Anything He Wants

Anything He Wants: Atonement by Sara Fawkes

Lucy has found her happily ever after in billionaire CEO Jeremiah and there sex life is roaring, but Jeremiah is distracted by work problems and Lucy is worried. Even a very sexy trip to a BDSM club owned by Gabriel Steele isn't enough to make Jeremiah forget about his work. Between work and his mother picking on her, Lucy is worried that her happily ever after is getting torn assunder. When she can finally get Jeremiah's attention the sex between is as hot as ever and the two have no problems experimenting in the bedroom. Things are so frustrating that Lucy contemplates going to Borneo with her friend to help run their charity. When she finally confronts him, Lucy remains calm and collected and merely tells Jeremiah that she misses him, instead of giving in to her natural instinct to yell and shout. He finally reveals the big secret he has been keeping from her; he is quitting the job that he loathes and he encourages her to follow her dreams of helping people and tells her to open up her own charity right there in Manhattan. Their future is wide open in front of them and the cherry on top is a romantic proposal on the night of Lucy's birthday.

This was another very short novella and the opening scene in a BDSM club was rather off putting and confusing as it was obvious Jeremiah had not discussed what was happening with Lucy. Even though he didn't push her to do anything, it was unnerving that he would spring something like that on her, especially since their sex had apparently never progressed to anything like what they were seeing. I really enjoyed reading about how the two of them dealt with the difficulties in their relationship; perhaps that made it more of a real relationship for me as the entire relationship building process took place in a previous book. The two dealt with some very serious issues and they handled them really maturely and I wish the book had been more about that. The sex was pretty hot, not as scorching as I expected from this series, and the scenes in the club just were not my thing at all. There were also far too many name droppings from previous books and allusions to them which I never liked.

The Vampire Design

The Vampire Design by Vivi Anna

Emily Brooks is a naive young artist who has never been able to harness her talents. When her best friends decide to backpack through Europe she decides to go along in hopes of meeting her favorite reclusive painter, Xavier. Xavier paints women in the throws of pleasure and his paintings sell for millions of dollars and when Emily hears he is at a club she jumps at the chance. He invites her to a masquerade ball and lures her into his painting studio where she discovers his newest painting is missing a subject. He asks her to pose and while she is lying there on the sofa she is overtaken by lust and he captures the moment perfectly. While the two are making love she realizes that he is a vampire and in the heat of the moment she begs him to bite her. Afterward while he is falling asleep he asks her to stay, but when she awakens in the morning he is gone and she is heartbroken. But Xavier saves the day and comes back for her and she decides to stay in Germany and paint now that she has found her passion and make love with her beautiful vampire.

My synopsis above literally included every single thing that happened in this incredibly short novella. There was no character development, no real relationship, and I found Emily's reaction to discovering the man she's sleeping with is a vampire to be a little too ridiculous. She has no fear or anything, rather she is turned on, and while I realize that Twilight has taught us not to fear vampires, it was just too crazy that she had not a care at all about this creature that could kill her. And that she didn't at first think the fangs were false- like it was a natural jump from sharp teeth to vampire. The sex was incredibly hot obviously, but because the novella was so short there was not a lot of it. I did enjoy the happy ending at the end and how, while it wasn't permanent obviously (since he's immortal) it was a nice way for them to continue their relationship.

Taken By Storm

Taken By Storm by Opal Carew

When her car stalls on the highway, Jessica is almost run ver by a very attractive man on a motorcycle who insists he take her back to town. Storm is everything Jessica is not, adventurous, spontaneous, and wandering, while Jessica likes her small-town life in Bakersfield where she is surrounded by family and she is safe and sound. But Storm's wild bad boy ways hold an unbelievable appeal for Jessica, while Jessica's innocence and happiness make Storm contemplate things he would have found unthinkable before her. Storm plays in Jessica's brother's band and she soon learns that dating a musician comes with lots of little annoyance, including groupies and road trips and her relationship with Storm is still new when he leaves for a week. Jessica wonders if she did something to drive him away, while Storm realizes that Jessica is just what he needs to finally stop wandering.

This novel was incredibly short and there really wasn't time for much in the way of getting to know the characters or really in the way of relationship development either. Jessica is a small town girl who likes things steady and safe, while Storm is the ultimate bad boy with no ties to anyone and plenty of tattoos. The book was an average good girl-bad boy story to the point that it became a little stereotypical and they were both so set in their own little "type" that it was hard to see what they saw in each other. Once the opposites attract haze wears off, I just didn't really see there being much left for these too. For a short novella there was a nice amount of very hot sex and it was a nice change just to go back to a couple instead of a the more kinky stuff from the previous books in the anthology.

Yours to Take

Yours to Take by Cathryn Fox

Rebecca Andrews is a lawyer whose relationships always fizzle and her best friends decide what she need is a trip to Fantasy Island. When billionaire Quinn Montgomery finds out that the lawyer who beat him at court in a sham of a trial, is set to take a private flight to Fantasy Island, he decides a little revenge, and a little heat, is in order. As a dom Quinn recognized the signs of submission in Rebecca and he knows his own private island is the perfect place for her to succumb to her darkest desires. Rebecca is furious and scared when she discovers Quinn's trick, but also quite turned on and desperate to discover what Quinn has in store for her. Over the course of the weekend Quinn pushes Rebecca's sexual boundaries and she discovers why all her previous relationships had not worked out. However, when the weekend is over, Rebecca fears that their relationship is over as well, until Quinn makes a very romantic gesture that makes it clear their sexy dominant/ submissive relationship is just beginning.

Rebecca was the typical uptight lawyer who just needed to let down her hair and lose control and I found that character a little too stereotypical. Quinn was just a billionaire hero who liked very hot and kinky sex. Unfortunately that truly is as far as the character development went in this incredibly short story. The relationship was developed about equally as well and consisted mainly of the two of them having lots of sex. The sex was quite hot and very kinky, but avoided any of the more harsh aspects of BDSM role play and could be easily consumed by someone new to the genre. Overall this was a well written story that needed a few dozen more pages to make the relationship real to me.

The Duke's Sweet Revenge

The Duke's Sweet Revenge by Jamie Salisbury

George Stoddard, future Duke of Sussex, refuses to believe his father when he claims that Lady Jane Campbell is bad news, but is confronted painfully with his father's truth when he discovers that Jane and his brother Jonathan, conspired to kill the Duke and frame George for the murder. Years later George returns to England, determined to stop Jonathan's marriage to Lady Sarah Davies, whose supposed fortune will prop up the Sussex coffers, as George holds the loans on the Sussex estate. Sarah is in her own financial straights after her father's bad investments and her brother's memory problems, and she is marrying Jonathan so that her vast dowry can pay off the Davies' debt. George kidnaps Sarah on the way to the wedding, planning to hold her only until after the wedding. For the week she is his captive, Sarah falls for the handsome highwayman who goes by "my lord." Her attempts to escape him, including drugging him, bashing him over the head, and escaping out the window in the rain, ignite his temper, but he never loses it with her and he refuses to allow his desire for her get in the way of his mission, even while unable to resist a passionate kiss.

