Category / Historical

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Nobody’s Angel by Karen Robards

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Dell
Hero: Ian Connelly
Heroine: Susannah Redmon
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 1, 1992
Started On: June 9, 2010
Finished On: June 12, 2010

Susannah Redmon is the plain, eldest and spinsterish daughter of the preacher in Carolina Colony. Ever since her mother died after giving birth whilst Susannah was at the tender age of around 13 or so, she has looked after her family and congregation, and never been courted by a man in all her 26 years. Resigned to living with her father and sisters, Susannah runs their family farm, and is well respected throughout the community for her healing touch.

With too much work on the farm than Susannah and her sisters could handle, Susannah purchases a convict whose sentence is to serve their family for a period of seven years. Susannah never dreamed that under the defiant and proud man who stood in front of her, who looked ravaged and more like a savage with filth on every inch of him could turn out to be a wealthy aristocrat from London, i.e. the Marquis of Derne.

Betrayed by his family and branded a convict, Ian had paid to be alive and has plans to flee the Colony as soon as he gets his strength back. However the prim and proper woman who has bought him intrigues him on more levels than one and Ian bides his time at the farm trying to court Susannah, though she doesn’t seem to be aware of her beauty and how charmed Ian really is with her.

Susannah never thought that under all that filth that covered Ian, he could turn out to be a handsome devil who tempted her on so many levels. Before she knows it, Susannah is captivated by Ian’s searing kisses and enticing touch and head over heels in love for the first time in her life.

Before long, Susannah makes her way to London with Ian where she discovers just how unsuited she is for the life she would have to lead as the wife of a Marquess. In the end it is up to Ian to convince this proud beautiful woman who doesn’t understand her worth that she belongs in his arms and in his life for now and always.

This book bears some resemblance to the storyline of Dark Torment by the same author, but I liked this story better.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne

Format: E-book
Read with: Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ivy Books
Hero: Max McCord
Heroine: Low Down (Louise Downe)
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 4, 2000
Started On: June 1, 2010
Finished On: June 2, 2010

I have to say its been a while since I read a romance that truly touched my heart. This book is that and so much more. I have always loved romances where the characters slowly find themselves falling in love with another by identifying qualities within one another deserving of their love and devotion to the other. This novel by Maggie Osborne offers all that and more in the story of how Louise Downe nicknamed Low Down for the luck she had had in life finds herself hitched to the blue eyed Max McCord who is in love with his fiance back home.

Max becomes honor bound to marry Louise when she nurses him and all the other men who were in Piney Creek to hunt for gold from smallpox taking all their lives. The men promise amongst themselves that Low Down would have anything that her heart desires for not turning her back on them in their hour of need. To their discomfiture and surprise, Low Down announces that her heart’s desire is to have a baby of her own to love and cherish. For someone who has never had a family of her own it has always been Low Down’s dream to one day have a loving a family of her own.

Its not surprising that none of the men present are too keen on the idea of bedding the bedraggled creature standing in front of them. Although Low Down has on her mind to just get the act over and done with which would plant the baby inside her, the priest present convinces the man who draws the marble with the scratched cross on it to marry Low Down. Though Low Down has got plenty to say against being united in marriage to a man, her protests go unheeded as the men are determined to do right by her.

Max McCord has never shied from responsibility in his life and he isn’t about to start now. Though his angelic bride-to-be Philadelphia is waiting for him back home and their marriage is to  take place within two weeks time, Max doesn’t want to be labeled as the guy who turned his back on repaying a debt he owed. And he can’t believe his bad luck when he is the one who ends up getting hitched to Low Down, when the mere thought of bedding her sends shivers up and down his spine.

Though neither Low Down nor Max wants to be married to one another they have no choice but to go on ahead with the marriage as Max takes his responsibilities to head and Low Down really wants that baby badly. Coming to an arrangement that they would stay married till Low Down became pregnant with a child, these two set off to make a temporary life for themselves in Max’s hometown where Max has to face the music of facing his jilted fiance and her all powerful father.

