Entries Tagged 'Dukes and Earls' ↓

Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medeiros is truly an exceptional read. She’s done it again creating characters that I love and a story line that makes me laugh and close the book with a happy sigh. The sex was tantalizing, decadent, and sizzling hot. The end has a bit of a cliff hanger as this is the first story of a sibling set.

Catriona Kincaid first met Simon when she was sixteen years old. He was seducing her prickly older cousin in the barn at the time. Of course she was discovered and her cousin throws a tantrum, but Simon intervenes between the two cousins with an easy charm and a devilish smile. His heroic actions placed stars in young Cariona’s eyes and she gave her heart in that moment.

Simon Wescott, bastard son of an earl, became the heir to that earldom when the legitimate son died. However, he wants nothing from his father, the man was too hard to impress and Simon was through being a disappointment. When Catriona storms his cell in debtor’s prison with an outrageous bargain, he calls her bluff with one of his own and is beaten at his own game.

He finds himself out of prison and chained into a marriage to the beguiling and bewitching Highland princess. Now if only he could break the trust she held in him and prove to her that he was nobody’s hero, Simon might be free of the spell she was throwing over him. After all, love doesn’t last and it’s the riskiest bet in the business to make and Simon is no one’s fool.

Also based on the dates mentioned in the book this novel falls under Georgian Romance.

Rating: 5 Stars

Originally posted 2008-08-28 05:58:48. Republished by Old Post Promoter

• Highlander Contest Entry #1: The Highlander's Heir Today I have the pleasure of presenting the first of the Highlander Novel Cover Contest entries. Be sure to vote by leaving a comment on the entries that you enjoy! The winner is determined by the amount of vocal support...
• Review: Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros Welcome to RRN Amy! I am so happy to have you with us today! Amy is the first entrant into the current blog giveaway contest here at RRN. She's hoping to win a signed copy of Teresa Medeiros' Some Like...
• Contest: Win Signed Copy of Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medeiros Who's interested in the Teresa Medeiros contest I blogged on last week? Leave a comment! Don't be shy! Anybody out there still reading a book? Don't worry you've got time! Stuck on word choices and turn of phrases? See our...
• Review: Highland Barbarian by Hannah Howell Highland Barbarian by Hannah Howell is an exceptional romance novel. The love story is both captivating and highly amusing. A tale of a Lowlander (with Highlander blood in her veins) and a Highlander (whose warrior skills include brains), this is...

The Heiress by Jude Deveraux started off exceptionally well in my opinion but tapered off into mediocrity and stayed there after the jumpstart. It’s too bad that it did that as my initial impressions of the novel were four out of five stars. The editing felt choppy in the middle and was completely disconnected towards the end. There was a distinct lack of transitions between scenes and as I read I felt like I was missing the good parts, the parts that tied everything together.

It was hard to feel for the characters after the initial start as well. There was no chemistry between the two of them in the end and that’s what killed the book. I kept reading though hoping it would turn around and be the amazing story it started off as. No such luck.

Axia has forever been stigmatized by her fortune. When people first meet her, they dismiss her, but that soon changes when they hear about how she is the Maidenhall Heiress. Their entire demeanor would do a one eighty. Men previously uninterested would turn fawning gazes her way and declare their undying love and devotion. For once Axia would love to be wanted, needed, and desired for who she was rather than how much money she represents.

James, call him Jamie, Montgomery is a dirt-poor Elizabethan knight. He inherited his brother’s earldom after his death to a fever. Unfortunately for James, his brother had gambled away everything leaving the family with nothing and no way to support themselves. James had responsibilities to the tenets whose land had once been Montgomery before his brother’s debts, his withdrawn mother, blind twin sister, and tomboy younger sister. So when Maidenhall offered to pay him to escort his daughter Axia to her betrothed, James said yes.

But then his sisters found out and hatched a plan to use Jame’s beauty to save them from destitution. He would woo the Maidenhall Heiress while she was under his charge and convince her to marry him instead of the man she was betrothed too. However Axia outsmarts James and convinces her beautiful cousin to play the part of heiress to allow Axia freedom on the journey. The tale is a topsy-turvy ride through layers of deception, intrigue, and desperation.

Rating: 2 Stars

Originally posted 2008-08-25 05:41:11. Republished by Old Post Promoter

This lovely little book was a quick and delightful read. I was sad to finish it because it meant that I would have to let the leads Julian Ravenwood and Sophy Dorring go their own way. The novel starts out with Julian accepting Sophy’s refusal to marry him. The word was passed down to him through her grandfather and Julian is stunned. Little Sophy could not hope to make a better match and his offer was generous to the extreme. Determined to gain an audience with Sophy Julian contrives of a way to do so. He tracks her down and demands to know her requirements to marry him. She spouts of a few outrageous ideas and he agrees and adds a few of his own turning the tables and leaving Sophy stunned.

