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.

Duke of Midnight

Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt

Maximus Batten, the Duke of Wakefield, is but a child when he witnesses his parents being murdered in St. Giles. Now he rules Parliament and is a model of propriety in society, but in his secret life he is one of the Ghosts of St. Giles, protecting the people and secretly hunting for the person who murdered his parents. Artemis Greaves is a ladies companion for her spoiled, but naively sympathetic, cousin Penelope, because of a tragedy that left her brother wrongly accused of murder and locked up in Bedlam. One evening she is forced into St. Giles because of her cousin and when the two are accosted they are rescued by the Ghost and in the struggle, Artemis pulls Maximus' family ring off his finger. Maximus is trying to court the equally proper Lady Penelope, but once Artemis puts together all of the clues she recognizes Maximus as the ghost and decides to use this knowledge to help her brother, Apollo. She threatens to go to the police if Maximus doesn't help her brother escape.

Maximus is trapped, but he can't help but find himself drawn to the withdrawing young lady who hides in the back ground but has no problems blackmailing a Duke. He agrees to help her and she becomes companion to his sister so she can be closer to Apollo, but also means that she is much closer to him. Artemis wants to figure out why Maximus continues to go out, putting his life at risk and wonders what has happened to turn him into a cold and seemingly heartless man. But Artemis begins to melt Maximus and he finds himself thinking about more than just revenge and his parents' fate. Kisses and caresses turn into far more, but while Maximus knows he cannot live without her, Artemis knows she cannot live with him as his mistress, especially if he still plans to marry her cousin. Maximus is closer than ever to finding out who murdered his parents, and a clue reveals that Artemis' brother might know more than he is letting on. Even when confronting a murder, Maximus knows that what really matters is Artemis and finding a way to convince her that he is the one who needs to become worthy enough to earn her love.

Hoyt's ability to write likable, realistic, and three dimensional heroines remains unparalleled in my opinion. Artemis is a living, breathing woman with faults and hopes and love and fears and Hoyt does a fabulous job of drawing the reader in to Artemi' life and enabling the reader to truly feel like Artemis is a real person. Her love for her brother, her sense of duty to her cousin, her terror of her uncertain future with Maximus, her resilience in the face of a family tragedy, and her pride that carries her through some not so pleasant scenes with Maximus. Maximus' childhood has created a man who seems to have no emotions and he is quite chilly and unlikable for much of the book. His dedication to finding the person who killed his parents overshadows everything else in his life and it is only when he realizes he might lose Artemis, and thus any chance at happiness in his future, that he truly starts to change. He continues to remain stuck-up until very near the end.

Together Artemis and Maximus make a seemingly mismatched pair because she is so vibrant and alive and he is stuck inside a very chilly shell. I liked that with Artemis' help, Maximus began to change as he loosened up his necktie and moved beyond his prejudices and lost his stuffiness. He helped her find her brother and protected her from gossip mongers. It was an interesting relationship because I felt like throughout it, both of them realized Artemis was too good for Maximus, and he was trying to make it up to her. However, it wasn't until the very end that he finally made it up to her for good by proposing. There was lots of sex and as usual, Hoyt is one of the best historical romance writers out there for writing super hot sex scenes full of passion and love. The plot involving his parents death was engrossing and kept a great bit of mystery going throughout the whole book. While it took up a large portion of the book, I never felt like it took away from the romance of the story.

Rating: One of the best romance I've read in a very long time. A wonderful heroine and a tortured hero in a loving relationship,with an engrossing mystery.

How to Lose a Bride in One Night

How to Lose a Bride in One Night by Sophie Jordan

Annalise Hadley lived in relative obscurity until her father, Jack Hadley, appeared out of nowhere and decided to invest part of his vast fortune toward marrying her, and her numerous half-sisters, off to members of the aristocracy. Annalise knows she is not beautiful and she has suffered a limp since a childhood accident, but she is hard working and kind. She is shocked and flattered when the Duke of Bloodsworth, the most eligible bachelor of the ton, picks her to be his bride but it turns out he only wanted her for her money- a fact she discovers when he tries to smother her and throws her overboard their wedding barge. Owen Crawford, Earl of MacDowell, is stunned to find a half-dead woman floating in the river and immediately takes her to the nearest shelter he can find even if it is a gypsy caravan. Owen has given up on ever being a normal human after living for years as an asassin in India and lives on the outskirts of his own family but something about this young woman draws him in.

When she awakes Annalise claims to have amnesia to avoid Owen bringing her back to Bloodworth and she wants to be up and out of bed as soon as possible as she hates feeling helpless. Owen is determined that she heal properly and appoints himself her nursemaid, even while rejecting the Gypsy's claim that she belongs to him now that he has saved her life. When it is finally time to leave the caravan he takes Annalise to his estate, planning to send her away once she is fully recovered. But when she asks him to teach her how to defend herself he can't help but wonder what secrets she is hiding and finds that he wants to know more about her. Annalise is falling for the handsome man who rescued her and who makes her feel safe for the first time in a long time. With Annalise's help Owen rediscovers the man he used to be and reunites with his family and with Owen's help, Annalise finally finds herself able to confront her past. Together, they know they are safe and can handle anything the world throws at them.