Max cannot believe his ears when Philadelphia professes to be pregnant with his child, and Wally Max’s brother has to step up and marry Philadelphia to save both families from being ruined by scandal. The story that ensues is one that would stay with me for a long time to come. How Low Down is slowly transformed into Louise Downe, a woman who doesn’t fully understand her self worth, a woman who hopelessly falls in love with her husband against her will and who slowly steals the hearts of all those that surround her.

Very highly recommended as a book that cannot be put down easily once started.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Blakewell/Kenleigh Family Trilogy, Book 3
Publisher: Leisure Books
Hero: Nicholas Kenleigh
Heroine: Elspeth Stewart
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: March 6, 2005
Started On: April 18, 2010
Finished On: April 19, 2010

The first book that I tried from Ms. Clare certainly didn’t disappoint. This story has all the elements that make up a great romance. The web of sensuality that Ms. Clare so cleverly weaves is magical, one that I as the reader got myself lost in.

Ride the Fire is the story of beautiful Scots-Irish Elspeth Stewart and the sinfully delicious Nicholas Kenleigh. On the verge of death, Nicholas accidentally stumbles upon Elspeth, eight months pregnant and living in the harsh wilderness that wasn’t safe for anyone much less a defenseless woman. Somehow Nicholas convinces the skittish Elspeth that he intends her and her baby no harm and Elspeth cares for him until he regains his strength.

Meanwhile, the uprising of the Indians living around the area continues making Nicholas fear for Elspeth and her unborn babe. Though Nicholas has witnessed the evil side of life too many a time and lived through hell and beyond, he can’t help but feel protective towards Elspeth who feels restless and uneasy around his vicinity. Elspeth has always held the notion that men held little regard for anyone else much less the women in their lives. Having lived through episodes of sexual harassment by her step brother which eventually turned her own mother against her, Elspeth has always felt tainted and unclean and unworthy of belonging to anyone. Ever since her husband died her plans have included living alone with her child with no need for a man.

Nicholas changes everything Elspeth has believed in till now. Where Elspeth has associated intimacy with a man with pain, Nicholas teaches her that there is no shame and only joy in the act. Where Elspeth has always associated men with brutality, Nicholas shows her in the best of ways how tender and loving a man can truly be. Both Nicholas and Elspeth who have had so much suffering in their lives find in each other a joy none can turn their backs on. And Ms. Clare has done an excellent job on keeping the adventure going at full pace with the sensuality level at an all high! My my!!

This book is highly recommended for those who love their romances with a good dose of sensuality. You would definitely not be disappointed with this novel. I wanted a Nicholas for myself after reading this book. Yes ladies, he is that good!

Till next time then! I presume I would be catching up on reading all the novels by Ms. Clare pretty soon!!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Loving Julia by Karen Robards

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Warner Books
Hero: Sebastian, Earl of Moorland
Heroine: Jewel Combs / Julia Stratham
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: December 1, 1986
Started On: April 16, 2010
Finished On: April 18, 2010

Loving Julia is one of the best historical romances from Ms. Robards. Though the fact that a 30 something year old hero seducing a merely 16 year old girl was a bit of an icky factor for me, the romance, passion and suspense in the book made it a winner for me.

Loving Julia is the story of Jewel Combs, a common street thief who thieved for survival and lived amongst the roughnecks in the less savory neighborhoods in London. Fate brings Jewel into the homes of Sebastian, the Earl of Moorland. Sebastian is a man who for all eyes to see has everything a man might want in life. Rich and handsome beyond belief, he is a man haunted by a past he cannot undo. With a wife whose death has always been blamed on him, with a daughter who screams in utter fear at the very sight of him and a mother who loathes his very existence, Sebastian is the ultimate tortured hero.

Sebastian takes Jewel Combs under his guardianship as a means of entertaining himself. The prospect of transforming Jewel Combs, the common thief  into Julia Stratham a lady worthy of complete adoration of the ton seems to be a challenge enough for Sebastian to keep the boredom and the loneliness at bay. However, his best-laid plans take a turn he never expected when he ultimately finds himself ensnared by the wonderful woman Julia turns out to be.

