The Duke is Mine

The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James

Lady Olivia Lytton has been engaged to Rupert, heir to the Duke of Carleton, since she was born and the fact that Rupert is mentally challenged will not stand in the way of her parents social climbing or his father's desire for an intelligent heir. She has spent her childhood being "duch-ified" and while her sister, Georgette, has learned every lesson, Olivia does not really fit the idea of what a Duchess is supposed to be. She is curvy, she is loud, she is atonal, she enjoys racy limmericks, and she absolutely loathes reading etiquette books, especially the one written by the Dowager Duchess of Sconce. Tarquin, Duke of Sconce, is better with numbers than people and has decided to allow his mother to find his next wife. His first marriage ended disastrously when he allowed his heart to lead him and his wife ended up cheating on him numerous times before she ran away with her lover and ended up drowning, with their son, in the Thames. Olivia has her own duke so when Georgette is invited to a house party with the opportunity to impress the dowager, Olivia agrees to accompany her while Rupert goes off to fight Napoleon and seek glory.

It is quickly obvious that Georgette is the frontrunner to become the new Duchess of Sconce as she has taken to the Duchification process that eluded Olivia. But even as he tells himself that Georgette is better for him, and the two can certainly talk about the mathematical processes that interest him, it is Olivia he is drawn to. Olivia with her dirty limmericks and her very curvy body that he cannot keep from thinking of and whom he enjoys cornering in ballrooms and kissing. Olivia too feels the connection to Quin and she certainly enjoys the kissing aspect just as much as him, but she feels guilty for betraying her sister and her fiance. Nonetheless Olivia and Quin find themselves taking every opportunity to be alone together, sneaking off during balls and climbing trees together and otherwise engaging in activities that they should not be given that her sister could become his wife. Both must realize that, though their relationship will hurt many around them, sacrifices will need to be made for the sake of their love.

When Eloisa James is at her best she writes humorous novels with lovable characters that are immensely enjoyable and this book certainly falls into this character. I did love Olivia because she was loud and "fat" (romance speak for big breasted) and outgoing and enjoyed life while still maintaining her commitment to her duty and her family and was a good enough person not to want to hurt a mentally challenged young man. She loved her sister and her fiance and while she suffered guilt over this she still realized that she had found her chance at love and reached out to grab it with both hands. It is apparently harder for authors to write heroes because they have such a narrow confine to work within and with the success of Jennifer Ashley's The Madness of Ian MacKenzie, asperger's has suddenly become the extra oomph they can add to make their heroes different and unique. Unfortunately I don't believe James does quite a good job here as Ashley and Quin's disability with people seems like just that; a way to make him different without being too off putting for readers and shies away from some of the harsh realities of the disability.

I also felt that Quin and Olivia did not spend as much time together as I would have liked in my protagonists and what time they did spend was hindered by their guilty feelings and the knowledge that their time was very limited because of their circumstances. As with most James' books there was some sex and it was romantic but it was far from being hot and felt like it was just there because it had to be there. I did like that the periphery characters were well developed and that her fiance and sister were never demonized; they were real characters with real stories and didn't just get shoved aside to make way for the happy ending. I did feel like the matter of Rupert was resolved a little too quickly and a little too neatly and apparently was rather historically inaccurate within the history of the Napoleonic Wars. However, I do like to suspend disbelief when reading romance novels and I do like fairly nice little bows made out of big problems so it didn't bother me.

It was fun and fast and I liked reading it but I admit that James has never really been a go to author for me because she's never crossed into that excellent category.

An Improper Proposal

An Improper Proposal by Cheryl Bolen 1229

George Pembroke, Lord Sedgewick, was madly in love with his wife, Helene, and when she died giving birth to his son, Sam, he shut himself up and vowed never to love again. Two years later Sam is still not talking and everyone around him is telling George he should remarry and take more interest in his son, but he knows he is not ready. His sister's close friend, Sally Spenser, has been secretly in love with George for years and has expressed that through her dedication to the children he has semi-abandoned because they remind him of his wife. Finally, seeing, that he does need to do something for his children he agrees with his sister that he should marry Sally and proposes a marriage of convenience for the children's sake; a marriage that he has no plans to ever consummate. Sally knows what she is getting into but she hopes that there will one day be more to her marriage and she is excited that the beautiful little children she has come to love will be her own.

