A Duke's Temptation

A Duke's Temptation by Jillian Hunter 509

Lily Boscastle is in London for the first time and plans to enjoy herself as she is accompanied by her cousin, Chloe, and her fiance, Jonathan Grace. Together they all attend a literary masquerade where Chloe encourages her to be a little dangerous and flirt with the handsome Samuel Charles Aubrey St. Aldwyn, Duke of Gravenhurst. Samuel finds Lily beautiful and enjoys their flirtation in the garden and decides that he would like to see much more of Lily, especially when he discovers she is a huge fan of the Wickbury novels. The Wickbury novels are immensely popular throughout London for their good versus evil and the beautiful heroine at the center of everything, but what no one knows is that Samuel is actually the author. He is upset to discover later that Lily is already engaged and finds that he cannot get her off his mind. Shortly before her wedding Lily accompanies Jonathan to a party and witnesses him shooting a man and while everyone believes she is imaging things, she calls off the wedding and decides to enter service. Samuel has not been able to get Lily out of his mind so he is, of course, the aristocrat who offered her a place to work.

He decides to play the part of one of his characters and "kidnaps" her on a wild carriage ride across the moors, and is genuinely shocked that she does not appreciate his acting out of her favorite novels. Once at his house Lily discovers that Samuel keeps a very odd residence, with a very private East wing that no one is allowed to enter and very friendly servants who have no qualms telling their master what is what. Lily fits right in and the more time they spend together, Samuel reaffirms that Lily is the woman for him and decides that he should let her know his big secret. Once he tells her that he is Lord Anonymous, Lily wonders why it took her so long to figure out and she is more than happy to help him and his servants act out scenes and work through his writer's block. It helps that he finally has her in his bed where he has wanted her since they first met. Things begin to be so clear for both of them until someone involved in the shooting that Lily witnessed, resurfaces and begins making threats. Samuel is terrified that something will happen to Lily and he will do anything to protect her. Their happily ever after will come with a price and though things may never be perfect they will work together to make anything possible.

I know that I said I would never read another Jillian Hunter after the disasters of her last two books, but she is so convenient to buy and I always look at how short her books are and think that I should give it a try since it won't waste too much of my time. I did like Lily at first because she was the naive country relation who was looking for a good time in London and she certainly succeeded in finding it. Over time she began to wear on me because it seemed like she could never decide what she wanted, her mind changed constantly, and she did nothing for me. I could not understand how she was able to be a housekeeper with no training and no experience, even in such an eclectic household. Samuel was another blah, except he was an insane blah because there were times that he did not seem to distinguish himself from one of his characters. It was one thing to act out what he had written, or do a little fantasy role play, but sometimes he really did genuinely believe that he was his characters or he at least got far too into the pretend play. Maybe I am more interested in female writers, but I had no interest whatsoever in his writing and it seemed like his novel played a more important role than their relationship.

Their relationship progressed awkwardly from the party where they met to him almost immediately deciding that she was the one and deciding that hiring her as a housekeeper would be a good idea. They did not really spend much time together, or at least not much time I considered quality time. There was a lot of chatter about nothing important, talking around important issues, and weird "banter" about his books both before and after she knew he was the author. Suddenly he knew he wanted to marry her and she agreed, and while he saw her as the person who would be both his muse and his reality check, I did not really see what she saw in him except for his writing. I also had issues with the fact that she accepted that there would be times when he abandoned her for his writing and indeed, in the brief epilogue, we got a little taste of this. There was plenty of sex between them, but it was not hot at all, and was often filled with play from his stories which I definitely did not like. The bizarre little plot where she witnessed a murder had potential but ended up completely fizzling and being ridiculously easily solved. I was hoping for some jealousy/ angst between Samuel and her former fiance but none was forthcoming.

Rating: Another stinker from Hunter with interesting, if not entirely likable characters, and craziness that I just could not enjoy in the book. At least it was short.

The Wicked Duke Takes a Wife

The Wicked Duke Takes a Wife by Jillian Hunter 227

Harriet Gardner was rescued from the streets by the Boscastle family after being discovered attempting to rob the Duchess of Sedgecroft's closet. They took her in, trained her to behave like a lady and gave her a job at their finishing school for young ladies. Lord Griffin Boscastle is the newly minted Duke of Glenmorgan and he is also the newly minted guardian of his late brother's illegitimate daughter Edlyn. When he takes her to the finishing school he and Harriet make quite the impression on each other as Harriet almost sets him on fire and he rattles her very precarious composure. When his old Aunt Prowlis decides that she wants Harriet to be her companion she debates it but decides to go. Griffin is worried that he won't be able to keep his hands off her, but he is determined that he, or his Aunt's crazy actions, can eventually convince her to quit and leave. Unfortunately Griffin still feels a major sense of obligation towards his brother's fiance and everyone believes that he should court her and fulfill the marriage contract.

