Midnight Temptations with a Forbidden Lord

Midnight Temptations with a Forbidden Lord by Tiffany Clare R

Lady Charlotte Lynsday, daughter of the Earl of Ponsley, is unhappily engaged to be married to Mr. Warren, a political allay of her father. Mr. Warren is rude, judgmental, unkind, and downright awful to Charlotte, telling her he plans to leave her in the country to rusticate and he wants her as nothing more than a broodmare. She and her friend come up with a list of rogues to help her get out of her engagement and tops on her list is Tristan, Lord Castlereigh. Tristan has his own reasons to want Charlotte's engagement ended as Mr. Warren is set to inherit the estate and money that should have rightly gone to his friend Jezebel, the widow of the previous Earl Fallon and he knows that Mr. Warren isn't fit for any young lady. Charlotte approaches him at a dance and she makes it clear she wants out of her engagement and Tristan agrees to help her although neither of them know precisely how they will go about doing this. Both are intrigued by the other for more reasons than just the possible broken engagement and wonder if their friendship will lead to something more.

Meanwhile Charlotte's chaperone has found herself in a scandal and it forces Lord Ponsley to insist on moving up the wedding date and he is deaf to Charlotte's pleas to cancel the wedding or give her more time. She once again goes to Tristan and he asks Charlotte to marry him having decided that the two of them could make something out of their friendship. Charlotte is determined never to marry and turns him down, but days later with her wedding approaching she goes to his house and asks him to ruin her, still thinking that she will avoid marriage with anyone. Tristan is not about to let that happen and insists upon their marriage and while she is upset at being cornered like this, she knows that she does not really have much of a choice even though she knows her father would never turn her out. Their marriage proves that Tristan was right and the two get along well right from the start and Charlotte fits right into his family. Not everyone is happy about their marriage and it takes a brush with death for both of them to admit that they have fallen in love.

Wow. Lady Charlotte is one of the worst characters I have ever read in a romance novel. She is, at best naive, but I would really tend to call her stupid and she had absolutely no common sense. She had no idea how to go about getting out of her marriage even while it was the only thing she ever thought about and after she finally did have sex with Tristan she refused to marry him thinking that everything would be all right. She didn't think that no one would find out- she wanted people to find out so the wedding would be called off- but she just didn't think there would be lasting consequences. And I was not exaggerating when I said that getting out of her engagement was the only thing she ever thought about. For the first 2/3 of the book she literally doesn't do anything, say anything, or think anything that does not directly relate back to getting out of the engagement and this does not make for a very interesting character at all. She also came across as very selfish in the previous book in the series and in this one as she completely disregarded her chaperones feelings or concerns.

Tristan wasn't as unlikable and at least I better understood his motives, but perhaps the most baffling thing about him were his feelings towards Charlotte. He admirably took care of his illegitimate children but I could not really admire the way he was so adamant that his new wife accept them as her own. He also had ulterior motives for wanting to ruin Mr. Warren, some familial, and some because of his friend Jez. While I understood the familial motives, the revenge for Jez's sake that carried over from the previous novel is beyond old and tired by now and wasn't even that interesting or believable to begin with. Their relationship started off as friendship apparently but I really did not get that feeling at all and I didn't feel like there was any basis for a romance at all. There was very little sex and by the time it occurred I was so tired of their story I found myself skimming it. The writing was plodding and very slow moving and there were many sections in the beginning that felt like boring information dumps.

Rating: A terrible novel with a horrible romance featuring the worst heroine I've ever encountered.

Wicked Nights with a Proper Lady

Wicked Nights with a Proper Lady

Leo Harrow, the Earl of Barrington, attends the funeral of Lord Fallon to offer moral support to the Duke's widow, his very close friend Jezebel. Fallon was a bastard who left Jez with nothing and she decides to ruin the chances of her deceased husband's heir by scaring off the woman he hopes to make his bride. Leo and his friends, Tristan and Hayden, agree to woo Lady Charlotte Lynsay, the Earl of Ponsley's daughter, until she throws over Mr. Warren. Genevieve Camden is well on the shelf and to earn her keep she agrees to act as chaperone to her young cousin and encourage a match between Charlotte and Mr. Warren. She is unprepared to run into Leo, with whom she shares a scandalous past. Years ago the two had engaged in a torrid affair at a house party and while both had developed deeper feelings for the other, neither had been brave enough to speak their minds or ask for anything more than an affair and so they had parted ways. Now that Leo is threatening her cousin's future, and by extension her own livelihood as her uncle will throw her out if Charlotte doesn't marry Warren, Genevieve finds herself in closer proximity to Leo than she had ever hoped to be again.

Leo finds Genevieve as beautiful and enticing as always and regrets the promise he made to help Jez. He can't help but remember all the times they shared together and when both of them are invited back to the same house party where they found each other all those years ago, it brings back memories and long forgotten desires for both of them. Genevieve knows that what she's doing is dangerous, knows that she is risking her entire future and that of her cousin, and knows that she is once again throwing her heart at a man who has already broken it once. Leo is just as confused as Genevieve, unsure of what she expects from the relationship and unsure what he wants from it, but he knows he cannot let this opportunity pass him by again. Sure enough, when Lord Ponsley discovers what has been transpiring, he kicks Genevieve out and she finds herself at the mercy of friends. Leo is determined to show her that it is possible for them to have a future together and rushes to find a way to make up for the past hurts they have endured. Genevieve must move beyond their past and forgive his mistakes and her own in order for them to have a happily ever after.

