One Wicked Sin

One Wicked Sin by Nicola Cornick 1117

Lottie Paliser is the most notorious woman in London after her many love affairs ended with a scandalous divorce from her very wealthy husband. Her extravagant lifestyle and spending habits have left her destitute and her entire family has refused to help her. With nowhere else to turn Lottie agrees to become a courtesan in a brothel but her past experience with sex is of no use and she is in danger of being thrown out after leaving several customers unsatisfied. Ethan Ryder is an Irish nobleman who is being held in England as a prisoner of war after being captured fighting for the French. Ethan is planning something big regarding all the other prisoners being held in England and he wants to create a distraction so no one will dig too deeply and Lottie is absolutely perfect. He hires her as his mistress and she agrees because there really are no other options open to her and because she is intrigued by the handsome man who spurned his titled father and ran off to fight for the French.

Ethan escorts Lottie back to Wantage where he is being held and quickly sets her up in her own little cottage. The two begin their affair on a very physical level and neither can deny that there is something more there as Ethan is sweet and attentive and Lottie is strangely reticent. Both of them enjoy this softer side to their relationship but Ethan does not believe he can trust Lottie and Lottie doesn't believe that Ethan wants anything more from her than a bed partner. Lottie is pulled in different directions when her brother offers her a way back into society if she agrees to spy on Ethan and though she agrees she does not want to betray the man she is coming to care for. When she learns that the English have imprisoned Ethan's son, Arland, in a nearby prison just to torment him she is even more determined not to bring harm to Ethan. Ethan is finding that Lottie is nothing like the coldhearted shrew he had been expecting and when she helps his son he knows that he is hopelessly in love with her. But when Lottie discovers that he is hatching the prisoner escape plan she must make a heartbreaking decision and risk losing Ethan forever.

Lottie came across as incredibly awful, shallow, and selfish in Whisper of Scandal and I was a little worried that Cornick had created a character she would not be able to redeem and make worthy of her own book. While I still did not remain convinced that Lottie was an entirely likable character, it was obvious that her divorce and the ensuing scandal had made Lottie recognize her past mistakes and genuinely want to make up for some of her past transgressions. Her past, with her father leaving her and her ex-husband spurning her for other lovers, went a long way toward explaining her promiscuity but not necessarily her flightiness and willingness to betray her closest friend. Her life as a courtesan is rather cloudy and I am not certain she went through with any of her contracts but I admit that I admired her courage and willingness to do whatever she needed to do to survive and I really enjoyed reading about her learning to open up and trust someone and her struggles as she chose between love and country.

Ethan was a new character to the series and not very easy to warm to until we start learning about his son but I very much admired him for fighting for his principles by joining the French. I admit I've never really been a fan of books where the French Revolution is so roundly villain-ized because, although it did take a dangerous turn, it had good intentions and was an important step towards equality in Europe. The most disconcerting aspect of this was his acceptance of Lottie's betrayal as I felt like he should have been much more upset at her for spoiling his plans. I really liked the development of their relationship and how it progressed from sex to feelings and how it was detailed so throughly and so evident throughout the book. Each of them wanted to make the other happy and there were just little moments that made that so clear. I was a little weirded out by the reappearance of Joanna Grant and how she and Lottie were now the best of friends and so happy to see each other after the way things had ended between them, but the other secondary characters were very well done.

Rating: Another really great book by Cornick with an unconventional heroine whom I thoroughly enjoyed reading about.

Whisper of Scandal

Whisper of Scandal by Nicola Cornick 1111

The widowed Joanna Ware has no grief over her husband's death as David Ware was a hero to the rest of England but abusive and a cheater to the wife he believed was barren. Although he left her no money upon his death she makes ends meet by being the darling of the ton and selling her decorative skills. Alex, Lord Grant, was David Ware's best friend and although Alex scorns the fame that David sought, he believed his friend when David claimed Joanna was heartless and a liar. He is not pleased when David tasks him with giving a note to Joanna on his death bed and even less so to discover to that Joanna does seem as superficial and uncaring as David had lead him to believe. Neither is happy to discover that David's last act was to appoint them both guardians of illegitimate daughter, Nina, on the condition that both of them go to the Arctic of Russia fetch her from the monastery where she lived.

Despite his mistrust of her and his outward dislike of her Alex begins to think that Joanna is far from the cold witch David painted her as. The more time Joanna spends with him the more she realizes that Alex is nothing like her husband even if they both are adventurers. Things become more complicated after the two share a kiss and while they both continue to not trust the other something has fundamentally changed in their relationship. Joanna wants Nina with a passion so decides to mount her own expedition to claim her and Alex wants to accompany her so that he can direct things and keep Joanna safe. Joanna realizes the only way to avoid complete ruination on the journey and provide a true home for Nina is to marry Alex and he agrees to a marriage with no strings or hold on him. But after a life threatening journey such a marriage is unacceptable to both of them and they must choose to take a chance on love.

