How to Capture a Countess

How to Capture a Countess by Karen Hawkins R

At 17, Rose Balfour, falls madly in love with Lord Alton Sinclair, known as Sin, across a ballroom floor and manages to snag his attention during a private moonlit dance. But her innocence is no match the practiced rake and when she panics and pushes him into a fountain he is humiliated and promises he will get revenge on the little tease who earned him the nickname "Lord Fin." Rose's family decides to hide her away in the countryside but it just so happens that Sin's grandmother is Rose's godmother. The Duchess of Roxburgh has decided that she needs to get her grandson married but since the incident with Rose he has been more debauched then ever so to rid him of this obsession with her she invites both Sin and Rose to a country house party where they are the only two under fifty. Rose is horrified to find that Lord Sin is at the party but believes this will finally be a way to earn her sister's a place in London society. Sin is just as attracted to Rose as he remembers and she is now even more alluringly womanly so he decides that he will seduce her, believing she is no longer an innocent.

It quickly becomes obvious to everyone that there is something between Rose and Sin and the Duchess wastes no time using all her skills to throw them together. Rose and Sin find that neither can resist a challenge and quickly make everything at the house party into an opportunity for the two of them to engage in their own secret activities. Sin challenges Rose to a series of competitions, behind the scenes, and it provides them with plenty of opportunities for some inappropriate behavior and for them to get to know each other. Sin realizes that the hatred he's been harboring is unwarranted and that both he and Rose were hurt. Sin knows he wants Rose but marriage is not something he sees in his future until he discovers, too late, that Rose is a virgin and he knows that he has a duty as a gentleman to marry her. But she has come to realize that she wants more from Sin than a marriage based on mere duty and it is up to him to prove that they can have a life full of love and laughter.

Rose was fun but she had obviously been beaten down by the circumstances of her life and the tremendous scandal she was engaged in. I enjoyed reading about her coming out of her shell and learning to enjoy being in others' company and have confidence in herself. Sin was a typical romance hero with lots of responsibilities that have apparently created a man who eschews marriage and enjoys carousing about town. I really liked how his ideas about Rose were so flexible and how he quickly realized, through time spent with her, that Rose was a wonderful person and that what had happened was not a true reflection of her character. That showed tremendous strength of character on his part and really set him apart from other romance heroes who can be far too stubborn. Their relationship moved fast, although it was hard to get a true sense of time in the novel, and while they did spend a lot of time together and did seem to have a lot in common to base a relationship on, I felt like there was too much competition between them and they didn't have enough "calm" time together.

Rose and Sin were apparently very attracted to each other but I don't think that really came across in the book very well, especially after reading When the Duchess Said Yes. There was very little sex between them and the one scene was almost at the very end of the book and was really not that excited. I think that a couple with that much of a competitive nature to their relationship should have had more excitement in the bedroom. I found parts of this book incredibly funny because the other members of the house party were just so hilarious; between the half blind woman and the other octogenarians there were just so many opportunities for mayhem and the results were quite funny. It was enough for me to overlook the controlling grandma with her own little ruminations on what was happening. I am not a fan of the older lady trying to get her male relative married off; it comes across as weird and manipulative while not providing much to the actual story and this case was no different.

Rating: A fun read with two great characters and no distracting side plot that was quite humorous but it could be rather slow at times.

The Seduction of Sara

The Seduction of Sara by Karen Hawkins

Sara St. John, Lady Carrington, has been widowed for nearly a year after her husband, Julius, died after suffering a carriage accident while naked with his mistress. Sara had been desperately in love with her husband but her love had quickly withered and died after numerous dalliances, and she is determined never to allow herself to fall in love or give anyone the power to hurt her the way Julius did. Nicholas Montrose, the Earl of Bridgeton, has returned to England after numerous dissolute years in Paris after being banished by his cousin after trying to steal his fiance to gain her dowry. He knows he can never marry or produce children as he suffers from crippling migrains and he knows he will follow the same path as his mother did- he will turn to laudanum and eventually kill himself because of it. When Sara's brothers determine that she has spent the last year since Juilius' death creating far too much scandal they cut her off and banish her to Bath, which just happens to be the same place where Nicholas has taken up residence after winning an estate there at the card table. To escape her brothers' clutches Sara decides to marry, but her search is not going quite as planned.

