One Night Scandal

One Night Scandal by Christie Kelley 1117

Sophie Reynard is one of the ton's most sought after matchmakers because of her skills as a medium that allow her to read into other's futures and see their perfect match. Despite her friendship with some of the most powerful men and women of society she is not completely accepted because she is a bastard who was never claimed by her father, even though the rumor is that he is a powerful Earl. Sophie's mother has taken care of her as best she knows how but that does not stop her from running off every time a new man catches her fancy. Sophie is in Venice visiting her mother, who has run off with an Italian count, when an accident lands her in one of the canals. A handsome stranger rescues her and takes her back to his house to care for her and Sophie is shocked when she sees her rescuer in her future and believes that he is the one. Nicholas Tenbury, the Marquess of Ancroft, finds himself falling for the beautiful woman he has rescued and believes her to be Italian so he has no qualms about making her believe the same about him.

Knowing he is meant for her Sophie gives herself to him for a night and is horrified to read a letter he keeps that reveals his identity and that he is in love with one of her friends. She runs away and hopes never to see him even though she knows it is inevitable since he is related to many and is friends with all of her friends in London. Nic cannot forget the woman he spent the night with in Venice and it is not long before he discovers her identity and wants to find a way to ensure that she never abandons him again. Sophie decides she must help Nicholas find his own match because she no longer sees him, or sees anyone at all, in her future. Thus ensures several attempts by Sophie to throw women at Nicholas despite it breaking her heart every time she contemplates him being with someone else. The two have difficult keeping their hands off each other but Sophie knows that she will never be accepted by the ton and would not make a proper wife for Nicholas. Nicholas has to show Sophie that their pasts do not matter but it is their future together that is what they need to focus on.

I am not into paranormal romances and while this wasn't precisely other-worldly I do not get into, or really believe in, people who can "read" other's futures. That made it really difficult to appreciate Sophie because her entire self was built around her unique gift and she placed such immense importance on what she saw. There were many obstacles she threw up between her and Nick and her inability to see him in her future was particularly ridiculous to me and I just found myself rolling my eyes every time this  particular reason came up. I could not get a read on Sophie's character at all because of the obstacles she kept throwing up and at the end it seemed like the only time I got into Sophie's head she was bemoaning her belief that she could never be with Nick. There was always one reason or another why she felt she was not qualified to be a marchioness and I wondered if it was the only thing she was capable of thinking about. While her background and experiences made her actions understandable, it got to be incredibly annoying and it just came across as an excuse to prolong the novel.

Nick had father issues that left him feeling undeserving of love so Sophie's attempts to distance him played right into his feelings of inadequacy. Rather than explore this aspect of the story, it was brushed over and Nick played right along with Sophie in the attempts to find him a wife. I could not figure out precisely why he was so desperate to have Sophie and no other or even why she was in love with him. I got so little from either of these characters and could not figure out what their interests were or what they had going for them. The sex was pretty hot and there was a decent amount of it but it didn't make up for the overall lackluster, and slow, quality of the romance. They both had a lot of friends, friends who were all main characters in Kelley's other books and I quickly became bored of having it shoved down my throat how happy they all were with each other. It quickly went from showing us how happy they were to having them become just as important in this story as the main characters. I also felt like it would have been really difficult to understand this story without having read her previous works.

Rating: A boring book with far too many made up obstacles thrown in their path and far too many appearances by previous characters.

How to Marry a Duke

How to Marry a Duke by Vicky Dreiling 106

Tessa Mansfield has resigned herself to remaining unmarried but that does not stop her from arranging marriages for the wallflowers of the ton. Tristan, the Duke of Shelbourne, has recently restored his family fortunes after his wastrel father gambled it away, and has decided it is time to marry. He is intrigued by the voluptuous beauty he meets at a ball, but when he learns who she is he realizes she is off limits and hires her to make a match for him. Tristan wants a quick, painless, courtship and hopes to find a woman he desires as he does not want to become like his father and go philandering all over town. Tessa's parents had had a love match and she only arranges marriages that are founded in love so she decides to surprise Tristan and sets up an arrangement she hopes will lead him to find a woman he can love. She chooses 24 of the ton's most eligible ladies and they will all "compete" to win the hand of the duke. Tristan is not at all pleased with this turn of events, but agrees to the bizarre courtship, partly because it means he will get to spend more time with Tessa.

Although Tessa is loath to admit it, she is enjoying spending time with Tristan and it is not long before they are pushing the boundaries of propriety by meeting in private to discuss the courtship, where both of them take advantage of the opportunity to admire and get to know the other. As time goes on Tessa discovers that watching Tristan flirt with the pretty young girls in the ton turns her stomach, but she knows that she will have to get used to it. Tessa is thrown for a loop when Richard Mortland, her best friend's brother and her childhood "sweetheart," returns from being presumed dead. Richard seduced Tessa when she was younger and she was crushed when she learned he only wanted her for her money and now he is threatening to reveal their past if she does not marry him. Tristan senses that something is wrong and wants to help this woman who has come to mean so much to him, but things come to a head one night and Tristan is furious when he learns the truth. He must make one beautiful attempt to win her back and prove that she is the greatest matchmaker when making marriages based in love.

I was really excited to discover a debut author and reading the back blurb made me really hope that I'd found a winner and I wasn't really disappointed as the book was excellent for a debut. Tessa was wonderful and even though at times she could be starry eyed, such as her desire to only match marriages for love, but overall she was incredibly intelligent, self assured, and realistic about her life. I also liked how she rooted for the underdog and her desire to see the wallflowers married off was genuine and I liked how dedicated she is to her job. While it may seem like she threw away happiness too quickly because of her lost virginity, to me it seemed more true to life than the books where the heroine loses her virginity in Victorian England and everything is okey-dokey. When consequences surfaced she dealt with them very well, and I absolutely loved that she sought help to solve them, and didn't try to do it herself like so many heroines. The Richard Mortland plot was very well done and provided an opportunity for Tristan to shine as the perfect hero for Tessa.

Tristan was just as great and I loved reading about the changes he underwent throughout the novel as he came to realize that he did want a marriage with love. He cared about the feelings of others and he made so many decision based on keeping the girls in the competition happy and it showed that he respected Tessa's opinions. He proved himself the alfa hero when Tessa was in need and I loved his possessive/ protective feelings towards her and how take charge he was when his woman was threatened. And I don't want to put out any spoilers, but the end was my absolute favorite happy ending scene I've ever read; it was so romantic and made me fall in love with the characters all over again. Tristan and Tessa were incredibly attracted to each other and there were some scorching hot scenes between them, but unfortunately no sex until the VERY end, which was disappointing. There were times when the writing seemed a bit sloppy in the form of an information dump or awkward conversations between characters, but overall it went smoothly and was a fun and fast read.

Rating: I very much enjoyed this book, especially Tristan and the happily ever after, but the absurdity of the bridal competition and some sloppy writing kept it from being perfect.