I really liked Joanna as a character because she possessed so many seemingly incompatible qualities with a little bit of the cold, superficial, high society ton widow and some of the adventurous spirit of the more feisty romance novel heroines. It made her more real as she wasn't just a stereotype of a woman- she was more fleshed out. And through it all she was unapologetic about who she was, accepting that she had faults and that she liked who she was. Alex was not as well developed as Joanna in my opinion and the biggest thing he had going for him was that he was better than her deceased husband. While Alex's insistence on viewing Joanna through David's lies did get trying and I wanted him to start to think for himself, I liked the way his changing view of her progressed as he got to know her and it highlighted all the reasons that he was coming to fall in love with her.

I am not normally a fan of romances where the protagonists spend most of the book at arguing and this one saved itself from falling into that trap in the second half after their marriage when they were living on the ship and traveling. The adventure really allowed the two of them to spend some quality time together and get to know the other and moved being judging based on how David acted or what David had told them. There was a decent amount of sex between the two of them and it did get hot sometimes, but I felt like the sex definitely took a back seat to the emotional relationship between the two of them. The plot involving Nina was a little odd but obviously fit well with the story and I liked how it was solved at the end- it was heartbreaking, but so beautiful. The book also introduces the very unlikable Lottie Cummings, the heroine of the next novel who I imagine presents quite a challenge to a writer.

Rating: A wonderful heroine who I absolutely adored in a true romantic tale with a focus on the emotional development between the characters.

Two Weeks with a Stranger

Two Weeks with a Stranger by Debra Mullins 820

Lucy Severton is excited about the possibilities in her new marriage with Simon, the Earl Devinham, and hopes that they can have a loving and caring union. While her wedding night is passionate and inspires hope, Simon leaves for London the next day. Simon works for the crown and it is his duty to become close to the widowed Isabella Montelluci as his commanding officers believe that she is in possession of a list of loyal Englishman in France that she plans to sell to enemies. He is almost succeeding when Lucy shows up in London since her dear friend Arminda died and left Lucy to deliver a memorial box to the daughter who abandoned her decades before. And she hopes that while in London she can put to rest the rumors she has heard about Simon's affairs and get closer with her husband. Simon is horrified that Lucy might get in his way, but he cannot help but like having her around.

Lucy does not like that Simon continues to pay attention to Isabella even while he cannot keep his hands off her in private. She enlists the help of her new friend, the American Virginia, to bring him back to her by seduction. But when Simon's friends warn her away from London, she decides that she will discover on her own why Simon continues to pretend feelings for this woman. She and Virginia do some undercover investigation and discover that Isabella has some dark secrets of her own. Finally Simon realizes that their marriage is in danger if he does not come clean to Lucy,but even then things are not perfect as Lucy begins to realize that she does not know her husband at all. Suddenly Simon is desperate to put the matter of Isabella behind him so he can get closer to Lucy as he knows he is falling in love with her. But Isabella has one last trick up her sleeve and both Simon and Lucy will have to come to the rescue of each other.

So this story kind of starts halfway as Lucy and Simon are already married and the story is about them getting to know each other and really building a marriage which sounded incredibly intriguing to me. While I felt the book did give adequate time to the development of their relationship and building their trust with each other, I still felt as though there was too big of a focus on Isabella and spying. This plot was interesting and was integral to the story, but as usual I'm not a big fan of spies and secrets and big misunderstandings. And there was indeed a big misunderstanding as I kept waiting and waiting for Simon to finally give in and tell Lucy what was going on. It got frustrating as I felt that so much could have been solved by doing this and it quickly became apparent that he was going to tell her eventually so it might as well just be now.

I did absolutely love how persistent Lucy was in going after what she wanted by following Simon to London and then trying to seduce. And where normally I would not have been excited by a heroine taking on secret missions, Lucy did it so seemlessly that it ended up working. Simon was great as a somber hero who was struggling to keep his personal life and work life separate even as it became increasingly obvious that it was impossible. And I always like to see the hero have to sort through difficult emotions regarding the heroine and it was done very well here. Lots of brooding and angst about not knowing if she ever really knew the man she married that almost veered into being too much. I really enjoyed a little side romance that was going on between Virginia and Simon's very taciturn friend, Foxworthy, that was far too short and hopefully warranted it's own book.

Rating: A little too much for me in many respects with side plot and angst and spies. Still a solid showing in the relationship department as well.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn 804

From the time she was ten years old Miranda Cheever has been infatuated with Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner, ever since he told her she would grow into herself and be beautiful. This infatuation grows over the years and turns into love even as he marries someone else and has his heart crushed by her philandering. When his wife dies, Miranda is there to see his relief and his guilt over said relief and for the first time Turner looks at Miranda as more than a little sister. But he is determined never to marry again and distrusts love as he had believed himself in love with his deceased wife and that ended so miserably. Miranda is crushed with the knowledge that Turner will never love her, but she cannot help her feelings and Turner cannot seem to keep his hands off of her. He tries to avoid her, but during a house party the two are conveniently stuck in the rain and it becomes apparent that their relationship will need to change drastically.