Julian is an earl and all that implies. He’s the epitome of the controlling domineering alpha male. He’s also a widower; his late wife drowned. Not that this was a hardship, there was something wrong with the woman. Elizabeth, the dead wife, was for the lack of a better word a nymphomaniac. She loved to cuckold Julian, especially since she didn’t want to marry him in the first place. She took what was warm and good inside Julian and killed it. After the second duel to defend her honor, Julian came to the realization that his wife was not virtuous and didn’t have any honor. He labeled all women susceptible to the madness and vowed never to risk his fool neck for a woman again, but he needs a wife to supply him an heir and Sophy as far as he’s concerned is as different from Elizabeth as night and day.

Sophy is a typical unusual female for her times, but in slightly new way. She’s not put together and far from sophisticated. Pieces of her clothing and accessories like ribbons and feathers are always askew. She loves to read (mostly herbals and a treatise on women’s rights). She doesn’t trust seduction or lust without love. The reason Sophy doesn’t trust a man’s passion is because her sister, Amelia, was seduced and killed by one man’s passion. Sophy thinks sex without love is the epitome of masculine ruthlessness. She has the ring of the man who seduced Amelia and plans to find him and ruin him.

When Julian corner’s her for her list of demands she begs of him three things. One, that she not be forced into the childbed right away or more accurately forced into the marriage bed. Julian promises her three months of leeway. This is acceptable to her because she’s loved Julian since she was 18 not that the fool would notice, panting after Elizabeth as he was. She hopes to make him love her in the time they are not sharing a bed. Two, she wants to control her inheritance. Julian counters that his quarterly allowance for her exceeds the money her grandfather will leave her, but she insists. Three, she wants no interference from him on what she can and cannot read.

Sophy was quite loveable as a character I thought; Julian on the other hand at times was not. While his motives are quite known he still comes off as stern, intractable, and unwilling to reach compromises not in his favor… he breaks his side of the bargain while Sophy always keeps hers and dares to get mad when Sophy questions his honor. Depending on the reader you might be tempted to throw the book because of his outlandish behavior. Also true, however, is that you might enjoy his high handedness. In addition Julian is protective and concerned for his new wife. By the end I was persuaded to like him, but he was definitely ridiculous at times. Perhaps that makes him flawed realistically. Grin.

Rating 3.5 to 4 Stars

When reading romance novels about English gentry and nobility I always wonder about the rankings. I know diddlysquat about this subject, mostly because I am American. I decided to do some digging to see if I could sort the matter out. Luckily there are a lot of resources on the matter.

The first thing I was determined to find out was the order of the rankings. I always thought an Earl was as noble as a Duke or fairly similar. An Earl is far less substantial than you might think. In fact they seem to be quite plentiful; perhaps that is why so many romance novels include an Earl. A Marquis, on the other hand was more substantial than I gave credit. For some reason, I always assumed it was on similar footing as a Viscount. Whoops– social faux pas, anyone?

The order of rank is as follows:

1. Duke/Duchess
2. Marquis (alternative spelling: Marquess)/Marchioness
3. Earl/Countess
4. Viscount/Viscountess
5. Baron/Baroness

Baronets and Knights are not peers. A baronet is a hereditary knight. The title of Sir goes down through the generations. His wife is referred to as Lady.

The rarest rank of nobility is the Duke with his dukedom, making Barons by their rank far more abundant.

About the only thing I got right was the order of the Viscounts and Barons.

Did you know there were several peerages?

The isles of Britain and Ireland had in total five different peerages. Those of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom! No wonder the country has so many names in history! Also, a noble man could belong to more than one peerage!

Labels of Address (loosely):

This doesn’t include salutations of correspondence. The first bit is how to do the introduction on the different levels of nobility followed by how to address them in formal speech.

• Duke/Duchess: His Grace/Her Grace (insert title); His Grace/Her Grace
• Marquis/Marchioness: Most Honorable (insert title); Lord/Lady
• Earl/Countess: Right Honorable (insert title); Lord/Lady
• Viscount/Viscountess: Right Honorable (insert title); Lord/Lady
• Baron/Baroness: Right Honorable (insert title); Lord/Lady

Originally posted 2008-08-07 05:39:59. Republished by Old Post Promoter

The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander follows not one but three couples on their journey to love. Luckily two are more peripheral and have overall less air time in the novel. The main couple is Sabrina Winfield and Nicholas, Earl of Wyldewood. The other couples are Sabrina and Nicholas’ offspring from their first marriage, and Sabrina’s friend with Nicholas’ sister.

Sabrina has for the last ten years a life of total propriety. She has been prim, poised, controlled, tame, and dull. She misses the adventure from her past—the intrigue, the thrill, and the illicit nature of her work. She could command the loyalty of men, change fortunes, and guide her own affairs. With her young daughter about to wed, Sabrina yearns keenly to let loose and be free of society’s demands. When she hears about her late husband’s last gamble and subsequent winnings, Sabrina ransacks her London home.