When the date of the wedding passes, George lets Jane go, but not before warning her about Jonathan's true intentions. Jane calls of the wedding with Jonathan, but agrees to pretend things are still find to placate society. Meanwhile Jane discovers who George really is and George continues trying to gather evidence against his brother. He finds that he cannot stay away from Jane, even though he knows she deserves so much better than him and feels massive amounts of guilt over everything. Jane knows that she could make George back into the man he used to be and is determined to help him clear his name, even if it means making dangerous decisions. George is furious at himself, and at Jane for putting herself at risk and for continuing to go out into society even while he remains convinced that he will never marry her. Jonathan is becoming suspicious of Sarah asking questions and enlists the help of his henchmen to put a stop to it, by any means necessary. It will take the love of a good woman to help George work his way out of his conundrum and to feel like he belongs in real society and deserves a happy life.

Sarah is a likable heroine because of her dedication to her family, her love for her mentally disturbed brother, and for her common sense approach to most of her life. Unfortunately the one area of her life she doesn't approach with common sense is her relationship with George, because she falls, and succumbs to a man who treats her abysmally for much of the book. George's demons certainly excuse a fair amount of awful behavior, but his treatment of Sarah is reprehensible. He uses her like a whore at times, and then hugs her loves her which is something someone very manipulative would do. He accuses her of sleeping around and froths at the mouth at the thought of her marrying someone else even while insisting he will never marry her. What brought this book down an entire heart for me though was Sarah's completely stupid behavior with regards to her own safety. She knows that Jonathan is dangerous and possibly deadly and that someone is after her, and yet show ventures out on her own. I couldn't even excuse her because she was just trying to help George.

Their relationship was toxic for much of the book with George pushing him away because of his dangerous tendencies and past, punctuated with brief moments of passion that ended with him treating her poorly again. I just did not see how they would function normally as George spent the entire book worried about hurting her to the point that he hurt her even more. His obsession with how dangerous he was got old very quickly and ended up being next to nothing. Some of the more interesting parts of this book were told from Jonathan's, and other villains, point of view, but the ending to that subplot was abrupt and confusing. Supposedly Jonathan was caught red-handed, but I couldn't figure out how. There was a secondary romance involving a woman who eventually married Jonathan and another man, and she acted just as stupidly and naively as Sarah and I ended up disliking her quite a bit and wondering how pathetic a man would have to be to fall in love with someone that ridiculous.

Rating: Despite it's problems, I was prepared to give it 3 hearts, but the stupid decisions made by the heroine and other woman (repeatedly) dragged this book down to a VERY low 2 hearts.

Duchess by Chance

Duchess by Chance by Wendy Vella

When the Duke of Stratton finds himself deeply in debt at the gambling table to notorious cardsharp Spencer Winshcomb, he is desperate enough to wager his own son's hand in marriage to Spencer's entirely inappropriate daughter, Eva. Daniel finds out about his father's promise at the old Duke's deathbed and is none too pleased at this turn of events, but is determined to fulfill his duty and prove himself better than the old Duke. Berengina Winschomb finds herself very intimated by her new husband, but counts herself lucky to escape her abusive father and older brothers. Daniel knows better than to take his frustration out on his new, very young wife, but he can't help but make his displeasure known. Eva want to be a good wife to the Duke, but is not sure how to go about doing it, especially once he makes it clear they will not have a real marriage with children, even if he is required to consummate the marriage. But Daniel is not expecting his new wife to be so beautiful, or to find himself wanting to protect her from those who want to harm her, and make her happy by protecting those she loves.

Still determined to maintain his distance from his wife, he heads to London after their consummation, but finds that he misses her. When he finds that someone from her past has paid her an unwelcome visit, he rushes back to the country to encourage her to come to town with him. Eva is terrified of how she will be accepted in London society and wants to rusticate in the country, but she knows it is for the best and she owes Daniel after he rescues her younger brother from her father's clutches and sending Reggie to Edinburgh. Daniel is quickly proved right once they arrive in London as Eva becomes the toast of the season and finds herself making new friends easily. Unfortunately, her father has decided to use her new connections and wealth to benefit himself, and his friend has decided that Eva belongs to him. She will need to open up and trust her new husband so that they can work together to fix the mistakes of their past and face the future.

I'm always excited to try new authors, especially when amazon has nice sales on the Kindle versions. Eva was incredibly young and naive, and made decisions that were ludicrous at best and dangerous and stupid at second best. However, her dedication to her younger brother and the servants who worked for her, was admirable, even if it did, at times, seemed like a forced method for gaining the readers' respect. Her age was definitely a problem for me in this book, because at a very sheltered 18 I just couldn't see her holding her own with a duke, even if his age was never mentioned. Daniel was a confusing jumble of dichotomies. He hated his father, but had to follow through with his father's last wish. He didn't want to like his wife, but she was beautiful so he couldn't help himself. It definitely made him a more realistic person, and I really liked how he completely avoided hurting Eva and never blamed her for what happened between them. I also liked how he did work hard to keep those she loved safe.

Eva and Daniel spent a lot of time together, so I could sense a real relationship between them, but Eva just remained rather two dimensional to me. There was some sex between them, sporadic throughout the book, but it was usually very short and was darkened for me because of their odd relationship. What really bothered me about this book was Eva's unbelievably stupid decision not to tell Daniel about her father's blackmail and the threats against her. It started midway through the book and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and cringe at the blatant attempt to manufacture a problem between two people who were growing to love each other with no obstacles. The dialogue in this book was just ridiculous and completely unrealistic; things that no one would ever say. While I normally can overlook a few too flowery words, this book was just flowery nonsense from beginning to end and made me cringe. The distance of time has given me a better look at this story, but at the time the dialogue really drove me inane.

Rating: A wonderful first effort, but a better, more likable heroine and realistic dialogue will be what Vella needs to work on to continue righting great romance.

The Importance of Being Wicked

The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville

Lady Caroline Townsend shocked society, and her very uptight family, when she eloped with the notorious Robert Townsend. Their marriage was full of adventure and laughter and friends, but was marred by Robert's addiction to gambling and booze and his passion for expensive art- even when they could ill afford it. Caro is now barely scraping by, trying to pay off Robert's debts, and still finding a way to feed and house various starving artists and friends at fabulous parties. Thomas, the Duke of Castleton, is stuffy and pretentious; the complete opposite of the carefree Caro, nonetheless the two are smitten with each other at first sight. He originally plans to court her cousin, the very wealthy Anne, because it is a family tradition and his own parents love match ended poorly. But he cannot contemplate marrying anyone else when the only thing he can think about is Caro. Caro wants to get underneath "Lord Stuffy's" stuffy exterior, but he is far too noble to engage in the affair that she desires. When he proposes she is initially reluctant, but agrees because she does like him and because she imagines a life where she no longer has to worry about money.

