I enjoyed the last Cathy Maxwell book that I reviewed so much, I went on a major glom. What I found out was that Maxwell writes well, but she hits about 50/50 with me. This one, unfortunately, was one that didn’t work so well.

Brenn Owen is a Welsh earl who desperately needs a rich wife. A very rich wife. He needs to rebuild Erwynn Keep, his family home. Tess Hamlin is an heiress who is the reigning queen of Society. She doesn’t want to get married. She also doesn’t know her brother lost her considerable fortune. After a joke she plays at a party, Tess ends up betrothed to Brenn – they marry with the week.

This book starts off with a confrontation between Tess and another belle – rival for the affections of a suitor of Tess’s best friend. It’s great fun, and the wager the girls come up with turns the table on the men. It’s a great beginning to the story. This is also where Tess is at her best. She finds out that she has a reputation in Society for being an ice queen, and starts to realize she may have hurt some of the men. Then she locks eyes with Brenn, and the attraction sizzles.

Unfortunately, the sizzle fizzles out after their hasty wedding. The sexual tension just wasn’t there. Tess is beautiful, honorable and smart, but also naive as most unmarried English misses are. The trouble is, she’s a little too naive, when she fancies herself in love with her husband after just a few days.

I’ve discovered with this book that I prefer my heroes a little more alpha. I had hopes for Brenn, but he just turned out to be clueless about certain things, namely Tess. I wanted him to take a little more control of the situation with Tess after she stopped sleeping with him and talking to him. He needed more of an edge.

Which leads us to the conflict here – the Big Misunderstanding. Tess knows her brother lost her fortune, but she only found out after she was engaged to Brenn. Tess also believes that the drawings of grand Erwynn Keep that Brenn showed her are already reality. Brenn thinks Tess is a fabulously wealthy heiress and is excited because he can rebuild his family home. Tess believes Brenn married her because he loved her, especially after he tells her he wanted her the first time he saw her (the annoying part of her naivete here). Can we see where this is going?

This Big Misunderstanding drew on too long. When Brenn decides to court Tess to help her get over it, he only has a quarter of the book, or less, in which to do it. As this is where their relationship really grows and matures, as do they, it should have gotten more time, at least another quarter of the book.

Both of these characters were appealing. Maxwell is a good writer and can pull readers into her stories. However, if you don’t like Big Misunderstandings, especially when they are drawn out for a long time, and if you prefer a more alpha hero, this might not be the book for you.