You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
Bitchery reader Liv is totally inspired by our romance sleuthing:
I’m amazed at how good the Bitchery is at identifying books, and I’m hoping they can do one more – the first romance I ever read. Here’s what I can remember:
The heroine is visiting someone, and gets put up for the night in a bedroom that turns out to be the hero’s (who’s away somewhere). The hero returns unexpectedly late that night, crawls into bed and immediately falls asleep. Of course, the next morning, the hero and heroine are found in bed together and must marry to stave off any scandal.
They move away to some grand but dilapidated estate, which the heroine begins to fix up. The hero is described as a dandy or a fop, and the heroine is an uptight, spectacle-wearing prude. Through the joys of house rehabing or somesuch, the hero starts to think the heroine looks kinda sexy in soot and construction dust. At some point, the heroine gets kidnapped and taken to a cave. The hero tracks her down, beats up the bad guys, and rescues her. The heroine realized he’s not such a dandy after all but a hot hot manly man. Much sex and at least one baby ensues.
I remember that it was Harlequin – and I think it was published in the mid-nineties. I hope this is enough for someone to identify it!
Bring it on – sexy heroine with construction dust? Mrwor!
Mhmm. Though I don’t remember about the dust and cave much, it could be The Last Rogue by Deborah Simmons…
Are you sure it’s a Harleuin? It sounds an awful lot like one of Amanda Quick’s books.
I just read the synopsis for The Last Rogue.
That does sound like this book.
Liv? Can we get a yay or nay?
That’s it!! It is The Last Rogue!
I was feeling nostalgic – wanted to go back to the book that started it all for me. I spent hours trying to find it before I wised up and brought in the experts.
I know the plot of my book wasn’t nearly as exciting as wine bottles up the poofter or lice down the back – so thanks for helping out.
Liv
It’s definitely “The Last Rogue” and it is a Harlequin. I read it a couple of months ago – great book!
Darn it! This is the only one I knew and I got beaten to it!
Definitely The Last Rogue.
I was going to put my vote in for Quick, too. Glad someone could set us lesser mortals straight. 🙂 Sounds like a good book, I’ll have to hunt it down.
I immediately thought of Quick, too. Just goes to show there’s really no new plots…