This installment in the Forgotten Princesses series featuring the illegitimate daughters of the wealthy Jack Hadley, neatly avoided falling into the series trap of focusing too much on past characters which I really admired. Sophie writes fun and very readable books that are quickly devoured and her written style is easy and flows nicely. Annalise was a wonderful character; strong and scared, caring and determined. I loved how Jordan portrayed Annalise as a victim of domestic violence who went from fear of the world to a determination to better herself and prevent it from ever happening again. Owen is a tortured hero with a buried past and a problem with connecting with other people. His past is certainly sufficient to creating such a character and I enjoyed reading about him overcoming his own fears and learning to accept himself and his past and looking toward the future. I liked that Owen helped Annalise overcome her fears and she helped him overcome his own, more buried, fears.

I could feel the heat between these two from the beginning, fairly scorching the pages, but unfortunately it ended up being a huge let down and they did not burn up the sheets anywhere near often enough.  I was frustrated towards the end when Annalise naively gave into blackmail from Bloodsworth just because he threatened Owen when she should have known perfectly well that Owen could take care of himself. She'd seen him fight people! It brought my opinion of Annalise down quite a few notches and came across like an attempt to create a big dramatic confrontational ending. The ending was of course everything it should have been and neatly wrapped everything up with a big bow, but I didn't feel like it was completely predictable because there were some added plot twists.

Rating: An enjoyable book that had much promise, but a generic ending and the letdown of going from such scorching flirting to one mild mannered bedding brought this book down.

Lord of Temptation

Lord of Temptation by Lorraine Heath R

Lord Tristan Pembroke escapes the clutches of his uncle, who is determined to kill him and his brothers so he can claim the Dukedom, and while his brothers go separate ways, Tristan heads out to sea. Over the next decade he makes a learns the ocean and gains his own ship, going by the name Crimson Jack, and even when he goes back to London and enters society he does not feel like he is a part of that world. Lady Anne Hayworth is determined to make her way to her fiance's grave so that she can make peace with her fiance Walter who was killed in battle. Her father and four brothers do not agree with her plans so she is forced to find her own means of transportation and when she asks Captain Jack he decides to ensure that Anne has no choice but to choose his ship. When every other captain ha been bribed to turn her down, Anne comes back to Jack, who demands a kiss in return for passage. He wants the beautiful young woman, even while knowing they come from different worlds and have no future, and will do everything he can to seduce the beautiful young woman. During the journey, both of them discover much about the other, and Jack is the one to hold her while she cries at her dead fiance's grave.

On their last night together Anne decides to claim a bit of happiness for herself and gives into the passion she feels for Jack. Back in London, Anne finds herself swept up into the whirlwind of a London season, and with her family pressuring her to get married, she is being courted by her dead fiance's brother. Jack finds that he cannot bring himself to leave Anne and return to the sea, and he certainly cannot stand to see Anne courted by another man. The two engage in a secret affair, behind everyone's backs, but Anne knows that Jack is not one to settle down with a family and while she will never have the same passion with Lord Chetwyn, he offers her comfort and stability. The two promise that they will stay away from each other and Anne agrees to marry  but she cannot stay away from Jack and he is trying to use all of his powers of persuasion to convince her that Chetwyn is not for her. But both of them realize that life without the other isn't an option and both of them are willing to make changes to their expectations before discovering that as long as they are together, nothing is really a sacrifice as long as they can have a happily ever after.

This book continued the Lost Lords of Pembrook series admirably and had the same feel as the last one with the tortured hero and a very likable heroine. I really liked Anne because she was determined and capable without coming across as headstrong or naive. She knew what was expected of her from her family and she accepted it but still went about fulfilling her obligations in a way that did not seem like she was 'giving in' and still remained true to herself. Jack was incredibly tortured and dark, not fitting in to either world he straddled and unable to find a place where he belonged. I understood his dilemma, but still felt  unimpressed with his feelings and his inability to make nice, as if he was purposely setting out to be difficult. I quickly became bored by reading about his horrible life and how he straddled two worlds, partly because it was so similar to what I read in the previous book in the series about his old twin brother. I did like that we had a lot of character development from him throughout the book as he fell in love with Anne and made some changes in his life in order to have her in his life. He was a fun and lively hero who changed for the better with the help of a good woman, and I liked that.