But first Turner wants to collect his thoughts and a four day vacation turns into a month long excursion and while he feels guilty about what happened he knows that he will eventually marry Miranda as it is the right thing to do. Miranda is once again heartbroken as she thinks Turner has abandoned her and she does not want him to marry him out of duty, especially as she loves him so much and he knows of it. But even though he does not think he loves Turner, he is looking forward to being married to her as he knows that she will be a good person to spend the rest of his life with. He turns out to be right as they get along famously as a married couple, especially as they both look forward to the birth of their first child, but Miranda is still waiting for him to tell her those three words she needs to hear. As usual it will take almost losing her for Turner to realize that he can't live without this wonderful woman.

Julia Quinn is an expert at writing great characters that it is impossible not to fall in love with and Miranda and Turner are no exception. I loved Miranda as the bookish, smart, and desperately in love young woman. I admit I am always a sucker for romances where the heroine has harbored a tendre for the hero for years and he suddenly realizes he loves her. She handles her infatuation so well from afar and I liked that she told him so soon in the book. I also liked Turner as the older man who is coming to grips with falling for his little sister's best friend. His recovery from his ex-wife's deception was well done as well, and I liked how he readily aditted his (lack of) feelings for her. They worked very well together for the most part, but I felt as though the sex between them was lacking in both instances and in style as there was a lot of weird dialogue throughout it.

I am not really a big fan of books where the outcome is basically settled except for the hero telling the heroine he loves her. While I understand that words are important, and in this case, it really was a matter of the hero getting over his dead wife, I felt as though he did love her and forcing him to say it was really not a matter to take up an extra 50 pages. However, I loved some really great scenes between them that were really just heartbreaking as he desperately wanted her to be happy, but didn't know what to say. The banter between the two got a little awkward at times and he specifically said he liked her "fiery" which just seems a little odd to me as he apparently liked arguing with her. As usual Quinn wrote some great side characters in Turner and Miranda's families' and really she just always has a fun, fast-paced, writing style that I love.

Rating: An enjoyable book overall, but really nothing spectacular with awkward banter and some problems, with good well-written characters.

His Scandal

His Scandal by Gayle Callen 813

Sir Alexander Thornton has been leading a dissolute life and is bored with his usual pursuits so when his friend Edmund challenges him he readily agrees. Alex bets Edmund to kiss one of the tons most eligible young ladies while Alex himself is challenged to kiss the very beautiful Blythe Prescott. The challenge to kissing Blythe lies in getting around her very protective older sister Emmeline, who is determined to find a decent match for her sister. Alex certainly does not qualify as everyone knows that he is quite scandalous and had masqueraded as his twin brother. Emmeline needs to keep Alex away from her sister and will do everything she can, including never letting her sister out of her sight, confronting Alex's mother, and even following Alex to his favorite tavern's and warning him to stay away. It is at said tavern that Alex is first set upon by two men, whom he chases away before he can discover what they are after.

But the more time he spends with Blythe, and by consequence Emmeline, the more Alex realizes that the younger sister is not for him. Emmeline's insecurities confuse Alex and he wants to discover more about her- especially when he learns that she was once in love but was unable to marry the man because her father disapproved of his lower station. Meanwhile Emmeline is trying to get her sister interesting in another man, but Alex misinterprets the situation and thinks that she wants this man for herself. Emmeline sees behind the carefree facade to the man who was hurt when he did his duty to the country by pretending to be his brother, only to have everyone turn against him when the truth came out. The two men who accosted Alex are still out to get him and will stop at nothing to get him even if it means going through someone they think he cares about.

While I normally would not have a problem with two characters coming together while he is in pursuit of another woman, I found it a little distasteful that said other woman was her younger sister. Even more so because he did not really give up his pursuit until well into the book and after he started developing feelings for Emmeline. And then more odd because Emmeline seemed remarkably unconcerned that man who had been after her sister was suddenly so attracted and attentive to her. It did not really add up for me. Emmeline and Alex did not really seem to have much chemistry going on in general and there time together was brief and overshadowed by her worries about her sister. There was one brief sex scene at the end that just left me feeling blah and a few very short scenes little up to it that were just as disappointing. I often felt like their interactions consisted of him being amused by her frustrations about his relationship with her sister.

Alex's feelings of insecurity over being the younger twin were intriguing but, like many things in this book, not really developed fully. Likewise the two men who were after Alex turned out to be a dud of a plot and really quite ridiculous to the point where I wanted to slap someone. One of my favorite aspects of this book was woefully underdeveloped and that was the relationship between Emmeline and her father. It was very interesting to me as he was so disinterested in his daughters and yet manipulated Emmeline's relationships to his own benefit and I really felt as though so much more could have been made of this when it was merely a little blurb in the book. Despite the fact that the writing was actually quite well done and there was a good balance of dialogue and prose it took me several weeks to finish this book and I had to put it down several times.

Rating: Not a horrible book by any means, but I really did not get a good sense of these two characters really falling in love.