It's Always Been You

It's Always Been You by Victoria Dahl 1214

Aidan York and Katie Tremont had been young and in love but her father had deemed the second son of a mere baron not good enough so he had refused his suit. He kept them apart through lies and deceit and after marrying Katie off to a much older and very wealthy coffee grower in Ceylon he told Aidan she was dead. A decade later Aidan is shocked to see Katie running a coffee shop and immediately all the old feelings rush in after so long lying dormant. But Katie is now Kate and she is much different; a year living in a place she hated with a man she had only the barest relationship with, has left her less vibrant and far more reserved. She is living in hiding, under a fake name, telling people her husband is still alive, when she left Ceylon under her stepson's rumors that she had killed her husband, and claiming to have lived in India to avoid having anyone make connections to her real past. He knows he should keep his distance, that he does not want to risk the same heartbreak he suffered all those years ago but he cannot stay away; cannot resist the temptation that Katie presents.

Katie and Aidan find themselves mutually unable to stay away from each other and soon they are going for walks and picnics and falling into the same pattern of courtship as when they were younger. It is not long before Aidan is looking towards the future and seriously contemplating a life with Katie even while thinking that she is married and while Katie herself protests that she does not want a future. Katie is terrified of the consequences; for herself if the murder charges ever come out and for him if he ever discovers the lies she has been telling him. They both allow themselves to imagine what life would be like if there was a future for them and they both realize that they made mistakes years ago and that they should have had more faith in each other. But when Kate's step-son shows up, claiming to be her husband, it throws both of them, and the legal system of England into disarray and Aidan worries that the hope he had been treasuring has been thrown away. Unlike when they were young they must trust in each other to work through anything to have the future they were always meant to share.

Katie was a rich, entitled little girl who fell in love with the wrong guy and whose very uptight father sold her to the highest bidder. She went through a lot in her life and I felt like the changes she underwent fit really well with what had happened to her. She was mature and responsible and I love that she took what life gave her and tried to use what had happened to make a life for herself by opening a coffee shop. She was obviously very intelligent and was not scared to stand up to people who were not giving her her due and I respected that. Aidan was wonderful because I love how he was so obviously in love with Katie and wasn't worried about risking scandal to ensure her happiness and wanted what was best for her even when he didn't have the entire truth. He took responsibility for what had happened when they were younger but also forced her to realize that she was also partly to blame and that they needed to work together to move past what had happened. He worked hard, he was handsome, and he protected what was his so really he was not the most original hero, but he worked.

Their relationship was not quite as developed as I would have liked and I felt like the book did rely on their past together and their memories than was warranted. They did spent time together, getting reacquainted and finding out how much they had each changed and coming to grips with what had happened and how their pasts had affected them. I felt like there was so little happiness in their interactions though because either he was bitter about the past or she was concerned with what would happen when her past in Ceylon caught up to her and it was kind of a downer. I also really did not like how she waited so long to tell him the truth because it just seemed like a very poor way to prolong the novel and was a misunderstanding that didn't have to be. I did enjoy how the villain of the story was not completely evil and his motives made him almost sympathetic but I just could not get over how awful Kate's entire family was and I would really have liked them to have some sort of comeuppance. The writing was fast, if not precisely fun and I found myself easily engrossed in the book.

Rating: Two characters I easily got a feel for but I cannot say I entirely enjoyed the romance or the development of their relationship.

A Little Bit Wild

A Little Bit Wild by Victoria Dahl 120

Marissa York is wild and reckless and very curious about sex so as the story opens, she is just coming to regret very recently sleeping with Mr. Peter White. The experience was nothing like she imagined and she decides that Peter will not, as she had expected, make a good husband. Unfortunately her older brother, Edward, Baron York, and her cousin, Harry barge in and disrupt her and demand that she marry Peter. She tries to convince them that is not possible, but with the possibility of scandal, not to mention a baby perhaps on the way, a marriage must be soon. Her youngest brother Aidan is accompanied by his friend Jude Bertrand, the bastard son of a Duke, who has had his eye on Marissa since he first met her. He offers to marry Marissa and her family accepts even though under normal circumstances they would never consider him. He senses a wickedness, a wild and naughty streak, in Marissa and he wants to bring it to the surface in her- just for him. Jude is unlike any of the other men Marissa has fancied; he is big and brash and is far from the pretty boys she has always admired.

Although he is not someone she would have considered for herself, she has to admit that there is something intriguing about Jude. He shows no signs of jealousy when she ogles other men, he likes her sexual side, and even his brutish looks begin to grow on her. Jude hopes to use sexual passion to entice Marissa into falling in love with him because he wants her with nothing held back; he will take all of her or nothing. Their engagement takes the storm by surprise as Marissa does seem to be marrying beneath her potential and causes both of them to rethink some of the assumptions they had made about themselves. Jude realizes he had been thinking himself less than his noble friends, the Yorks, and being with Marissa he discovers he is no longer comfortable thinking like this. Marissa worries that her past actions regarding Jude, like telling him he is not her physical type, will continue to come between them. But when the threats of scandal are past both of them must face the knowledge that they want each other forever and it has nothing to do with scandal.

I have loved Victoria Dahl's book in the past and this has been in my Kindle Cart for quite awhile, so I read it with really high expectations. I was immediately drawn in by the opening scene and how daring Marissa was and how willing she was to take risks because of her desire for sexual pleasure. I liked Jude for being wonderful enough to step up and offer to marry Marissa even with the possibility of a baby and because he was so different from her usual type. It set it up for Marissa to really get to know Jude and fall for who he is and develop new tastes. The relationship was really the heart of this novel as it grew from one of necessity to one that they both desperately wanted but feared that the other did not. Much of this novel was spent with the two of them interacting with each other, thinking about each other, or dealing with issues surrounding their engagement. There was steam between them and both of them were quite sexual, but there was very little sex in the book and it was disappointing because it felt rather desperate on Marissa's part was not as hot as I had expected from the rest of the book.

I don't usually have a problem with a heroine's promiscuity, let's face it the female is very usual at all promiscuous in romance novels, but I found it rather odd that she just had sex with a man because she was curious, with no thought to the consequence. It kind of made me like her a little less even while admiring her for throwing off the norms of society. There was a decent amount of angst about whether or not the other truly wanted the marriage to happen, but I felt like Dahl is not so good at writing angst and I found myself rather bored with it and wanting both of them to just get over it. I did like the plot involving someone blackmailing the family because it was interesting and contained a couple of nice plot twists. As usual in Dahl's novels the writing was superb; it was fast paced, it was fun, it was descriptive when necessary and it really created an enjoyable reading experience. Her secondary characters were superb, from Marissa's very dramatic mother, whom I absolutely adored, to her brother's, to the well-developed "villain" of the story.

Rating: A fairly enjoyable book with two interesting characters, but I know Dahl can do much better and I expect more from her.

To Tempt a Scotsman

To Tempt a Scotsman by Victoria Dahl 514

Collin Blackburn is determined to find Damien St. Caire, who killed Colin's brother John in a duel. When John had found Lady Alexandra Hutchinson, a young woman he had developed strong feelings for, in the arms of St. Claire, he challenged him to a duel and John lost his life. Alex was ruined and Damien fled to the continent and now John is determined to find the man who killed his brother. He is attempting to track him down but he is eventually forced to turn to Alex herself for answers because he knows she is helping Damien as he lives in exile in France. He is not expected to find a headstrong young woman who dresses like a man, works her brother's estate as the land manager, and is not at all scared of expressing her sexual needs. Collin knows he needs to stay away from her, as she is a Duke's sister and he was born a bastard despite having been recently named a lord, but it is very difficult to put aside the immense attraction he feels for her.

Despite his best efforts he succumbs to Alex when she asks him to spend a couple of weeks with her at a family cabin, just the two of them. It is there that the two really begin to fall in love and certainly enjoy getting it on quite a lot. It is also where Collin begins to wonder if he can put aside his back ground and hers because he knows that the idea of her with another man is going to kill him. When Alex gets sick and he takes her to her brother's estate, they agree to get married to avoid a horrible scandal, and while each is individually excited about the prospect they each believe the other was forced into it. Collin is terrified that Alex will leave him when she discovers that he is not exciting, that he is not wealthy, that he is not the well-to-do gentleman that someone like her would normally be with. This drives a wedge between the newly married couple and things go from bad to worse as Collin's jealousy begins to spiral out of control. It takes a deadly confrontation for each to realize that they do love each other and nothing can stand in their way.

I read the Victoria Dahl books in reverse order, but it works out fine as you didn't really have to have read any of them to make it work. This one turned out to be just as enjoyable as the other two of hers that I have read. The plot was simple and yet she managed to do some great new things with it by making Collin's insecurities and Alex's incredibly exuberant personality such a large part of the story. Alex is amazing in so many different ways; she's a genuinely happy and enjoyable person and yet she has this deeper side to her because of what had happened with her two previous loves. She is self-reflective, intelligent, and damn sure of herself and isn't afraid to go after what she wants and then admit that she's made a mistake. Collin was admittedly a little irritating with his guilt and his jealousy came perilously close to making him a right ass. He did and said some pretty awful things and I would have liked to see more apology from him.

I have to admit that I absolutely loved that Alex was so overtly sexual, liked that she enjoyed sex, and was not scared to act on her sexual impulses. She was a virgin (shocker!) but she was far from the innocent of most regency heroines. Dahl did what most authors do for romance heroes by explaining that the feelings around the sex were just extra special with this particular person which does end up working just as well for the woman as for the man. So basically the sex in this book is steaming hot and there is plenty of it throughout the book and it goes well with the flow of the story. The side-plot involving Damien St. Claire served as the method for getting them together, however it really didn't seem like an all important part of the story and was resolved in a very short end scene that ended as expected. There was also a nice little side romance going on in the book and a secondary villain that added a lot to the book and I really liked them. Lastly, I really like Dahl's writing style- very enjoyable and readable.

Rating: Another great win for Dahl. A little misstep with the jealousy so if you aren't into angst it's not for you, but a great book overall.

A Rake's Guide to Pleasure

A Rake's Guide to Pleasure by Victoria Dahl

Emma Jensen is posing as the widowed Lady Denmore so that she can gamble with the elite members of the ton and make a small enough fortune to live modestly off of for the rest of her life. Her father had been the ninth Duke of Densmore and he earned quite the reputation for throwing scandalous parties before dying and leaving the estate to his Uncle, whom Emma lived with and admired until he died in a house fire. Years before she had met the Duke of Somerhart at one of her father's parties when he had been in attendance and she had been a mere child and since that night she had spun pointless girlish fantasies about her dashing knight in shining armor. When she meets him again at a card party she feels the same sense of connection she had felt years ago, and a very new passion for the handsome man. Somerhart is horrified that Emma is a gambler and that she takes ridiculous risks like skating across very thin ice, but nonetheless he is determined to have her. However he learned his lesson years ago never to let a woman close to him, after being humiliated by a lover, and he vows to keep her away from his heart.

But the more he tries to keep her away the more obsessed with her he becomes. She shows him glimpses of passion in hot kisses and touches but she claims she does not want him for a lover. When a man from Emma's past, who knows the truth about her and who is determined to marry her and turn her into a decent Christian woman, shows up, Emma turns to Lord Lancaster for help. The man is crazed and it shows Emma how close she is to being exposed and losing everything. Somerhart begins to fear that Emma is going to make a fool of him and he tries to push her away but when he becomes angry when she wagers her body in a gambling den, he discovers in the aftermath of his anger that she was a virgin. Unfortunately for him she has chosen this moment to disappear from his life and Somerhart needs to find her- even if he is not quite sure what he plan on doing with her when he does. When he does find her it may be too late as the crazed man from her past has caught up with her too and it is up to Somerhart to save her and prove to both of them that he is capable of love.

So once again Dahl has written some great characters who are very well developed, very likable, and both of them make for interesting reads. Emma is intriguing as the woman who goes to great, and dangerous lengths, to make a life for herself. However in this case I had kind of hoped that she would have wanted more for herself than a quiet house in the country- surely a woman so adventurous wouldn't want to spend her life so isolated from society? However at least that is vaguely explained as it was a place she had felt happy during her childhood. Somerhart, whose real name is never given and he is just referred to as Hart throughout the novel (weird) and whose age is never revealed, is well done as the older man who has sworn off love. A former of mistress of his had published some quite revealing love letters and he had been humiliated by the entire ton so his feelings are understandable if a little cold. What is not so clear to be honest is quite why or how these two fell in love with each other. There is some reflection by Hart that she is innocent and adventurous and strong and some reflection by her that is strong and protective but nothing precisely super love inducing.

Despite that the sex between these two is smoking! even if there is not quite enough of it. They are incredibly compatible in the bed as Emma rather likes being ordered around in the bedroom and even a little bit of submission (her hands being pinned over her head) while Hart is more than willing to do a little dominance. It is nothing extreme and throughout it we're in both their heads seeing how in tune with each other they are and there is a tiny bit of tit for tat in the form of her "making" him masturbate for her. Yea- smokin'! The book is fairly short (289 pages) so the side plot involving Matthew Bromley definitely doesn't draw the book out or make the book just too intense. It is fairly briefly scattered throughout the course of the novel and plays a very important role at the end by doing the romance novel staple- the hero realizes he is truly in love with the heroine when he has to save her from a kidnapping plot. However, it was quite interesting here as there was the angle of religion having driven the man crazy. There was also some very delicious angstiness going on for awhile and I loved it!

Rating: Very great effort from this very great writer. I had some issues with it- I would have liked some more romantic development, but overall quite excellent.

One Week as Lovers

One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl

Nicholas Cantry, the Viscount Lancaster, knows that he must marry quickly to a wealthy woman in order to save his family from immense debts and he also knows that the woman he has engaged himself too likes him no more than he likes her. When Nicholas is informed that his childhood friend, Cynthia Merrithorpe, has died, he rushes to his country estate to gain closure and to escape his life in London. He is horrified to learn that Cynthia committed suicide after her step-father basically sold her to Richmond, a man well known for his very rough sexual proclivities, and a man that Nick himself has a very unfortunate history with. But soon Nick discovers that the "ghost" haunting his house, is not a ghost, but is jut Cynthia pretending to be dead while she searches the cliffs for a long buried pirate's treasure. When Nick had left Cynthia had been devastated as she had spun girlish fantasies and imagined the two of them getting married. At first she is upset that Nick's appearance will interfere in her treasure hunt, but it is not long before he is helping her and the two find themselves getting much closer.

Nick has lived his life in London pretending to be charming and happy while hiding desperate secrets; one from his past and one that involves his sexual preferences. Nick knows he has to keep his hands off of Cynthia because he graves "rough" sex, and by that he likes to tie up his partner. When he discovers Cynthia is not disgusted by this, in fact seems to enjoy it as much as he does, it paves the way for him to reveal some of his demons to her. He wants to marry her but the two know that financial security is a very large obstacle in their path and with their two family's immense debt a happy marriage is difficult to imagine. Everything depends on finding the treasure and even if that long shot pans out there is always the problem of Richmond, the evil fiance who is far more dangerous than Cynthia imagines. When Cynthia's alive-ness comes out in the open Nick takes Cynthia and flees to the Duke of Somerhart's esate to keep Cynthia safe until her birthday, but Richmond follows them and Nick has to take care of the spector's that haunt him and secure his future with Cynthia.

First I will start with how much I absolutely loved these characters. Cynthia was completely level-headed, and no the searching for pirate's treasure did not detract from her wonderful-ness. She was realistic when it came to her future, she was quite funny, and I liked that she was an artist but was actually pretty bad at it. I don't like when a heroine has some supernaturally amazing talent and it was just so cool that her drawings were so awful. Nick was a great character because he underwent some great changes throughout the book and they were written so well and weren't entirely based on the love of a great woman. She helped significantly, which was great for the romantic development, but he really did face down his own demons and learned to accept himself and his past. And it was nice that his "haunted" past was really haunted, although what happened to him is certainly disturbing. The sex in this novel was super hot, like WOW!, and because some of his "issues" with himself stem from his sexual proclivities it was both great for steam and contributed to their relationship in an immense way and helped Nick learn that his desires aren't dirty and awful.

This book managed to be both heavy, in the sense that it dealt with some quite intense issues and emotions, and super fun, in that Cynthia especially is super funny and just full of some little witty sayings. From pretending to be a ghost to making Nick blush after sex Cynthia was just so great. The pirate treasure search ended up contributing the story immensely, especially as it (spoiler alert) did not end up solving their problems. If it had I would have been very let down, but Dahl was great at having the character's solve through their problems in a manner not best assigned to fairy tales. Another thing I liked about this book was that Nick ended up doing something that other heroes are too "noble" to do. It's another spoiler, and while it might not have been noble, it certainly needed to be done and was another point in Nick's, and the book's, favor. The entire ending in general just sums up the book so well as both characters take charge of their lives, even if it is not in the most "respectable" way imaginable, work through their issues, and work together to ensure that their future together is happy.

Rating: Absolutely loved this book. It was fun, intense, sexy, and featured a great plot, great characters, and great romantic development.