There were a lot of interactions between Anne and Jack and I could really feel how these fell in love and every scene between them built into the story. There were fun and happy scenes where he attempted to seduce her, there were heart wrenching scenes where he comforted at her fiance's grave, and there were passionate scenes. There was a really deep emotional relationship between them and Heath did an oustanding job portraying this. There was a lot of sex between them and it was fairly hot, spread throughout the book, and really contributed to their developing relationship. I did have an issue with how many times Anne promised herself she would stay away from Jack, after realizing that they had no future together, and then reneged on her vow. It made her seem weak and it happened so many times that it quickly got tiresome. I also enjoyed how Heath did not make Chetwyn a villain, or anyone a villain for that matter, because it really was just a story of two people finding love and working through their differences to find happiness together. As usual, Heath's style is fun and fast while still delving into tough emotional issues.

Rating: A very enjoyable book, with a very strong relationship between the characters, but I had some issues with the heroes emotional trauma.

A Rogue by Any Other Name

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean

Matthew, the Marquess of Bourne swore revenge against his former guardian, Lord Langford, when Langford bested him in a card game and took everything that was not entailed. Lady Penelope Marbury, Matthew, and Tom, Lord Langford's son, were childhood playmates and Tom and and Penelope both felt betrayed when Matthew dropped out of their lives after the death of his parents and once he was disgraced Penelope knew she would have to forget about Matthew. But when Langford loses Matthew's estate in a card game to Penelope's father, who subsequently attaches it to her dowry, Matthew makes a quick reappearance in her life, determined to gain back what belongs to him. He kidnaps Penelope in the dark of night and keeps her in his country house overnight until she is thoroughly ruined and her father has no choice but to agree to a marriage. He agrees to ensure no scandal attaches itself to Penelope's sisters because of their marriage in exchange for proof that Tom is illegitimate because he knows it would ruin Langford.

Penelope remembers the boy she used to be friends with and cannot understand how he has changed so much and why he is suddenly so willing to throw away the second chance he has been given and goes along with the marriage. Penelope and Matthew make a deal that he will not seduce her right away, and instead he will court her. She hopes that his scandalous behavior will rub off on her but she quickly realizes that Matthew is content to let her stay at home while he goes about his life exactly as he wants now that he has the estate he has longed for for so long. She takes matters into her own hands and follows him to the gambling establishment and he is horrified and yet intrigued by the wife who is nothing like he expected. She is bold and adventurous and he quite likes this side to her. However, he remains unwilling to give up his desire for revenge and this puts quite a strain on his relationship with Penelope, who believes his thirst for vengeance is poisoning him. They both must decide how much the past affects their future and how they can make a life for themselves.

This was the story of two people who had been in love with each other years ago but their age had prevented them from realizing it and they had to find each other again and get to know each other before they realized they had been there the whole time. Unfortunately that wasn't really fleshed out in the book and I didn't get a sense of true longing from afar that was just now coming to fruition and I also did not think that either Penelope or Matthew got to know the present person enough to realize they were in love. The two spent very little time together and for a majority of the book Matthew was downright rude, if not mean, to Penelope. I understood that he was supposed to be this big tortured hero who had dark motives because of his past but I wanted a lot more softness to him and perhaps a bigger transformation by the end of the book if I wanted to believe that he truly had changed and was a happy enough person to settle into a loving future.

Penelope was naive and kind of a wet blanket, unknowingly pining for a man she hadn't seen or spoken to in years and subconsciously sabotaging all of her potential relationships. Maybe if she had realized she loved Matthew it would have been better, but it made her came across as rather unintelligent. I also could not understand how she came to love Matthew after the way he treated her. There relationship just didn't inspire me and I wanted more happiness from them and more cheerfulness because they just seemed to be always worried about his desire to destroy his former friend. There was some pretty hot sex between them and I felt like that was one of the stronger elements of their romance. The plot to destroy his enemies was obviously well integrated into the story as it was really a central theme and served to bring them together. However, I was not a fan of it aside from how it brought them together and felt like it started to become an excuse to create a problem between them in order to keep the novel going.

Rating: This book was a fast read, but it wasn't precisely fun, and I felt like the relationship was rather gloomy even if it did improve as the book went on.

She Tempts the Duke

She Tempts the Duke by Lorraine Heath

When the Duke of Keswick dies, his brother, Robert, imprisons his 3 young sons in the dungeon, ostensibly for their protection, but young Sebastian, Tristan, and Rafe know that there is something fishy going on. When their friend, Mary Wynn-Jones, overhears Uncle David talking about murder she frees the boys and they disappear into the forest leaving whispers and a haunting mystery that takes the ton by storm. Sebastian vows that one day he would return and claim his birthright with the help of his brothers. Sebastian joins the army and works his way up to become a way hero, even if he is scarred on one side of his face, while his twin Tristan becomes a naval captain and the youngest, Rafe, becomes a prominent figure in the London underground, running a prosperous gambling hall and brothel. Uncle Robert is horrified when the 3 return to claim their birthright, but Mary is overjoyed to find that her three childhood friends are alright after years with no word from them. Mary is now engaged to Lord Fitzwilliam but that doesn't stop her from sticking up for Sebastian when the ton turn on him.