Their marriage is founded on lies as Thomas is actually having money problems of his own because of some poor investments his father made. Caro is hiding a very valuable Titian painting that Robert bought and continues to go around with her wild friends, whom Thomas disapproves of, and who relentlessly make fun of her new husband. Thomas is remarkably good natured about everything because he quickly finds himself in love with the vibrant woman he has married. Caro is more reserved, because she cannot trust anyone after her marriage even while refusing to admit how truly awful her marriage was. She takes Thomas in hand, helping him learn how to please a lady in bed, but refuses to give up her wild lifestyle. A tragic accident has Thomas taking Caro to his estate to recooperates and in the glow of family and love they find a way to make their relationship with as Caro realizes she truly loves the amazing man she has married and lets go of her past.

Caro was a heroine who brought up a lot of contradictory feelings from me. I admired her carefree and lively spirit, her independence, and her refusal to conform to society's norms or her husbands orders. However, I feel like so much of what she did was just beyond stupid, was rude to the man who pledged his love and life to her, and was done purely to cause a stir. She continued to flirt and support people who were rude to her husband and who openly tried to seduce her. She refused to admit to herself for the longest time that her marriage to Robert had been unhappy and focused on the things about him she had liked and the reasons she had run away with him in the first place. She was drowning in debt and continued supporting random people and held onto a valuable painting that could have solved her problems. Her inability to admit her feelings for Thomas were bewildering because she simultaneously didn't want to make herself vulnerable to hurt like she had with Robert, but she also refused to admit that Robert had ever really hurt her (even though he SO obviously had).

I liked Thomas, pretty much except for his relationship with Caro because he was such a wet blanket. He just nodded and took her to bed when her friends mocked him and she laughed. He had a modicum of anger when he found out she'd gone horseback riding without him (she wasn't good and it was dangerous) and with a notorious rake who hid in their closet and listened to them have sex. I feel like they were so mismatched that there was no way their relationship could ever survive. There were a few sex scenes between them, mostly just kisses and then fade to next scene. I liked that Caro was the more experienced of the two and had to help him learn, but unfortunately she didn't shy away from talking about her deceased husband while with Thomas. How did he not just walk out? And why did she harbor this mythical love for the horrible Robert? I feel like so much of what she did was to get back at her overly controlling parents, which makes sense for a teenage, but when you're a grown woman still pulling that gimmic it's just ridiculous.

Rating: I could not stand Caro and thought that Thomas was a fool for imagining himself in love with her and I can't believe two such mismatched people could ever be happy.

The Trouble with Being a Duke

The Trouble with Being a Duke by Sophie Barnes L

Anthony Hurst, the Duke of Kingsborough, knows it is time for him to marry and produce an heir, and believes enough time has passed since his sainted father's death for the family to come out of mourning and host the Kingsborough Ball. Isabella Chilcott has dreamed of sneaking away to the Kingsborough Ball sine she was a child, but her mother is completely set against the aristocracy. She sneaks out, wearing an old gown she finds hidden in the attic, and once there she catches the attention of the Duke himself. Anthony knows she is lying about her identity, but finds himself unable to get the beautiful woman out of his mind, even after she abandons him at the ball. He visits everywhere in the village to determine who she is and is horrified to discover she is practically engaged to another man, and can't help but wonder how her mother had the fancy ball gown hidden in her house, especially when it comes to life that an heiress who went missing 20 years ago was wearing that dress. He knows that he is the right man for Isabella, but does not know how to go about convincing her parents. A mystery from long ago, parents who harbor grudges, and a couple who will do anything to be together culminate in a romantic ending.

My biggest problem with this story was Isabella's inability to stand up to her parents no matter how wrong they are proven to be, and no matter how miserable following their directives will make her. Seriously, I wanted to slap her and wondered why Anthony would be so adamant in hitching himself to a woman with no spine and in-laws who didn't seem to care about their own daughters happiness, no matter how hard the author worked to make their actions seemed justified. Aside from having no spine, Isabella was a pretty fun heroine who's desire to please just became a little over done. Anthony was pretty under-developed character and many times it seemed like the only thing that drove him was his desire for Isabella, even when I could not understand exactly why he was so keen on her. Considering that was his defining characteristic, it was at least done well and he certainly fought for what he wanted and I could tell he really cared about Isabella.

Rating: A very fast book, underdeveloped characters with annoying quirks and habits, and a rather confusing romance.

Love and Other Scandals

Love and Other Scandals by Caroline Linden

Tristan, Viscount Bourke, is friends with Douglas Bennett even though Douglas' mother disapproves, and he and Joan Bennett, Douglas' sister, run into each other several times throughout the years. At 24 Joan is firmly on the shelf and per her mother's request she goes to coerce her brother into attending a ball in the hopes that he will find a wife. She runs into Tristan who is staying with Douglas while his house is repaired and is immediately horrified at the virago who storms into the house. She blackmails and manipulates the hungover Douglas before turning her sights on Tristan and he can't help but admire her. They next meet at a bookseller where Joan is secretly trying to buy a very scandalous pamphlet but upon seeing him she leaves and he purchases it for her, not knowing what it is. At a ball he returns her book to her and discovers that The Fury, as he calls her, has quite a little secret. Everybody notices that the most scandalous man of the ton has taken an interest in the ton's most infuriating spinster, including Joan's controlling mother who entreats Joan to refuse any attempts of Tristan to court her.

When Joan's mother is struck by an illness her parents go out of town leaving her in the care of very scandalous Aunt and Douglas goes to a family estate after asking Tristan to "look out" for Joan. Tristan takes the call to heart and begins to call on Joan, taking her on a balloon ride and finding that he can confide in her about the death of his parent and growing up as an orphan. She realizes that the happy and scandalous facade he presented was merely to cover up the hurt inside and to make himself likable. She learns about his unhappy childhood with a bitter aunt and cousins who resented him because he would inherit the title one day. Joan does not know if Tristan ever plan to marry but she knows that she wants one night to remember, but when her parents come rushing into town after hearing the rumors. Suddenly Tristan and Joan's relationship is thrust into the spotlight and they realize that they are in love.

Tristan and Joan had a very contentious relationship that basically consisted entirely of them arguing, bantering, trying to one-up the other, and trying to annoy the other. This is something found in a lot of romance novels and it is something that I despise. I want to see characters who like each other, who enjoy being with the other and even though they apparently like arguing with each other, I could not get behind their relationship. Joan was an overly talkative young woman who was far too fearful of her mother for my taste and it made her seem very immature and incapable of holding her own. Tristan's past as an orphan who had to live with a hateful relative drew me in but was not really developed enough for my taste. They did spend a lot of time together, both in large group settings, in secret meeting, and just the two of them and not all of them were completely contentious. There were some fun times between them, especially the hot air balloon.

They were supposedly extremely attracted to each other, and their arguing was apparently a sign of that, but the book did not have a lot of sexual heat in it. There were a few little kissing scenes but only one scene where they actually had sex and it was far from hot. It was bland and boring and I just did not feel it. Their relationship just did not seem to be built on anything lasting; they didn't really seem to like each other and they didn't have a ton of sex so really nothing there. The writing was fast and it took me almost no time to get through it, and not just because I was hoping that something I liked would happen. I know that Linden can do better than this and hope that in the future she writes characters capable of carrying on a real conversation and engaging in some extremely hot sex.

Rating: Rather boring characters really who argued FAR too much and did not have nearly enough sex to make this very fast read enjoyable.

