Category / Marriage of convenience

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Sold for the Greek’s Heir by Lynne Graham

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Brides for the Taking, #3
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Jax Antonakos
Heroine: Lucy Dixon
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: May 23, 2017
Started On: February 27, 2023
Finished On: March 01, 2023

Sold for the Greek’s Heir by Lynne Graham is the third installment in the Brides for the Taking series, published under Harlequin in 2017. Ms. Graham brings to readers the story of Greek billionaire Antonakos and single mother Lucy Dixon, with the tale unfolding from the perspectives of both protagonists.

Jax is the proverbial man-whore and bachelor and likes his life that way, even as his father wishes and pushes him in the hopes that Jax would marry the woman of his choosing. Jax makes no commitments and has no intention of giving into his father’s demands. He is marriage and children averse, the bitter divorce that resulted in the split of his parents having left its mark on him. Living with his mother was not a walk in the park either, with a father who pretty much ignored his existence up till he did not have a choice but to.

Lucy arrives in Greece to finally unite with her long lost father. The fact that he accepted that Lucy was mother to a fifteen month old baby girl seals the deal for her, up until she comes face to face with the father of the baby, i.e., Jax, who pulled the disappearing act on her.

Lucy was a naive nineteen year old virgin when Jax swept her off her feet. Devastation hit when Jax abandoned her, and made it all but impossible for her to reach him with the news that she was pregnant with his child. Lucy is therefore determined that she would not give Jax the time of the day, that is until machinations by her father which she has no knowledge of, forces the hand of Jax into offering her marriage.

When Jax comes face to face with the one woman who had shaken his very existence, the shock of discovering that he is father to a toddler pushes him into taking action to ensure the best for his daughter. It certainly does not help matters when Jax is driven by the nightmarish revelations that forced him to cut ties with Lucy in the first place, and that proves to be the ultimate conflict around which the story revolves.

While I did enjoy some of the aspects of the story, I felt that the prose of the novel was all wrong for Lynne Graham, or at least the Graham novels that I always enjoy and revel in. Lucy was definitely a welcomed change from some of the doormat variety of heroines you come across in category romances especially. But at the same time, Jax failed to invoke all those heady emotions in me which I look forward to when it is especially a Lynne Graham novel. All the attributes that should make him so were there, and he should have been appealing in every sense, but somehow the elements did not come together in the way that I expected perhaps.

I guess this has a more modern streak going through the story, which perhaps is not a bad thing in itself. However, I believe I jive better with older Graham novels.

Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and those who love category romances featuring the forced marriage trope!

Final Verdict: Sold for the Greek’s Heir is a hit and miss sort of novel; there were aspects that worked and those that did not.

Favorite Quotes

Just one kiss, she bargained with herself, just one, but the man who had once seduced her with kisses had no intention of breaking his perfect track record. He always knew what she wanted and he gave it to her, all the seething passion he had taught her to crave. He kissed her and she went up in flames. Her body flared into shocking awareness and suddenly burned back to almost painful life with every plunging thrust of his tongue.

‘I can’t get enough of you,’ Jax growled between the urgent biting kisses that bruised her lips and the devastating plunge of his tongue that made her slight body jackknife in reaction beneath his.
‘We’ve got all night,’ she whispered through rosy swollen lips, eyes glazed with passion.
‘I’ve got a hunger that one night won’t come anywhere near satisfying,’ Jax told her rawly, fisting a hand in her tumbling curls as he snaked a string of kisses down over her collarbone and found a plump, pointed nipple to torment with attention.

‘Thee mou, I want you so much,’ Jax ground out as he slid over her, his hands strong on her hips to angle her back.
He entered her slowly, urging her tender flesh to open for him and stretch, and the sensation made her dizzy with yearning and wildly impatient for more. He eased back and then pushed in hard and deep and her body convulsed and tightened round him, intense sensation ravishing her. A string of tiny sounds was wrenched from her parted lips as he ground into her and picked up the pace, raw excitement flooding her as she tilted up to meet him, hot, damp and abandoned as the wild roller coaster of sensation raged on and on.