She is determined to stick by Sebastian's side no matter what everyone says about him and even when it becomes obvious that someone is after Sebastian's life. Her fiance is not pleased by her actions and her own family discourages her because they want to see her married off but she will not back down. One night when Sebastian is attacked and wounded she moves into his family house and her reputation is at risk when her fiance politely calls of the wedding. Sebastian knows it is up to his family to make things right but he worries that he is not good enough for her with his scares, his dark past, and the fact that someone out there is trying to kill him. None of that matters to Mary as all the feelings she had for Sebastian when they were younger come to the surface and she realizes that her childhood crush has become so much more. Their marriage brings hope to both of them even while they know they must find Sebastian's uncle and determine if he is the man who is behind the attacks. Together they will overcome their fears about themselves and find a life together.

I was intrigued by the idea of childhood sweethearts who reconnect later in life after going through a bunch of ups and downs. In that regard this book did not disappoint at all as I felt like there was a really strong connection between Sebastian and Mary that was kindled when they were teenagers and blazed when they became adults. The years of separation really served to nurture their feelings and it was clear that it was always lurking just below the surface and there was a specific moment when Sebastian realized that it was a connection to Mary that had kept him going through all those years, that made their relationship so satisfying to read about. I cannot put my figure precisely on how Heath pulled it off because it was so subtly done, but I really felt like these two belonged together and that they truly had been destined to be together which I don't normally feel. As with most Heath books there was some sex, it was romantically written and meshed well with the story and the development of the relationship but it was not super sexy or hot.

Heath sets herself apart as an author because she took Mary, a character with do-gooder and other assorted traits that would normally drive me nuts, and turned me into a woman I really admired and was motivated to "root" for. She stuck by Sebastian through everything, including some situations that she knew would lead to her being ruined, and helped him when needed, supported him, and loved him. Sebastian was a little too tortured for me and while I felt like his feelings were justified because of his life, I just never really go for people who's angst and worry and torment borders on self-pity, especially when it is such an important part of his character. Sebastian's obsession with regaining hi ancestral home alienated Mary and I enjoyed the angst and turmoil that sprang from that desire interfering with his relationship with Mary. I was glad it didn't become the focal point of the book and that the hunt for finding Lord David and bringing him to justice was an important part of the book but did not take over the book.

Rating: Heath shows herself to be a very skilled writer with a romance I could not resist and a heroine I loved, but a hero was just a little too pained for me.

Too Sinful to Deny

Too Sinful to Deny by Erica Ridley 1211

Susan Stanton was exiled from her very wealthy family's London home after she escaped her imprisonment for eavesdropping and nearly got herself killed. She is sent to live her with her distant cousin, Lady Beaune, in the very quiet seaside town of Bournewell and shortly after her arrival she knows that there is something eerily wrong with the town. For starters, Lady Beaune is nowhere to be found and her husband, the giant Oliver and his manservant/ scarecrow valet do not seem to mind her disappearance. The dress shop is owned by a beautiful porcilen doll and her witch-like friend who take an immediate dislike to Susan and do all they can to alienate from the very few other townspeople. The only place to meet people is at the local tavern and there she meets Evan Bothwick, whom she is desperately attracted to but whose residence in Bournewell and lack of a title make him completely ineligible. Unknown to Susan Evan is a smuggler whose brother, Timothy, has just been murdered but his body disappeared before help could be summoned and now Evan is determined to find the killer.

Ever since her brush with death Susan can see ghosts and one of the first ghosts she sees is Timothy Bothwick who forcibly enlists her help to find a jewlery box that Oliver and his manservant are also desperate to find. But Susan wants out of the town and believes the only person who can help her is the local magistrate, Mr. Forrester, since there are no horses in town and her parents are not eager to rescue her. Evan knows Susan is up to something and while he has his own investigation to launch, he cannot help but want her near him at all times even while refusing to admit that he could ever have feelings for a woman. Danger lurks around every corner as more bodies turn up and Oliver and all the townspeople become even more hostile and Evan is the only person that she can trust, especially when Lady Beaune shows up chained in the dungeon. Now Susan needs to save her cousin and get out of this town, but she does not know if that will mean having to leave Evan behind or turning him into the authorities. Evan does not want to risk his own neck but to gain Susan's love he is willing to do and risk anything.