Lover Be Mine

Lover Be Mine by Nicole Jordan

Lord Jack Wilde is surrounded by medeling family members and when his favorite cousin Skye harasses him to meet Lady Sophie Fortin because she believes she is his "ideal mate," he agrees. Family legend has it that everyone will fall in love based on a fairy tale and Jack's chosen story is "Romeo and Juliet" since the Wilde family and the Fortin family have been feuding since a Wilde great-uncle killed a Fortin ancestor in a duel. He is shocked to find himself very attracted to Sophie and to discover that she is no wilting flower who shies away from a little flirtation. Sophie knows that Jack is the last person she should be associating with but she cannot deny that there is a spark between the two of them, especially when a stolen kiss ignites an inferno. Jack is horrified to learn that Sophie is soon to be engaged to an elderly Duke because her family needs his money and desires the connection that come with a titled family member, since Sophie's father was semi cheated out of his own title.

Jack has a past as he is the illegitimate offspring of a scandalous British lady who shocked the ton, and the Crown Prince of Navatarnia, a small but wealthy kingdom. He harbors a deep hatred of his father since he and his mother were abandoned in Paris at the height of the terror and his mother was killed and he was held captive before his British relatives rescued him. He has no desire to reconcile with his father even though he has been legitimized and offered the Crown, but he knows that the only way he could win over her family is to have a title. Sophie fears that the only reason Jack is contemplating returning to Navatania is to rescue her from a passionless marriage and wants a true marriage based on love. Unfortunately Sophie's father clings to his former hatred and Jack must find a way to prove himself to Sophie's father, but more importantly prove to Sophie that he is ready for love.

I really felt like Jack and Sophie were under developed characters and even though they were both given interesting back stories which were developed and interesting, I was never really engaged in their story or their relationship. A big deal is made about the feud between their families throughout the story and serves as a sticking point at several points throughout the story. Unfortunately this falls far short of the Capulet-Montagu feud and veers dangerously into ridiculous territory as it drags, as it is shown to be based on false assumptions, and as it becomes merely a tool to make the book longer. Sophie is apparently filled with warmth and a smile that can light up a room which just comes across as an attempt to make her likable without really saying why she is likable. Jack has a wild streak, which the reader is not really privy too, and by far the most interesting part of his story is his relationship with his father as he progressed from hatred to acceptance to learning to appreciate what he has. It was my favorite part of the story overall and she did a fabulous job of realistically portraying this difficult journey.

Sophie and Jack did spend a lot of time together during the book and I do consider quite a bit of it to be quality time but the two of them just did not connect for me. There was a much discussed physical attraction between them that seemed to be the main thing they had going for their relationship, and while there was quite a bit of sex in the book it was really not very hot and much of it was short and/ or purple flowery. Keeping in line with my favorite part of this book I did enjoy their interactions where the discussed his relationship with his father but I thought it could have been more. The writing in this book was flowery and the book was far longer than it needed to be as toward the end more and more road blocks were thrown in the way of their happiness, including obstacles that hadn't presented themselves until then.

Rating: An unengaging novel with two unengaging characters in a story that dragged far beyond when it should have ended.

Stroke of Midnight

Stroke of Midnight by Olivia Drake

Laura Faulkner finds her life shattered when a piece of jewelry stolen from a prominent woman of society is found in her father's desk. Laura and her father escape after she stabs Alexander Ross, the Earl of Copley, in the face with a letter opener, and they live in hiding for years on the continent. Laura had fancied herself in love with Alex but when he refused to listen to her about her father's innocence she realized he had probably only been courting her because he suspected her father's involvement in the theft of his god mother's jewels. Years later Laura comes back to London after her father dies while on a visit in the city and through a bizarre string of incidents finds herself employed as a companion to a friendly, if absentminded, elderly woman named Lady Josephine who happens to be Alex's aunt. Alex recognizes Laura immediately and all the old feelings he had for her come rushing back to him. He has never questioned her father's guilt but he knows that if he wants to get in her good graces, and thus his aunt's, he must humor her in her attempts to discover who really stole the jewels.

Laura's attempts to find the true thief involve attending a lot of social functions as Lady Josephine's companion in order to listen in on people's conversations and snoop in private areas of houses. Since he truly believes her father is guilty, and knows that her father was in massive debt, Alex does not really throw himself into helping Laura. She believes that the culprit is the father of the woman who competed with her for Alex's affections and that he had been having an affair with the victim of the jewel theft. She manages to confront him and when he lays out the truth about her father, she is forced to realize that she didn't know her father as well as she had thought, but she still knows that he would never have stolen those jewels. As she gets closer to finding the true thief, and closer to Alex, it scares the culprit and he takes drastic measures to ensure his crime does not come to light and it is up to Alex to save the woman he loves and clear her father's name.

This book was part of a series that had a very loose basis on classic fairy tales and this one was Cinderella as Laura was given a pair of red slippers that she wore a couple times during the book and I suppose it could be said that exciting things happened at those times, but the shoes weren't really all that special and the fairy tale thing just seemed like a gimmick. Laura was smart, determined, and obviously a very loving and dedicated daughter, but I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her attempts to discover the truth. Snooping and eaves dropping? I guess since it did bring out the culprit in the end that it could be termed a success, but she really had not been all that close to discovering the truth or even suspecting the thief. Alex was a rather boring lord who apparently investigated crimes on the sly and his most redeeming quality was his obvious love for his aging aunt. He refused to accept any other explanation for the jewels being in Laura's father's desk even while claiming he loved her and did not really help her at all in her "investigation."

The jewel theft was definitely the main theme going through this book and provided the impetus for most of the meetings, discussions, arguments, etc... between Laura and Alex. I found it interesting enough, but would really have liked more of a romance between them, absent any investigation, especially since they didn't really connect over it as they were kind of working at cross purposes, with her trying to uncover the truth and him trying to protect his godmother and prove her father's guilt. He did not come across well in these circumstances. The eventual ending to this story was predictable as every romance with a mystery and a bad guy will end with someone being kidnapped and the other coming to the rescue at the nick of time. There was definitely an attraction between the two of them and quite a lot of sexual tension that didn't really lead to too much excitement in the end. The writing was fast and engaging, which was needed in a book that I found to be difficult to relate to.

Rating: Two people who disagreed and worked at cross purposes for two long and I just never got the feeling that they belonged together.

And Then She Fell

And Then She Fell by Stephanie Laurens R

Henrietta Cynster is known as "The Matchbreaker" as she often offers advice to young women of the ton who want to know more about the man they are engaged to and this often leads to a broken engagement. When a friend of hers asks for advice on James Glossup, who has been courting her for a few weeks, Henrietta reports back that James is required to marry quickly because of the terms of his Aunt's will. After the courtship is called off James is furious as he needed that money to ensure that his aunt's estate operated smoothly and that the people who depended on him would be able to survive. He confronts Henrietta with the havoc she has caused and, feeling bad, she offers to help James find another candidate for him to marry. Luckily the two run in the same circles as he has many connections to the very large Cynster clan and both are invited to all the important events of the season. Henrietta's youngest sister encourages Henrietta to wear a magical necklace that has helped all the other Cynster girls find "their hero" and even though Henrietta doesn't believe marriage is in her near future, she decides to humor her sister and wear the necklace.

