Elizabeth is tired of rusticating in the country while her husband Richard remains in London. She packs up the children and hatches a plan to get her husband back. Richard loves his wife but made a promise, after having almost lost her in childbirth, to stay away. Though never makes his reason known. Thus begins the hilarity as Elizabeth attempts to seduce while Richard does everything in his power to avoid.
Thank you Rose Phillips, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

The overall concept of this book being a marriage in trouble romance is what instantly drew me to reading this novel. Love Abandoned is the second book in Rose Phillips’ Honorable Intentions series and it can indeed be read as a stand-alone. Phillips’ writing has a subtle elegance to it that the plot slowly unfolds upon, the over all pacing of the novel starts off a bit slow but then ramps up towards the end as the espionage plot provides a driving movement from outside of the romance. This being the first novel I have read from Rose Phillips, I found her writing to be interesting and something I am definitely willing to continue to explore.

Overall, I found this romance to be a bit slow at the start and it took me a little while to really get into the romance and root for this couple. There is a bittersweet ache that plays throughout the majority of this novel because both hero and heroine are secretly longing for the other but they are both too stubborn or closed off to truly reopen their hearts. I think if this novel would have been on a shorter side, and had the pacing been a bit quicker especially in the beginning, this novel would have really hit its mark. Phillips’ writing is beautiful and she has a way of showing and describing the longing and feelings these to have for each other, but I wanted more give and take in the present moments from them and not just longings of the past.

Overall this is an elegant, slow burn marriage in trouble romance, that is beautifully written. If you love Rose Phillips you will most likely love this novel, but I am not sure if this is the absolute best place to start your journey with her work.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Elizabeth's hubby is MIA. He's run off to a separate life in London, and she's not having it. So, a full-scale attack on his virtue is in order. Oh but Richard is running. We find out why he's doing this, but he doesn't bother to tell her. I love a 2nd chance/rekindle marriage story. This one is a winner!

Espionage and Seduction

He abandoned her, and she did not know why. Could her plan of seduction work to bring him back? There would be seduction, espionage, and games that would keep you turning the pages.

Love makes you do foolish things, and Richard is willing to sacrifice his and Elizabeth’s happiness because, he thinks, staying away will keep her safe. Then, he gets involved in spying and complicates his life even further. You see, his spying involved an ex-mistress. What will happen if Elizabeth finds out about that mistress? Will Elizabeth succeed in seducing her husband? What happens in that spying game in which Richard finds himself drowning? Can Richard and Elizabeth find their way to happiness once more? For the answers, you will want to read this excellent Regency romance. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to those who like Regency romance with intrigue and seduction.

This book was sweet, though one of those stories where you can't help but think that a modicum of communication may have solved years of distress for our main characters....

This is the second installment of the Honorable Intentions series. I read the first one and really enjoyed it and this newest addition also did not disappoint! Elizabeth is tired of being left alone in the country, essentially feeling abandoned by her husband. She decides to take matters into her own hands and travel to London with her two children and remind her husband of what he is missing. Richard adores his wife, but he has vowed to stay away in order to keep her safe after she almost died giving birth to their youngest son. When she arrives in London and he is reunited with her, he is not confident he can keep his promise. So, when the perfect opportunity presents itself to distance himself from her once again, he doesn't hesitate to take it. This new assignment, however, involves gathering intel from his former mistress. Lack of communication causes misunderstandings and some heartbreak. Richard and Elizabeth really need to have a good talk and get everything out in the open in order for them to be able to rekindle their marriage.
The story was engaging involving drama and some intrigue and it kept my interest all the way through. I found this to be an enjoyable story and a great addition to the series. Looking forward to the next one!
I received a complimentary copy from Dragonblade Publishing via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Love Abandoned by Rose Phillips has a totally different storyline than normal. It revolves around a couple estranged from their marriage. Elizabeth and Richard had once been in love. Then William was born, and several years later, Sebastian. Elizabeth had nearly died with Sebastian and Richard rode out, vowing to distance himself from his wife. He knew he could not be near her and not put her in danger again. So began two long years during which Elizabeth had no idea what was going on, but she had vowed it would end and so she made plans to seduce her husband back into her bed. Meanwhile Richard has gotten himself mixed up with a spy network. Rather, he is receiving messages and leaving them for government officials to retrieve. He is not cut out of this work and longs for it to be over. One day, his contact, his ex-mistress, Patricia, shows up at his home. Thankfully Elizabeth is not at home, but she arrives before Patricia is gone. She immediately decamps to their country manor, heartbroken.