I felt like for both Susan and Evan I learned a lot about them and what they did and liked doing, but I still felt like they weren't completely developed and I didn't get a sense for who they were. Susan was outgoing but rather selfish and spoiled at times and yet she did things that were completely out of character and she was deeply caring about the situation Lady Beaune was didn't seem to care about the feelings of the ghosts. Evan was a smuggler who seemed to just do it because he was bored and he seemed only to think about his brother after he was killed and seemed to just halfheartedly go after his killer. I just did not get into the characters really. They did not spend all that much time together, they had a lot of business to take care of on their own about their own mystery and I felt like their relationship was crammed into kind of a short amount of space even though the book was long. There was some pretty hot sex, but not that much and I felt it would have been better if there had been more of a connection that I could really feel between them.

This book was mystery upon mystery all building on each other and causing my quite a bit of confusion from the giant and his scarecrow henchman to the pirates to the missing dead bodies to the lady chained up in the basement to the women who work in the dress shop to literally everyone in the entire town and it was quite engrossing. I admit I am not the biggest fan of novels where the mystery is the main focus, but even though the romance really did take the back seat here I was so caught up in what was going on and wondering what was going to happen next and it was really so well written that I did not mind. However, I definitely did get the feeling like the romance was not as well developed as it would have been otherwise and I would have enjoyed seeing Susan and Evan spend time together that wasn't being shadowed with murder and craziness. I think it takes a lot to pull off a mystery that I can enjoy and the writing style was fun and engrossing while still being informative and sexy while keeping a genuine mystery that left me guessing until the end.

Rating: A really great and intriguing mystery but the relationship was lacking and I would have preferred some more development on that end.

The Serpent Prince

The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt 1023

Lucy Craddock-Hayes is content with her quiet life in Maiden Hill, being courted by the local vicar, friendly with all the locals, and living with her father, Captain Craddock- Hayes, and her grumpy man of all work, Hedge. Viscount Simon Iddlesleigh vowed revenge against his brother, Ethan's, killers after a group forced him to issue a challenge to a man more skilled them him and he was killed. He has already successfully killed two of them when they find him first and leave him for dead in Maiden Hill and it is only with Lucy's skillful nursing that he survives. He imagines her as an avenging angel come to save him and warn him away from his wicked plans and he wants her soothing touch and voice near him always. Lucy finds that the arrival of the suave man from the city is making her question the choices she has made and her supposed satisfaction with her life and she wonders if she is destined for something more. Simon feels that he is becoming more and more attached to Maiden Hill and the people in it so he heads back to London to finish his revenge plan and try to move on with his life.

Lucy tries to move on as well with her life but she cannot forget the brief glimpse into another life she was given with the arrival of Simon. When he finally realizes that he will not be able to get Lucy out of his mind he heads back to Maiden Hill and proposes and she accepts but there are still secrets about the motives behind Simon's actions. She gets along well with his family and even her own father grudgingly approves of the  marriage and while most aspects of their marriage work, there is still the problem of what Simon is is up to. While Lucy knows that what happened to Ethan was a tragedy and she understands why Simon feels he need to avenge his brother, she worries that he is slowly losing his soul, and perhaps his life, every time he fights another duel and takes another life. She tries to get him to see reason, but he is driven by a single purpose and when he discovers there was a master behind the plot to kill Ethan there is no stopping him. Lucy loves him but does not know if she can live her life under a cloud of revenge and Simon realizes that all that really matters is his love for Lucy and hers for him.

I love that Lucy was the content country miss who suddenly realized there was a whole other world out there for her and she was determined to make the most of her life, even if it meant bucking expectations without going completely off the deep end. She was kind and intelligent, in a very confident and practical way, and she cared for the people in her community. Simon was obsessed with revenge but the motives for it were explained and proved him to be a caring and responsible man with hints of honor because he was looking out for his family, including his sister-in-law and his niece. I wish there had been more to him though because while I could see why he would fall in love with Lucy, it seemed unbelievable that she would fall in love with him knowing so little. It was more like she was in love with the idea of a new life and something exciting than she was with Simon himself. I wish there had been more about their relationship progressing to love and them getting to know each other however I liked the longing that existed between them during the period when they were apart.

The one part of their relationship that was very well developed was their sexual relationship and the sex was scorching hot and both of them were confident sexual beings and it showed throughout the book. Eventually the book came to be more about the duels than the romance and that is when I really started just wanting it to be over. There was such a big to do about how what Simon was doing was bad for his soul and was going to lead to his downfall and wouldn't he please just stop. While I understood that murder is bad and it was obviously draining him, I felt like it was an attempt to put some sort of wedge in an otherwise very well suited couple who were getting along perhaps too well for a romance novel that still had 70 pages to go. The plot itself was certainly well integrated into the story because it really was the impetus for them getting together and was interwoven somewhat in the story, but it really did just overwhelm everything and it the book definitely came to be more about him getting revenge than about Lucy and Simon falling in love.

Rating: Excellent writing as usual but this book was not Hoyt's best work because the focus was off the romance and I got tired of the revenge and duels.