Having found the French letter with instructions to legendary gold buried in Egypt, Sabrina packs and sets off to reclaim herself and to change her fortune. Unfortunately, her daughter’s finance’s father seems to think it’s his business to keep her out of trouble. The annoying Earl of Wyldewood, a politician with a streak of rakish charm a mile long, is determined to unearth Sabrina’s secrets. She is terrified of revealing them, for her past could land her in prison. Under the guise of helping his son, Nicholas is following Sabrina to Egypt with the intention to protect her. However, if he were honest with himself, he would have followed her anyway for underneath her prim exterior, Nicholas suspects that Sabrina may just be the perfect wife.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

• Review: Secrets of a Proper Lady by Victoria Alexander Secrets of a Proper Lady is a tale of deception, mistaken identity, and double... double crosses, all in the name of love. Victoria Alexander weaves a delightful story all about the comedy of manners and if it wasn't for the...

Amelia Grey spins a sweet love story of ghosts, trapped marriages, thievery, and near misses. A Taste of Temptation is a pretty quick read. The book is wonderful to sit down with and read on a rainy afternoon, which is exactly how I read it.

Andrew Terwillger, Lord Dugdale, is the last of the Terrible Threesome. A confirmed bachelor, he doesn’t understand how his friends can be happy with their wives and marriages. All he sees is that they’re different. They no longer like to drink, gamble, and enjoy women like they used to and he vows no female will leg shackle him.

Olivia Banning is a kind girl who wants the best for her Aunt Agatha. Which is why she’s most concerned when Agatha tells her that Lord Pinkwater’s ghost is calling to her from the grave. Drawn to London on a ghost hunt, Olivia is worried her Aunt is out of her mind and that the ton will find out.

An urn falls at the Dugdale Ball, nearly missing Lord Dugdale. Agatha, convinced that this is the sign of Lord Pinkwater’s ghost presence is determined to set off and search the house. Olivia quickly nixes the idea and offers to go instead as she is not concerned at all with her reputation amongst the ton. Olivia is certain after the season she will be back in the country and marrying a nice non-aristocrat male, Mr. Yost.

However, in her search of the house she is caught by Lord Dugdale, no less. Worse, he’s caught her in his room sniffing his soap. He thinks she’s a thief and when she tells him of Lord Pinkwater’s ghost, he thinks she is crazy. But heaven help him if he wasn’t attracted to her and steals a kiss. Only to find four society women entering the room moments later and catching them!

Andrew is appalled, and forced to marry Olivia, but he will never love the conniving, title seeking, marriage trapping chit he now calls his wife. He’s determined to keep his life like it was in his bachelor days. Can Olivia melt his hostile exterior? Will Andrew let himself be swayed and give up the ghost?

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Kathryn Caskie spins a delightful tale in How to Engage an Earl. My only complaint is the hero’s name. I mean really, Laird? I can’t decide if I am supposed to pronounce it like Lard, Lord, or L’AIR-ed. Apparently, Laird is a Scottish name, if that helps anyone else figure out how to say it.

So after Laird, Caskie gives us a much easier name to pronounce: Anne Royle. Anne is one of three Royle sisters; Mary was married off in How to Seduce a Duke and Elizabeth is younger than Anne. I figure that makes Anne the middle child. She’s very pale in coloring; white skin, flax hair, gold eyes, red lips. She’s also used to not being noticed. In fact, Anne is so unnoticed in crowds that she can literally steal the goblet that they are drinking from right out of their hands.

Of course, this is how Laird MacLaren first notices her and maneuvers her to try to steal his glass. Anne distracts him and manages to escape… with his drink, back into the crowd. That was not the last time Laird saw her that night however. Anne is set on the mission of finding the letters that will prove her heritage as a daughter of the Prince Regent. These letters are rumored to be in the Earl MacLaren’s bedroom. Thrilling and sexy, Anne’s presence in the master bedroom is only topped by Laird’s, who had gone up earlier to sleep off the brandy.

Not five minutes after her discovery by Laird in his bedroom than the rest of the ton finds out. The scandal was only narrowly subverted by his friend, Apsley, who claimed that she was in his room because Anne was Laird’s betrothed. Thrust into the center of attention, Anne is shocked speechless and highly uncomfortable. All Anne wants is out!

The next day Laird agrees she can end the engagement only after she helps change his character in the eyes of the ton. Laird wants to marry Constance Henceforth, but she will only have him if he’s changed. After all who would want a rake?

Rating: 4.5 Stars

• Review: Highland Barbarian by Hannah Howell Highland Barbarian by Hannah Howell is an exceptional romance novel. The love story is both captivating and highly amusing. A tale of a Lowlander (with Highlander blood in her veins) and a Highlander (whose warrior skills include brains), this is...

Desperate Duchesses is not one of Eloisa James’ best. I could barely focus in the beginning on all the name dropping and afterwards I was more inclined to think poorly despite all the book’s promising potential. The writing style was overly choppy and scenes jumped very helter-skelter throughout making the book a chore instead of fun to read. It is very clear that this is not a stand alone book. There are two love stories that make up this novel the main one of Lady Roberta St. Giles and Damon Reeve, the Earl of Gryffyn, and very clearly Lord Beaumont and his wife Jemma as they dance around each other. I confess I could not finish this book to find out if they got together or not due to lack of interest. A despicable man named the Duke of Villiers and Damon’s son Teddy are also entwined through chess matches, lust at first sight, wetted beds, and picnics.