That fast she wanted him intolerably and with every probing plunge of his tongue she wanted him more. Evocative little noises were wrenched from low in her throat as skilled fingers teased and played to prepare her for his entrance. And then he tilted her back and thrust into her with vigour while she clung to his shoulders, her ankles wrapped round him. He grunted with raw male satisfaction, his hand supporting her hips as he pounded her yielding body with delicious force. Excitement writhed through Lucy in an unstoppable surge and she reached her peak with an involuntary cry, convulsive waves of exquisite pleasure rippling through her lower body as an orgasmic flush spread over her sun-dappled skin.

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Coming Home Place by Mary Spencer

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harpercollins
Hero: James Kagan
Heroine: Elizabeth Marie Kagan
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: July 26, 1994
Started On: December 02, 2022
Finished On: January 03, 2023

“Don’t speak of Maggie,” James warned through set teeth. “She and Elizabeth have nothing to do with one another. I don’t even want them mentioned in the same breath. I always have and always will love Maggie. Nothing’s going to change that. Ever. Elizabeth is simply my wife–the woman who’s going to take care of me and my home and my kids. She’s only my wife, Nate. Not my love, not my sweetheart, not my anything else. It’s an arrangement between us. Love doesn’t have a thing to do with it.”

The Coming Home Place by Mary Spencer is a novel that has a LOT going for it, and by a lot, I really mean, a LOT! First published in July of 1994, told in the third person from dual perspectives of both the hero and heroine, Ms. Spencer brings to readers a remarkable historical romance with a ton of angst that certainly leaves you with one hell of a reading experience.

James Kagan is a man who believes that having lost his fiancée, no other creature alive could suffer as much as he has and continues to, that is until he is “forced” to marry 17 year old Elizabeth Marie (Beth). Beth is traumatized by the loss of her family members one by one, and she had been all alone when she was found, digging a hole to bury her father, the sole remaining member of her family.

James enters into marriage with Beth with his eyes wide open, perfectly confident in his belief when it comes to what he wants from a wife. Viewing Beth to be plain unlike his beautiful fiancée to whom he vows would always belong his heart, James is clear about what he seeks; a wife to continue his family name. He explains to Beth that he has no intention of courting anyone else to seek their hand in marriage as he does not have any love left to give.

Beth has no doubts about what she has to offer when it comes to marriage with the handsomest man she has ever set her eyes on. Knowing that someone as illiterate, plain, and unaccomplished as her is unworthy of the attention of someone like James, Beth agrees to the marriage on three conditions; that he does not swear inside their home, they attend church every Sunday, and that he be faithful to her even if he does not love her.

As these two embark on the tough road that is a marriage of convenience, James learns that he desires his new wife like crazy, something that drives him wild and also makes him feel guilty about the fact. For Beth, she has a tough time setting aside what she was taught about the marriage bed and how it was supposed to be about a woman just doing her rightful duty which goes against allowing herself to enjoy the physical aspects of her relationship with James.

As the story continues and delves deeper into the emotions and the entwined lives of James and Beth, there are moments that makes you hate James for the abominable way that he treats Beth. One particular scene stands out, where James lashes out and makes use of what Beth offers with callous disregard for her emotions that made me really question as to what kind of hero he would turn out to be in the end. But in a strange way, I also understood that for James, that moment had been fraught with him fighting his inner demons, the ones that makes him feel like he is betraying his deceased fiancée by reveling in the heady desire that his wife invokes in him.

When Beth bears him a child, there is more heartache that follows, which perhaps was the last straw for me when it came to James. Beth is a martyr of the highest order if you ask me, always quietly going about her life, doing her best to give her husband a comfortable life, and never asking for anything in return from the man who promised to be bound to her in sickness and health, in the good and the bad times. Such was the lived reality of many women during those times, and even today, and that is a glaring fact that stands prominent.

It is of course when the beloved fiancée makes a comeback from the dead that Beth finally realizes that there is no place in James’ life for her, and as she does everything else, chooses to leave quietly. What follows is probably the reason why I did not end up hating James as the male lead, and fell more in love with Beth for recognizing her own worth, aided along by those who actually love her for who she is and what she has to offer.

James learning the hard way what he actually gave up on and finally wising up to the true gem of a woman he married was why he redeemed himself to some extent. I should not complain much because I am a lover of a true angst fest, and James being James was the reason why this book proved to deliver so well on that score.