The Vengeful Bridegroom

The Vengeful Bridegroom by Kit Donner 1011

Matthew Colgate is in trouble after agreeing to help the Count Taglioni so in order to try to make things right he places a wager that his sister, Madelene will marry within three days, through a medium, with plans to convince her to marry his homosexual friend, Beltrand, and make the money back. He tells her that the family fortune will be lost forever if she doesn't agree to the marriage and once more Madelene finds herself picking up after her older brother's mess and agrees to go along with the mad scheme. Gabriel Westcott has sworn revenge against the Colgate family after Matthew seduced his sister and abandoned her and her unborn child and he is back in England after taking his sister to Italy where she gave birth and died. He learns of Matthew's plan and realizes that marrying Madelene, ruining her, and then divorcing her after a year, will be the perfect revenge. He pretends to be Beltrand and takes Madelene away, only revealing his true identity after the marriage ceremony takes place.

Madelene is obviously upset over what has happened, but falls in stride with things fairly quickly when Matthew takes her to his country estate. She hires new staff and sets about getting the house in working order until her brother shows up and demands a knife that he had hidden away in her suitcase and had promised to the count. The knife is missing and the count will do anything to get it back and Matthew knows that he must convince Madelene of the seriousness of getting the knife back from her husband or her husband's "friend" Alec, a woman who dresses like a man and is the Count's niece. Both Madelene and Gabriel realize that their relationship has changed as they spend time together as man and wife and they get to see that the other is not "the enemy." But the Count's reappearance coincides with Gabriel's nephew, Matthew's son with his sister, comes to town and suddenly there is the possibility that the people who want the dagger will take drastic measures to get it back. Madelene is torn between her brother and the new man she loves and he is determined to protect his wife and their love.

The first thing that struck me about this book was Madelene's completely irrational love for her brother despite his incredibly awful actions and the unforgivable situation he places her in. This carries on throughout the book with him doing stupid and ridiculous and dangerous things that prove he has not a care in the world for anyone except for himself and Madelene is there every step of the way getting him out of scrapes. This made it very difficult for me to have any respect for Madelene or for me to admire her or find her at all likable. She did come across as capable but that was not enough to explain to me why someone fell in love with her. The best part was her secret side business designing fashions for the haut ton which was just a ridiculous way of making in to a well rounded character, but it failed miserably because it came up so sporadically and there were times I completely forgot about it. Gabriel was an ass for what he did to Madelene, but I was frustrated that he forgot about his plans for revenge so quickly because Madelene set about getting his house in order- I guess he just wanted a housekeeper?

Their relationship progressed slowly because not much happened and it was rather boring, but it also happened too fast because so little happened between them that I just couldn't understand how they were in love. I did appreciate some of the little scenes before them where they talked about loss but it was brushed over really quickly and it was just Donner telling us they talked about it, we didn't actually get to read their conversation. There was some sex between them, nothing particularly hot, more like barely lukewarm and I just didn't get any sort of heat between them in general so I didn't get too into the sex anyway. The plot with the dagger completely bored me and I just don't go for side plots or mysteries in my romances unless their incredibly well done and integrated into the story and this one certainly wasn't. There were like secrets built upon secrets with the baby, the count, the diamonds, Alec, and even the housekeeper so I got exasperated and just wanted it over more than I wanted to figure out what was happening.

Rating: A boring and very slow moving book with two characters I could not relate or like and a mystery plot that was just as uninteresting.

Midnight's Wild Passion

Midnight's Wild Passion by Anna Campbell 713

Antonia Hilliard let passion rule her life once and the consequences of her actions resonate for the rest of the life. She loses her position in society and finds herself the companion of her distant cousin's very young and beautiful daughter, Cassandra Demarest. Nicholas Challoner, the Marquess of Ranelaw, is society's most notorious rake and he has one purpose; to avenge his own sister's ruin by ruining the daughter of the man who ruined her- the lady that Antonia is determined to protect. Nicholas at first sees Antonia as a challenge to get around, but as he realizes that her dowdy clothes and spectacles are merely covering a lush and beautiful young body, he sees her as a delightful side dish to the main course of Cassie. Knowing the consequences of giving in to passion Antonia knows she must never give in to Rainlaw, but the more she gets to know him the more difficult it becomes to ignore him. Nicholas is always charming and seductive with the women he intends to seduce, but things are completely different with Antonia.