But many people do not believe that Sally is good enough for George, especially Sallys' childhood acquaintance, Rebecca Johnson, who vows to do whatever she can to make George regret choosing Sally over her. She enlists the help of one of her many low-class lovers, Ebinezeer, a stable-hand, to follow them to their country estate and wreak havoc. George and Sally grow closer once they move away from the city and George is removed from his fast friends, friends who encourage him to gamble and stay out late. Sally knows that George can go back to being the man he was when his wife was alive and her encouragement helps George become a better man and he starts taking an interest in his children again. That means he can't help but notice how much Sally loves them and how caring and kind she is and he is feelings he never planned on having again. It takes Rebecca's promised vengeance to force them to realize how much they each mean to each other and how neither of them want a marriage of convenience; they want a real marriage full of the love they have for each other.

Sally Spenser is a fun, outgoing woman with a very strong maternal instinct who sees the best that people can be and wants them to live up to their potential. She is supportive and loving of children who aren't hers and I admit I found it weird that she so completely accepted the children as hers. She came across as a little naive for agreeing to this marriage with a man that she loved and thinking that would be enough for her. A lot is made about her being insecure about her appearance and how George could never love her but then apparently his wife was similarly shaped to her so it seemed a little ridiculous. George was a man gripped by depression and while I liked that the book did not make his wife into a villain and he continued to love her even while falling in love with Sally, it was hard to admire a man who mired himself in gambling and vice while his children were starved for affection. He did make genuine attempts to improve himself during the course of the novel and in my opinion he succeeded and I do like when characters undergo some important development during a story.

Their relationship progressed from arguing over little things and being irritating to each other to falling in love in a very natural progression that very much impressed me. They spent a lot of time together, getting to know each other, falling in love, and working together to make each of them a better person. That was one of the best things about this book, and about romances in particular, when the characters each love the other so much that they want to become better people and that is certainly the case here. There is very little sex between them, and it is only at the end, and I did not find it particularly hot which was a shame because these two did seem to be so attracted to each other. The villainess side-plot was a little ridiculous and was wrapped up a little to quickly for my taste and I especially disliked how the bad girl was sexually active and really made to look like a slut and was denigrated for sleeping with people beneath her station. The worst part of this book, and it was a BAD part, was the writing; almost every page I found something completely ridiculous and lol bad and it really took away from my enjoyment of it.

Rating: An interesting romance between two people who were well suited for each other, but there was not enough sex and the writing was god-awful.

Romancing the Countess

Romancing the Countess by Ashley March 1025

Leah George was in love with her husband, Ian, when they married but shortly after the ceremony she discovered his affair with the wife of his best friend and for the last year she had gone through the motions without engaging her emotions. Sebastian Madinger, Earl of Wriothesly, was in love with his wife, Angela, for the entirety of their marriage and he lavished attention on her and their son, Henry. He is shocked and angry and hurt when Angela dies in a car crash with Ian and it is obvious that they had been having an affair. His first thought is of protecting Angela's reputation to ensure that no scandal touches Henry. Leah has had an entire year to get used to the knowledge of the affair and after hiding behind society's strictures for so long she has no desire to live the next year mourning a man she had lost long ago. Although Sebastian's plea for discretion does resonate with her she wants to live her life, she wants to not be lonely, to be the center of attention for once in her life so she decides to throw a house party, which of course infuriates Sebastian and he goes rushing off to stop her.

Sebastian cannot help but compare Leah to Angela and he finds that she smiles wider, she talks and laughs louder and she enjoys being with people for her own sake and not merely to make other people like her. He cannot get her out of his mind even while he recognizes that her actions threaten to start a scandal that could lead to the truth. Leah is enjoying herself even with Sebastian trying his hardest to prevent a scandal and she finds that the more he tries to interfere the more she enjoys his company and believes he is enjoying hers. But she is worried that he is constantly comparing her to Angela and finding her wanting, just as Ian did and she cannot forget how betrayed she felt in her marriage and she never wants to feel like that again. When Leah finally causes a scandal that could threaten all of them Sebastian finds that the most favorable solution is to marry her and realizes that this is something he wants; to be a part of Leah's life and to have her in his. She must overcome her fears and anxiety before she too realizes that Sebastian is the perfect man for her and in this marriage the love is mutual.