One night while coming out of her friends residence, Henrietta bumps into a strange man in the dark but she cannot see his face. Soon afterwards, Henrietta nearly drowns in a river and is only saved by James heroics and later her horse is shot our from under her and is only saved by James' quick thinking.  James is starting to realize that his hunt for the right bride is leading him directly to Henrietta, but he knows that she will not settle for anything other than love and he is in too much of a hurry to take the time to fall in love and have her fall in love with him. Henrietta is also beginning to realize that she does not really want to find James another woman to marry and neither is too upset when a midnight seduction leads to their engagement. Their families are very excited and plans for a quick wedding are started immediately, but more accidents happen to Henrietta and her midnight bump with a stranger are linked to a scandalous murder. The whole clan has to come together to help Henrietta and James survive a madman and plan them a spectacular wedding.

Henrietta is a very practical and well connected lady of the ton and while I admired her realistic out take on life, I found her role as "matchbreaker" ridiculous and I was disappointed that she didn't seem to have any real interests or anything that made her special, interesting, or unique. James was strong and confident and I admired his dedication to protecting those people who depended on him for their livelihood. However, like Henrietta, there was really nothing to make him special or set him apart from any other romance novel hero. Unlike many romances there was really no conflict between Henrietta and James and it really made for an almost boring novel. While I did like that there was no big misunderstanding or something completely ridiculous that kept them apart, when the characters mutually just agree that they need to get married it's just a letdown really. Henrietta and James did spend a lot of time together but there were no scenes that really drew my interest or made me excited to see where their relationship was going.

It seems that Laurens is incapable of writing a book with a decent amount of sex as she either drowns a book in it or she barely has the characters kissing. This book fell into the later category and what sex there was was incredibly flowery and purply and fell into euphemism and dreamy language quickly. The necklace subplot was luckily only occasionally mentioned, which I was very thankful for because I felt like it was very stupid and made me really dislike Henrietta and anyone else who would believe in it. The secondary plot was the murder investigation, which laid pretty low until about halfway through the book and then kind of exploded all over the place. It was unrealistic and ridiculous in the extreme and often seem to serve no purpose other than to show that all the Cynsters were very close and when they united together no one could stand in their way. It ended precisely as everyone knew it would end and really offered very little excitement, even though one of our characters lives was undeniably in jeopardy.

Rating: A very wordy book with two uninspiring characters engaged in an equally uninspiring romance and a murder mystery plot that was barely interesting.

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean L

Lady Pippa Marbury is newly engaged to Lord Castleton, a kind if uninspiring man, but her scientific and logical mind compels her to research more about what her marriage will entail. She decides to ask Cross, one of the infamous owners of the fabulous gambling club, The Fallen Angel, for help since she believes he too is of a scientific bent. Cross is flabbergasted that a lady would enter his club, risking ruination and while he finds himself drawn to the beautiful bespectacled young woman, secrets in his own past forbid him from risking her future happiness and he turns away. Cross has problems of his own as the owner of a rival gambling establishment, Knight, holds his brother-in-law's debt and is threatening Cross's sister if Cross does not agree to marry Knight's daughter. Pippa is not about to give up her search for answers as she is determined to make the most of her marriage even though no one thinks it is a good match. She goes back to The Fallen Angel to enlist the help of a lady of the evening and Cross is furious that she is once again putting her reputation at risk, and not just because her brother-in-law is his friend and fellow co-owner of the Fallen Angel. He agrees to help her but vows to himself that he will not allow her to be tainted by her association with him.

Cross finds himself attracted to the seriousness of Pippa and her logical mind and the more time he spends with her, the more he finds that his resolution to leave her alone is destined to fail. He cannot stand the idea that Pippa will marry another but continues to believe that he will never be good enough for her and that she deserves a happy life which he cannot provide for her. Pippa too is beginning to wonder if she can go through with her marriage now that she has tasted what a true relationship between equal minds can be like. But she is furious to discover that cross is actually the Earl of Harlowe and that their stations would mean that they could get married if he would get over his feelings of inadequacy. When she learns about the threats against his sister she is determined to help him and prove to him that she is a  match for him. He realizes that he has misjudged himself and this beautiful woman and that their pasts do not matter when it is a matter of true love.

This book is second in a series and although I had read the previous book, it had been awhile, and I found myself taking awhile to remember what had happened and I would not recommend reading this book without reading the first. Having characters from former books make frequent, often overwhelming, appearances is something I tend to dislike in romances and this book fell into this category quickly and often, which I really did not appreciate. Pippa's logical mind came up several times in this book and I just could not buy it as it was not logical for her to go into a gambling hall and I could not understand how she knew Cross was likewise as logical. Cross's background and brooding melancholy on his past was just utterly ridiculous; I understood how it would cause him distress, but it was just completely overblown and made him into a very unlikable fellow. Because of their situation they really could not spend all that much time together outside of the gambling club and I did not see how a relationship between a scientific bluestocking and a dissolute gambling hall owner would work in the real world.

The sexual tension between Pippa and Cross burned up the pages and I knew that when these two finally got together it was going to be an explosion. Unfortunately the sexual tension was dragged out for the entire book because of Cross brooding about how he wasn't good enough for her and believing he had to make up for his past. I could not believe how flowery and drawn out their sexual relationship was and how disappointing it ended up being. I enjoyed reading about the plot with Knight and wondering how Cross and Pippa were going to get out of it, but it seemed to blow over a little too quickly and it had a lot of scenes where a character would get an idea and then we'd cut to another scene so we were left in the dark about what would happen. The writing was very wordy and the book seemed to drag quite a bit, perhaps because of the melancholy overtone to the entire novel and I would have liked a more fun reading style.

Rating: I could not get into the relationship and the great sexual tension ended with a small poof while the writing dragged.

The Conquest of Lady Cassandra

The Conquest of Lady Cassandra by Madeline Hunter

When Lady Cassandra Verhan was caught alone with a man, society expected her to marry him, but she shocked the ton when she refused and has since been living a life of scandal and notoriety. Operating on the fringes of society she lives with her Aunt Sophia, an absentminded lady with a scandalous past of her own, but manages to maintain friendships with some of the most well connected ladies of the ton. Yates Ellison, Viscount Ambury, was friends with the man who ruined Cassandra and who was recently killed in a due, presumably over Cassandra, so he has no kind feelings towards her. However, he does find that he is very attracted to her and is interested in discovering more about a necklace he recently purchased from her at an auction. Ambury is looking into the necklace at the behest of his dying father who believes that it was stolen, but Ambury does not want Sophia to know the truth so he asks her to look into the origins of the necklace before he pays for. Cassandra is desperate for the money as her brother, Gerald, is threatening to have Aunt Sophia placed in a home and Cassandra is determined to find a safe haven for herself and her aunt.