What I appreciated the most was how Ms. Spencer explores the complexity of the emotions that run rampant in both the leads. Even as I hated James during certain moments, I also understood where was coming from. His past which involves having a woman since he was sixteen years old, and being in a relationship that addressed his physical and emotional needs had set the bar high for him. With Beth, even though he desires her like crazy, because James holds pieces of himself back, the same is true for Beth, which shortchanges their marriage for both of them, which could have truly being magnificent a union if otherwise.

But then again, some lessons have to be learnt the hard way, and if things were that easily worked out, I would not have enjoyed this as much as I did, minus the angst factor. Even with James being the character that frustrated me to no end, this book ended up being one that made me think deeply, feel just as much, and made me ponder about human psychology and the intricacies of the emotions of the broken.

Recommended for those who love frustrating heroes and are not turned off by realistic story lines that pushes your comfort zones as a romance reader.

Final Verdict: The Coming Home Place delivers an emotionally complex and multi-faceted tale that moves you in ways you never thought possible, delivering a spellbinding read!

Favorite Quotes

“Elizabeth,” he whispered, moving slowly, feeling and savoring all of her. He looked at her, saw the expression of bewilderment on her face and heard her tight breathing match his own. “Sweet,” he said against her mouth. “Sweet wife.”
She tried to resist what was happening to her-he could feel her trying-but when she came, when the pleasure overwhelmed her ability to fight, it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever known, and caused his own fierce pleasure to follow.

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Italian’s Wife by Lynne Graham

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Saverio Lombardi
Heroine: Holly Sansom
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: November 01, 2001
Started On: December 11, 2022
Finished On: December 12, 2022

Rio was pacing the waiting area, talking in staccato Italian on his cell phone, the cynosure of interest for every female in the vicinity. He lowered his phone, tawny eyes welding to her with gleaming intensity, a faint and wicked smile curling at the corners of his beautiful mouth. ‘Bella, Fiammetta…’ he drawled with lazy amusement.
And in that same moment, Holly knew beyond all doubt that she had fallen passionately in love.

The Italian’s Wife by Lynne Graham is another one of her stellar reads, published in 2001. The story begins when 29 year old Saverio Lombardi (Rio), billionaire head of Lombardi Industries, one of the biggest, most successful companies in the world, walks in on his fiancée of almost two years cheating on him, most shockingly with another woman. Reeling from the rude awakening, it is as Rio is on his way home that fate puts 20 year old single mother Holly Sansom on his path, forever changing the trajectory of his life once and for all.

Holly, with her eight month old son in tow is at her wits end when Rio “rescues” her and places her at his home. Holly has had nothing but bad luck ever since she had come to London, in all her naivety hoping that the father of her son was waiting for her as eagerly as she was to be reunited with him. Holly had been an impressionable eighteen year old, an only child who had been taken in and dazzled by the seemingly charming man who had swept her off her feet.

The same man who had been livid that Holly had chosen to have the baby and tossed her out, leaving Holly to fend for herself in a city where only the rich and affluent survive. Holly takes the lifeline that Rio throws her, because she has hit rock bottom and there is nowhere else for her to go.

Four weeks into the move, Rio finds himself faced with the unexpected; an attack of such powerful lust towards the woman who lives in his home which really shakes him up. Rio is still seething on the inside from the humiliation of calling off the huge wedding that was to take place while keeping the truth a secret, which takes its toll on him and before long, recognizing the answering need in Holly’s untutored eyes, there is no holding back on what happens next.

As circumstances would have it, Rio proposes marriage to Holly to save her from losing her son, or so he tells himself. All the while, Rio keeps the truth of his disastrous relationship with his ex-fiance to himself, which gives the story the angst factor that I always revel in when it comes to Ms. Graham’s stories, and I certainly was not disappointed.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Italian’s Wife for many reasons. I loved Rio – he was more sensitive than Ms. Graham’s heroes in her older titles, but at the same time, retained just enough of the elements that makes readers like myself salivate over her heroes. Walking in on his cheating fiancée leaves his confidence shaken, making him question every single aspect of the relationship he had with her. It is for this reason that Rio remains tight-lipped about what took place, not wanting to come off as anything but a sexy and capable man who can keep his woman satisfied in bed and out of it.

