One Good Earl Deserves a Lover

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean L

Lady Pippa Marbury is newly engaged to Lord Castleton, a kind if uninspiring man, but her scientific and logical mind compels her to research more about what her marriage will entail. She decides to ask Cross, one of the infamous owners of the fabulous gambling club, The Fallen Angel, for help since she believes he too is of a scientific bent. Cross is flabbergasted that a lady would enter his club, risking ruination and while he finds himself drawn to the beautiful bespectacled young woman, secrets in his own past forbid him from risking her future happiness and he turns away. Cross has problems of his own as the owner of a rival gambling establishment, Knight, holds his brother-in-law's debt and is threatening Cross's sister if Cross does not agree to marry Knight's daughter. Pippa is not about to give up her search for answers as she is determined to make the most of her marriage even though no one thinks it is a good match. She goes back to The Fallen Angel to enlist the help of a lady of the evening and Cross is furious that she is once again putting her reputation at risk, and not just because her brother-in-law is his friend and fellow co-owner of the Fallen Angel. He agrees to help her but vows to himself that he will not allow her to be tainted by her association with him.

Cross finds himself attracted to the seriousness of Pippa and her logical mind and the more time he spends with her, the more he finds that his resolution to leave her alone is destined to fail. He cannot stand the idea that Pippa will marry another but continues to believe that he will never be good enough for her and that she deserves a happy life which he cannot provide for her. Pippa too is beginning to wonder if she can go through with her marriage now that she has tasted what a true relationship between equal minds can be like. But she is furious to discover that cross is actually the Earl of Harlowe and that their stations would mean that they could get married if he would get over his feelings of inadequacy. When she learns about the threats against his sister she is determined to help him and prove to him that she is a  match for him. He realizes that he has misjudged himself and this beautiful woman and that their pasts do not matter when it is a matter of true love.

This book is second in a series and although I had read the previous book, it had been awhile, and I found myself taking awhile to remember what had happened and I would not recommend reading this book without reading the first. Having characters from former books make frequent, often overwhelming, appearances is something I tend to dislike in romances and this book fell into this category quickly and often, which I really did not appreciate. Pippa's logical mind came up several times in this book and I just could not buy it as it was not logical for her to go into a gambling hall and I could not understand how she knew Cross was likewise as logical. Cross's background and brooding melancholy on his past was just utterly ridiculous; I understood how it would cause him distress, but it was just completely overblown and made him into a very unlikable fellow. Because of their situation they really could not spend all that much time together outside of the gambling club and I did not see how a relationship between a scientific bluestocking and a dissolute gambling hall owner would work in the real world.

The sexual tension between Pippa and Cross burned up the pages and I knew that when these two finally got together it was going to be an explosion. Unfortunately the sexual tension was dragged out for the entire book because of Cross brooding about how he wasn't good enough for her and believing he had to make up for his past. I could not believe how flowery and drawn out their sexual relationship was and how disappointing it ended up being. I enjoyed reading about the plot with Knight and wondering how Cross and Pippa were going to get out of it, but it seemed to blow over a little too quickly and it had a lot of scenes where a character would get an idea and then we'd cut to another scene so we were left in the dark about what would happen. The writing was very wordy and the book seemed to drag quite a bit, perhaps because of the melancholy overtone to the entire novel and I would have liked a more fun reading style.

Rating: I could not get into the relationship and the great sexual tension ended with a small poof while the writing dragged.

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.

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean 611

Juliani Fiori is the half sister of Nicholas St. John and Gabriel, The Marquess of Ralston, and has already caused quite a stir in the ton. Juliana doesn't care what the ton thinks of her and doesn't mind that she is regarded as a scandal, but for a short time she fancied that the Duke of Leighton could see past the scandal. Unfortunately he proved that he earned his nickname as the Duke of Disdain when he throws her over after realizing who she is. Simon Pearson, Duke of Leighton, was raised to respect his standing in society and has always known that his most important duty is to the family name and keeping his family away from scandal. His mother has made it clear that he must marry a respectable girl, and marry soon in order to head off the scandal of his sister's illegitimate pregnancy (which we learned about in the previous book) and Juliana is certainly not that respectable girl. When she hides in his carriage to escape a too eager suitor the sparks fly between them and Juliana becomes determined to prove that Simon is not suited for the passionless life he has laid out for himself.