The investigation finds Cassandra and Ambury spending more time together than usual and neither can deny the sexual tension between them, and being more progressive adults than most of their peers, they give into their mutual desire. Ambury worries he is betraying his former friend, believing that she is responsible for his friend's ruined reputation and subsequent death during a duel, and even Cassandra because he has an ulterior motive. Cassandra is concerned about letting somebody close to her after the tumultuous life she has had but recognizes that she can use all the help she can find to get her aunt to safety. And she is beginning to wonder if Ambury is right about the origin of Aunt Sophia's necklace, and the rest of the jewelry in her possession. To keep Cassandra and her aunt safe, Ambury marries Cassandra, and together they must work to save Aunt Sophia and discover the secrets behind her jewels and in the process discover a whole lot of love.

There was a lot of back story in this novel that it was important to know and there were times that I wondered if I had accidentally skipped one of Hunter's stories. It was a stand alone for sure, but I definitely got the feeling that I would have been a little less loss if I had read this missing piece. Plus the background of the characters and how they had known each other was a little confusing and seemed like an attempt to cause some drama between the characters and there was already enough of that with the necklace plot. Cassandra was interesting, if not entirely relatable because the reader didn't really learn the entire truth of her situation until near the end and while I understand the author wanted the reader to be drawn in it just annoyed me. She was strong and independent and I very much admired her for that and her vulnerability when it came to her past made her more enjoyable and realistic. Ambury was cloaked in secrets and incredibly judgmental of Cassandra and refused to see the truth of what had happened with her and his friend until the very end which made him more than a little unlikable.

Ambury and Cassandra had a deep attraction for each other, we are told, but I really did not feel the sexual tension which surprised me as Hunter is usually adept at writing this. I did not like that they had already known each other and had an unpleasant past between them because it really was not resolved to my satisfaction. They didn't get to know each other again and forgive, it was more like they moved on without any true resolution of the past. There was enough sex in the book but I wasn't blown away by it and I would have liked more of a build up of their relationship. The plot involving the necklace was very interested and I found myself drawn in to what was going to happen to Aunt Sophia and how they would thwart Gerald. Some truly astounding discoveries were made surrounding this and I was completely blown away and surprised so that is always a nice way to end a story. The writing style flowed nicely and the book was an easy read.

Rating: A book that had potential but the side plots quickly took over the book and my interest since the relationship did not draw me in.

How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back

How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back by Sophie Barnes

Miss Emily Rutherford and her two sisters, Beatrice and Claire, have fallen on hard times since the death of the parents lead to their cousin taking all of their assets. But Emily has always planned to marry Lord Adrian Caroway as they have had a semi-understanding that spanned back several years. Everyone is shocked when Adrian instead announces his engagement to their longtime friend, Lady Kate, and her sisters enlist the help of Francis, Lord Dunhurst, to help Emily through her heart break. As children Emily, Kate, Francis, and Adrian had been the best of friends, but then Francis had changed- became stern and unsmiling and Emily had spent the ensuing years despising her friend for changing so dramatically. He was helpless to prevent their estrangement as he was forced to grow up fast after his mother's mysterious death and learning a devestating family secret, but he never meant for his friendship with Emily to end. He is furious that Adrian would hurt her in this way and invites her and her sisters to London to get her mind off of what happened and enjoy herself.

Once in London Emily finds herself reevaluating her feelings for both Adrian and Francis and wondering if she let her anger over Francis's change in personality lead her to believe herself in love with Adrian. Francis is charmed by Emily's outspokenness and love of life and soon realizes that he wants far more than friendship with her and her reappearance in his life has made him a happier person. It isn't long before he and Emily have reached an understanding and both are excited about marrying and about the wedding night.  Unfortunately his father's former mistress, Charlotte Browne, hides secrets that could utterly destroy Francis and anyone associated with him and he worries about getting Emily involved in this. Once Emily has realized that it is really Francis she has been in love with all these years, she wants to help him overcome the problems assaulting him. Together they both must work together to put the past behind them and build a future where both of them can be secure and happy in their love.

Emily was a happy, if naive, young country girl who I could sympathize, if not precisely relate, to because she was an enjoyable character. Her love for Adrian seemed to burn hot and die quickly and her reason for assuming they had an arrangement were a bit far fetched so I couldn't really like her entirely. My favorite thing in the book though was how she stood up for herself to Adrian and Kate instead of being all noble and forgiving like the typical romance novel heroine. Francis was a brooding romance novel hero who was hiding a secret and needed the heroine to help him learn to laugh and enjoy life. However, I felt like there were more mentions of his being stern than actual examples of his being so and that just doesn't sit well with me. These two had a long relationship past that the reader isn't really privy to and so I did not really get a feel for how their romance was developing. They were very attracted to each other and there were a few scenes that made it clear they couldn't keep their hands off of each other, but nothing was really hot and steamy.

Charlotte was an interesting, if very under developed, character who had real potential but was just pure evil and I would have liked a more nuanced character. The sideplot involving her blackmail scheme and the secrets she were revealing did draw me in and I liked that they were not drawn out longer than necessary and especially liked that the secret was genuinely earth shattering. However I was horribly disappointed with how this part of the story ended as it was so engrossing and so important and then boom! It basically all turned into a big nothing and nothing ended up happening. Probably my biggest issue with this novel was writing style; it completely turned me off with so much description and so many adjectives used to describe everything. There were far to many variations of "rapture" used to describe everything for my taste. The dialogue was equally flowery and really made it difficult to believe the characters were realistic.

Rating: A quick read with far too purply writing and a romance that missed quite a bit and a sideplot that exploded into nothing ness.

Season for Surrender

Season for Surrender by Theresa Romain

Lady Louisa Oliver is more comfortable with books than people, so her London season wasn't quite a success even though she did end up engaged to a Marquess. Unfortunately said marquess fell in love with Louisa's step-sister and the broken engagement and ensuing marriage caused quite the scandal. Alex, Lord Xavier, has his own reputation as a dissolute rake and he is infamous for never losing a bet placed in White's betting book. His cousin, Lord Lockwood, issues a challenge he can't refuse (for fear of losing his reputation) and he agrees to keep a respectable lady at his decidedly unrespectable holiday party for two weeks and they agree on Lady Louisa. Louisa is excited to get out of her sister and brother-in-law's house and wants to enjoy herself and explore Xavier's famed library. To win the wager, Xavier must keep his cousin from scaring Louisa away and he begins to realize he has made a huge mistake. He finds that he cares about her reputation and finds himself drawn more and more to spending time in the library. Louisa overhears Lockwood and Xavier and quickly learns about the bet and it strengthens her resolve to stay at the house party and have an adventure.

The huge party provides plenty of opportunities for Louisa and Xavier to spend time together under the guise of engaging in party activities. While working in the library they uncover a coded a cipher about the history of Xavier's family and they decide to work together to discover the secrets of the past. He realizes that she is far more intelligent than the average woman and she realizes that he wears a permanent mask to convince others that he has no care for others. She wants Xavier to let go of his reputation and be a better person and he knows that if it will ever happen that she is the woman who will help him. But Lockwood remains bitter about their families' pasts and is determined to get his revenge on Xavier by any means necessary, including taking Louisa down with him. Xavier is forced to choose between his reputation and the woman he loves and finds that he can face anything as long as Louisa is by his side.