I absolutely loved Leah because she was so amazing and I found myself totally immersed in the story of this woman who was just starting to live her life. Reading about her and how she had lived a half life, following all the rules and doing exactly what was expected of her and slowly succumbing to unhappiness and then realized she had a whole life ahead of her and she had control of it, was completely moving. It was depressing that her actions kind of backfired and she ended up almost worse than where she started but I was with her every step of the way as she assuaged her loneliness and tried to find happiness. Sebastian was far too obsessed with protecting his dead wife's reputation but he made up for that with his love for his son which was so touching to read about. I also loved that he was in love with his wife and his betrayal felt so real and yet I could understand the process of him coming to realize that he needed Leah in his life. The comparisons he made between her and Angela were somewhat troubling, but it also served to show how perfect she was for him and how he and Leah were equals.

Their relationship definitely was well developed and underwent complete dissection through every step of the process; from mutual anger and hurt to fear of the newness of their feelings to eventually admitting their feelings and hoping they were returned. I really felt like these two were perfect for each other because they were foils for each other and, without claiming that they had a lot in common, I knew that they "meshed" together and they made each other so happy. There was not very much sex between them because she was haunted by her sexual past and she never wanted to be under a man's power. They danced around each other and wanted each other but there was not even a buildup of lust and the eventual culmination was rather disappointing because it took so long in coming. There was certainly a lot of angst in the book as the each questioned themselves over what happened and the influence of what happened was seen throughout the book. I never felt like it took over the romance, which remained the focal point, and I never felt like it was marginalized which I appreciated.

Rating: A very good novel about betrayal and learning to trust and love again with two characters who were so obviously perfect for each other.

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley 818

Lord Cameron Mackenzie caught Ainsley Douglas in his room and assumed she was there to sleep with him, but she left claiming that she could not betray her kind, but elderly husband. When he later discovered that she had stolen a necklace from his room he felt incredibly betrayed and did not listen to her explanation that she thought the necklace belonged to a friend of hers. Neither forgets what almost happened in that room even while Cameron dedicates himself to sleeping with as many ladies of the ton as he can and Ainsley recovers from her husband's death and goes to work for Queen Victoria. Six years later Ainsley is back in his room rummaging through his stuff, this time on a mission to find love letters the Queen had written to her gardner. This time Cameron has no intention of letting her go and during the course of his brother's house party he sets about seducing the beautiful and aloof lady of his dreams. Ainsley does not want to fall into bed with Cameron; she had made a mistake long ago and her brother had helped her sort out the consequences and she does not want to shame him again.

Cameron has his own past scars; his deceased wife was insane and when not cheating on him, she was physically abusing him and threatening their son, Daniel. He volunteers to help Ainsley recover the letters from the woman who is using them to blackmail money out of the queen and keeps her secrets and goes along with her furtive plans while doing his best to protect her from gossip or harm. Cameron runs a successful horse training facility, but on the off season he goes to Paris and invites Ainsley with him and for once she takes a risk and, throwing caution to the wind, she decides to go off with him. He has realized that he never wants to risk losing Ainsley so he wastes no time in marrying her and claiming her as his forever. But the scars from Cameron's past have not completely disappeared and every time Ainsley tries to talk to him she is shut down and worries she will never really know her husband. When the Queen calls Ainsley away Cameron is terrified of losing her and they both must learn to move on from the hardship in their pasts and trust in their love for one another.

Jennifer Ashley really has a winner with the Mackenzie series and this book is no exception. Ainsley is a wonderful heroine because she is well rounded, sympathetic, and caring and I really felt like I could understand her motives for all of her actions. Plus her tendency to sneak into locked bedrooms makes her more exciting than many romance novel heroines. Cameron is just as excellent as the emotionally damaged hero who is burying his hurt and anger in every willing woman he can find. They complimented each other because Ainsley was just stuck in her role as the proper widow at the beck and call of the Queen and he was so obviously tortured inside. He drew her out of her shell and helped her start living her life and she helped him come to grips with his past. While a tortured hero is nothing new, I admired that Ashley was able to put a new spin on it and that it was a genuine reason for him to be troubled, even if it was a little gruesome. These two spent a lot of time together, a lot of quality time together, which made it so obvious that they were falling in love with each other and I love reading that.

The relationship progressed naturally throughout the book, and I admit that I like books where the characters get married before they're in love because it gives them more time to get to know the other and work together and I get to see how they do everyday things together. The sex was fairly frequent and really hot but a big deal was made about how raunchy Cameron was and how excited Ainsley got by his "dirty talk" and yet it was just alluded to and never described which disappointed me. I really like how Ashley merges past characters into this book seemlessly; they are important to the storyline and are real people and not just props to show how prolific the author is and even the protagonists from her future novel are well down. Best of all none of them distract from the true romance happening between Ainsley and Cameron, but compliment it instead. My favorite secondary character is Daniel, Cameron's son because he was just a perfectly done teenager/ almost man who loved his dad and wanted what was best for him. The book was short and yet I definitely didn't feel disappointed.

Rating: Another very good book from a very talented author who writes very compatible characters and strong relationships in a very easy and fun to read style.

The Raven Prince

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt 624

Anna Wren has been widowed six years and has been living with her mother-in-law and a maid of all trade, but they are barely scraping by on the money they are earning. Her entire town of Little Battleford is abuzz that Lord Edward de Raaf, Earl of Swartington, has returned after years away. Edward wants a family because he misses having people around, after his entire family died from a smallpox epidemic that left him with scars that would later terrify his wife before she died in childbirth. Edward has quite the temper and after one more secretary quits, his estate manager hires Anna to be the new secretary even though he has some reservations. Meanwhile Edward is in London finishing up an agreement with an upstanding family to marry the daughter of a Barron. He wants a large family, wants the laughter and excitement and warm fuzzy feeling that feeling like he belongs, but his lack of people skills has lead him to a very arranged marriage with a woman he doesn't truly care for. He meets his match in his new secretary and immediately the two of them get off to an exciting start.

Anna accompanies him across his farm to help with the tenants, she diligently helps him work on his new book on horticulture, she soothes his temper and looks after him when he gets in a fight. Edward cannot fight the attraction he feels for his new secretary so he makes arrangements to go to London and visit Aphrodite's Grotto. Anna is furious that he is turning to other women, but luckily her newest friend is the older sister is one of London's most famed courtesans, so she finagles her way into the Grotto. She is the masked woman who greets Edward and the two spend two nights together before Anne realizes she wants more from Edward than just sex; she is in love with her caring, temperamental, and very intelligent employer. There is also the matter of the woman who Anna's husband had an affair with and she is desperate to keep Anna quiet so that her own husband does not find out. She wants to keep Anna and Edward apart and knows just how to do it; by revealing all their secrets to each other. There is a lot standing between Anna and Edward but they know it is best to work them out for the sake of love.

I immediately loved Anna because she was self-assured and able to take care of herself in a genuine way, not in the way many helpless heroines think they can take care of themselves. However, she was not scared to admit that she needed outside help or that she wanted someone else in her life. She knew what she wanted and she definitely went out on a limb to get it and she took some major risks by taking in a sick prostitute and then traveling to London to be with Edward. She had true friends who she treated well and held her own with her enemy and she faced some pretty tough situations in her marriage with her head held high. Edward was a little unusual in a hero because he was physically imperfect, we were told numerous times about his pox scares and how they had horrified his deceased wife, and he did seem to be a genuinely angry person. He wasn't a mean angry, although he did not deal with incompetence well, but he was hard to get along with and at one point he berated his own house which I had never heard of a romance hero doing. Nevertheless he was incredibly sweet with Anna.

The majority of the book was spent with these two spending time together which is really important to me in a romance novel and it really allowed me to see that these two worked really well together. They had common interests, they cared about the other, and they were willing to go out of their way to do nice things for each other. There was a sexual undertone throughout the book and when it was finally unleashed it exploded and set the pages on fire. It was HOT, it was slightly kinky, and it was great to read about these two outwardly staid people finally getting it on with each other. The sex was really just down perfectly because I was so invested in them falling in love and finding their happily ever after. There were a few side plots, including a really interesting one involving small town morals and a prostitute that Anna takes in and cares for that really shows off her great character. There was also the mean spirited woman who wanted to hurt Anna and while her attempts were short lived, still added a nice little "what might happen" to the book.

Rating: Another stupendous showing from Hoyt and I really hovered between 4 and 5 hearts here, but Hoyt just impresses me so much on all levels.

The Secret Desires of a Governess

The Secret Desires of a Governess by Tiffany Clare 605

Abigail Hallaway has two sister's who are countesses and a fortune coming in a few years, but she still wants something more from her life. She has no desire to marry and give her life over to a man, so she takes a position as a governess in a far away castle in the North. Elliot Wright, the Earl of Brendall, lives a solitary existence with only his son Jacob, and a handful of wary servants, for company. He and Abigail do not get off on the best start as she is forced to walk in the rain 15 miles when she is forgotten at the train station. That doesn't stop either of them from recognizing that they are immensely attracted to the other; she finds him so different from the fops of the ton with his rugged muscles and she is blonde and small and lively. Abby immediately starts lessons with Jacob and is shocked to learn that the 8 year-old cannot read but devises a method of teaching him his letters and it isn't long before he is making progress that his father finds miraculous. Elliot has secrets and fears of his own; his wife had gone crazy and became convinced people were after her until she died in a fire she started and was buried far away where no one could find her grave.

Abby finds her time with Jacob enjoyable and feels a sense of accomplishment for what she is doing, but her time is made awkward by her immense attraction to the master of the house and the very overt dislike the housekeeper, Martha, shows her. Elliot tries to stay away from Abby because he fears ruining another light-hearted beautiful woman, but he cannot prevent the passionate kisses he and Abby share. Things get serious when someone pushes Abby off a cliff and Elliot wonders if his deceased wife's fears someone was trying to kill her were real. Their kisses turn into more than that and soon Abby and Elliot are sharing a bed and at first she is able to convince herself that she still wants her independence, but she is eventually forced to admit that she wants more from Elliot than he is offering. Another attempt is made on Abby's life and Elliot is more determined than ever to catch the murderer, and starts with those who are closest to him. But even when the mystery is solved Elliot knows that he has nothing to offer Abby and Abby knows that Elliot is being a coward when it comes to love. Elliot will have to learn that love can be scary, but that he doesn't need to offer her more than everything.

Abby really did not click with me for some reason- perhaps I am just a little bored with a heroine who has everything and yet just has a desire for something more. I understand that it would be normal to want something more from your life, but it just seemed too crazy to believe that she would do something like this when she didn't need to. Throughout the book I never really got a feeling for who she was or really what drove her. Elliot was a little more developed, but it was mostly through learning about his history with his wife, his father, and the various members of the community around him. Both of them just felt a little flat and I would have just liked more; more feelings that I could relate to, more back story, more realism, just plain more. I would say that the relationship between them was believable, but the story really began to take on a heavy drag, almost a depression, when thoughts about attempted murder and what happened to his ex-wife began to intrude. I wanted a little more happiness to make their relationship more enjoyable to read about it. The sex was smoking hot, including a mild spanking scent, but had was a tad on the wordy and dragged-on side.

The book's dealing with a learning disability in reading, which I presume is dyslexia from the way it is described, was very interesting. While I have no knowledge of how dyslexia is treated I would be interested to know if the methods she was using were accurate. As a teacher I really dislike it when a book portrays someone with no experience and no knowledge or training comes in and miraculously teaches the unteachable child with kindness and patience. If it were as easy as that I would have become a special education teacher. I really liked that Elliot suffered from this learning disability; so much of what Elliot was thinking and feeling regarding his relationship with Abigail was irritating and completely blown out of proportion but his fears about telling her about this were genuine and really got me on his side for awhile. The murder plot really felt like it dragged for me and I was almost uninterested in how it would turn out. Because the relationship and romance and characters weren't done to my taste I found it hard to really get into any part of the book, including this part. I was also a little disappointed at the simplicity with which this plot turned out.

Rating: An unexceptional book I couldn't decide between 2 and 3 hearts, but decided on a 2 since I had been giving so many 3's and it took me over a week to finish.