Racing their horses very early in the morning in a deserted Hyde Park, stealing away from crowded parties for a forbidden kiss, and facing down her brothers bring Leighton and Juliana closer together but he is still convinced that he cannot end up with Juliana. Juliana hates that she is falling for a man who sees her as nothing as a scandal because while she puts on a front, she does want him to think that she is good enough for him. As the discovery of his sister's situation looms closer Simon continues with his plans, proposing to his proper English bride, even while he cannot stop thinking about Juliana and wonders if he really can survive a passionless life without her. Juliana is heartbroken, but when she discovers the reason behind Simon's determination to be proper and staid, she realizes that the two of them never had a chance. She wants Simon to want her because of her flaws and her scandals, and by the time he discovers that Juliana is everything and anything he could ever want, he has prove to her that what they have is worth any scandal.

I immediately fell in love with Juliana and Simon and I love stories that bit an uptight male with the happy, free-spirited female, especially since many books feature the opposite. Simon was an excellent proper lord, he carried it off so well and the backstory of his sister and the appearance of his mother made it clear why he acted the way he did. His behavior was practical, realistic, and done completely in character and it made it so much more interesting and fun when he did loosen up. Juliana was the perfect foil for him because she was prone to causing scandal, but her behavior was also done perfectly. I don't like heroines who do thinks purely to cause a scandal or whose behavior is just too ridiculous to seem true and Juliana definitely doesn't fall into this category. She was fun and free and was torn between wanting to fit in and make her family proud and Simon like her more, but she wasn't willing to give up the things that make her happy. I loved reading about their time together because they were both trying to push each other away and seem like they didn't want each other but they so obviously did.

Their relationship progressed very naturally and I liked that the majority of the book was spent on the two of them and the romance. There were a lot of steamy scenes spread throughout the book, not too many though, and so much sexual tension between them that when they did get together it was almost an explosion. Very hot indeed. I enjoyed the plot involving his sister because it really showed how much he had progressed during the book, mainly because of Juliana's help and I liked the appearance of his other because I like small doses of mean women in my books and because it was some nice backstory to his life. I really liked the appearance of Juliana's mother because she was interesting and it served to really throw Juliana's life into stark relief and highlighted some of the fears about herself that Simon helped her overcome. There were many appearances by characters from previous books but I did not feel like they took over the story or became overly annoying. As usual, I love MacLean's writing style; it's fast and funny, but still gets all the important details done right.

Rating: MacLean writes another wonderful book. Almost nothing I didn't like about this book with two wonderful characters who just worked magic together.

Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean 1030

Lord Nicholas St. John, twin brother of the Marquess of Ralston, is not pleased to be named one of the ten most eligible lords to land by Pearls and Pelisses magazine as every young lady in London decides they want to marry him. So when his friend, the Duke of Leighton, asks him to go find his sister, who has disappeared, he agrees to become a tracker like he had been years before when he lived in Turkey. Lady Isabela Townsend is the proprietess of "Minerva House," a secret safe place for young women who have nowhere else to turn and she is determined to keep it a secret. She knows that taking in the sister of Duke could bring mayhem, but she does not want to turn the scared and pregnant girl away. Her wastreal father had abandoned his wife and children and squandered the money away, leaving Isabela and her brother, the very young new earl, practically penniless.

Nicholas tracks the sister to Yorkshire where he runs into Isabela who hires him to value a collection of marbles she might need to sell to keep Minerva House running. She does not want him discovering thesecret of Townsend Park, but a rainstorm keeps him and his friend ensconced in the house. He has always felt the need to help females in need, but never so much as with Isabela even though she vehemently denies she needs any. After seeing what love did to her mother she never wants to fall in love, but Nicholas makes it very hard as he wears her down and she begins to trust him and think that he could be someone she can share her burdens with. But when she discovers that he is there to take one of "her" girls away she feels betrayed and thinks that he has proven to be just like every other man in her life. She risks losing him if she cannot move beyond her past and take a chance with the man she loves.