Louisa was a likable heroine for being an awkward blue stocking who wanted to find some way of making her life more adventurous and her determination to avoid becoming a boring spinster. Nonetheless, I found her rather bland and boring, perhaps because there is not enough inner dialogue or because the writing style just did not add any excitement to her character. Xavier was really not that different from many romance novel heroes; a rake whose reputation has been exaggerated and wears a mask and secretly years to be wanted for who he his. I felt like too much was made of this fake reputation and it made him seem rather childish for continually seeking challenges and wagers purely to maintain this reputation. I did like that they spent quite a bit of time together, but there was a lot of boring and pointless verbal sparing, and it was remarkably unexciting. There was some sexual tension, but it was barely a simmer, and was not consummated until one very brief, lukewarm scene at the end that I skimmed.

The house party was a fun experience and I liked the myriad characters who livened up the story a little bit, even if their many drunken exploits served merely as an excuse to show how Xavier was growing tired of this lifestyle in the most heavy handed way possible. Lockwood was a nice two-dimensional villain who added some spark to the story even if the scene where he gets his comeuppance was absolutely ludicrous and abrupt. I believe I had the biggest problem with the writing style of this book; it's short and yet it took me a long time because it was so unengaging and the characters did not draw me in at all. The romance was lacking and I did not feel a spark between the two protagonists and really felt like this book lacked enough plot to make a real book or a lengthy review.

Rating: I did not enjoy this book but it did have some interesting side characters and did not cross into absolutely awful territory too often.

A Lady by Midnight

A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare

Kate Taylor has been looking for a place to belong her entire life after being abandoned at a girls' school as a young child and having only hazy memories of her past. She has found friends and happiness in Spindles Cove but she is still determined to find out the truth about her past. Captain Samuel Thorne, a militia leader stationed in Spindles Cove, recognized Kate immediately upon seeing her after many years, but is happy when she does not recognize him. He knows he must keep his distance; despite his attraction to her he believes she is far too good for him and she mistakes his standoffish attitude as dislike. But she is slowly coming to realize that maybe he is more kind and generous than he is letting on and wants to delve more into this handsome man. Everything is thrown into the air when the Gramarcy's, a titled but very unconventional family, show up and claim that Kate is their long lost relative. Kate cannot believe her good fortune in finally having a family of her own, but Thorne is wary of trusting them and does not want them to learn the truth about Kate's upbringing.

To protect her he declares that the two of them are engaged and though they decide it is temporary it does not stop everyone they know from being thrilled at the idea of their marriage. Neither thinks the marriage will happen, but they do find that they are spending far more time together than usual and Kate is noticing little things about Thorne that go against the taciturn image he has built up. Thorne has dreams about moving to America and working his own plot of land and when Kate starts talking about going with him as his wife, he knows that he wants this future but does not want to drag her down with him. When papers surface that make it clear Kate is the legitimate daughter of a marquess neither knows what path to choose as she now stands to inherit piles of money and property even while it means her family may go broke. As her past starts to resurface Kate discovers that Thorne has been keeping secrets from her and while she is furious she cannot see a future without him. She must make him see that, no matter their social standings, they belong together wherever the future takes them.

I loved Katie and how caring she was for those around her, how determined she was in everything she did. I liked her insecurities and her naivete, which is unusual for me but Dare portrays these foibles with such a deft touch that it was impossible not to like her. She was strong and capable and had a great sense of humor but did have a tendency to do things that were a little too stupid to live. Thorne was obviously a dedicated captain with a checkered past and I did enjoy that he felt comfortable enough with Kate to finally share the truth with someone. He is dark and unsmiling and, although he has flashes of kindness she has to look deep to find them, and I felt like it was a very unusual pairing as they were so different. He was trying to protect her by keeping the past from her but that just seemed ridiculous and the inevitable fight that arose from his deception was equally so. His past, while haunting, did not really justify in my mind such an unhappiness that pervaded him and I quickly grew tired of his moodiness. Because of their differences I just did not see how a relationship between them would work.

The two of them spent quite a lot of time together and while it was no hampered by any distracting side plots of crazy circumstances, I just did not see how this time would lead to the two of them falling in love. He seemed infatuated with her partly because of their past together and she was very attracted to his muscular good looks, but neither was particularly in love with the other because of real reasons that I could understand. There was a nice amount of sex in the novel and Dare does a great job of imbuing her novels with great buildup and this book was no exception however, as romance novels break more sexual boundaries, she does begin to seem tame. Unfortunately, one incident particularly disturbed me; Thorne had a flashback to war and entered a different mindset and ended up flinging Kate against a wall. The fact that she does didn't get hurt proved to her that he could never truly harm her, but I do not like this new trend of mentally disturbed, almost violent, heroes who need the heroine to make him all better.

Rating: A fun heroine with a brooding and damaged hero, but the relationship was sorely lacking. This book definitely did not live up to the Spindles Cove, or Tessa Dare, standard.

Undone (A Fiery Tale)

Undone (A Fiery Tale) by Lila DiPasqua

Simon Boulenger is working as a privateer for France during the war against Spain and hoping that one day he will earn a knighthood and become a member of the aristocracy. Growing up dirt poor and alone left him desirous of a better future and he has worked his entire life to achieve a peerage. While in Italy he spies a beautiful woman singing an enchanting song and when he follows her to a convent he sees the Mother Superior abusing her. He quickly grabs her and her friend and whisks them back to his ship, determined to save her. But Angelica has no desire to be saved and is horrified when she discovers that she is on a boat back to her homeland. For years she has hidden in the convent from her stepfather, a French aristocrat placed high in the court of Louis XIV, who abused her horribly while she was in his charge. When she wakes up onboard a ship she knows she must hide her identity from the handsome captain who has kidnapped her, but she cannot resist the attraction that flares between them. Simon is taken in by Angelica's charms, but knowing that she is a virgin means he keeps his hands off of her even though he has never felt this way about a woman before.

Simon and his crew own an island in the Caribbean, Marguerite, and have formed a kind of commune there with Simon as their leader, where everyone lives in freedom and equality away from the strict hierarchy of the French court. He takes Angelica there and she quickly becomes popular with everyone in the community by taking on the role of teacher and winning the island beauty pageant. She decides that she will take advantage of the freedom and this brief chance of happiness and decides to seduce/ give into Simon and his seduction. Simon cannot help but feel guilty, but is surprised to find that Angelica is keeping a secret from him and when it is revealed he knows that he must avenge her and the wrong that her step father did. Simon has his own score to settle back in France with the King's finance minister and in one final act of gallantry he sets aside his own desires for the good of France and to make Angelica happy. Angelica knows that the only thing that matters is a life with Simon, aristocracy be damned, and together they forge a future on their tropical island paradise.