Upon meeting Lady Constance no one is very happy: she is selfish, cold, and incredibly boring. Aunt Prowlis and Harriet agree that she is not at all appropriate for Griffin and despite the fact that it is also obvious that Griffin has no interest in her, they engage in a minor ridiculous plot to cinvince him not to marry her. When Griffin and Harriet succumb to passion at a garden party some very racy sketches appear in all the gossip rags and Aunt Prowlis is upset that he is ruining her companion's reputation. Harriet and Griffin begin to sneak away whenever possible to make love but Harriet does have plans to eventually leave. When Edlyn is kidnapped everyone's plans are thrown up in the air and everyone is distraught. Griffin enlists the help of Bow Street while Harriet revisits her former friends in London's underworld and soon everyone is out looking for the lost teenager. It is Harriet's own father back from the dead that finally solves this little mystery and Harriet and Griffin can go on with their lives and live happily ever after like the rest of the Boscastle's.

I mentioned in my previous review of Hunter's book that she has taken to writing oddly emotionless romances. Really there is no other way to describe her writing as there seemed to be nothing between these characters. She did not compensate for this by doing an amazing job of having the characters think endlessly of what the other will look like naked. Despite the lack of good ruminations and build up that usually lead to good sex scenes this book very much surprised me by having some really quite delicious sex scenes. I liked Harriet's character superficially as she was certainly interesting with quite the intriguing back ground, but she was definitely not developed enough. Griffin was really rather boring as he was not developed at all and I had no idea what he was thinking, despite the fact that a bit of the story is told from his P.O.V. There was a brief mention that Harriet fell in love with him because he was powerful and took such good care of his family but I was really hoping for a bit more in a romance novel. However I was happy she accepted his proposal the first time and it wasn't dragged on and on because she felt she wasn't worthy.

It is obvious that Aunt Primrose is supposed to be the eccentric and blunt yet lovable and fun crazy old lady of the story. Unfortunately she fails miserably on all accounts except for the bluntness and that really just makes her seem old, mean, and nasty. The big conflict in the story is supposedly that Harriet, and nasty Aunt Primrose, is worried that Griffin is going to marry horrid Lady Constance. However this is just absolute bull as from the very beginning he makes no bones about the fact that he cannot stand Constance so really there is no suspense in that direction. I was just so caught up in the fact that Harriet and Griffin were discussing marriage while Edlyn was missing that I didn't really have time to worry about what had happened to her. The dialogue was stilted at best and once again there were several instances where it was obvious Hunter thought she was writing fun banter, but it just came out flat and irritating. And have I mentioned how annoying Aunt Primrose's character was? Cause yea- I really hated her and she was such a nuisance.

Rating: Not entirely hate-able and at the very least it was short (although it was so boring it took me a week to read), but unless something very unexpected happens this is my last Jillian Hunter novel. Two atrocious books in a row definitely earns one heart.

A Wicked Lord at the Wedding

A Wicked Lord at the Wedding by Jillian Hunter

Six years before our story officially begins Eleanor Prescott was accompanying her father as he doctored to the wounded British soldiers in Spain. While in Spain she attracted the attention of the very handsome and impulse Baron, Sebastian Boscastle. The two briefly courted and fell madly in love with each other and he asked her to marry him. Unfortunately before the wedding he was gravely wounded in a battle and he never completely recovered. His mental instability lead to a disastrous wedding and he abandoned her on her wedding night to go off back to war. The next three years were followed by infrequent and short visits while the following three years were filled with complete estrangement. Sebastian returns to his wife after learning that she is the Mayfair Masquer, a masked man who has been sneaking into women's bedchambers and, depending on who you ask, doing quite inappropriate things with them. He is determined to win back his wife and bring her back in line. The two enter into an agreement that he will aid her in her quest, but Eleanor is not competely trusting of her estranged husband.

In an attempt to gain a sense of adventure in her life, since her husband is off doing exciting war detail assignments, Eleanor is recruited by the Duchess of Wellington to become an operative in her little spyring. Eleanor's mission is to capture a series of letters that have been written to various women in England. These letters are supposedly written by a woman claiming to be the Duke's mistress and the Duchess fears what would happen if the contents were released to the public. The capture of these letters becomes a contest between Eleanor and Sebastian as they struggle to best each other while at the same time quickly falling back into their roles as husband and wife. Sebastian becomes increasingly concerned for Eleanor's safety after she is caught trying to steal letters by an infamous courtesan and evidence soon comes out that the plot against Wellington may in fact endanger his son. Sebastian is determined to do his duty to England and to keep his wife safe, and in the process he manages to stop the entire plot and win his wife's love- for good.

If my summary seems oddly detached it is merely a byproduct of the writing in the novel itself. Something about this book completely prevented me from feeling the story from either Sebastian or Eleanor's perspective. It seemed more like typing than writing to me and seemed, for lack of a better phrase, rather emotionless. A generous amount of time is given to Sebastian's point of view, which I appreciated as many novels don't give adequate space to the hero's POV, I feel that this might have contributed to the problem. I will admit there were nice bits where Eleanor reflected on how she would ever get back to trusting Sebastian again, or Sebastian wondering how he could manage to repair his broken marriage, but the incredibly odd spy/ masquer plot utterly overwhelmed any semblance of the romance this book (supposedly) contained. Another contributing factor may have been the fact that most of their actual "falling in love" occured before the meet of the story and the story was really about them reconnecting- as they worked to find those letters.