Jewel who has always been starved for affection blossoms under the direction of Sebastian who for the world of him can’t figure out what it is that draws him to Jewel. As fate would have it, the combustive passion between the two finally forces Sebastian to acknowledge that no matter how cold and aloof he might try to act around Jewel, its a mission well worth giving up with all the emotions Jewel seems to be able to invoke in him with little effort.

When Sebastian takes everything Jewel has to offer and casts her aside like a piece of soiled cloth, Jewel vows that he would never lay a finger on her ever again. However love has ways of creeping into one’s heart and catching them unawares which is exactly what happens to Jewel. And from that moment onwards, Jewel vows to make Sebastian fall as much in love with her as she is in love with him.

The drama and antics that Jewel goes through to make Sebastian hers, the unfolding story of how Elizabeth, Sebastian’s first wife was killed and how Chloe, Sebastian’s daughter finally comes around makes this story an engrossing read. Glad that Ms. Robards didn’t paint Sebastian as a complete utter rogue who cruelly hurts his women emotionally as some of Ms. Robard’s historical romances are famous for.

Good romance, recommended for those who love stories of tortured heroes and the gutsy heroines that concur them in the end.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Ravished by Amanda Quick

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Hero: Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin
Heroine: Miss Harriet Pomeroy
Sensuality: 2.5
Date of Publication: December 23, 2009
Started On: April 15, 2010
Finished On: April 16, 2010

This is one of the best historical romances from Ms. Quick I have had the fortune to come across. Never a boring moment in the story of how Harriet, the daughter of the late Reverend teaches the “The Beast of Blackthorne Hall” to love and be loved again.

Gideon is a man who has been haunted by scandal for far too long. Being accused of impregnating the previous Reverend’s daughter and driving her to commit suicide after Gideon apparently ruined her and refused to marry her, a wake of scandal has followed Gideon everywhere he goes. And a hideous scar on his cheek certainly makes him befitting of the title “Beast” with all the rumors floating around.

Harriet when she summons Gideon, has no idea of what she has summoned exactly to her home. Nor does she care about all the rumors when Ms. Stone her housekeeper tells of the grisly events in hushed tones warning Harriet and her sister Felicity to avoid Gideon at all costs.

However, Harriet is a woman on a mission. Having an avid interest in fossils and the likes, she is impatient to rid the caves surrounding her home of the thieves who have been storing their loot exactly where Harriet goes on her discovery expeditions. Summoning Gideon, the owner of the lands seemed to be the only viable way to concoct a plan to get rid of the band of thieves once and for all.

Though Harriet doesn’t want to admit it, her 25 year old heart skips a beat every time she is around Gideon. Though everyone warns her to keep away from the man circumstances mostly of Harriet’s doing land these two in a compromising position that leads Gideon to offer for her hand in marriage as he is honor bound to do under the circumstances.

With everyone from the dwellers in the village to the ton in London rife with speculation on when Gideon would turn his back on his betrothed and the Harriet would be cast out of the polite society makes this book highly entertaining. I liked the fact that Ms. Quick doesn’t waste time on describing the frivolities of the London society which most of the time makes me snooze, but rather created a depth of detail on her characters so vivid that I loved Harriet right from the beginning.

Gideon proves everyone in the society wrong when he marries Harriet in a manner unlike that you see in most historical romances, and whilst the relationship between Gideon and Harriet continues to blossom, so does the story of how certain forces within the society works in adverse ways to make sure Gideon takes the fall again, and thus unfolds the story of what truly took place 6 years back.

Highly entertaining with a good dose of old fashioned romance for which as a reader, I couldn’t ask for more.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Short & Sweet Review: Dark Torment by Karen Robards

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero: Dominic Gallagher
Heroine: Sarah Markham
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 15, 2001
Started On: April 3, 2010
Finished On: April 5, 2010

I have been thinking about changing the format of my book reviews for quite sometime. So I think I will  give it a go with this review.