Angelica was a hard character for me to explore because she seemed completely unable to make up her own mind about what she was like. She ran away from her horrible situation and France and escaped to a convent where she planned to stay, hidden away from the world for the rest of her life and I could really not get behind that. She, like many romance novel heroines, had a magical touch with children and fancied herself their savior and was apparently able to take over a school at a moment's notice and win the hearts of all the previous little kids. As a teacher this annoys me. Unfortunately Simon was equally hard to like as a pirate and as a person obsessed with gaining a title even while creating his own little commune type paradise island. He was, of course, a womanizer, but he immediately gave up his ways after laying eyes on Angelica once. Together there was an immense sexual attraction that burned up the pages with the sizzle but was a bit of a let down towards the end once the relationship had been consummated as the sex didn't live up to expectations.

Their relationship was also hard to truly get behind as there was a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of holding something back from each other, and just generally a lot of brooding and frustration. I admired how Angelica was able to move past her attack and lead a full life and that Simon helped her through this and supported her once he realized what had happened. And I enjoyed reading a little bit about French history in a romance novel and, although much is fiction, it still provided a nice variation from my usual English books. There was the small bit of intrigue involving revenge against her step father and Simon's determination to bring down those close to the King who were out to do harm against the people. It was not overwhelming, but did seem to come up at weird moments throughout the book before finally being solved quite neatly at the end. The island commune was absolutely laughable and I rolled my eyes every time the magical Marguerite was mentioned.

Rating: An interesting book but not for the romance or the characters, but for the historical information and back ground.

The Seduction of Elliot McBride

The Seduction of Elliot McBride by Jennifer Ashley

Julianna St. John is all set to get married until she discovers at the altar that her fiance has absconded with his widowed piano instructor. Julianna realizes she is more upset about the societal problems her broken engagement will cause than about actually losing her fiance. Luckily for her she sees her childhood crush, Elliot McBride, quite close at hand, and decides that she should make the most of the situation and asks him to marry him. Elliot had every intention of stopping the wedding of the woman who sustained him through years of torture in the Indian desert. He jumps at the chance to marry her and quickly scurries her to his crumbling estate in the Scottish Highlands. Julianna quickly notices that her husband is hiding secrets from everyone around him and it is apparent that many of the people closest to him regard him as barely sane. But she doesn't let anything get in the way of her happiness now that she is married to the man she has worshipped since she was little, the man she always imagined would be her husband.

Elliot is also living the life he has always wanted for himself with no one in the outside world to disturb the happiness he has finally found with Julianna. She is the best thing that ever happened to him and he doesn't want anyone to take Julianna away from him. Their happiness is threatened when a local couple threatens to have Elliot investigated for the death of a fellow Englishman in India but Elliot has recently discovered that this former friend has followed him from India and does not believe it is a friendly visit. Julianna is worried about Elliot's safety and about what this will mean for Elliot's mental healthy, which had been improving since their marriage. Elliot is determined to keep his family safe but it brings up unpleasant memories from India and he finds that the only way he can get through them is with Julianna's help. Together they must over come Elliot's demons and uncover what really happened to Elliot and his friend while in India before they can continue the happy marriage they both dreamed about.

Both Julianna and Elliot were complex characters who I have found it really hard to reflex on without first discussing their relationship. I felt like they had a very co-dependant relationship in the sense that it was obvious that Elliot would barely be able to function without Julianna there. She in turn seemed to relish being needed and had no difficulty focusing entirely on what needed to be done to help Elliot. This made her a rather unlikable heroine for me because I wanted someone who was strong on her own and this was almost like her entirely being became caught up in him. I appreciated that Elliot had lived through hell during his time in India and that this would, of course, cause immense emotional trauma. However, I do not want to read about a hero that is so mentally unstable that he operates under constant threat of having a relapse and choking someone close to him. This aspect of their relationship made me very uncomfortable.

Aside from that aspect of their relationship, which was of course predominant, there were a very few moments where I could see them being happy together, but they were never friendly and happy and joyous. They had sex but it was surprisingly dull and not very frequent. They were very accepting of Indian culture and this was supposed to endear them to the reader, show how open they were, but it seemed unrealistic for the time and like Ashley was trying too hard. About halfway through this very short book the side plot involving the friend from India took over and the relationship took a back seat which upset me, but was also I relief since I wasn't that into it. Unfortunately I was just as uninterested in what had happened to this friend and what was going to happen to him. I felt like it had nothing to do with the story and was just superfluous filler. The book was well written, an easy and fast read.

Rating: I did not enjoy this book and found the relationship between the characters mildly disturbing and the side plot just plain boring.

Season for Temptation

Season for Temptation by Theresa Romain

James, Viscount Matheson, decides that he should become engaged quickly after ascending to his title and being hounded by his family to help restore respectability to the scandal ridden family. Louisa Oliver is beautiful and kind and he knows she will make a perfect wife for him so after a very short courting he proposes and she agrees. Louisa knows that she will never fit in with London society and would prefer a quiet life retiring in the country, but she also knows that it is her duty to marry well. James decides to visit his wife's family in the country and after meeting Louisa's stepsister, Julia Herrington all of his well ordered plans are thrown out the window. Julia is loud, funny, brave, and outgoing, everything that her perfect, well-mannered step sister is not and she doesn't know what to do with the immense attraction she is feeling for her soon to be brother-in-law. She wants her sister to be happy and would never do anything to jeopardize Louisa's happiness so she tries to hide her feelings and he tries to follow suit.

The tension between them in palpable and all it takes is one stolen moment for everyone to realize that James and Louisa are not meant to be together. But both of them feel guilty for the problems that have arisen and after meeting James' family Julia wonders if she is the right woman to help restore the family's good name and worries that the ton will never accept her or respect their marriage because of the way it began. Confusion ensues when Julia wonders if James has the depth of feelings for her that she has for him and she retreats to her family for comfort after being embarrassed by the ton. James must prove to Julia, and the world, that Julia is the woman for him and that it does not matter what the ton thinks or how their relationship began because they are in love.

Julia is supposed to be the atypical heroine, chattery, healthy appetite, loud, and very child-friendly and while it can be cute and vaguely naive, her inane chatter became oppressive and I really do not find that kind of thing amusing in the least. As someone who spends all day with kids I don't think it's totally endearing when someone is overly familiar with other people's kids and wants to spend tons of time with children. There was one scene when she went back for thirds at a meal and then looked at her plate in surprise that she had eaten everything and it just made her seem incredibly unintelligent and ridiculous. It really did not take me long to realize that this was not a character I was going to fall in love with. James was a very real character and a nice change from the brooding hero and I felt like the conflict he went through was written of in a very deft manner and he just seemed like a very genuine person.

Their relationship progressed well throughout the novel as they dealt with the obstacles in their path together. There wasn't really much steam at all and I definitely would not describe it as hot and given the circumstances it was just as well that they weren't going at it like rabbits. Also, I kind of thought of Julia as very child like so I didn't really want to read about her being sexi-fied anyway. I really liked the love triangle aspect of the story and how everyone was so caring of everyone else involved and there was no mean spiritedness. Maybe a little bad guy in the story would have been nice and added a little flair to this otherwise very straightforward story, though. I did not like that Louisa and Julia represented such complete opposite ends of the spectrum and both just seemed unrealistic and unlikable. The book was a very fast read and was well written.

Rating: A promising story but it was killed by a heroine who just drove me nuts and was a poor example of an anti-heroine.