I absolutely adored the first book in this series featuring the Marquess of Ralson, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, and was very much looking forward to this one even while realizing it would be hard to live up to such high expectations. Nicholas has quite the past as a hunter for missing people in Turkey and apparently one with women in need, but the reader gets barely a glimpse into this aspect of him until it is revealed in the end. Since such a big deal was made about it throughout the book I would have liked not to be left in the dark for so long. But I did like how MacLean made a distinction between merely wanting to help Isabela and really falling in love with her so I could tell his emotions were genuinely for her. Isabela had demons of her own as she was so intent on not becoming her mother and ruining her life for the man she loved that she ended up doing that exact thing.

It was Isabela who went through the most change in this book and really had to confront how she had led her life and how she had been controlled by fears. I loved reading about her learning how to open up and let someone else in, but when she worried he had betrayed her things kind of went downhill. While I could understand why she felt betrayed I wanted her to get over it quicker than she did and I felt like that dragged the book a bit. I liked that they were so great together and could work with each other and their was plenty of steam throughout the book and it was at times pretty hot. I absolutely adored Isabela's brother, James the new Earl of Reddich, who was precocious and so wanted to grow up and take care of his sister and the other women. And there was a wonderful little side romance featuring Isabela's cousin and Nicholas's friend that I wish had been more showcased in the novel.

Rating: Another great book by MacLean who writes very well rounded characters, and although it got irritating at times, it still shown overall.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean 604

For ten years lady Calpurnia Hartwell has been respectable and completely on the shelf. When her younger sister, Mariana, becomes engaged to a Duke, Callie knows that she needs to grab ahold of life with both hands and have an adventure or two... or nine. She makes a list of the nine things she would like to do; from the scandalous- gamble in a gentleman's club, to the things she has always secretly wanted but has been too scared to hope for- to be considered beautiful and to dance every dance at a ball. Remembering a moonlit stroll at a ball when she first came out she decides that the rakish Gabriel St. John, Marquess of Ralson, would be a perfect man to help her cross off the first thing on her list; to be kissed passionately. Ralston is shocked, intrigued, and very tempted when the missish Callie makes her proposition but he obliges her with the stipulation that she help him bring his newly discovered, illegitimate, Italian sister, Juliana, out into society.

As Callie spends more and more time around the St. John family, the more she knows that she has always had feelings for Ralston, but she knows her feelings will never be returned. Ralston is at first furious to learn of Callie's list, but is fascinated by this woman who is a mix of innocence and exuberance and wants to experience everything life has to offer her. He decides he should accompany her as she fulfills all of the experience on her list, and although he knows that he will never be able to offer the love that she wants, he can't help but be tempted by her. He has always known he will never marry because his mother left his father and his father died of a broken heart, but the more time he spends with Callie the more he comes to think that he can never let her go. Their happily ever after will have quite a few bumps on the road as Callie is unwilling to settle for anything less than Ralston's heart, and while it takes awhile, she wins it in the end and he wins hers.

I absolutely loved Callie as one of my favorite heroines ever. MacLean did an amazing job making her situation seem real to the readers and explaining her sudden need to go out and do something super excited. I loved that she was nervous and not completely go get them, as to be honest her being a little apprehensive made much more sense, and yet she so bravely went out and did all of those completely scandalous things. I love reading about a heroine who goes and takes charge of her life in a way that makes sense for her character and Callie certainly did it here. Ralston was also great, although it would be impossible to top Callie, because he was dark and broody and quite the rake, but it was so obvious that he was a great person. He loved his family and did his best to make everything work out for her even if he was not all that good at it. And he struggled so hard with his emotions involving Callie as he felt guilt that he was taking advantage of her, and yet he knew he would not be able to stop.

The relationship was the backbone of this story and it developed so wonderfully throughout the book from their first meeting when she developed quite a crush on him to them working together to complete all of the crazy things on her list to when he finally came around and recognized that he was in love with her. There was always tremendous chemistry between them and every time they got together I knew that something amazing was going to happen, whether they argued or went fencing. And the sex between them was amazing- super HOT, highly emotional, and a great addition to a great story. The side characters were superb and even her perfect sister wasn't annoying. I am definitely looking forward to reading the sequel and any other books that spring from this one. I love MacLean's writing, it was humorous and fast, and never missed a beat. And I will say that I very much enjoyed all of the banter- it was interesting without being obnoxious. The book is nearly 400 pages and I didn't regret a single one of them.

Rating: I absolutely loved this story and it was completely character and romance driven. I definitely recommend this book.