Holly’s character was just as wonderful. Having grown up in a small town, Holly is not equipped with the sort of sophistication that is second nature to a person like Rio. Holly’s lack of trust in men was understandable given how she suffered at the hands of the only man she had let into her life, the way he had taken the easy way out and left her in the lurch. The guilt of having disappointed her parents also makes her stubborn enough to weather the worst until Rio comes into her life, giving her everything that she never ever hoped to find.

I especially loved the ending, where Rio goes in pursuit of the woman he loves beyond anything else in the world, finally able to win her over with nothing but the truth. The epilogue was a lovely touch, which I always appreciate when we get a sneak into the lives of characters that we suffered and loved through to the end. And guess where Rio takes his wife on honeymoon? Yep, Maldives!

Recommend this to fans of Harlequin romances, fans of Lynne Graham, and those who love a hero who can sweep you off your feet!

Final Verdict: Rio does not know what hits him when Holly stumbles into his life. Their thorny journey towards a happily ever after was nothing short of riveting and I enjoyed every second of it!

Favorite Quotes

Her drowning blue eyes gazed up into glittering gold and Jeff went out of her mind so fast he might never have existed. She tried and failed to swallow. Rio was so close that breathing was no longer an option. Lashes lowered, she focused on that wide, sensual mouth of his and the tip of her tongue snaked out to moisten her dry lower lip. Never in all her life had she been so desperate, so shamelessly eager to feel a man’s mouth on hers. The craving was almost unbearably strong.

As she parted her lips to snatch in much needed oxygen to sustain her, Rio bent his head lower and let his tongue delve in a subtle flicker into the moist interior of her mouth. It lasted only a second, but in that second she was electrified by the instantaneous, stormy response of her own body, the surge of enervating heat that inflamed her every sense. Indeed, so great was the erotic hit of that sudden sexual foray she jerked, and if he hadn’t shot a steadying arm round her she would have fallen off the stool.

Rio made a husky sound low and deep in his throat. He just reached for her, hauling her up to him, his lean hands curving round her hips to crush her feminine mound into connection with the full, hard force of his arousal as he lifted her up against him.
‘I hope you’re in the mood to satisfy one very hungry guy, bella mia,’ Rio growled before he brought his mouth crashing down on hers with devouring heat.
It was their first true kiss and it blew Holly away. Crushed to the hard male strength of his big, powerful physique, she was conscious of his virility with every fibre of her being.

Never had she ever imagined that level of sensation, so it was like one glorious shock piled onto another, so that she lurched mindless and wordless from one splintering wave of excitement into the next, and all the time the tormenting hunger was notching up higher inside her. She moaned, she sobbed and she jerked in a wild response beyond any denial, and when she was within what felt like touching distance of the satisfaction she craved with every sense he settled himself between her thighs and surged into her with measured force and cool.
And suddenly she was snatched up into the eye of the storm. The feel of his hot, hard fullness stretching the slick, wet centre of her inner heat just exploded through her in a cascade of multicoloured, blinding sensation and she hit a peak of ecstasy that burned through her in an explosive flood of pleasure.

‘You’re so incredibly sensual…’ Rio breathed in a roughened growl of male satisfaction. ‘I’ll have to drag myself away from you tomorrow. You’re turning me into a sex addict, cara.’
Certainly it wasn’t very long before he tumbled her back on the bed with a groan of raw impatience and sank into her hard and fast and without ceremony, sending her excitement racing to such a peak that a strangled cry of joy was wrenched from her. And then there was nothing for her but the relentless rhythm of his lean, hard body over and inside hers and the intense pleasure that sent her rocketing to an ecstatic height with his name on her lips.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Kobo | HQ | Apple

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Wrong Bride by Catharina Maura

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: First Person, Dual
Series: The Windsors, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Ares Windsor
Heroine: Raven Du Pont
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: October 15, 2022
Started On: November 25, 2022
Finished On: November 26, 2022

“Does no part of you want me even a little?” Her voice is soft, pleading, and her eyes are filled with an emotion I can’t quite describe.
“No,” I lie to her. “The friction from you moving on top of me made me hard, yeah, but I don’t want you, Raven. I’ll never want you. I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but you need to stop. Do you know how much your actions tonight would hurt your sister? Fuck, it’s hurting me, Rave.”