Roberta was a laughing stock. The Rambler’s Magazine portrays her as a deformed mono-brow sickly girl next to her father the Mad Marquess, who is on his knees with his arms raised high pleading with God for a match for his daughter. Roberta of course is far from deformed, ugly, or possessing any disfigurement, but she can’t escape the reputation that clings to her when she’s around her father or his poetry. She’s had it, she has. Roberta will marry a sensible man, one who won’t make a fool of himself or spout poetry. The Duke of Villiers is just the right man, but he was notorious for not caring about scandal and sleeping with most of the women in the ton. She would have to trick him into the parson’s mousetrap.

Damon is also a notorious rakehell and while he and Villiers share that reputation they are as night and day. Damon possesses an honorable streak and finds himself drawn to Roberta when she comes to his sister’s home in an effort to be brought out properly into society. The more she spurns him the more he desires her. Some of the sultriest scenes are stolen moments where he convinces her to show him what she knows of kissing. But even as they exchange kisses, Roberta stands steadfast in her self-declared love of Villiers and desire to marry him. There had to be some way to win her heart, to prove to her that Villiers was the wrong rakehell and he was the right one.

Rating: 2 Stars

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Quiet and obedient Emily Fairchild is not expecting an adventure. She is content to care for her father, a country vicar since her mother died after a long illness less than a year before. She is happy to have been invited to the masquerade ball being held by the Marquess of Dryden at his country estate. Her cousin Lawrence was kind enough to escort her.

Emily is unable to dance, still being in mourning, but she is looking forward to visiting with her best friend, Lady Sophia, daughter of her father’s patron, Lord Nesfield. Unfortunately, Lady Sophia is dancing with the notorious Earl of Blackmore. Lord Nesfield takes issue with this and there is an embarrassing confrontation.

When Emily is ready to leave she follows a man that she thinks is her cousin and gets into his carriage. In the dark, it takes little time for Emily to realize that the man in the carriage is not her cousin but the Earl of Blackmore. The Earl is happy to have what he thinks is a widow in his carriage. He has no use for virginal young ladies, as he is not ready for marriage.

Maneuvering herself away from the seductive Earl and back into the ball without anyone seeing her is the first of her adventures. Soon she finds herself accused of murdering her mother and blackmailed into posing as the spirited niece of Lord Nesfield in London and must find out who tried to elope with Lady Sophia.

Since the Earl of Blackmore and his friends are the suspects, Emily must spend time flirting and trying to encourage them to confide in her. In the meantime the Earl of Blackmore has not forgotten the lovely Emily Fairchild whom he recognizes in spite of the fact that the carriage, on that first night, was very dark.

This delightful romp entertains with twists and turns provided by the mystery of who tried to elope with Lady Sophia and the necessity of defeating Lord Nesfied. The personal growth that the characters find on the way to love adds interest and dimension.

Rating: 3 Stars

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• Review: In the Prince's Bed by Sabrina Jeffries I loved In the Prince's Bed by Sabrina Jeffries. It was dazzling, sexy, full of wit and great dialog. The characters and their motives were well thought out and spun together to create a wonderfully fantastic tale. This is the...
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I loved In the Prince’s Bed by Sabrina Jeffries. It was dazzling, sexy, full of wit and great dialog. The characters and their motives were well thought out and spun together to create a wonderfully fantastic tale. This is the first of the Royal Brotherhood trilogy.

Alec Iversley, comes home from abroad at his father’s death to find his inheritance gone and in its place a large debt. His childhood home is a wreck, his finances a wreck, his tenets and servants in terrible shape, and his honor in question because of his father’s misdeeds. He needs an heiress and he needs those funds yesterday if he is going to save Edenmore and all the fortunes of those that depend on him.

Miss Katherine Merivale needs to get married. Her grandfather left her a large sum of money as her inheritance, but it can only be retrieved upon her marriage. Her mother needs the money to pay off her father’s debts from gambling and whoring. Katherine and her childhood friend, Sydney Lovelace, have had a long time understanding that they will wed. So why hasn’t he bucked up the courage to overthrow his mother’s tyranny and declare her his bride?

From a deal struck up with his half-brothers the other byblows of the Prince of Wales, Alec has in his possession the name of his future heiress. At Lady Jenner’s cherry blossom themed party he spies a lovely young miss with flame-red hair and a wildly exotic red dress. When he finds out afterward that this woman is his heiress he thinks to himself, ‘no man can be that lucky.’

But Katherine has defenses Alec can scarcely hope to breach. She believes in the gossip about his past, dislikes rakehells, and defends herself at every turn from seduction. Lucky for him, she’s a passionate woman with a streak of recklessness yearning to be set free and that Sydney is a spineless wet towel. Now all he has to do is prove he’s not the man the gossip paints him, woo her with drugging kisses, and somehow show her that he’s the better man.