Storyline: This story takes place in Australia in the 1800’s, a time when convicts from Europe were shipped to Australia and made to work as slaves in the country. Dominic Gallagher is brought to Australia on such a ship to be sold to Sarah Markham’s father to work on his lands as a slave.

The first meet: Sarah and Dominic first meet on board the ship on which Dominic is brought to Australia. Sarah happens to walk onto the ship to fetch her father since her stepsister Liza was feeling poorly to hasten the journey back home and comes across Dominic been whipped within an inch of his life. Sarah puts a stop to this and pleads her father to buy him back onto their lands.

Time period: The time period in which the story takes place is such that convicts were treated as lepers and no association with them apart from them being put  to work was to take place. Due to the various ill treatments that these convicts suffer with different owners an uprising from the convicts take place during the time period of the story. One such convict who is on the run nearly manages to have his way with Sarah and its Dominic who rescues her from her fate, which makes them even in Dominic’s opinion.

Awareness between the two characters: Ms. Robards has done a splendid job in creating great vibes of attraction between the two. Dominic doesn’t understand why he is so attracted to bossy and prim Sarah who looks most of the time like a lad with her no nonsense looks and posture. And Sarah doesn’t understand why she suddenly feels the urge to look beautiful, wear pretty clothes and be in the vicinity of Dominic.

The turning point: The tremendous attraction between Sarah and Dominic comes to a conclusion on the night of Liza’s coming out party. Sarah gives her body and soul to Dominic that night. However as soon as the deed was done, the shame of having been with a convict returns with full force and Sarah rejects Dominic to the point that the air is fraught with tension whenever these two meet after wards. Then Dominic goes missing and Sarah thinks that he ran away but what actually happens make Dominic thinks that Sarah betrayed him.

How the relationship grows: Dominic kidnaps Sarah and it is during their journey in the hot wilderness that these two actually learn to love and trust one another, though none of it comes easy to either of them.

Ending: A happily ever after with an epilogue that shows life between Dominic and Sarah with a few good twists in the end. Loved the epilogue as I usually do.

Likes: The storyline is a bit different from your usual historical romances such that the hero doesn’t always have the upper hand by being filthy rich and being able to do whatever he pleases with his wealth and status.

Dislikes: None really. At the beginning I got a bit peeved at Sarah because she turns hot and cold with Dominic, but then thinking about the situation and the time period and how everything turns out in the end, it wasn’t much of a problem.

Recommended for: Readers who love Ms. Robard’s novels as well as those who love a good historical.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Prince of Dreams by Lisa Kleypas

Format: Ebook
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Stokehursts, Book 2
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero:  Prince Nikolas Angelovsky
Heroine: Emma Stokenhurst
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 1, 1995
Started On: March 24, 2010
Finished On: March 25, 2010

Though I read this book sometime last year, this story failed to make that great an impression on me back then. But after reading Midnight Angel by Ms. Kleypas where the story of Emma and Nikolas begins, I had the urge to go back and re-read this romance to see what I would make of it now. I have always held the notion that two characters that have a prior history between them always make a better romance and this story too had a deeper impact on me upon re-reading the story with the knowledge of prior acquaintances between Emma and Nikolas in mind.

Nikolas, a prince from Russia has been exiled from his country for treason. Having made his home in London for the past seven years or so, Nikolas has been biding his time for Emma to grow into womanhood so that he can claim her as his wife. Though Nikolas doesn’t really believe in love he can’t resist the pull that has him waiting for Emma all this time.

The Stokenhurst family has never fully forgiven Nikolas for what he put Tasia (the heroine from Midnight Angel, distant cousin to Nikolas) through. Tolerated at best at Emma’s home, though Tasia seems to have forgotten and forgiven Nikolas, Emma has had only brief episodes of contact with Nikolas until he actively starts to seek her out. Unknown to Emma, Nikolas chases off Adam, the only man in the eyes of Emma who has wanted her, a woman well on her way to becoming a spinster by the look of how things were going. Though Luke, Emma’s father doesn’t agree to a match between Adam and Emma, and Luke doesn’t have anything to do with Adam’s abrupt departure from Emma’s life, Emma blames Luke which drives a wedge between father and daughter for the first time in their lives.