The Wrong Bride by Catharina Maura is the debut book in The Windsors series, first published in October of last year. Catharina Maura is a new-to-me author, having come across some of her books on Amazon from time to time. The Wrong Bride’s blurb promised the kind of story that I always hanker for, a marriage of convenience between the main protagonists of whom the heroine has been in love with the hero since forever.

Told in the first person from both the hero and heroine’s point of view, The Wrong Bride tells the story of 31 year old Ares Windsor as the hero and 21 year old Raven Du Pont as the heroine. When the story begins, Ares is engaged to be married to Raven’s older sister Hannah who is an actress in whose shadow Raven has always remained. Raven is a model herself, working hard to establish her own business. Raven is the neglected child in the Du Pont family, the one who always has to give in to Hannah’s needs and wants that takes precedence in the lives of her parents. Raven is more than willing to watch her sister get married to the man that she loves beyond anything else in this world, as Ares who considers her as a valuable friend and nothing more.

Ares is one of the six siblings of the Windsor family ruled by the matriarch that is their grandmother. The merger between the Du Pont and Windsor’s family sealed the deal when it comes to the arranged marriage between Hannah and Ares, with the wedding having been postponed multiple times because of Hannah’s busy filming schedule.

However, when Hannah calls off the wedding for the last time, citing her career to be more important to give into the demands of the terms of the arranged marriage, circumstances dictate that Raven take her place instead, something Raven fights till the last minute. While Raven makes it clear that she wants a real marriage and not half-hearted attempts at one, Ares proposes a marriage of convenience for the sake of fooling his grandmother, and promises Hannah that he would wait for her during a moment of weakness that overtakes his faculties.

Thus begins the rocky journey on which Ares and Raven embark upon as husband and wife. Hannah of course, makes things complicated by accusing Raven of trying to take her place, of trying to steal the man who rightfully belongs to her. For the marriage to be given a real chance, Ares would have to fight not only the demons that hound him but also that of Raven’s and convince her once and for all that for Ares, there is no one like Raven and there never would be.

As mentioned earlier, The Wrong Bride is a story that had a lot going for it, elements that would make it a stellar read. I found myself agonized on behalf of Raven for all the heartache and pain that she goes through, which is all well worth it in the end. There were points when the constant advance and retreat on the part of Ares and Raven gave me a whiplash and then there were those moments that I reveled in because Ares was adorable in his absolute cluelessness when it came to his possessiveness and jealousy regarding his wife.

I abhorred Hannah for the despicable way in which she treats both Raven and Ares, but in a way I understood that her sense of entitlement stemmed from parents who had danced to every single one of her tunes and never really fulfilled their responsibility of instilling values and discipline in Hannah. Raven in the shadow of Hannah, grew up to be the graceful one, the one with a backbone of steel and ambitions that made her choose a path that diverged from her family’s and gave her much needed independence.

There were moments that I felt truly frustrated with Raven for how she believes whatever that Hannah tell her to destroy the fragility of what was developing between Raven and Ares, but at the same time I understood that the emotional scars from such sheer neglect that had made Raven believe that she was never going to be good enough played a critical role in the way she reacts every single time.

Ares I believe, is the character that changes all of that, even when I wanted to slap him silly when his actions hurt Raven in a way that was unbearable. But then again, I recognized where Ares was coming from as well, having believed himself to be in love with Hannah for so long, never acknowledging his true feelings for Raven because he never let his heart move in that direction.

Ares is a man of honor in every sense, staying true to the course even when he could have taken undue advantage of the situations that arose at times. He would also have been well justified to do so, given the revelations towards the latter half of the novel. I loved Ares for his patience in dealing with Raven, in understanding the depth of her insecurities and working to make her understand and believe in him and their love. He deserves a medal for his forbearance even when it came to dealing with Hannah, the least deserving of such consideration in my opinion.

The coup de grace of the story was when Raven finally stood up for herself and cut off ties with the toxicity that was her family. I rooted for her big time and brought out the pom-poms at that point! The spice and heat between Raven and Ares was icing on the cake in the tale as it unfolded, and went a long way towards bridging the emotional gap between the two and giving Raven the needed confidence boost to believe in their love. The only thing I could have asked for was more angst – which I believe required Ares to be a bit colder than he actually was. Alas, one cannot have everything I suppose!