He wants to discover all the secrets he knows Antonia is hiding from him, he wants to punish the people who have put her in this situation, and he finds that more and more he is forgetting that Cassie is supposed to be his main target. She wants to resist him but his seductive powers are too much and deep down she acknowledges that she wants to be seduced; she wants one more night of passion and Rainlaw puts to shame all the other men in the ton. Rainlaw is shocked that the proper chaperone wasn't a virgin and even more shocked when he runs into her previous lover at an inn. Antonia had hoped never to come face to face with her ex-lover again and he threatens to ruin the new life that she has made for herself. She has learned to hold her own since she was a teenager and doesn't want to be dependent on any man and doesn't want to be anyone's burden. Rainlaw knows that his life will never be the same, but doesn't know how to give up his quest for vengeance. Both Rainlaw and Antonia will need to forgive and make allowances for a completely new way of life in order to find their happily ever after.

Antonia was a great character because she was intelligent and took care of herself even while recognizing that she had many benefits that others did not have. She did take a little too much responsibility for her actions and tortured herself over an understandable lapse in judgment for far too long. I really wanted her to come to grips with what had happened and forgive herself but she never really did. This kind of dragged down the book and lead to too much angst over what would happen if she let Nicholas seduce her. Nicholas was apparently a heartless rake but we really weren't given much to go by as he pretty much started making changes in his behavior as soon as book began. It became clear very early on that he was not going to seduce Cassie and even when he did display rak-ish behavior, it was more desperate than anything. This made it hard to get a clear grasp on his character. He certainly did change for Antonia and became a man that was worthy of her because he was sympathetic and caring and proved himself willing to do whatever he could to make her happy.

A lot of books talk about the hero seducing the heroine, but here it was really true because throughout the scenes it feels like Antonia doesn't really want to do it but it is just her sexual needs that compell her to it which I didn't really like. It was hot enough, but a little too wordy for my taste. It took me three pages to remember how wordy Anna Campbell is and indeed conversations and scenes ended up taking about twice as long as they probably needed to. There was a lot of internal musings and lots of descriptions to an extent where they were almost unnecessary and superfluous. I am a fan of knowing what is happening in people's minds, but there is really a limit and Campbell pushes and exceeds that limit for me. The relationship between Antonia and Nicholas is definitely the main focus of the book and they have a lot of alone time and it is clear why they were falling in love. I really enjoyed a lot of the back story involving the seduction of Nicholas' sister and Antonia's relationship with her family. Perhaps because it was the most fast paced stuff in the novel.

Rating: I liked the romance and the characters but if I had been the editor I would have slashed quite a bit of the book to make it a little faster- it was just not my taste really.

Seducing the Duchess

Seducing the Duchess by Ashley March 311

Charlotte, Duchess of Rutherford, fancied herself in love with her husband until their wedding night when he revealed that he had only married her for revenge. Her brother Ethan had run off with the Duke's fiance three days before the wedding and Philip, the Duke, saw Charlotte as the best way to get back at him. Philip's revenge was hollow  as Ethan was disowned by the family and moved to Europe before he could see the farce play out. For three years Charlotte and Philip live together, but lead separate lives as she nurtures her hatred for the man who betrayed her. She is determined to get a divorce so she flaunts her many lovers around town and behaves scandalously by gambling and drinking. As time goes by Philip starts to feel guilty over the way he treated Charlotte, and notices that he misses her; misses being her friend, misses her company and her laughter. He finds himself going out of his way to be with her and he realizes that he made a terrible mistake and is in fact desperately in love with her. Determined to win her back and make a splash he forcibly removes her from her many admirers and ensconces her in his country estate.

Philip makes a deal with Charlotte in the hopes of gaining more time with her; he says he will petition for a divorce, and he writes a letter to his solicitor right away, if she will teach him to be a better husband for his next wife. Charlotte is excited at the prospect of finally being free of the man who betrayed her, but she admits to being uncomfortable preparing him to marry another woman. As she gives him mini lessons on how to please a wife, she makes it clear that he has failed miserably in this regard and he sets out to gain her favor. He is kind, he buys her thoughtful presents, and he tries the best that he knows how to let go of his lordly pretensions and be comfortable around her. But Charlotte cannot forget what Philip did to her, even as she finds herself beginning to fall under his spell again. Philip fears being vulnerable and is scared to admit his feelings for Charlotte, even while recognizing that it may be the only way he can win her back. Things begin to look good for the two of them when another possible betrayal rears it's head and Charlotte is back to not trusting Philip or her own judgment. Philip fears he has lost her forever and must lay his pride and his hopes on the line in one giant last ditch attempt to prove that he is honest and that they can love each other happily.

I loved that Charlotte was independent and not scared of being a sexual being in public, but I was not too crazy about her doing it just for revenge against Philip. She was self assured and confident in her place in society, but not all that exciting in general. While what Philip did was quite awful and I understand that she was upset and found it hard to trust him again, I felt like it dragged on far too long. I felt like he made it clear that he had changed and had difficulty remaining invested in the story once it was clear that there really was nothing standing in their way and she were just creating roadblocks. I did like that Philip's declaration of love did not magically solve everything as it does in so many romance novels where those three words from the hero signal the end of all conflict and the resolution of the book. I liked Philip as the brooding and tortured hero who had difficulty coming to terms with his deep emotions toward the woman he never expected to love. I loved his attempts to truly earn Charlotte's love as they were so sweet and simple and showed that he really cared about her. Some of his attempts were immature and backfired horribly, like when he tried to make her jealous, but it just showed how desperate he was and he was wiling to try anything.