When Nicholas and Sara first meet it is certainly lust at first cite and Nicholas decides that the innocent looking widow will quickly become his mistress. Unfortunately for him Sara is looking to become a wife and he watches her try and fail several times to coerce men she deems suitable into marriage. Eventually he offers Sara help in her endeavor but his assistance soon ends with her in a very compromising position just as her brothers storm in. They demand he marry her and to Sara's confusion he agrees and procures a special license to ensure it happens fast. Sara is nervous about marrying a man she knows so little about but knows she can make the best of it if they both try. Nick is equally sure that a marriage between them will never work out and he continually pushes her away and out of his life. He never wants her to see him when the headaches and laudanum have taken over his life and he goes to drastic measures to see to it that she gives up on the idea of saving him. But when he has completed his task Nick realizes he has just pushed away the only chance of love and happiness he's ever known and must win her back.

I could quickly tell that I would enjoy this book far more than Hawkin's MacLean series which were a tad too fluffy and fast for even me. Not mention there was that weird little curse where they controlled the weather. I really liked Sara and the way she was determined to take control of her own life by shucking her brothers' completely overbearing control. However, I did feel as they she went about it in a way that actually played right into their hands. Although she was trying to find a husband who would let her live her own life, it still seemed as though she was bucking the system by... giving in to the system. A tad confusing. One of the men that Sara attempts to marry faints as she tries to kiss her and Nicholas reveals later that it is because he is not attracted to woman (he's gay). While breaking this news to Sara he also imparts that this man is "a man who has forgotten he is a man." I understand that at the time period that was probably a very accurate belief, I have read other novels where a side- character's homosexuality is handled in a much better way. I don't need complete historical accuracy as also at the time said man would have been guilty of a punishable crime.

One of the first things I realized about this book was that Hawkin's was at least at one time, a much better sexy writer than she is now. A common thread among the MacLean's was a near total abscene of sex, and although it wasn't exactly superb or super steamy the sexy in this book was far better and much more prolific. A hero with a secret malady he is convinced will lead to his ruination and so he pushes the woman he loves away. It is quite an annoying plot to be honest as the reader knows that if the damn hero will just open his mouth and take the woman into his confidence she will tell him it doesn't matter and the two will live happily ever after. It was equally annoying here and it was made even worse by the horrible trick he used to push her away. Despite the fact that it "did not mean anything" it still was a nasty thing to do and Sara should really have put him through his paces a bit more. I know very little about the migraine headaches Nicholas suffers from but I do know that there is no quick fix for them so I was glad that the book ends on a bit of a question as to that little issue- although we do know he's not going to die of them, we don't know that everything has been magically cured.

Rating: Fun, fast, enjoyable, a little bit frustrating and annoying. A satisfying read.

The Laird Who Loved Me

The Laird Who Loved Me by Karen Hawkins

During the season Caitlyn Hurst and Alexander MacLean engaged in a heated, brief, and very tempestuous affair that ended when Caitlyn's plans to trick MacLean into marriage ended up with Alexander's brother, Hugh, married to Caitlyn's twin sister, Catriona. Despite the marriage working out very well for both parties MacLean is determined to have his revenge against Caitlyn so he convinced his onetime paramour, the Duchess of Roxburge, to invite Caitlyn to a house party where he intends to completely ruin her. However things don't go precisely as planned (as usual in a romance novel) and from the get go MacLean and Caitlyn have quite a difficult time of keeping their hands off each other and he can't help but getting jealous each time another man watches her, touches her, makes her laugh, etc.... He is struck with the urge to posses her and claim her as are most romance novel heroes. Caitlyn feels guilty over the way thing worked out between the two of them, but believes that, because everything worked out, that MacLean needs to forgive her.

MacLean and Caitlyn can't help but challenge each other and it isn't long before the two of them make a wager, although Caitlyn was definitely prodded along by MacLean who knows she can't resist a challenge. The each will choose 3 tasks for the other to complete and if MacLean wins Caitlyn will be his mistress (openly) for two weeks and if Caitlyn wins than MacLean will propose on bended knee- and Caitlyn has threatened to accept. Both enter with the intent of "revenge" or pride but it isn't long before they both realize their feelings are changing, even if they try to deny it. Caitlyn feels bad when one of MacLean's tasks injures him and MacLean finds his opinion of Caitlyn as the frivolous school-girl vanishing as he witnesses her determination, hard-work, and friendliness with the servants. As they unsuccessfully fight their attraction to each other and rethink what they each want from the other, MacLean is terrified that he will fall for Caitlyn and marry her only to have her regret marrying an old man and other people in the party aren't eager to see them get their happily ever after.