Rating: 5 Stars

• Review: Secrets of a Proper Lady by Victoria Alexander Secrets of a Proper Lady is a tale of deception, mistaken identity, and double... double crosses, all in the name of love. Victoria Alexander weaves a delightful story all about the comedy of manners and if it wasn't for the...

Faro’s Daughter by Geogette Heyer is an excellent read, but fairly short. The whole story gets told in 285 pages. This is one of the first novels of hers that I’ve read that has a lot of lead interaction. In fact they’re nearly at each others throats in every other scene. It makes for a fun read.

Who is Deborah Grantham?

If you asked Adrian Maplethorpe he would say she is like a living goddess. She is beautiful, poised, elegantly mannered, full of grace, and charm. He would ask her to marry him if she would have him.

If you asked Max Ravenscar he would liken her unto a harpy, a jade, a doxy, a trollop, a wench, a cheating baggage, and a Jezebel. The woman would strangle a kitten for money and power. In short Deborah Grantham is vulgar.

What’s a Faro’s Daughter to do?

She’ll make Max Ravenscar pay for the ill treatment and poor manners he’s bestowed upon her person, that’s what she’ll do. What better way to make him regret his folly but to do the exact thing he fears and agree to marry his cousin? No money could bribe her to relinquish Adrian from his calf-love. The only thing she wants is for Ravenscar to admit his faults and misconceptions of her person.

So for the first time, Deborah caters to Adrian’s infatuation. She lets him think she will marry him upon his majority but begs him not to tell his mother about their plans. It is however a most excellent idea to inform his trustee and cousin Max all about it!

On a public excursion surrounded by good ton, Deborah chooses most willfully to look and behave in the worst of fashions. Let Ravenscar see how a true harpy would behave! Adrian is disturbed by the affectation but writes it off to nerves.

In counter Max wins her aunt’s debts from the brute who would use them to finagle Deborah into a position as his mistress. But even holding the debts and mortgage over her head, Deborah refuses to relinquish Lord Maplethorpe. Instead, Deb comes to the most brilliant of ideas!

She is going to kidnap Lord Ravenscar….

Overall this was a wonderful farce that included some of the best tit for tat I’ve had the pleasure to read. I simply couldn’t put it down. For a wager between hearts that is full of flair and humor read Faro’s Daughter. This is definitely going on my favorites shelf!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

• Book Review: Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer is loosely based on the premise of Pride and Prejudice. I would not go so far as to say it's a retelling of the classic tale, but there are elements of this Regency romance that...
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• Review: Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer The second Georgette Heyer novel that I read was a lot easier to get through. It helped that there was few if any references to my lord or my lady in the narrative. The diction used is as exacting and...

Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer is loosely based on the premise of Pride and Prejudice. I would not go so far as to say it’s a retelling of the classic tale, but there are elements of this Regency romance that bring to mind the farce that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet went through before getting out of their own way to declare love for one another.

For instance, Lord Worth is the Mr. Darcy character of this little drama. While not despised to the extent of Mr. Darcy by his heroine, Lord Worth is on the brunt end of a lot of negative criticism from his ward Miss Judith Taverner. He can do nothing right and is as cold an aloof in presence as Mr. Darcy appeared to be. His manners and arrogance nettle Judith beyond the telling many times throughout the novel.

So how did Judith and Peregrine get to become Lord Worth’s wards?

Their father wrote in his will that they would be placed under the fifth earl of Worth until coming of age. Of course he meant to direct them into the hands of Julian Audley’s father, the fourth earl of Worth but confused the matter and bungled it entirely. Julian finds the matter tiresome and can’t wait to be rid of them fast enough though maybe not for the first reasons that come to mind. He tells them to stay in the country.

Of course Judith and Peregrine disregard this and the novel starts with them en route to London. They stop overnight in the village of Grantham, where a fight is about to occur. Peregrine is ecstatic and decides they must stay longer in order to see it. Of course the room they wrote ahead to let has been given away because of the crowd swarming the village. Distressed, Judith presses on the innkeeper to make amends. However it is not the innkeeper but a charming stranger that gives up his room for them.

Similarly later that day before the day of the match, Judith and Peregrine are wheeling about the country in search of ruins when they happen upon another carriage speedily racing down the lane in the opposite direction. A near accident occurs, nobody is hurt, but the horses are startled and the stranger driving is unaccountably rude. Both Judith and Peregrine take exception to the man’s behavior and write him off as a bad sort indeed.

Shortly thereafter, Judith and Peregrine recognize their estranged cousin as the kind stranger at the inn and formally establish the acquaintance.

Once in London, the siblings look up their guardian and are dismayed to find the nasty aristocrat from Grantham is their keeper.

Add a dash of mystery - who wants Peregrine dead?

Peregrine as heir to the Viscountcy is being attacked left and right. The attacks are not always obvious; they come in many forms upon his person. Sanguine and completely obtuse, Peregrine does not notice them for what they are. Even Judith, usually kept in the dark on some of her brothers less savory ongoings, sees a pattern and admits her qualms to Worth who prevails upon her to keep her suspicions to herself.

