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To Wed a Wild Lord

by Sabrina Jeffries

To Wed a Wild Lord is the fourth book in Jeffries' series, “Hellions of Halstead Hall” surrounding the Sharpe family. Gabriel's grandmother laid down an ultimatum that all her grandchildren need to be married by the end of one year, or she would disown all of them. The five grandchildren started out standing firm that they would not be forced into marriage. Of course, one by one they all started falling in love. Gabriel is second to last and no way can he be the reason that all his siblings are disowned.

Gabriel has lived for seven years with the weight of his best friend, Roger's, death on his head. He can't remember the night prior to the race, so he can never be sure if he pushed Roger into it or the other way around. Because of the mystery surrounding Roger's passing, society dubbed Gabriel “The Angel of Death.” He decides to make money off the infamy, since he knows he can do nothing to stop it.

Virginia can't stand watching the man responsible for his brother's death making money off his memory. In a fit of pique she challenges him to race the same course that her brother lost her life on. Gabriel won't race that course with her, but he does want to make up for the loss of her brother. He proposes marriage, knowing that once her father dies there will be no one left to care for her.

Virginia is sure that no matter how hard he tries she will never soften towards him. After losing a wager she has to agree to let him court her. Her grandfather refuses to let them out of his sight, so Gabriel offers his services in her grandfather's stables, shocking them both. What man of means offers to labor like a commoner just for the opportunity to spend time with a woman? She doesn't know for sure, but it makes her take a new view of him.

For all the women out there that have ever been taken advantage of by their family, or felt put upon by expectations of behavior, Gabriel is the hero for you. He not only sees how Virginia takes care of everyone, but he speaks up and even more, plans to actually help take some of the burden off her life. How wonderful would that be? On the other hand, Virginia is too used to helping everybody, so she can't just sit idly by and let Gabriel suffer. She has to dig to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her brother's death: who really threw the wager down? Even knowing she is hurting two men she cares for deeply, she can't stop until the truth is out there.

There was just enough exposure to the previous lead characters to satisfy the familial feel, along with the perfect amount of foreshadowing for the next book, none of which overwhelmed the current storyline. To Wed a Wild Lord is a quick, easy, enjoyable read. If you haven't been following the series, you will be just fine picking this up.