To Wed A Wild Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!

Welcome also to Series Sunday!

Series Sundays is the day when I celebrate books written in series. For the past few weeks I have been posting reviews for Sabrina Jeffries‘ latest series – The Hellions of Halstead Hall. This series started quite some time ago – don’t we always wish that our favorite authors could write faster – and publishers publish books faster – anyways, it is nearing an end. Today I’m posting my thoughts on the 4th book in this 5 book series. I have to admit, I’ve finished the 5 th book – I had to haunt the bookstore on release day – but that’s another story 🙂 The 5th book, as you’ll find out next week is a wonderful conclusion to this latest series.

Today’s topic is Gabe – the youngest male in this interesting group of siblings – and the woman who can challenge him! Enjoy!

To Wed a Wild Lord by Sabrina Jeffries
ISBN: 978-1-4516-4240-7
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
Release: 2011
Source: I purchased a copy of this book to read and review

To Fulfill his grandmother’s ultimatum, Lord Gabriel Sharpe pursues a spitfire he believes desperately need him. Then the tables are turned….

Like everything daredevil Gabe Sharpe does, wooing Virginia Waverly is a high-stakes game. Ever since her brother, Roger died racing Lord Gabriel, Virginia had yearned to take her revenge on the reckless lord by beating him at his own sport. But when she challenges Lord Gabriel to a race, the hellion called the “Angel of Death” counters with a marriage proposal! Gabe knows Virginia is in dire financial straits – so why not marry her and solve both of their problems? She claims to be appalled by his proposal, but her response to his kisses says otherwise. And when the two of them begin to unravel the truth behind Roger’s death, Gabe takes the greatest gamble of all, offering the courageous beauty something more precious than any inheritance: true love.

To Wed a Wild Lord is the fourth book in Sabrina Jeffries’s The Hellions of Halstead Hall series. This series is about a group of siblings who lost both of their parents in what was assumed to be a murder/suicide many years ago. These siblings – the Sharpe siblings were brought up by their maternal grandmother – a brewer and a commoner. Hetty Plumtree, the grandmother is getting on in years and none of her grandchildren show any signs of settling down and providing her with grandchildren. She decides to take matters into her own hands and announces that none of her grandchildren will get a penny of her considerable estate if they don’t ALL marry within the year.

To not giveaway any of the details of this delightful series, we have had the pleasure of reading the stories of 3 of the siblings, and there are two more to go. To Wed a Wild Lord is the story of Gabe, the youngest of the boys. He is a hellion in his own right, gambling and horse-racing to keep him in pocket cash. One unfortunate accident several years ago saw the death of his friend, Roger Waverly during one of these races. Since then, Gabe doesn’t seen to care if he lives or dies and races one risky race after another to the extent that he is referred to as the “Angel of Death”. When he is challenged to a race by Virginia Waverly, Roger’s sister, he sees a solution to the ultimatum from his grandmother. He figures if he courts and marries Virginia, he provides for her financially because her brother can no longer, and he makes his grandmother happy. Convincing Virginia to marry the man she holds responsible for her brother’s death is a stretch, but Gabe is up to the task.

I found this book to be another delightful installment in the story of the Sharpe siblings. Starting with the first book, the story of the parent’s supposed murder/suicide starts to be investigated and the information that is uncovered in this book takes us one step closer to finding out the truth. There are alot of the aspects of the story that weave themselves through each part of this series. I’m not certain each book could be read as a stand-alone. Read in order, the books form a cohesive group. I like the different view of the siblings in this book. I found this book somewhat darker than the rest, I think because of Gabe’s fatalistic attitude. Sabrina Jeffries does such a wonderful job of creating characters. Each book of her’s allows us insight into a new set of main characters as well as a continuing look at the characters that have already been talked about. What was particularly interesting is that Hetty gets a potential love interest in this book. I’m looking forward to reading more about that hopefully in Celia’s story which is due in the spring.

Sabrina Jeffries has the ability to create a world in which the reader immerses themselves and just experiences that story as it is unfolded before them. Time passes without notice, and the story is weaved like a tapestry with all the connecting threads.

Although I am a long time lover of Ms. Jeffries work and quite biased, I am really enjoying this latest series, and recommend it highly! I’m looking forward to Celia’s story!