Elizabeth, the Enchantress

Elizabeth, the Enchantress: The Real Duchesses of London by Lavinia Kent 1125

Elizabeth married William, the Duke of Westhaven when she was a gawky girl and fancied that he was her prince charming until he left a month into their wedding; leaving her to face the gossip and scandal. William believed that he was a hero rescuing the orphaned girl who was living at the mercies of her cruel uncle and never imagined that his leaving to explore the world would cause any problems for Elizabeth. When he returns he finds her much changed and is confronted with all the pain he has caused her over the years and Elizabeth does not know if she can forgive him. When two cartoons appear that depict two different scenarios involving one of them scorning the other the rest of the duchesses of London, and their husbands, are all thrown together to try to determine who is trying to destroy their reputations and their marriages. So much has changed and each of them is a different person than when they were younger. Elizabeth must discover if she can forgive William and he must help her move beyond their past and see that their future together is full of hope and love.

I am a sucker for stories like this where the characters have so much emotional turmoil between them and so much to work out especially when it involves two characters who are secretly harboring strong feeling for each other but just don’t know how to express it. Elizabeth and Westhaven were both fun and well developed characters, and not just for such a short novel, but completely. It was clear that they were both hurt and confused by past actions and they both had a lot to learn with the others’ help. Their relationship progressed nicely throughout the course of the book and it helped that they spent so much time in each other’s company and talked about their issues and I was glad that it was not stretched out as it would have been in a longer romance. There was only a little bit of sex between them at the very end and it was rather disappointing since it had been building up for a while and they talked about it a lot. The plot involving the cartoons was not as well integrated in this novella and came to an abrupt end and took up a little too much space for my taste.

Rating: I loved the angst and the characters and the relationship they had but did not appreciate some of the other elements of the story.

Annabelle, the American

Annabelle the American: The Real Duchesses of London by Lavinia Kent 1124

Annabelle married her husband Thomas knowing that he did not love her and knowing that many would think her unworthy of the honor since she was an untitled, but wealthy American, and he was heir to a dukedom. That does not stop that pain when a vicious cartoon is published that shows her husband with another, very young woman, and two children; insinuating that he married her for her money so he could support his other family. Thomas is horrified at the cartoons and knows he should have told his wife the truth before their marriage; the young woman and oldest child are his children from a previous marriage when he was very young and the baby is supposedly his grandchild. Thomas and Annabelle dance around the issues between them but the problem serves to bring them closer together as they get to know each other better, mostly in the bedroom, and bond over the experience of being gossiped about. Suddenly each of them discover feelings for the other and they both want more than the marriage of convenience they had entered into.

This was another short story but it certainly managed to pack a lot of emotions and problems into so short a space and while I enjoyed the angst and turmoil that accompanied the issues in the story I did feel like some back ground was sacrificed and I am not really a fan of books where the relationship picks up halfway through. I did not feel like Annabelle or Thomas was very developed, perhaps because they already knew each other and thus it was not as necessary. Annabelle was incredibly strong in the face of such a horrible experience and held her own against the gossips and her judgmental father-in-law. Thomas was more difficult to like because of the secrets he had been keeping- especially since it seemed so unnecessary for him to have kept them. The experience definitely brought them closer together and I could see how their former, rather distant relationship had stagnated, while this forced them to discover feelings they had for each other and fall in love. There was a lot of sex for so short a book and it was really hot and spread throughout the book.

Rating: An interesting short story that focused on the issues and problems between a couple that brought out some really nice angsty emotions. 

Linette, the Lioness

Linette, the Lioness: The Real Duchesses of London by Lavinia Kent 1129

Linette, the Dowager Duchess of Doveshire, does not appreciate the rumors and the cartoons claiming that she is having an affair with the new Duke of Doveshire, even if the rumors do happen to be true. James and Linette had grown up together and she had been in love with him, he had been her first lover, and they had sworn to marry. James did not feel like he deserved Linnette so when her parents told her to scram he left and Linette had no choice but to marry her betrothed. Years later James inherited the title and the two picked up right where they left off and James wonders if he can ever make up for abandoning her all those years ago and hopefully create a future for them. Linette's friend, Elizabeth, had hoped to take James for a lover and she feels betrayed to discover that Linette is having her own affair with him. Their feud culminates in a fight in the park where Linette manage to lay blame on Elizabeth and prove that she is not pregnant. Even with the feud going on there is still the matter of how she and James will be able to move beyond what happened in their past, forgive each other for the mistakes that were made, and finally achieve their happily ever after.

I really wanted to admire Linette since she was very confident and competent and was secure in her sexuality while forging her own rules and still being on top of society. However I felt like her character was not developed entirely, not enough about her was explained and there were times when she came across as mean. James was fairly well done and his motives were very clear and he so obviously wanted to make up for the mistakes he had made and make Linette happy. Their relationship seemed to be built a lot on the past that they had together and not much of it was made in the present and I never really like that. There was some hot and scandalous sex in this book, but definitely not what I would consider a lot, rather a lot of it was just hinted at. The feud between Elizabeth and Linette just appeared in this book with little explanation as to what was happening or how it started so it confused me. The relationship between the women was also very prominent in this novel and we got to see all the little bits of drama they had going on between them.

