Unflattering romance novel summaries
Victoria and the Rogue by Meg Cabot: Bossy girl meets dashing sea captain who courts women the same way a first grader does (i.e. lots of teasing). She gets kidnapped by her ex-fiance but escapes with the help of a young thief and said sea captain. They fall in love.
Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas: Impoverished girl on the edge of the peerage looks to court a wealthy but titled suitor to provide for her family. Entirely too many men, including the "hero" of our story, attempt to make her their mistress. Eventually she is compromised by said "hero", who is a businessman and not a member of the peerage, and she marries him. She must learn to overcome their class differences. They fall in love.
It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas: Untamed American let loose on British soil, is obsessed with perfumes. Goes to a house party at the stuffy Lord Westcliff's estate; Lord Westcliff can't control himself and makes out with her a lot and they both have some existential crises. He sleeps with her while she's drunk. They fall in love. She gets kidnapped by a different suitor. Westcliff rescues her.
Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas: We find out the third wallflower in the series is not only being emotionally abused but also physically abused. She propositions the American's kidnapper and offers him her wealth in exchange for him providing her safety as her husband. Her father dies of consumption and said kidnapper takes over the gaming hell the father owned. Kidnapper gets shot. They fall in love.
Bedding Lord Ned by Sally MacKenzie: Despite the title, Lord Ned is not bedded until the 94% mark. Childhood friends fall in love.
Married to the Viscount by Sabrina Jeffries: Viscount's younger brother engineers a fake marriage with American spinster without the viscount's knowledge. Younger brother skips town and pretends to have stolen her dowry. Viscount and American fake being married. They fall in love, but the viscount is afraid to reveal that an old army injury has caused his seed to not take root. Aka he can't have kids. They get over it and get married. In the epilogue, he impregnates his wife, negating the entire conflict of the novel.
Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas: Lord Westcliff's sisters fall in love with Americans in this prequel. Eldest sister falls in love with a servant but must make him hate her and leave the estate because their father threatens his ruin. This exposition wastes three chapters. Twelve years pass and the father is now dead and the servant a wealthy American businessman, but daughter has awful scars on her legs and doesn't think he'll love her. He does. Younger daughter falls in love with a drunkard who promises to sober up for her.
After the Abduction by Sabrina Jeffries: Two years ago, girl elopes with an army captain who wasn't really an army captain or eloping with her, he was Morgan Pryce and he was kidnapping her because smugglers wanted revenge on her eldest sister's husband. Only it wasn't really Morgan Pryce, it was his secret twin brother, Lord Templemore, who really kidnapped her, and he kidnapped her because he knew the smuggler would kidnap her one way or another and at least if he kidnapped her he could ensure she wasn't raped. Rumors of the elopement begin in London so the family seek out Lord Templemore because Morgan Pryce was a ward of his estate. They get snowed in and stuck at his estate and fall in love.
