Quick Thoughts: The Paid Companion

The Paid Companion

by Amanda Quick

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

The Earl of St. Merryn needs a woman.  His intentions are purely practical—he simply wants someone sensible and suitably lovely to pose as his betrothed for a few weeks among polite society.  He has his own agenda to pursue, and a false fiancée will keep the husband-hunters at bay while he goes about his business.  The simplest solution is to hire a paid companion.

Finding the right candidate proves more of a challenge than he expected.  But when he encounters Miss Elenora Lodge, the fire in her golden eyes sways him to make a generous offer.

Her sorry financial circumstances--and dreams of a life of independence--convince her to accept.  But St. Merryn appears to be hiding a secret or two, and things seem oddly amiss in his gloomy London home.  Elenora soon discovers that this lark will be a far more dangerous adventure than she'd been led to believe.  And the Earl of St. Merryn will find that the meek and mild companion he'd initially envisioned has become a partner in his quest to catch a killer—and an outspoken belle of the ball who stirs a bothersome passion in his practical heart.

Far be it for me to rehash certain sentiments, but I really have grown to love Amanda Quick's historical romance/mystery works.  They are strangely entrancing, because despite the fact that the romances aren't always that different from one book to the next in the Amanda Quick world, they are still lovely and enjoyable.  I won't pretend not to notice the carbon copy manner in which our couple's sex scene is treated--each one I've read so far is a slight variation on our virginal heroine's first sexual experience, and our hero's surprised utterance of "Why didn't you tell me?" because said hero was under the impression that said heroine was a "woman of the world" with loads of experience.

But if I gloss over that technicality, the romance and the partnership of our hero and heroine is extremely delightful to follow.  I love that both parties are quick witted and willing to work together; both parties understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and acknowledges them to best further the investigation.  Even when the alpha male hero is reluctant to let the heroine become involved, he still concedes to logic and doesn't argue her involvement--nor does he get pouty or broody about it like a lot of other romantic suspense heroes sometimes do.

I won't deny that Elenora Lodge and Arthur St. Merryn are no different than any other Amanda Quick hero and heroine.  But they DO have their own eccentricities and unique personalities and personal histories, and so I'm content to sit back and enjoy the story unfold around these characters.  And much like other Amanda Quick books, there are also always other well-liked characters to join our investigating team.

What made The Paid Companion so lovely is really the relationship between Elenora and Arthur.  While, yes, they share similarities to other characters created from other Amanda Quick novels, they also somehow stand out really well.  And I absolutely loved their partnership and their developing romance and all the witty banter that went around.


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2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• COYER Summer Vacation 2016 -- Bingo Board One | Square E24 -- Historical