As usual, the main problem where was a lock of communicating. Once Elizabeth's friend, Sophia, got involved things got better almost immediately as the spy situation was cleared up and so was the problem with the lovers being together again. Richard was exemplar of many men who think they have to carry the burden alone instead of sharing it. Sophia solved the problem for them but there were other solutions, other than cutting himself off from the wife he adored. I enjoyed this book but wanted to slap Richard silly several times. Elizabeth was left out in the cold and could only endure it for a while before she was forced to act. It was different. It was good.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Love Abandoned by Dragonblade, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #dragonblade #rosephillips #loveabandoned

Love Abandoned by Rose Phillips is the second book of Honorable Intentions. Countess Elizabeth Thornwood is alone in her memories of her husband. She decides to take action and bring their two sons with her to London in pursuit of him. Richard Thornwood is surprised when he discovers his beloved wife has come to London to reclaim him. He begins to worry that he won’t be able to keep his promise to himself—to keep her safe after the night she almost died. Richard jumps at the opportunity to escape Elizabeth by gathering intelligence to assist in the Napoleonic War. But can Richard truly resist his wife?

I liked the espionage aspect of this book. It was nice to see Richard and Elizabeth rekindle their marriage, but I did struggle a bit with the couple toward the beginning of the book.

Rose Phillips writes purely divine angst! I do love a good heat-wrenching emotional sort of pain, as long as I know that it will end in happy ever after. From the very start, you could feel the deep seated pain within Elizabeth and Richard. The level of pain that can be created from a lack of communication is surreal, but written wonderfully within the pages of this book. Their emotional separation created that pure angst that sent delicious shivers down my spine, squeezing my heart until it hurt. I delighted in Sophia’s character, her absolute confidence is only outshone by her heart. The way she can be such a worldly woman, yet be selfless and full of immeasurable love for her friends, is simply beautiful. The intrigue of the war mysteries and how it confounded the already devastating distance between Elizabeth and Richard, added a new level to enjoy. I look forward to the next book in this series and hope we get to see more of a certain domino, for I was somewhat disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of his story. That could not detract though from my enjoyment of this book.

We have a married couple who love each other but for a certain reason they are apart . The birth of their second child almost killed her and he fills guilty so he try to stay away from her as possible . She cannot understand why her husband avoids her and is determined to win him back .
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think it is very unfair when a well written book has a major flaw in the story.
Spoiler Alert.
This story is about a heroine that was married young and for love about 8 years before. She has two boys and a wonderful, thoughtful husband. Except they have not had marital relations for 2 years, since she almost died in childbirth. But the hero never tells her why he won't have marital relations with her, he just...never does anything with her again.
And this is where the whole story goes south and doesn't make a lick of sense. Which is sad because the rest of the book is great!! It has adventure, intrigue, is very well written and it an easy read. And the main characters are close in age. And it is part of a series, but you would never know except for some vague references. This book has it all!
Okay, the problem is that the hero has never, ever explained to the heroine why he never came back to her bed. Ever. He refuses to talk about it for 2 years. Now, even I know that prostitutes at the time had means of preventing conception. Not 100%, but they did work about 90% of the time. And the hero had a mistress for 2 years prior to his marriage, when he was 18 years old. An 18 year old man/boy wants to have sex like bunnies. Did he not think to ask why his mistress never got pregnant? Or when he was older, did not think to ask the doctor how to reduce the chances of conception? The hero is a smart, college educated, politician with multiple houses and estates. It never occurred to his to ask?. And if the heroine realized about 2 to 3 months after giving birth that her husband wasn't knocking at her door, she never walked in on him and was mad and asked him? That she just accepted it? She was supposed to be smart also. Is building an orphanage, and doing the books. These aren't stupid people.
And if I read, one more time, about the hero telling to himself about how much he loved her and wanted her, but would never talk to her, I would scream. For goodness sake, get off the cross,we need the wood for a fire. The hero walked around like a martyr and the heroine walked around like an oppressed maid. It just does not fit the rest of the awesome story.
I am so mad that I had to give it 2.5 stars. Read at your own risk.

