Forever A Lord by Delilah Marvell

Title: Forever a Lord

Series: Rumor bk 3

Author: Delilah Marvelle

Genre: Historical Romance

He’s a fighter, not a lover.
But that’s about to change…

Lady Imogene Norwood lives a sheltered life of quiet respectability and routine…until she debuts at her first Season. There among London’s elite she meets the wild and broken Lord Atwood. And the very shy English rose suddenly realizes that a little chaos might just be what her heart desires. 

Lord Nathaniel James Atwood doesn’t believe true love exists. Since scandal tore him away from his family at an early age, he has spent his life fighting for what he wants. That attitude has made him a rising star in bare-knuckle boxing, and now leads him back to London to reclaim the life that was stolen from him. But upon meeting the innocent Imogene, his beliefs are trounced…as guarding his heart against her proves to be the fight of his life.

When I started reading romance there wasn’t a lot of contemporary romance books being published unless they were the HQN Categories. So I cut my romance teeth on such romance authors as Kathleen Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsey, Catherine Hart, Victoria Holt and Julie Garwood.

Ever since then I have judged the historical romances I read on these. When I first found about this series that Delilah was writing I was intrigued, because it is something different.

Lord Atwood has been missing and presumed dead for thirty years. What no one ever knew however was that he was alive and well in New York City, and using a different name. When he discovers that his sister and her family never gave up on him, he finally heads home.

Imogene is tired of being a burden. She’s been one her whole life and now her brother is being made to suffer because of her illness. When the opportunity presents itself for her to save him she leaps at it.

I absolutely adored Imogene and Nathaniel together. Yes there was major obstacles to their HEA but they worked as a couple.

When Imogene first showed up on the page I liked her, and her age came out and I wasn’t sure how I was going to like them together, because I absolutely DON’T like large age gaps between my characters, even in my historicals were it is very common to find large age gaps.

However as I got to know Imogene I realized her physical age was young but her emotional and mental age was so much older, because of her illness. This made her prefect for the very damaged Nathaniel.

One of the things I love about Delilah’s books is that she pushes the boundaries of what is normal, and makes us believe that it is perfectly normal.

I do have to say when the truth came out about why and how Nathaniel disappeared when he was little it was something I wasn’t expecting, and yet was absolutely perfect.

Forever a Lord is one of the books that will stick with you long after you’ve stopped reading and will make you want to go back in an re-read it again.

Grade A