bride for a Viscount.

Alaric Defford, Viscount Stratford, is in search of his runaway niece, Juno, who fled her home after her mother tried to sell her hand in marriage to an elderly member of the peerage.  Waylaid by rain, Alaric determines that Juno is in fact with Miss Grantham, her former tutor, and that both are staying with the tough-minded widow Marianne Turner at Owlet Manor. But Miss Grantham has an assignation with Marianne’s brother (see book one, Marrying for Love or Money?), and Juno has not arrived at the cottage.  When she does, Alaric agrees to let her stay, and a blow to the back of the head results in a concussion that keeps him among the ladies.

This gives him time to get to know Marianne, who proves to be a tough bird, the widow of a soldier whom she loved deeply and eloped with, disgracing herself in the eyes of society.  She also presumed she’d never love again until Alaric, with his banter and his stubbornness, enters her life.

As Marianne and Alaric stumble toward love together, courting and sparking all the way, Juno finds a place for herself at Owelt house, and Marianne must figure out if she – a widowed but genteel woman of tarnished reputation – truly belongs in the arms of a Viscount, upon whom the fate of the entire Stratford dynasty rests.

Unsuitable Bride for a Viscount works precisely because of the strength of the connection between our hero and heroine right from the outset.  They have strong opinions and are distinct individuals, but behave like adults, adults who talk out their past hurts and find themselves in love in spite of it all.

Marianne’s family life is strained after her marriage to Daniel, a marriage that was successful and loving but was cut off cruelly and left her an outsider to the life she knew as a vicar’s daughter.  She’s since surrounded herself with women who have survived similar strained circumstances and prefer to work rather than depend upon their capricious relatives.

Alaric, meanwhile, is in search of a woman who will love him for himself – not the title or the money that comes with his name, one who genuinely looks forward to having his children - for reasons that are revealed within the plot and connect back to Juno, who is, incidentally, a delight.

Naturally, Alaric proves to Marianne that she can love twice and well and be happy without losing the memories of her first husband, and Marianne proves to be a salt-of-the-earth girl who isn’t at all interested in the social whirl.  The road there is paved with lots of comfortable getting-to-know-you feelings, with some great moments of friendship and sibling love to boot.

Quite notable is Juno and Alaric’s niece/uncle relationship, which is genuinely loving, supportive and adorable.  Marianne’s friendships with the various women living at Owlet Manor are also filled with banter, gossip, warmth and good advice.

My only real criticism is that some of the plot work connects tightly into the first volume of the series.  While the book is decently readable on its own, some elements of the story that show up here seem to have been explored more fully in the first volume of the series.

But the excellent, tender romance is what keeps the reader tuned in to Unsuitable Bride for a Viscount, and is what earns it a warm recommendation.

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