4.5 stars

I enjoyed this story. and really felt the hero's devastation in trying to keep his beloved wife safe. The difficulty came as he hadn't explained why he had become distant. Gossips who suggested that once the heroine had delivered the heir and spare she wasn't really needed meant the heroine felt let down. I l;iked her sexually switched on friend Sophie. I hadn't read the first book or realised it was part of a series but this didn't affect my feelings towards the book. The intrigue was well done and I didn't spot the villain.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A well written book but I nearly quit at 50% as I just got so fed up of whole not touching his wife but still loving her but not communicating at all and I couldn't face 50% of more of the same. A couple so in love would not let things drag on for 2 years without talking about things. The only thing that saved the book was the whole spy thing in the second half as this sped the book up and provided something else to read about I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Spies, lies and a traitor put Richard Thornwood in a precarious position. As a duty to his country, he is asked to be the liason with a former mistress passing information vital for Wellington to win the war. Richard has already jeopardized his marriage by cutting himself off from his wife. A wife he adores, but afraid to lose in childbirth. Elizabeth loves her husband and is constantly trying to seduce him, but he always turns away. A man cannot be more miserable, especially when his work for the Home Office could be the break of any connection to Elizabeth. This is one depressing book. Richard comes off as aloof and at times cold. It is a pity knowledge of contraception was not well known at the time. It would have solved their major problem.
Heat level 2
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

What is a determined woman to do when her husband will not come home? Why go after him!

Elizabeth was lonely in the country while her husband stayed in London away from her. So she packs up their two boys and goes to find him.

Richard had done his best to stay away from his wife. She had almost died in the birth of their last child and he was terrified.

But sometimes, it does not good to resist. An entertaining journey back to the love they share!

This story is darling, very quick to read and very enjoyable. I liked the characters, they are relatable, they have good chemistry and are real in their emotions. The problems between them exist only due to the lack of communication and his need to protect his wife.

Elizabeth Thornwood has decided that it is time to take her life in hand. So, she gathers her two sons and heads to London. If London is good enough for her husband, why should she and the boys hide out in the country? Richard, her husband, loves her very much but he is having a bit of a mid-life crisis. Interesting concept as these two individuals try to figure out life and hopefully realize that they still desire each other. But just what is the problem that keeps them apart? This will keep you turning the pages to find out. Wonderful characters help to guide this plot along and hopefully, they will uncover the problem between them.

3.5 Stars
Elizabeth Thornwood is a lonely countess. Having produced the heir and the spare, she has been left to rusticate in the country. Not content to wait in a shroud of memories, she packs up the boys and heads to London, determined to have her husband back in her life. Richard Thornwood loves his wife. When she surprises him in London and is clearly bent on seduction, he fears he might not be able to hold to the promise he made to himself the night she almost died—to do everything in his power to keep her safe. So, when the opportunity to do some intelligence gathering arises, he seizes it. It's the perfect solution. He can assist in the war against Napoleon and avoid Elizabeth.
The second book in the series but it’s easily read as a stand alone. A well written book of rekindling a marriage. I liked both Richard & Elizabeth, they loved each other but Elizabeth nearly died giving birth to their second son So Richard kept his distance as he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. I couldn't understand how a loving couple who'd been close & talked before the second birth couldn't talk after it. Instead Richard left Elizabeth & even becomes an agent for the crown. I repeatedly almost shouted out loud at my kindle for them to talk for goodness sake & my frustration at them just grew throughout the book & I wanted to give them a good shake several times!
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

this checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author. Must read. Historical fiction oh yeah. Love me some of this.

Richard and Elizabeth Thornwood are madly in love, or so they were. Elizabeth having had two boys, an heir and the spare, finds that her husband has no time for her, spending every moment away from her in London. Sick of being left alone, she packs up her boys and heads to London, determined to have her life back. Richard is consumed by his love for his wife but is terrified he will lose her if she has another child, given that she nearly died giving birth to their second son. Consequently, he decided after this that it was best to never be with Elizabeth, hence the dilemma that they are faced with. When he is given the opportunity to be a spy that involves his former mistress, Richard agrees, especially if it takes him away from Elizabeth. Yet as Elizabeth becomes more determined to entice Richard back into the bedroom, he begins to wonder whether his life as a spy is less dangerous.
Whilst I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I also enjoyed the characters of Richard and Elizabeth, I struggled with the premise of this book. For a couple who were so besotted with each other and enjoyed the ability to communicate prior to the traumatic birth of their second son, I found it strange that they had never spoken about their feelings. I can appreciate that the lives of the ton did differ to today, and yet, the book mentions how the couple would often steal away to meet and just talk. The friends of Richard and Elizabeth added to this story, especially the delightful Sophia, whose upfront nature was the perfect fit for this book. I so wanted to shake both couples, into just talking and my frustration did not ease, especially given the length of this book. Great to see characters from book 1 appear; however, this is a standalone novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.