Recommended for the true romantics who love a good marriage of convenience story. This one is for you!

Final Verdict: The Wrong Bride by Catharina Maura is a truly remarkable tale that delivers the perfect balance of spice and romance with just the right touch of heartache to make it memorable!

Favorite Quotes

I pull her against me and thread one hand in her hair before tipping her head back to expose her neck. She gasps when I lower my lips to her ear, my teeth grazing over her earlobe. “This is how you posed with Tom Foster, wasn’t it? Tell me, my love, was he as hard as I am when he held you like this?”
I kiss her neck, my teeth grazing over her skin for a moment before I suck down, leaving a small mark. Raven’s breath hitches, and the way she pushes her chest against mine makes me fucking feral. Her hands thread through my hair, her grip tight.

“Do you truly want me? If we weren’t married, would you want me?”
He smiles and walks toward me, his stride confident and impatient. His arm wraps around my waist, and he pulls me into him, his lips finding mine with the same urgency he portrayed earlier. Ares groans as he kisses me, his hands moving over my body impatiently. I’m pushed against the wall, and his hand curls around my thigh as he hooks it around his hip.
I’m panting as he pulls his lips off mine to kiss my jaw, before placing them just below my ear, pressing a soft kiss to my neck that makes me shiver. “Is that enough of an answer, Raven? I want you so fucking badly that it hurts.”

I lower my lips to her neck, my teeth grazing over her skin before I suck down on it, marking her as mine. “I’m fucking obsessed with you,” I admit. “Every little thing you do, every smile, every sigh that leaves your lips. All of it.”
My hand delves underneath her dress, and I smirk when I realize she isn’t wearing underwear. “This,” I groan against her lips. “I love this about you. You always want me just as badly as I want you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Secret Obsession by Charlotte Lamb

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Sins, #1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Ben Havelock
Heroine: Nerissa Havelock
Sensuality: 🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 1995
Started On: September 07, 2022
Finished On: September 08, 2022

His face was taut, his eyes hard.
‘Do I have to remind you that it was me you married, not him?’
‘I want a divorce, Ben!’ Nerissa broke out in a voice that shook, and the room filled with an intolerable tension.
‘I’ll fight it,’ he said curtly. ‘I’ll use any weapon I have to -even if it means bringing him into it. What do you think that will do to your family pride?’

Secret Obsession by Charlotte Lamb, first published in January of 1995, is an unusual story at best, the reason why I picked this up to read in the first place. Told in the third person from the heroine’s perspective, Ms. Lamb brings to readers the story of Ben Havelock and his wife Nerissa who have been married for just three months when the story begins.

Ben and Nerissa’s had been a whirlwind romance, where Ben had pursued her in earnest since meeting her a year earlier at a party given by one of his clients, who happened to work with her. Ben being a very successful and wealthy barrister and a divorcee at that, had convinced Nerissa that they would work after managing to draw out all truths about about Nerissa and leaving her pretty much in the dark when it comes to understanding who Ben is inside out during their courtship.

Things come to a head when Nerissa receives the news that her adored cousin Philip is in a coma, Philip whom Bend would never agree to let her go to be by his side. For Ben knows the truth of Nerissa’s feelings for Philip and the reality behind the family unit within which Nerissa had grown up which makes for interesting reading.

Nerissa flies the coop (of course), to be with the man who had been the most important person in the world to her up till the point where the truth had been forced out leaving both of them devastated in the process. Nerissa is a woman torn about how she feels about her husband Ben; she wants him, thinks about him when he is not around, he is necessary for her, but she does not know him as she does Philip, and therein lies the problem.

When Ben comes in hot pursuit of her and forces her to face the ugly truths about her past (which is also very much present) which she has been playing ostrich about, it is up to Nerissa to decide whether she wants to fight for her marriage and the man who has become the most important person in her life unbeknownst to her, the man that she had actually fallen for without realizing the hows and whys.

As mentioned earlier in the review, Secret Obsession is not your usual run of the mill variety of story, the most shocking revelations being about Nerissa’s past and how that had shaped her up as the person she is at present. