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.

Wedding of the Season

Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke 109

Beatrix Danbury loved William Mallory her entire life and their engagement and eventual marriage was a foregone conclusion. But Will felt stifled by his life and the expectations surrounding his eventual inheritance of the Sunland Dukedom, and he dreamed of one day escaping to Egypt where he could explore his archeological passions. Two weeks before their wedding he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime and, thinking that Beatrix would be thrilled and willing to join him, he accepts. Beatrix is horrified and refuses to leave her father, her safe existence, and the life she has planned out for herself in England so their wedding is called off and Will goes to Egypt for six years. Beatrix was heartbroken but comforted herself by feeling secure, but when her father dies her life is once again thrown into disarray and she begins to take more adventures like the sort she took with Will when she was younger. She meets and becomes engaged to Aidan, the Duke of Tretham, just as Will comes back to England looking for more funding.

Will never got over Beatrix, or the abandoned feelings when she refused to go with him, and he is sad that she has chosen someone so safe and predictable when he feels she needs more adventure after living to satisfy her father for so long. Beatrix is furious at Will for returning right as her life is looking good again, but his return reminds her of all the fun they had and all the reasons she fell in love with him in the first place. It isn't long before Will knows he wants Beatrix back; he wants to teach her to be adventurous again and take her with him to Egypt. Beatrix is still scared of taking the plunge and worried about breaking things off with Aidan, but when one adventure goes too far everyone is forced to admit that her marriage to Aidan was always an impossibility because she can never feel for him what she felt for Will. Will knows without a doubt that he loves Beatrix but he cannot give up his life long dream of discover King Tut's tomb and he wants desperately to convince Beatrix to finally take the chance of a lifetime. Beatrix must finally step out of her safe existence and discover for herself that taking a big leap of faith is worth it to spend her life with the man she loves.

I am a sucker for romances where the hero and heroine are long lost lovers because it provides wonderful amounts of angst and often involves copious introspection on the part of both of the characters that results in great character development. We get to see these characters as they were as children, as they were during the first blush of youth, and as they fell in love all over again. Beatrix is wonderful as the fearful and yet secretly adventurous woman who wants a family and the predictable English aristocratic life. Will is also great, although less well developed, as the explorer who wants to buck the system and carve out a new life. Beatrix is perfect for the adventurous Will and they both bring out the best in each other and while he makes her take risks, she makes him see the benefit of a more safe life. I do wish they had spent more time together that wasn't relegated to him making her take risks though and I really wish there had been more sex between these two. There were a few lukewarm scenes and only one completed scene and none of it was precisely hot. But it was clear that both of them genuinely loved the other and I did like that.

I do not like a book where the hero jilts the heroine and what made this book so great was that they both were equally jilted and felt the other was responsible for their breakup. And it was easy to see the situation from both sides as I empathized with Beatrix for wanting it safe and respecting English tradition and with Will who wanted adventure and to find a way out of the dying aristocracy. It made sense for Beatrix to expect Will to stay and for Will to expect Beatrix to follow him so I felt like it was not correct to blame one of them for what happened more than the other. I liked that the book did not make either Beatrix for being fearful and wanting security or Will who wanted adventure and a new life, out to be wrong or a villain- they just wanted different things. While the end could not be a compromise between their choices, the right choice won out in the end and it was a choice that made both of them happy. As usual I enjoyed Guhrke's writing style, but I still felt like the book went very slowly and kind of dragged overall. However, I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel to this, which tells Aidan's story.

Rating: A great exploration of two very different people forming a loving, balanced relationship, but I was still bored by the book at times.

How to Marry a Duke

How to Marry a Duke by Vicky Dreiling 106

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

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

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

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

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

A Taste of Desire

A Taste of Desire by Beverley Kendall 103 


Lady Amelia Bertram disliked Thomas Armstrong since she first met him and even though she finds him very attractive, she wastes no time in making sure everyone knows of her dislike for him. Despite his initial attraction to Amelia, her prickly exterior and bad judgement calls have led him to avoid her at all costs. Unfortunately his dealings with her father, Harry, make this difficult and when Harry goes to America he begs Thomas to take care of Amelia in his absence. Thomas refuses until he overhears Amelia loudly and publicly belittling his rumored prowess in the bedchamber. With the help of his friend, Alex, Thomas decides to teach Amelia a lesson by watching her while her father is gone, making her work for him, and seducing her until she begs him to take her. Amelia is horrified at the prospect of staying with Thomas, but when her father threatens to send her to stay with nuns, she reluctantly agrees. Thomas' mother and sisters are going to be her chaperones and around her Amelia is completely different than around the other members of the ton.


This new side to her doesn't hamper him from going through with his plans and her beauty doesn't make seduction hard. Amelia's dislike of Thomas stems from her belief that her father loves him more than he loves her and her father's neglect since her mother's death. Amelia is humiliated when Thomas puts her to work on his files like she was a secretary, but she worries what he would do if she refused to do what he asked. Her work for him makes her mother suspicious so he agrees to do some non-work related activities for her such as horse back rides. It becomes increasingly difficult for them to keep their hands off each other and even while they both believe they cannot stand the other, they are taking every opportunity they can find to be alone together. Suddenly Thomas is wondering if he has completely misjudged her and if it would be possible for the two of them to have a life together. But when he sees her with one of her former suitors he believes he has been taken for a fool and it will take important efforts from both of them to get around their former hatred and admit their love.


Amelia comes across as incredibly immature as she has had two failed elopements with completely unsuitable men and very little attempt was made to explain why she had tried to elope. Her hatred of Thomas was seemed purely mean spirited and I wanted to slap her father for having allowed things to have progressed to the point where his daughter was so awful. Her insults are supposed to be "honest" and "original" but they just came across as horrible and unpolite in every aspect. I wanted her to grow up as the book went on but I wasn't completely convinced she did. I admired her ability to be honest about her feelings surrounding her father as they were very complicated and her resentment for his “abandonment” and subsequent dislike of those whom her father does like seemed genuine, even if it didn’t warrant the amount of venom she spewed at Thomas. Despite my dislike of Amelia, I was horrified by the humiliation she endured at Thomas’ hands while she was working for him. It was painful to read and there were times when I wanted to put it down purely because of the embarrassment.

Thomas’ plans to almost seduce Amelia to get back at her for insulting him and his making her work for him did not endear me to him. But Amelia was really such an awful person that it was difficult for me to completely disagree with his motives or his methods. Despite his pretending to hate her he wasn’t opposed to going off half-cocked whenever another man so much as glanced in her direction. Also- I am not a big fan of romances where the hero engages in sexual activities with another woman, even if it occurs before he and the heroine are involved. He was always looking for the worst in Amelia, even when she was being good and it made it difficult for me to see how he fell in love with her. And his behavior made it equally hard to determine how she fell in love with him. Granted there was a ton of steam between them and the sex between them was absolutely scorching and there was quite a bit of it. I enjoyed the presence of his mother and sisters and especially her father and the interesting relationship he had with both his daughter and with Thomas.

Rating: A fairly terrible book all around, with two atrocious characters who had some hot sex, but the writing style was well done. 

One Sinful Night

One Sinful Night by Kaitlin O'Riley 1224

Vivienne Montgomery and Aidan Kavanaugh were childhood best friends in Galway, Ireland until the summer Aidan came home from school to discover that Vivienne was all grown up. Friendship quickly blossomed into love and they agreed to be married by the end of the summer. Unfortunately Aidan's mother harbored greater aspirations for her son than marrying an Irish lass and one day Aidan he caught Vivienne and another man in a very compromising situation. He ran to England, inherited the Earldom of Whitlock, and spent the next ten years trying to forget Vivienne until a house party with the Duchess of Bingham brings them face to face. Vivienne was devastated when Aidan left her without giving her a chance to explain that she was taken unaware and was trying to get away from the man she was with. She was ostracized by many back in Ireland and after her grandmother died and her father died in a ship accident, she was all alone until her English cousins came to claim her.

She is not pleased to run into Aidan at the house party and he certainly doesn't try to make anything easier for her and challenges her at every opportunity. No matter how hard either of them try they cannot forget the good times when they were children, they cannot deny the attraction for each other, and they cannot suppress the feelings that are resurfacing. While trying to fight these feelings he is also trying to find evidence that Jackson Harlowe, who operates a competing shipping business, has been trying to ruin his business by burning down his warehouse. It does not help that Jackson is making overtures to Vivienne and all his possessive feelings come rushing to the fore. Vivienne and Aidan have difficulty keeping their hands off of each other and when they are discovered a wedding is imminent. But Vivienne is worried that Aidan will never be able to let his anger over what happened go and that his mother will never allow them to be happy. Aidan needs to get rid of the danger Harlowe poses and prove to Vivienne that they can overcome their past and move on together.

I enjoyed the last book of O'Riley's that I read so I decided to give this a try and I am very glad I did as this was a very enjoyable book. As usual, I love having the hero and heroine being in love years ago and being forced apart by a big misunderstanding only to find that their feelings resurface after years. The plot was handled perfectly in this novel with all of the great emotions and angst and jealousy and fears and possessiveness and rekindled love. The big misunderstanding was well done as it was big enough to warrant him running off and causing such a big rift and yet easily explainable enough to forgive both Vivienne and Aidan for allowing it come in between them. I loved Vivienne because she was so self assured, incredibly capable and she didn't allow what happened between her and Aidan to ruin her life. And I loved that she wanted to marry Aidan and instead of allowing her misgivings to ruin everything she came out and told him and prompted an honest discussion between them that paved the way for them to get back together and forgive each other. She was a very adult character.

Aidan was still a wonderful character and I thought he was perfect for Vivienne, however I did enjoy her more because he did harbor a lot of anger against her for a very long time. At times I felt like he was overly mean to her and there was one sex scene where I felt like he was using sex to manipulate and control her and, while it was incredibly hot, it kind of made me squeamish. But both of them handled things in a mature manner and it's always nice to read about characters who don't blow everything out of proportion. The sex between them was absolutely scorching and I wish there had been more of it throughout the book. I also wish that the two had spent more happy time together and hadn't relied quite so much on happy childhood memories ferment their relationship. I absolutely loved his mother as the lying, manipulative old bitch who was incredibly awful but was so much fun to read about. And the plot about her deceased father and the evil Harlowe Jackson was perfect as it was entertaining, mysterious, and important to the plot without overwhelming everything.

Rating: A very great book with two very adult characters who had some great emotional moments but not enough happy and carefree moments.