Rating: A heroine I had trouble liking in a romance that was missing romance and friendships that were rocky for reasons I couldn't understand.

Kathryn, the Kitten

Kathryn, the Kitten: The Real Duchesses of London 1127

Kathryn, the Duchess of Harrington, is the perfect duchess; she is polite and proper and has a very cordial relationship with her husband. But beneath the surface both she and the duke are suffering after a horrible miscarriage and since then Robert has only infrequently come to her bed and she worries that their relationship will be far too proper. She is sheltered and unsure how to show her husband that she wants to improve their relationship and so she enlists the help of her lifelong friend, Linette. Robert has noticed the distance that has grown between him and Kathryn but is also unsure to bridge it; he worries that she has not recovered from the loss of their child and does not want to hurt her by pushing the issue. Finally Kathryn works up the courage to try to take her marriage to the next level when a horrifying cartoon appears that implies Harrington and Linette are having an affair and a child. Suddenly her relationship with her friends and her husband are thrown in jeopardy and she must work through them with the help of her husband.

This first book in the Duchesses series introduces how all the women came to be friends through a cartoon hung in a shop window and their relationship to each other progressed very naturally as they got to know Annabelle and each other in a whole new light. Kathryn and Robert were wonderful together and it was so great to read about a married couple falling in love and working through some very difficult emotions and problems. I admired how well the miscarriage was handled and not brushed aside but not completely bringing down the tone of the novel. It was really perfect for a novel of this size and there was nothing superfluous or dragged out. There was not very much sex but what was there was well written, if not exactly awe inspiring after waiting so long and reading about how in lust these two were with each other. They worked well together and I felt like their relationship was on very solid footing and that they would continue to be friends as well as helpmates and I enjoyed the little, very tiny, problem that arose in the form of the cartoon and that they handled it like adults.

Rating: A very good emotional storyline featuring two people in a relationship I was very much rooting for with a well done little bump in the road.

A Talent for Sin

A Talent for Sin by Lavinia Kent

Violet, Lady Carrington, is living the life she has always wanted for herself. She is free to make her own choices, she can do what she want, she does not need to worry about pleasing anyone else and she is currently engaged in quite the passionate affair with Lord Peter St. Johns. She is content to let things continue in this vein with the two of them just remaining their very close, but open-ended, relationship. Unfortunately for her, Peter is not content and is determined to marry Violet. She is of course not at all amenable to this and when she says no he informs her that the situation is not up for discussion: either she agrees to marry him or he ends their affair. Violet is frustrated and does her best to convince Peter that the two of them are not suitable- she is 31 to his 24, she is very far from virginal, she has quite the reputation, and eventually she confides that she is incapable of having children after a horrible accident when she gave birth to her son who died an hour after birth.

Peter abandons London to escape Violet, but when the two are forced together at the birth of Peter's nephew, the two can not keep their hands off each other. Peter makes it clear to Violet that all of her attempts to get him to abandon her will not work and she agrees to consider the possibility of marriage. Things become even more complicated when Violet's brother, Master, makes plans to marry their young sister, Isabella, off to an old man, Foxworthy. Foxworthy holds information that some of Master's investments had been filtered to the French during the war and demands Isabella and return. When Isabella begs Violet for help, Violet strikes a deal with Foxworthy that he accept her as a mistress and leave Isabella alone. To save Violet from this horrible fate Peter decides that he must marry Isabella so that she cannot be used as a bargaining chip. Violet is devastated by this and Peter certainly doesn't want to marry Isabella so the two of them must work together to find out the truth behind Master's problems with Foxworthy and earn a happy ending for the two of themselves together.

As with so many books that open in the middle of the relationship this book lacked so much of the romantic development that I enjoy so much. Unfortunately I felt this book was even worse than usual as the two had been so romantically involved that the situation had already progressed to the point of proposals- we missed the most fun part of everything! And I truly felt that there was so little character development to accompany this and that made it even more difficult to determine why exactly these two were supposedly so in love with each other. I know that I should not judge people by age but, as someone who is 24, I can not imagine a 24 man being truly ready for a lifetime commitment as men that age just seem so immature. However, Peter does acquit himself well with how he handles Violet's inability to commit, her revelation about her son's birth, and her actions regarding Foxworthy. Violet is also somewhat well written as her past marriages certainly make her feelings regarding marriage understandable, I wish she had been able to get over her insecurities more rapidly.

What I really did not understand about Violet was her sense of obligation to her brother and her family in general. Her brother seems like a right ass with his constantly being in debt and selling off his sisters to the highest bidder. Her sister is somewhat more understandable yet she goes about helping in the most roundabout way and does not do the most obvious thing imaginable- tell Peter was happening and asking for his help. And then it just gets even more convoluted with Peter saying he's going to marry Isabella and Violet refusing to let him back out because it would ruin her sister. Two books in a row where a woman is willing to sacrifice the love of her life to not ruin a family member and I will just say that Lisa Valdez did a much better job of it. Really the most likable character in this story was Isabella as she did some dumb things but at least they were understandable and when she finally took charge of her life she didn't go about it in a way that was completely ridiculous. And I'm not going for the Keira Knightley look-a-like on the cover.

Rating: I did not really like the characters and I didn't really get much of a sense of romantic development but it was a fast read- at least.