While officially a stand alone anyone who hasn't already read "Sleepless in Scotland" (Hugh and Catriona's story) will inevitably be missing quite a chunk of backstory as many references are made to Caitlyn's follies that lead to Hugh and Catriona marrying, but it isn't really explained at all. If one can get over this than it won't be too much of a problem, although there are also many references to the MacLean curse (of controlling the weather) which is not explored as in depth in this story as in the other MacLean stories (something I did not mind at all as it always just seemed a little ridiculous). Another aspect of this story that the book keeps referring back to is their passionate little affair back in London; it is literally brought up constantly. However, don't bother reading Sleepless as that's not even talked about in that story either. This was a definite no-no for me; referring to a past between the character's in fine, but I feel like we missed so much of their courtship right off the bat. The book also refers to the vast age difference between MacLean and Caitlyn and while we know Caitlyn is 23 we never learn MacLean's real age.

I like the amount of time spent on MacLean's issue of being older than Caitlyn; oftentimes in this circumstance the hero would spend a paragraph thinking about the age difference, but in this book it really is an actual issue because he had had a friend who had committed suicide after marrying a much younger woman who no longer loved him. I also enjoyed reading about MacLean's struggles with his emotions about Caitlyn and their progression from bitterness to confusion to lust to admiration to (finally) love. Unfortunately Caitlyn's emotions weren't as heavily explored and by the end I was kind of left with the feeling that Caitlyn certainly enjoyed MacLean's body I couldn't really sense any deeper emotions. And for a couple that spends nearly every waking second thinking about gettin the other naked there is very little steam; a few semi-hot kissing scene, 1 very brief sex scene, and a whole lot of talk about his cock getting hard looking at her ass; lots of talk and very little action. And of course the cover- it is not good.

Rating: Aside from MacLean's POV parts where he's thinking about Caitlyn I liked very little of this book. it was remotely satisfying so it's not a one but it's definitely not up to a three.

Sleepless in Scotland

Sleepless in Scotland by Karen Hawkins

Catriona Hurst has always been the responsible one in her family so when she hears that her twin sister Caitlyn is trying to trap Lord Alexander MacLean into marriage she immediately rushes down to London to try to stop her. Learning that Caitlyn plans to stow away in Alexander's carriage and hide until she is ruined, forcing him to offer for her, Catriona follows the carriage and at the first opportunity tries to find her sister. Unfortunately her sister is nowhere to be found and Catriona finds herself escorted off in the MacLean carriage with the wrong MacLean. Hugh MacLean had also been made aware of Caitlyn's plans and had decided the best way to deal with it would be to scare her, but because of the poor lighting in the carriage he can't tell that the woman he has kidnapped isn't Caitlyn. When the Hurst family finally catches up with the carriage there is nothing left for Hugh to do but offer for Catriona and while neither of them like being forced into marriage both agree that they would rather have a quick, private ceremony than a big production. After the quicky marriage the two head up to Hugh's estate in Scotland where the first thing they do is realize that they are incredibly compatible in the bedroom. Despite this Hugh is determined to maintain some distance between them and they "agree" that Catriona will only stay in Scotland for a couple of months until the scandal dies down.

And then Hugh abruptly introduces Catriona to his three daughters, Christina, Devon, and Aggie. Part of Hugh's desire to keep Catriona at arms length is because he his daughters were gravely hurt by their mother's treatment and subsequent abandonment and he does not want them to get attached and then hurt when she leaves. Catriona quickly realizes that the only thing Hugh actually does want her to be involved in in his life is bedplay and this is far from the way she wants it. The girls fear that Catriona will steal their father's affection from them and, led by Devon, the slowly sabotage her attempts to get closer to Hugh, although Catriona gets her own back by playing nasty tricks on them as well. When Hugh learns what the girls have been doing it prompts Catriona to ask to be a larger part of their lives and his life and a huge argument ensues where he unleashes the power of the MacLean curse via a frightening windstorm. When Catriona's grandmother, Mam the white witch, comes to visit she lets Catriona know that sometimes to make a marriage work there needs to be arguments and Catriona realizes that all the compromising in the relationship has been one way. She knows that she need to get Hugh to accept her as an important and necessary part of his life and the lives of his daughters.

The book, as promised, was fast and fun, as all the books in the series have been; they're easiliy digestible and easy to read in one sitting. Fortunately the characters weren't forced to resort to witty banter to make the book so lively as Hawkins let the reader know that these two were compatible by showing us more "true" talk. Hugh and Catriona talk a lot, and have a lot of internal dialogue going on, and Hawkin's does a great job with all of it. My favorite scene was the argument scene because Hawkin's did such a great job writing about what both Hugh and Catriona were feeling throughout the fight. She got into both their heads and was able to make the reader really feel the fear, anger, love, and hurt that both were too scared to admit to and that was driving them apart. Throughout the whole book Hawkins did an excellent job of telling the story from the two different points of view of Hugh and Catriona and both were very well developed characters whom a reader could easily identify/ sympathize with. There were also some brief periods where the story was told from the point of view of one of Hugh's daughters and these were very well done as well as it was important for the reader to know why the girls were being so horrid to Catriona and why they feared her entrance into their lives.