The side plot was a whole 'nother problem. I found it completely ridiculous. I was supposed to be excited about some stupid letters a mad woman had supposedly written to a bunch of other women about a supposed affair with the Duke of Wellington. Even though these letters were false I was supposed to be completely involved in a plot to discreetly get rid of these letters to ensure that the contents of the letters didn't become public knowledge. Even after the horrible plot against the two young boys was unconvered (90% through the book making it even more ridiculous) I could not for the life of me bring myself to care on whit about these letters. This was unfortunate as these letters, the capture of these letters, and talking about these letters consumed the vast majority of this book and the vast majority of the time Sebastian and Eleanor spent together. And I could not understand the drama surrounding this plot- literally five trustworthy people knew Eleanor was the masquer so I couldn't figure out why everyone feared the mob would come to her house to arrest her. And despite some mighty sexy banter there was very little follow through and what little there was, wasn't very good.

Rating: A far from satisfying read with a terrible sight plot, undeveloped characters I couldn't care about, and next to no steam. However, it was fast and, at very rare times, a little interesting. And of course it was still better than "The Perfect Wife."

The Love Affair of an English Lord

The Love Affair of an English Lord by Jillian Hunter

Chloe Boscastle was banished to the countryside by her older brother Grayson when she was caught kissing a Baron. Once there she gets caught in rainstorm and is rescued by Dominic Breckland, the Viscount Stratfield, and kisses him as well, only to have him be stabbed to death in his bed (while his mistress was present) a mere three weeks later. Unfortunately for the tiny town Dominic's ghost has been haunting the women- folk in their bedchambers at night, but Chloe is still completely shocked when Dominic appears wounded in her bedchamber late one night. Apparently Dominic was never really killed, he was stabbed and faked his own death, with the help of his friend Adrian, Lord Wolverton, to uncover the tangled conspiracies behind his death. Dominic is certain that his heir- apparent, his uncle Edgar is behind the attack on his life as he recognized his voice. Lending further credence to this belief is the fact that Edgar was present in India when Dominic's brother and Chloe's brother were killed by a supposed ambush. Dominic had been investigating the deaths and at the time he was stabbed all sources were pointing to Edgar.

So Dominic has been living in the walls of his estate while his murderous uncle has been making himself at home. The two are immediately attracted to each other and despite his wounded state Dominic has no trouble convincing Chloe of that. Chloe and Dominic begin a slow-moving affair that takes place whenever Dominic can sneak away without being seen, which is not very often. Dominic plans the big take down of his uncle, but not before a little hanky- panky with Chloe at the ball. Meanwhile Chloe's Aunt, and numerous other village ladies, have been holding meetings in an attempt to "lay" the ghost of Lord Stratfield... to rest. The big take-down is a little awkward to say the least and a tad drawn out, but I was glad that the book did not end on that odd note. Instead we get the introduction of Chloe's brothers (the ones who appear in the rest of the books in this series) and a little angsty-ness when Chloe and Dominic begin to realize the obstacles in their path. Eventually even Chloe's over-protective family is drawn to her side and everything works out wonderfully.

This was another romance novel where the protagonists just seemed to be in love without anything really developing. He shows up, he shares what happened with him and all of a sudden she's in love with him. And he falls in love with her because she's his strength and light during his time of darkness as he's hiding in the walls. It just seems to come out of nowhere as the two characters seem to know nothing about each other and spend very little actual time together. The sex was somewhat steamy and there was certainly a bit of it, or at least lead-ups to it, especially in the first half, but it all seemed alternately too rushed or too drawn out. I was very glad that we were given as much back-round information on the death of the brothers' and that it didn't become an overwhelming side-plot. As it was the conspiracy/ murder was enough, and definitely elemental to the story so it did not get too annoying.

There were a few really funny scenes, my favorite being the one where Dominic pretends to be Chloe when an ardent suitor comes to the window and he adopts a false soprano and dons a nightcap. Unfortunately this was negated by the weirdness of the scene that takes place right after they first consummated their love where a fight just seems to spring out of nowhere with very little actually having been said- and it did not flow well at all. It was disappointing because it would have been a great opportunity for some angst as she realized he couldn't stay with her, but instead just seemed to jump from point a to point z with no middle. This book was part of a series and there were times when I became a little annoyed by how much the author was throwing Grayson and Jane's happily-ever-after in our faces but I've definitely read worse attempts by an author to get people to read her other books.

Rating: It was very blah- but not even that satisfying of a blah. It was a very fast read that I was amusing and somewhat interesting, but I have no doubt that I'll remember little of it in a week.