I initially like the premises that Leo and Genevieve had had a relationship that ended poorly and were going to have to work past what had happened and forge a new relationship from the beginning. The major flaw in this was the way in which their initial relationship ended and how it colored their entire reconciliation. Supposedly the relationship had ended after the house party because neither knew what the other wanted from the relationship and while this makes sense for her, it made no sense on his part. She was a young debutante, with every hope of making a successful match, who gave him her virginity. It makes no sense that he did not know that she wanted marriage and family, so his excuse that he didn't know what she expected rang incredibly hollow. Genevieve was a very confusing character because she tried to seem strong and purposeful, but she gave in to Leo so easily even when she knew that it could cost her everything. I wanted her to grow a backbone when it came to him and stand up for herself and his continuing to take advantage of her, even when knowing what the risk to her was, made him rather unlikable.

Their relationship was full of sparring and characterized by a lack of happiness and fun as he was always anxious she would find out about his deal with Lady Jez and she was worried she would lose her position with her uncle. There was a decent amount of sex and at times it did get pretty hot, but it was nothing spectacular, especially since it seemed to be the only time they enjoyed being in each other's company. I understood Lady Jezebel's unhappiness, her husband was obviously an ass of epic proportions, but I could not understood what this desire to ruin Mr. Warren's happiness came from. This plot waffled back and forth from revenge (against whom I don't know) to trying to keep Charlotte from getting hurt (although there was never any evidence she would get hurt) to I don't even know what. It seemed to be just thrown in their for no reason except to throw up a road block between Genevieve and Leo at the very end. Even then it was just ridiculous as Leo really hadn't attempted to fulfill his promise so Genevieve's anger was just frustrating.

Rating: Two difficult to like characters in an unhappy relationship with a past that made me frustrating a side plot that was ridiculous.

The Seduction of His Wife

The Seduction of His Wife by Tiffany Clare 922

Emma, Countess of Asbury, is forced to visit a high class brothel because the the Earl of Waverly is blackmailing her by threatening to expose her career as a painter of the nude female form. Waverly is in possession of a self-portrait that could ruin Emma's standing in society, but she never expected to run into her husband at the brothel. Richard and Emma had married young, at eighteen and fifteen respectively, and he had left the day after to start his own career and make his own fortune by trading in opium. It has been over ten years since they have seen each other and a lot has changed for both of them and while Richard finds the changes in Emma intriguing and makes him want to start a real life with her, Emma is not sure if she wants to give Richard another chance or if there is room in her life for him. There is someone after Richard as he and his partner, Dante, attempt to sell their opium business and so he decides to move Emma and her two sisters, the widowed Grace and the youngest Abby, to their country estate where he hopes to get closer to Emma and keep everyone safe.

Richard finds himself wondering his wife took lovers while they were separated and he especially dislikes her friendship with the Marquess of Vane, a notorious ladies man who spends too much time around his wife. He knows that if he can convince her to just give him a chance that he can make their relationship work, but there is still so much about her that he does not know. Emma  is still worried over Richard's reaction to her work and that he will become bored and leave her again, breaking her heart permanently and leaving her unable to pick herself up after his abandonment. Her sisters recognize that she is still repressed and dare her to indulge in some semi-scandalous activities that her husband always catchers her in and it brings them closer together, but they continue to hold something back from each other. When he discovers her paintings he is fearful of what will happen when her identity is discovered, but it is his own enemies that prove the real threat as his old business partner returns to wreak havoc and Richard must prove to Emma that he is there to stay and that their love will last.

Emma is a painter and I tend to have a difficult time relating to characters who are very into something that I honestly really do not like so I was immediately disinclined to like her. Her refusal to just admit the truth to her husband was really irritating to me because I felt it was made clear early on that Richard was determined to be her husband and he would be willing to help her out of difficult situations, even though his love was not present. I felt like this major difficulty could have been solved early on and a big obstacle to their relationship would have disappeared and I just don't like big problems, especially when they're big ridiculous problems. She was a boring character because she had nothing going for her except the paintings and my favorite part of her was the letters she apparently wrote to Richard after he left because they revealed real emotion and I admit I loved the scene where he discovered them. Richard was  a typical romance hero; gorgeous, sexually experienced, insanely possessive and jealous when it came to his woman, but I did like how when he decided to woo his wife he devoted himself entirely to her.

I had high hopes for their relationship because of their situation, thinking there would be lots of emotions and angst, but I did not really feel like they explored their issues. About 1/3 of the way through Richard and Emma had sex and from then on out the book bordered on erotica because they were going at it constantly. There was nothing particularly shocking about it, a lot of dirty talk and lots of hard pounding, but even I started to think there was just too much of it and that I wanted to see that the two of them had something in common other than a need for a good fuck. The daring adventures her sisters sent her on came across as rather pathetic to me and I know I was supposed to feel like her awakening coincided with the reappearance of her husband and see that this meant that he was the perfect counterpoint to her, but I did not see it. There was a decent side plot involving her sister Grace and Dante the business partner that was also very heavy on the sex and not so much on anything else. I had no interest in the blackmail plot, the weird thing with his enemy and especially none on her paintings.

Rating: Two pretty boring characters who had lots of sex and were surrounded by interests and problems that did not interest me.

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.