There was minimal angst in this book, and the whole mean stepdaughters thing could have created some excellent angst, but Catriona was really a happy, intelligent woman who was able to hold her own and so there really was no call for any angst. Unfortunately there was very little actual bedroom description, only one slightly steamy scene and one that wasn't even finished. While we are told numerous times that Hugh and Catriona are enormously hot for each other and do it 2-3 times a night or morning only a (very) little bit of description is thrown in as a character is remembering what had happened in the past. All in all I felt like not much actually happened in the book, there were no villain or side-plot- all there was was two people having to overcome one's fear of intimacy. I thought for sure the girls mother would come and try to take them away, and indeed reference was made to this possibly happening, but this was a no go. Our "climax" scene involved one of the girls running away and Catriona (rather foolishly as she had only been riding for 2 weeks) galloping after her in a storm. A heroine that has been level headed and intelligent the whole book doing something like this seemed out of character and I almost had to categorize her as TSTL- too stupid to live (almost).

Rating: The book was better than both of the other MacLean books I have read (To Scotland, with Love and How to Abduct a Highland Lord) it suffered from some of the same setbacks as the other two even while it excelled in other areas. It was between a 3 and a 4 and once again I will let the lack of steam drag it down to 3.

How to Abduct a Highland Lord

How to Abduct a Highland Lord by Karen Hawkins

Fiona MacLean and Jack Kincaid engaged in a brief yet passionate affair that ended when Fiona discovered Jack had a mistress, breaking her heart and making him swear off love and marriage for all eternity. When the feud between their two clans erupts, Jack's half-brothers accidentally kill Fiona's brother Callum, Fiona is convinced the only way to prevent more bloodshod is to marry Jack and unite their clans. So she marries him- while he is still suffering from a massive bump on the head and minor dillusions of being in heaven. Needless to say he is not happy to wake up and discover himself married to the woman who broke his heart. He is determined that he won't let his marriage to Fiona change his way of life and thinks the best thing to do to protect his heart is to go back to his whoring, drinking, and gambling. But his passion and growing feelings for Fiona are making this very difficult indeed. Fiona is equally determined to convince Jack that the two of them can have a marriage that is more than one in name only and thinks that the two of them spending time together is the perfect way for them to get to know each other and fall in love. So the two spend the first few weeks of marriage in bed, sleeping, eating, shopping, and than some more in bed together.

Unfortunately Jack left behind a scorned lover in Lady Lucinda Featherington and she is furious to learn that Jack is not only married, but that Jack is so enamored of his new wife that he is giving up the comforts of his bed. She teams up with Alan Campbell, a Scottish Lord whose family had long ago sold off their land to the MacLeans and is thus determined to wreak vengeance on them and on Jack for being richer than him. When Jack realizes that Fiona has come to expect him to spend his nights at home worth her he embarks on a mission to prove that he has not been completely domesticated and takes off into the night. Fed up and frustrated with something she doesn't know how to control Fiona heads out too and quickly runs into Alan Campbell who is more than willing to make friends wtih his enemies new and angry wife. On two occassions Fiona comes face to face with Jack's past; one where she confronts Lucinda and another where she and Jack attempt to out perform each other to make the other jealous/ mad. But just as Jack and Fiona are settling in together trouble strikes; someone is trying to hurt, possibly kill Fiona and while Jack is determined to get to the bottom of it Fiona's brothers become convinced that he is the culprit. The villians, and the ending, isn't exactly hard to guess, but it sure is sweet.

This is the first book in Hawkin's MacLean series, the second being To Scotland with Love, and it is heaps better than the next one. I had complained that I disliked not reading the characters' first meeting, but I realized it wasn't necessarily that I didn't read about the first meeting, but that it took them so long to realize how the felt for each other. Jack's character is so depressed after Fiona leaves him that he turns to whoring and drinking, however he certainly manages to turn away from his dissolute ways very quickly. It literally occurs right after their first evening together while he as at a party and discovers himself suddenly not interested whatsoever in a gorgeous woman he had (4 days previously) been in massive lust with. But this is in keeping with the rest of the book as the entire story seems to take place in a week. Although we are informed that nearly a month has passed we are only really privy to the happens and goings on of a few of those days and it makes the time line seem much shorter. I didn't really mine this bizarre lapse of time as at least the author makes the reader aware that more time as elapsed and does not just leave one confused by how Fiona can find herself pregnant less than a week into her marriage.