Reading about Adam’s engagement to another woman is the final straw for Emma and Nikolas swoops in during this vulnerable moment of her life to play the knight in shining armor and win her hand in marriage. Though Luke vehemently opposes the match, Emma’s resolve to marry Nikolas is strengthened by this fact.

Though Nikolas acknowledges the burning need he has for his wife, he refuses to let her into his life in any other way. Scared to the pits of other dangerous emotions Emma seem to evoke in him, Nikolas decides to drive Emma away by being his most cruel self and goes as far as to sleep with another woman just to drive the wedge between them deeper.

However, with a twist of fate, Nikolas travels back in time to find that he was once capable of loving someone and learns that with Emma he has found his love once again. However proving that he was a different and changed man proves to be rather difficult after everything he has put Emma through.

Thoroughly enjoyed this romance the second time round. If any of you are planning on reading this novel, I recommend that you start with the first book of the series before moving onto this one. Makes the story more meaningful.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Midnight Angel by Lisa Kleypas

Format: Ebook
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Stokehursts, Book 1
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero:  Lord Luke Stokehurst
Heroine: Lady Anastasia Ivanovna Kaptereva
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 1, 1995
Started On: March 23, 2010
Finished On: March 24, 2020

Another winner by Ms. Kleypas, this romance focuses on a heroine from Russia, a princess nevertheless that reminded me of the cartoon Anastasia that I adore so much. Princess Anastasia is on the run for her life, after being framed for the murder of her fiance’, a happenstance that Tasia has no recollection of whatsoever.

From childhood Tasia has been labelled as a witch because she could foresee certain elements of the future of people who were close to her. Now a woman of great beauty with a mysterious aura surrounding her, Tasia flees to England after escaping the death penalty by faking her own death.

Fate lands her eventually as the governess of Emma Stokenhurst, Lord Luke Stokenhurst’s daughter from his first marriage. Emma is an awkward girl in her teens, badly in need of female companionship and understanding of the subtle and the  not so subtle changes taking place within her as she moves onto womanhood.

From the start, Emma takes a strong liking towards Tasia towards which Luke has mixed feelings. Knowing that he wouldn’t allow Tasia to stay for more than a month in his household doesn’t make him any less immune to the tug of attraction that flares unwillingly between the two.

Luke has no room in his life for a wife. Having lost his childhood sweetheart and the only woman he has ever loved to a tragic death, and having his own scars from the tragedy to deal with, Luke is quite content with his mistress on one side and his daughter on the other front until Tasia comes along and knocks everything haywire in his life.

Its no surprise that ultimately these  two succumb to their attraction and Luke proposes to marry Tasia knowing the story of how Tasia might be a murderess. However that doesn’t stop Luke from professing to protect her from Prince Nikolas, brother of Tasia’s murdered fiance who has vowed to find Tasia and bring her to justice no matter what.

Ultimately Nikolas does find Tasia and takes her back to Russia where she is kept captive at his residence until the date on which she is to be hanged. Nikolas forces Tasia to remember what took place on the night of the murder and this unblocks Tasia’s memory so that she is no longer ridden with guilt over the murder knowing well enough who is responsible.

Luke follows Tasia and Nikolas to Russia and claims his wife once again. Through all this Ms. Kleypas keeps the romance and sensual encounters between Tasia and Luke going which makes this romance more worthwhile. Finishing this novel has made me want to read the Prince of Dreams, the story of Nikolas and Emma once again. Since their story begins in this novel, I think I might like their story better the second time round.

