All About Passion by Stephanie Laurens

"If one is not marrying for love, one may as well marry for something else. My future countess has to be sufficiently docile adn endowed with at least passable grace of form, deportment and address."

That is what Gyles Rawlings, fifth Earl of Chillingworth and honorary member of the Cynster clan thinks he wants in a wife. Heis determined not to succumb to the dangers of falling in love. To that end, he makes an offer of marriage - sight unseen - to the niece of an old friend. He believes he's chosen a biddable lady who will bear him an heir and leave him emotions unattached. He arrives for his own wedding without ever actually meeting his fiance and at the altar is astonished to discover that he's offered for the wrong woman. His new wife, Francesca, isn't docile, certainly not biddable, and has no intention of settling for anything less than her husband's heart.

The book started off slowly so I skimmed the first couple of pages before the story captured my interest so I turned back to the beginning where the history of the characters were laid out and began again with the excitement of learning what lay ahead in the story evident.

Due to a misunderstanding Gyles believes he is offering for Francesca's cousin who is apparently exactly the wife that Gyles had said he wanted. He mmets Francesca as he is leaving. She is nothing like what he wants in a awife but there is a powerful attraction between the two that is evident from the first meeting.

I loved this heroine as she was bold and sexy which is quite rare for the heroines in a historical romance. She didn't hide her feelings fpr him and also didn't hide herself sexually from him. Due to her deceased parents close realtionship that she had witnessed growing up she feels comfortable in expressing her desires and feelings.

I loved reading about Gyles slow understanding of what love is. I enjoyed how the two leads understood each other and how they interacted with each other. The way Francesca confronted any old mistresses of Gyles who tried to reacquaint themselves with him were up for a rude awakening and the confrontations were hilarious. Francesca dealt with them with confidence in her self and with which the women bowed to her. It was quite refreshing to see a wife deal with the pest of ex-mistress presence with such confidence and gumption which is very rare to see in a regency romance. Many heroines are subdued, innocent and out-of-their depth when confronted with an ex-mistress but Francesca - WOW!!! What a woman!!! I wish many heroines of historical romance had more gumption and confidence in their personalities than usual.

There was an underlying mystery evident in the story regarding the sudden mishaps and accidents that occurred in Francesca's life after marriage. This question was answered at the end of the story. I was hooked on this story right from the onset. I was sad to finsih this book but happy that everything was resolved.