The two scenes I mentioned above (where Fiona literally confronts Jack's past) were just so much fun. The first involves her confronting Lucinda and does not end with her running away crying and does involve a scandal that is much talked about the next day. Needless to say our little heroine wins and it is wonderful. The next involves Jack and Fiona trying to one-up each other by flirting with either Alan Campbell or Lucinda, drinking and toasting, and gambling. While it certainly has it's juvenile aspects and roaring jealousy/ possessiveness, it served to bring Jack and Fiona's feelings for each other to the forefront so that they have difficulty continuing to deny them any longer. Also as mentioned above the whole "mystery" of who is trying to harm Fiona is far from difficult to solve, but there is something to say for convoluted twists and turns in side plots that don't detract from and take over the romance of the story. Another thing that was far better in this than in her next book is the sex- this book is far hotter and realistic in dealing with these two getting physical. Like all the books in the MacLean series this one also deals with the "MacLean curse" whereby they all control their weather with their emotions and it just seems like such an odd and out of place power; something I could definitely have dealt without.

Rating: This was far better than To Scotland with Love, which I gave two hearts to. But I definitely don't think it was worth 4 hearts at all. There just wasn't enough to the book to warrant giving it that many.

To Scotland with Love

To Scotland with Love by Karen Hawkins

Venetia Oglivie comes from a family of over-actors yet has managed to retain her position as the reasonable one; until she runs away with the young Blake Ravenscroft. He lured her away under the guise of visiting her sick mother when in fact her plans to elope to Gretna Green and head immediately for the continent in order to avoid a duel. She discovers her deception through Gregor MacLean, who has been her friend- and only her friend- for 29 years. They're such good friends that apparently neither of them has ever looked at the other sexually even though they eventually reaize that they're each other's ideal types. When Gregor finds out she's been kidnapped he races off to save her. And... apparently an old family curse has left the remaining members of his family with the ability to control the weather through their moods and Gregor's foul mood has caused quite the nasty snow storm

Venetia and her kidnapper overturn and seek shelter at an inn where Gregor finds them and confronts Ravenscrof with what's happened. Venetia is upset but because of the storm they're stranded for days. Gregor and Venetia suddently find themselves desperately attracted to each other but both fight it off resolutely. They are convinced they can wait everything out until a fight between them leads to another snow storm and two more days of being stranded which assures that Venetia will never make it back to town before Venetia's reputation is ruined. His proposal is bungled and a crazy cast of side chacters create an expectedly crazy side plots including an overbearing blind matron, a spoiled 17 year old who falls in love with every man, and a timid yet incredibly rude companion. When everyone can finally leave our two protagonists leave with heavy hearts until a very large reunion featuring almost every family member and every side character and then some leads to a real proposal which results in much different results from the first.

I felt like this book started in the middle. It was great to see two fast friends, people who had a solid foundation and respect for each other, develop a tendre for each other. However, I realized while reading this that one of my favorite parts of romance novels is reading about the characters meeting and getting to know each other. And like I said: here we started in the middle and skipped all that part. I presume I was supposed to feel like they were getting to know a whole new side, a much more intimate side, of each other, but... the big introductions were missing and it made the romance novel lack. It also just seemed so out of sorts that Gregor had never before noticed her body- just because he was her friend does not mean he didn't notice her physical attributes especially when they're so plentiful and just up his alley. The same goes vice versa as well with her not noticing his rugged manly good looks which even her mother noticed.

Our lovable cast of side characters include Ms. Flatt the put upone companion who still manages to belittle everyone around and believes Ravenscroft is in love with her. And Elizabeth Higginbotham the beautiful 17 year old ninny in love with a vicar or a farmer whose father is rushing her away from a bad match. They provide the backround for a great scene between Gregor and Venetia over her need to fix everyone's lives and his seeming inability to care about other people. It isn't resolved very well, but it was the best scene we really had between the two. I believe that's an unfortunate circumstance as it lasts 3 pages and occurs 20 pages from the end. More like it should have been spread throughout. There also should have been quite a bit more steamy scenes especially considering how much these two enjoyed staring at each other's physical attributes.

Rating: Half a romance novel with unmemorable characters. Still it was fun and fast and hopefully the equels featuring his brother are more palatable. I want to give it 2 1/2 stars so I'll just let the lacking sex scenes drag it down.