 The relationship was definitely the central plot of this story and the majority of the story was dedicated to them falling in love with each other. Because the past played such a large part in their relationship I was hoping that there would be some more flashbacks to key moments, but the flashbacks were sadly brief and far between. Despite Charlotte being quite the seductress and Philip being a very virile, there was very little sex in the book, it was brief and not that sexy, and it was not until the very end. My biggest confusion in this book came near the end when Philip suddenly became convinced that it was his status in society and his dedication to behaving in ways fitting to his station that had driven Charlotte off. Suddenly he was trying to act more like a commoner, he was burning pictures of his stately grandfather who instilled the sense of betterment in him, and thinking about giving up his title. This was odd as this had nothing to do with why he betrayed Charlotte or why she was mad at him and it did not make sense to me why this was suddenly an issue. There was a nice little side story regarding some brief attempts to reconcile Charlotte with her estranged family that could have been really interesting, but it was far too short unfortunately.

Rating: There were definite moments in this book and Philip was quite great, but I did not like Charlotte and the problems between them went on for far longer than warranted.

Never Resist Temptation

Never Resist Temptation by Miranda Neville 1226

Jacobin le Chastelux is furious when she discovers that her uncle has gambled her away in card game to the Earl of Storrington. She runs away with the pastry cook and takes a job in the Prince Regent's Brighton kitchens where she pretends to be a man. Anthony, the earl of Storrington, has been trying to ruin Candover since his own father revealed on his death bed that Candover had had an affair with Anthony's mother and eventually driven her to her death. He hoped that winning Jacobin would accomplish this, but instead he is left with no recourse but to hire the greatest pastry chef he can find in the hopes of luring Candover into another card game. He knows he must get the Regent's pastry chef and is stunned to discover that he is actually a woman! When Candover is poisoned by food she made Jacobin tells Storrington that she is Jane Castle and neglects to mention any relation to Candover before accepting the position as his pastry chef.

She is stunned to discover that Anthony actually has no need of a pastry chef as he doesn't quite like pastries. She is then horrified when she realizes that Anthony is letting his thirst for revenge control his life. It does not take Anthony long to find out who "Jane Castle" is and that she is very eligible and someone he could see spending his life with. Meanwhile Bow Street is still searching for the chef they believe poisoned Candover and Jacobin and Anthony decide that it would be good for them to do a little investigating of their own. Working with Anthony and seeing how honest and noble he is, makes it easy for her to succumb when he asks her to become his mistress. But when he reveals that he has known who she is all along, she is furious and refuses to have anything more to do with him. Anthony, however, is not going to lose the woman he is coming to love, even if it means moving beyond his obsession for revenge. Bow Street comes calling and it is up to Anthony to save Jacobin from jail and let go of old hate so that his new love can flourish.

It took me a while to get a feel for Jacobin and I could not figure out if it was because I felt like I had absolutely nothing in common with her, or if it was just that I found her cooking abilities completely unrealistic. I don't need to feel like I'm a twin with the heroine, but I felt almost no connection with Jacobin at all and I would have liked something to hold on to. I can say that she was a very intelligent, very capable woman who avoided being sassy or fiery while still holding her own with Anthony. I liked Anthony more than Jacobin as his thirst for revenge was a wonderful weakness that set his eventual change so much more wonderful. There was a lot of interaction in between the two of them and they ran the full gauntlet of happy to angry to scared and I really enjoy that in a book because it shows how well the two work together. Their relationship progressed very well and I could really sense that these two were beginning to fall in love and that it was genuine. The sex between them was really hot and I wish there had been more of it.

I really enjoyed the plot surrounding Candover and the supposed affair that he had been having with Anthony's mother. It was very well written, it was interesting and ended with a very nice and interesting little twist, and it provided an opportunity for Anthony to show how much he cared about Jacobin. Candover was a great villain and I like how his hatred of Anthony and Jacobin was explained at the end and that I was kept wondering about his motives. I was a little bit food-ed out after reading Delicious by Sherry Thomas, but was pleasantly surprised to find that food played a much less important role in the story, while still being well described and quite delicious sounding. I especially enjoyed the old fashioned recipes and historical details the author added through the food and the research she must have done. I also really liked the little extra bit about the marital problems between Anthony's sister and her husband and it lead to some nice family time where Anthony confronted his own issues with his mother, but I wish there had been more of it.

Rating: A very interesting book with a fairly strong relationship and well written characters with a wonderful mystery and great side plots and secondary characters.