The Paid Companion
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4.4 • 429 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Once again, the incomparable Quick has whipped up a delectable Regency romance” (Booklist)—about an ice-cold business agreement that turns into something far more heated…
The Earl of St. Merryn needs a woman. His intentions are purely practical—he simply wants someone sensible and suitably lovely to pose as his betrothed for a few weeks among polite society. He has his own agenda to pursue, and a false fiancée will keep the husband-hunters at bay while he goes about his business. The simplest solution is to hire a paid companion. After all, the sorry women who must accept such employment are sure to be grateful for any favor...
When he encounters Miss Elenora Lodge, he believes his problem is solved. Her dowdy attire and pinned-up hair cannot hide her fine figure and the fire in her golden eyes. And her unfortunate circumstances—and secret dreams of a life onstage—make the Earl’s offer undeniably appealing.
But St. Merryn is clearly hiding something, and things seem oddly amiss in his gloomy Rain Street home. Elenora is soon to discover that his secrets are even darker than his décor—and this lark will be a more dangerous adventure than she’d been led to believe. And Arthur, Earl of St. Merryn, will find that the meek and mild companion he’d envisioned has become both a partner in his quest to catch a killer—and an outspoken belle of the ball who stirs a bothersome passion in his practical heart...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With 41 bestsellers to her credit, Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Quick) still approaches a new project as if novel writing were a just-discovered pleasure she can't wait to share. This late Regency romance offers her signature goodies. Elenora Lodge loses the manor to which she was born and thus becomes the eponymous paid companion. She is, of course, plucky, intellectual, democratic, lovely and unabashedly eager to surrender her virginity to the right man: "Sensation whipped through her; a glorious, heady, dizzying whirlpool of passion. She knew that if she did not explore these thrilling emotions with him she would carry the regret with her for the rest of her life." The source of the whirlpool is Arthur Lancaster, earl of St. Merryn, cranky, quirky, decent to the death, with a sizable fortune and lusty nature to match. Although a happy ending is never in doubt, a murder mystery is threaded through the love story, allowing the besotted couple to sleuth in dark alleyways between tumbles in bed. Quick draws on Regency fascination with science to inform villainous madman Parker, who styles himself "England's second Newton" and terrorizes Elenora with a precursor of the laser. Masked balls, upper-class gambling, women who manage their own affairs and marry for love: if this is familiar territory, it still satisfies. And when Arthur proposes, readers will be right there with Elenora: "The most delicious sense of joy unfurled within her."
Customer Reviews
The Paid Companion
As always, Amanda Quick tells a story of love, adventure and mystery with deft ease and polish.
Fantastic
This is a great book. Full of mystery but also a strong woman who speaks her mind. This is my favorite Amanda Quick book, it has just enough romance and a couple who actually like each other. It's a great book.
Pointless POVs
I really wanted to like this book, but as the storyline progressed and the additional (read: unnecessary) POVs were included, it just took away from the story. Who cares about the Butler or the Murderer or even Lady Wilmington? The story became less about the blooming relationship between Elenora and Arthur and more about murders he was trying to solve. I get that every romance trope needs to have a plot that drives the couple or threatens the relationship, I just don’t believe this was the best way of doing it.