The question becomes who will profit most from Peregrine’s death. His sister will receive even more money for her dowry, making the current 80,000 pounds seem paltry. But Judith loves her brother enormously, it can’t be her. It must be the man who vies for her hand… Julian Audley, Lord Worth, their guardian or Mr. Taverner, their cousin. Each man lays the blame on the others feet, but Judith trusts them both. What’s a girl to do?

Locales: primarily London and Brighton.

Real famous people who appeared in the book: Beau Brummell, Prince Regent.

This novel has a sequel in An An Infamous Army.

Overall I found it focused less on the romance and more on the mystery. I almost wished Brummell was the lead male because he and Judith found teasing and comfortable conversation between themselves on many occasions.

Rating: 3 Stars.

• Review: From Lambton to Longbourn by Abigail Reynolds Abigail Reynolds writes Pemberley Variations. For the uninitiated this means that she takes the classic story of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and plays a what-if scenario. For instance in From Lambton to Longbourn the what-if is what if Darcy...
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• Felicity Elizabeth American Girl By Brand, Company, Character Dolls Dolls Bears

This third addition to Camp’s Matchmaker Series is a winner. Even the cover is great. The covers on most romance novels show insipid, overly romantic scenes of manor houses or cheap, torrid love scenes. The love scenes are the worst, inaccurately depicting the characters in the book with men that are too young and too short, women who are pretty but whose faces lack any kind of character and clothes that look like cheap poorly fitted costumes complete with nylon zippers. The well-designed cover of The Wedding Challenge shows a bold and beguiling woman dressed in a lovely, well made, accurate looking gown. And Candace Camp’s heroine is defiantly bold and beguiling.

Lady Calandra meets the Earl of Bromwell at a costume ball and is instantly intrigued, the feeling appearing to be mutual. Although Callie knows just about everyone in the haute ton, she does not know who this man is. On the other hand, her brother, the Duke of Rochford, does appear to know and dislike him. Although her brother does not give an explanation, he forbids her to see Bromwell. Callie is confused by her brother’s behavior and is determined to allow the Earl to court her.

She goes to stay with a family friend, the independent and widowed Francesca Haughston, who has a reputation for being a successful matchmaker. Francesca does not know the Earl either, but does know and dislike his sister, the twice widowed and notorious Lady Swithington. Lady Daphne Swithington and the Earl of Bromwell both want revenge on the Duke of Rochford for seducing Daphne and leaving her with child and they each intend to use Lady Calandra for that end. With this beginning, a lasting relationship between Callie and Brom seems unlikely, but their passion for each other carries them through the morass of lies and deceptions.

The Wedding Challenge beautifully showcases Camp’s storytelling talent with fully developed characters and a tightly written plot. This is a wonderfully entertaining book.

3 ½ Stars

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• Book Review: Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke is the tale of Lady Viola's brother and his duchess-to-be. Technically Guilty Pleasures is a prequel to The Marriage Bed where Viola and her husband John patch up their estranged marriage. On a whole...
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So how do you rate a romance novel where the romance part was exceptional but the side story was wholly unnecessary? Once again I’ve managed to pick up a story where the author seems to think that it’s a good idea to include a history of sexual perversion on kids. What’s with this? The young girl that was abused was not the heroine this time but the side character who ends up doing unspeakable things herself on innocents and sinners alike in the name of justice seemingly unable to tell the difference. Why include this? I mean really? Who wants to read this? I don’t!

Most of this stuff is hinted at throughout the novel about the hero’s father being such a sleaze ball, a building that the son had to remind himself was not a fault for what happened, etc. The bastard is dead mind you at the start of the novel so we don’t see a continuance, just back story. It’s becoming gratuitous to the point of being like a retarded bathroom scene in a movie. Anyway you are warned ahead of time if this is not your cup of tea to deal with topics like this in a novel.

Now that that is out of my system, the romance between Grant and Gillian was a wonderful unfoldment. The Scottish Companion starts with Grant’s return to Scotland when his brother dies of a blood disease following shortly after their other brother died of the same cause. Dr. Feyton is worried that Grant may be suffering from the same disease and Grant decides if this is true he must marry immediately. Not wanting to go through the hassle of finding a bride he asks about Dr. Feyton’s daughter. A marriage arrangement is agreed upon and they go their normal ways.

Arabella would rather play at being a physician than be civil to anyone. She doesn’t like to be touched, talked to, interrupted, or forced to do anything. So right off the bat she hates the idea of marrying Grant and does her best to be disagreeable. Everyone finds her to be exactly that and many make asides to Grant about his foolishness.

Grant himself is feeling foolish because immediately upon seeing Gillian he finds himself attracted to her. She is a magnetic force on his life and he can’t seem to stop himself from seeking her out. He knows she’s hiding something and desperately wants to be let into her world. She makes him forget his losses, and overwhelming duties; she challenges his authority and is an intelligent companion who he seeks to impress with his experiments.

