The Heartbreaker

by Rexanne Becnel

Book Overview

James Lindford, Viscount Farley, is a man with a real reputation - and detested by his neighbour, Phoebe Churchill, a teacher with backbone and integrity, but no money. Butting heads with her, James plays the situation for all it's worth, and finds himself at risk for the worst kind of heartbreak.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312983123
• ISBN13: 9780312983123
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Delightful. ** 4.5 stars **

THE HEARTBREAKER is a story about children: a 10-year-old who has seen the evil side of life, an innocent 7 year-old with an angel-like personality, and a chubby blue-eyed tot with sultry dark skin. Three little girls, who have one thing in common, they share the same biological father - Viscount Farley. Desperately, James Lindford, Viscount Farley is trying to amend his rakish ways. He is taking responsibility for his illegitimate offspring. He has acknowledged their existence; he has purchased them from their greedy mothers; and now he plans to raise them himself. It all sounds so neat and tidy - it is anything but . . . Phoebe Churchill is a pure country woman, a woman with a loving manner, and a kind heart. A woman who just happens to have raised one of the viscount's "by-blows" as her own. Phoebe Churchill is not happy when the lustful viscount comes calling. Rexanne Becnel does a good job with this simple storyline. Phoebe Churchill is a wonderful creation from this writer's imagination - a simple, pure figment. On the other hand, James Lindford is a scoundrel. Becnel writes him as an experienced "man about town", a man who has never heard the word "No!" uttered from a woman's lips. The reader gets to share in the fun as Becnel and Phoebe bring this rogue to his senses. My, my! What diversion the reader has because the author takes her time with this knave. She does not reform him overnight; no, by delaying, the author creates a more digestible story. However, it is the three little girls and their manner that steal the book's thunder. Becnel has captured the very essence of childhood and the reader gets to savor every minute. A good story, very nicely drawn by Rexanne Becnel. Grade: A- Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

Sometimes you want to brain the hero and

shake the heroine.... He keeps falling into old patterns, despite wanting to change (but who ever said real change is easy?). She hasn't the wherewithal to resist him physically.Apart from those two occasionally annoying truths, The Heartbreaker is an excellent read. The two older children are marvelously wrought. Phoebe is an independent, responsible woman (except for her inability to resist James' advances). her ready acceptance of the children is an important character trait. James is a man trying to do the right thing to make the best of his past indiscretions, but often failing and trying again. Beneath that he truly loves his children, and that becomes one of his most endearing qualities.The pace rarely flagged and the author usually kept the interest level up. There were moments of realistic tension and emotional pain, and the chemistry between the lovers rang true.Personally, I found this to be one of the most enjoyable books of the series, along with The Bridemaker and The Matchmaker.

Can a rake really changes his ways?

James Lindford, Viscount Farley has lived his life to the fullest with little regard for consequences until his half-sister Olivia's bastard half-brother appeared out of nowhere bitter and looking for revenge on the father who had abandoned him and his mother (the story is told in THE TROUBLEMAKER). Shaken, James seeks out his own illegitimate offspring determined not to make the same mistake. He locates two of three on his return from India and continues his search for the third. James has ambitions in the Foreign Office and to that end, becomes engaged to a woman whose father will be able to assist his career. But when she learns that he intends to raise his bastard children, under his own roof no less (including the half-Indian infant!), she breaks the betrothal and the scandal drives James to his country estate. But taking care of an squalling infant and a foul-mouthed 10 year-old used to running wild through the streets of London proves more difficult than James bargained for. And when his neighbor, Phoebe Churchill informs him that his oldest daughter Clarissa (Izzy) is stealing from her, he's reached then end of his tether.Phoebe Churchill lives quietly in her own little cottage (since the death of her parents) raising her (illegitimate) niece Helen whose mother abandoned her for a life in London. They barely make ends meet as it is, so when things begin to go missing Phoebe is determined to catch the thief. When she discovers the thief is no less than the Viscount's daughter, she marches her to Farley Park to confront him. The man she meets is devastatingly handsome and for the first time in her life, she feels the lust her mother always warned her against (and that her sister gave in to bringing scandal to the family). After several more encounters and observing Phoebe's winning ways with both baby Leya and troublemaker Izzy, James asks her to become governess to his girls. He's also developed a strong attraction to Phoebe that he doesn't try to hide. And Phoebe is falling for him for more than purely physical reasons. James is truly kind to his girls and is trying very hard to be a good father. He is also intelligent, witty, warm and gentle and Phoebe finds she can't resist him. As a result, Phoebe is unwilling to accept his offer because she knows where their mutual attraction will likely lead - to her downfall and ruin! She needs the money, but ultimately it is another reason, which I won't give away here, that drives her to accept.Now, here's where others felt the story broke down. James has few qualms about making Phoebe his mistress, or about her possibly giving him even more illegitimate children - he wants her that badly. Other reviewers felt that this did not make sense or that he should have "learned his lesson". And perhaps he should have. But there is a difference between taking responsibility for past misdeeds (fairly easy) and changing your ways (much more difficult!). The real question is, is he simpl

refreshing Regency romance

As reported by the London Tattler, Viscount James Linford has returned home from spending two years abroad in India, his second trip overseas. Not long afterward, the paper announces that James is engaged to Lady Catherine Winfield. However as also accounted he has two children out of wedlock living with him. His betrothal ends and he hides in the country to escape the turmoil more than the scandal.His oldest child ten year old Clarissa is a foul mouthed hooligan. Neighbor Phoebe Churchill catches Clarissa stealing from her. She takes the child to task and soon they become friendly. As James is amazed with the way Phoebe "handles" Clarissa, he falls in love with his neighbor. He wants her as his wife and mother to his three children (the third he has not brought home yet), help her raise her niece deserted by her mother, and perhaps have more children with her.This is a refreshing Regency romance that will shake sub-genre fans not ready for a preadolescent with a vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. James is an intriguing protagonist as he faces up to his responsibilities though that costs him his fiancée and a sure seat on the Council of Foreign Affairs. Phoebe is a practical individual trying to do the right thing as she nurtures life's abandoned ones. However, the tale belongs to Clarissa who sets the tone with her thieving and flow of profanity that will either send readers running away or feeling empathy towards this potentially lost soul.Harriet Klausner