Most probably will post a review for that story pretty soon.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

[xrr rating=3.75/5]

Caliber Seal: GOOD READ!

by mvbookreviewer

Review: When Strangers Marry by Lisa Kleypas

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Vallerands, Book 1
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero:  Maximilien Vallerand
Heroine: Lysette Kersaint
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 1, 1992
Started On: March 19, 2010
Finished On: March 23, 2010

Murder, mystery, romance and politics play a vital role in one of the first novels by Ms. Kleypas. This title was previously released as Only In Your Arms. However, Ms. Kleypas later gave this book a new title and re-wrote it a little bit and voila “When Strangers Marry” came about. Though this book seems to lack certain elements which makes Ms. Kleypas’s novels hard to put down, the story of Maximilien and Lysette nonetheless enchanted me till the end.

Lysette runs away from her step father who is trying to marry her off to someone she despises for the sake of the money that would bring. Lysette encounters Max’s twins Phillippe and Justin while trying to steal something belonging to the Vallerand’s  to make her escape. Bedraggled, dirty and exhausted more than she would admit to, all fight leaves her when Max confronts her and finds the truth about her within a matter of minutes after meeting her. And it certainly helps that Max feels the sudden flare of attraction for Lysette and the fact that she was betrothed to the man who stole Max’s wife from right under his nose which makes the package Lysette presents more attractive.

With vengeance on his mind, Max sets out to seduce and marry Lysette. Labelled as the man who murdered his previous wife in a town where gossip and half-truths linger way too long, Max is surprised by the ultimate trust Lysette places in him. Inevitably Max finds himself less interested in the vengeance he set out to achieve, but rather embrace the second chance at love he has been given.

A story which could have been told better, but still managed to set my senses afire.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo 

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero:  Jack Devlin
Heroine: Amanda Briars
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: October 13, 2009
Started On: March 13, 2010
Finished On: March 19, 2010

Ms. Kleypas always writes the most beautiful romances, regardless of whether it be historical or contemporary, though people tend to like her historical romances better. This book too is unconventional for a historical romance where Ms. Kelypas has created a heroine who doesn’t seem to follow all the conventions, rules and regulations that bound the lives of women during 1800’s.

Amanda Briars is an author, a spinster & a virgin going on towards the big three-O. Wanting to divest herself of the virginal state, she goes to one of the famous brothel houses in London and asks a man to be sent to her house on the night of her birthday to help the process along. Just like the title says, Amanda finds herself that night suddenly in the company of Jack Devlin. Without knowing to both of them, the madam who runs the brothel has played matchmaker behind their backs, perhaps knowing what they both needed and wanted better than themselves.

Though Amanda defied all convention and society rules when she requested for a male escort, she begins to doubt the wisdom behind her impulsive decision when she suddenly finds herself ensnared by the rather charming and devilish Jack.

Jack doesn’t know what hits him when he first encounters Amanda on her doorstep. A notorious publisher whose rising fame had pointed him towards Amanda with the rights to her first book which he wants to publish, Jack didn’t have a clue that the Madam had set him up for this when he asked her whether he knew of Amanda Briars. But Jack can’t help but be intrigued and want Amanda for himself though he knows that his less than savvy background and his tightly reigned in emotions are not what Amanda really needs.

However within the course of a few weeks, these two are entangled in a heady affair. Like the book cover dictates, this is one of the most sensual romances of Ms. Kleypas that I have come across and my, my! Amanda sets the terms of the affairs to be for a duration of three months, which however as the gossip circles start to stir with the knowledge of their rampant affair, Amanda brings their affair to a hasty conclusion though she would give anything to be with Jack and love him for the rest of her life.

Jack, unwilling to give all of himself to Amanda licks his wounds in private though he is like a haunted man after the abrupt end to their affair. Amanda is soon been courted by the respectable Hartley and a marriage seems to be on the horizon when Amanda comes to realize that she is pregnant with Jack’s child.

This story is refreshingly heartwarming with descriptions of Jack’s vast publishing business which seems to unfold right in front of your eyes with Ms. Kleypas’s brilliant descriptions. The best thing about the romance of course as a female reader was Jack and his  total concentration and care for Amanda during the whole book though he refuses to acknowledge of his love for her till the very end.

And when Amanda finds out that she is five years older than Jack, ah! thats a scene that would remain with me for a long time! *winks*

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

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