Gillian for her part knows that as the companion to Arabella, Grant can never be hers. She was foolish once in love and paid the price with her innocence and virtue. She lost the protection of her family, the love she thought was hers, and was censured by society. Only under Dr. Feyton has she received a modicum of protection and sense of purpose. She knows the price of love and passion so how come she can’t seem to resist the handsome earl? She wants to experience his kisses, she wants to be his, and she wants what Arabella is so blithely willing to toss away.

Rating: 2.5-3 Stars

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Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke is the tale of Lady Viola’s brother and his duchess-to-be. Technically Guilty Pleasures is a prequel to The Marriage Bed where Viola and her husband John patch up their estranged marriage. On a whole this novel was much better than the Marriage Bed, but because I read the Marriage Bed first I was biased against this book from the beginning. Now before I started reading, I had no idea of Guilty Pleasures relation to the other novel, the backs of the novels do not give very much information. I picked both of them up in the store because their covers were wonderfully designed and drew me to them. It’s too bad really.

So why am I prejudice against the book from the beginning? Daphne, happily married by the time Marriage Bed takes place, tells Viola some very negative things about her character and how it’s possible that Viola was nearly wholly responsible for the estrangement between John and herself. Daphne is on John’s side because she was poor and in desperate straights herself once. Honestly, I never really picked up on that at all in Guilty Pleasures. The novel started with Daphne having already secured a position and working five months at Tremore Hall under Anthony. If I don’t like a heroine the novel goes downhill fast for me. I didn’t like Daphne in Marriage Bed and I saw no reason to like her now.

It’s too bad because I always liked Anthony from both MB and GP. He’s an antiquarian and loves his history, hates evicting tenets and always has some way to allow them to stay while giving them self-worth, doesn’t abuse his power over his female servants and employees, and champions his sister. He is hero worthy without a doubt. Of course his noble actions avoiding thinking of his female workers cause all the havoc in this story.

Daphne loved to spy on Anthony when he was shirtless and working outdoors excavating. Who wouldn’t? When Viola comes to call on her brother, Daphne becomes Viola’s number one choice for her brother to marry and cleverly sets them up. Daphne overhears a conversation between the siblings where Anthony describes her as a stick bug on a twig, a machine, and unlikely to marry. Just goes to show him later that he never should have opened his mouth, doesn’t it? Having heard, Daphne decides to accept Viola’s offer to help bring her out into society which makes Anthony panic as he’ll be losing his best employee on the dig.

He devises ways to make her stay; she makes him fall in love with her. Overall a cute tale, but one I couldn’t really get into because of Daphne.

Rating: 2.5 Stars.

• Book Review: The Marriage Bed by Laura Lee Guhrke I generally liked this novel. It revolves around how a marriage once destroyed by infidelity can be healed. I have pretty strong views on this subject so I’ll talk about what ruffled my feathers. I’m like Viola, the heroine, at...

I had some unfamiliar and ear-wax color substances to avoid while reading this book; those are potential problems with any secondhand novel, though I must say I’ve never encountered anything quite like this. lol. Anyway despite the somewhat repulsive quality of my copy of It Happened One Autumn, I enjoyed the story. This Lisa Kleypas novel is number two in the Wallflower quartet. While reading I kept expecting something more, something a little extra. I didn’t get it and so I have to say it was a bit predictable, not that most romance novels aren’t easily predictable, but while the conclusion was good it wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped it to be.

Lillian Bowman, is an upstart American wallflower and proud of it. She’s got a good nose in her head and can distinguish scents the way an artist can label all the colors on a canvas. However, good olfactory sense aside, Lillian is a bit of a hoyden. She won’t mold herself into one of the demure English ladies that litter the country. Her mother bemoans that this will ensure Lillian to never snare a husband of her own – especially that of a peer.

Her sister Daisy is in a similar boat and the two heiresses have got to figure out a way to wed Lillian off – what better chance will they get than the Earl of Westcliff’s month long house party? Before they go, Lillian purchases a flask of perfume made from her own recipe. The proprietor tells her he added a special ingredient, one that is sure to cause magic to happen. Scoffing at the superstitious idea, Lillian pays and they depart.

Well there must be magic in the perfume after all because Westcliff seems to have gone bezerk. He can’t take his eyes off of Lillian or for that matter his hands and lips. Once he captures her in his arms he doesn’t want to let her go. This is totally unusual behavior for Westcliff as he’s only ever shown Lillian amused contempt in the past. Still, in spite of the handsome earl’s attentions, Lillian refuses to ignore the noble Viscount St. Vincent who is also making a play for her hand. Vincent doesn’t seem affected by her perfume at all and while she longs for a little more passion in his arms, all she desires of Westcliff is that his passion is unaffected in the absence of the perfume.

Vincent is looking for an heiress as his father has squandered off all the family inheritance and property except what is entailed. He finds Lillian charming, pretty, and interesting. If he has to take a wife, he could not ask for a better woman.

Marcus Westcliff has been irritated, vexed, annoyed, dismayed, and amused by Lillian’s presence. He can’t seem to get her off his mind but he knows he will never marry her. It is expected that he wed a properly breed English woman of good bloodlines, and while that makes him sound like thoroughbred horse, it doesn’t change the facts.

So it comes as a surprise when they both ask her to marry them (I won’t say who asked first or how the second came about, that’s half the fun.) Now Lillian has to make a choice – but which one?

Rating: 3.5 Stars

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To Scotland with Love is about 2 to 2.5 Stars. The rating depends on how well you can stomach the side characters. I personally thought they were annoying and too much. As I go into depth here you’ll see what I mean.

How Sir Blubbering Ravencroft got the gumption to kidnap Venetia, the heroine, is beyond me. He’s weak-willed and weak-chinned with watery eyes, a ton of debt and on the run from a duel. Unfortunately for him, Venetia is a strong woman and quite capable of throwing off his professions of devotion and grabby hands with her deadly brooch pin. Ravencroft in a hurry to place Venetia in the midst of a scandal races them to Gretna Green while telling her that her mother is ill and might be dying… the faster the carriage goes the more certain Venetia is of something not quite right going on and then the carriage tips on the icy snow covered ground leaving them stranded in the middle of North Road. Luckily an inn is nearby.

Venetia’s father, who was the fool to condone Ravencroft’s behavior, however only if she agreed to it, beseeches Gregor MacLean to rescue his daughter. Gregor is angry at the news. He has been Venetia’s lifelong friend and was on the way to meet her for a morning ride. Gregor like the rest of the MacLeans is cursed to always have his anger visible to the world in a most duex ex machina way. His anger takes the form of a snowstorm and the angrier he gets the longer it lasts and the colder it gets. If he can manage to make his way through his own stormy feelings he might just get to her before it’s too late.

Gregor reaches the inn and receives a cool reception from Venetia. It would have been warmer if Gregor hadn’t been so highhanded. This is where the real fun begins as the cast of motley members begin to make themselves known. The first of the lot is a Mrs. Bloom, blind as a bat, is critical of everything and rude beyond bearing toward her servant Miss Platt or Flatt or something like that.

Miss Platt fancies herself abuse, mistreated, and indentured is convinced by a poorly informed Venetia of the girl’s true circumstances that she deserves better. Miss Platt immediately makes goo-goo eyes at Ravencroft or Mr. West as he and Venetia are now the sibling Wests and are Gregor’s charges.

If that wasn’t enough a squire and his daughter arrive at the inn. The daughter fancies herself in love with a farm-boy from back home and doesn’t want to go to London. The squire is decent, but his daughter is a drama queen of the first sort. She puts on airs, snores, and is indecently messy with her belongings in a space meant for one but was squeezing three due to the weather.

It’s a wonder there’s any romance at all considering how much of the time is focused on the side character drama. Somehow Gregor proposes to Venetia, but it’s mostly out of duty and she refuses… she’s long past marrying age at 34 years old and she marries at all it will be for love and Gregor hasn’t proven anything beyond fondness and lust. Will he come up to snuff?

Rating: 2 Stars

Welcome to RRN Amy! I am so happy to have you with us today! Amy is the first entrant into the current blog giveaway contest here at RRN. She’s hoping to win a signed copy of Teresa Medeiros’ Some Like it Wicked. Below is her review of Teresa Medeiros’ novel Yours Until Dawn.

Hi everyone! I’m Amy and I decided to review Teresa Medeiros’s Yours Until Dawn, for the blog giveaway contest. This Regency set novel follows the troubles of a blind lord and a plain miss as they journey toward love. I really enjoyed this novel and quite loved everything about it from Gabriel’s angry bear behavior to Samantha’s waspish retorts. I would have given the novel five stars except for the ending, which I won’t spoil, but I was unsatisfied even though it was a HEA (happily ever after).

Naval war hero and English Earl, Gabriel Fairchild was blinded in his last battle at sea. A flying piece of shrapnel hit his eyes, forcing this proud man into acute darkness. The doctors say it’s permanent – well all but one who thinks it might be hysterical blindness. However, the very idea of a grown man like Fairchild having hysterics is hard to imagine.

Miss March, Gabriel’s sweetheart, leaves him lying alone in the hospital bed with a gasp of frightened sensibilities. The shrapnel has done more than take his eyesight, it has also taken his looks. Angry and hurt at her flight, Gabriel retreats to the countryside and terrorizes everyone around him for the abandonment of his family and of his love.

The novel starts with the tart Samantha Wickersham applying for the job of being Gabriel’s nurse. She finds the task eagerly handed to her despite her lack of solid references and immediately sets to work ignoring all of Gabriel’s blustering. Reeking of lemon verbena, capable prim Miss Wickersham sets about taming the wounded man hiding behind the lion façade.

Not unexpectedly, she wins his heart, but complications arise and she is forced to flee. Gabriel must find the woman of his dreams before it is too late – but how does one find a woman one has never seen?

4 Stars

To be considered for the autograph copy of Some Like it Wicked, send your review of on one of Teresa Medeiros’ romance novels to reviewromancenovel[at]yahoo[dot]com.

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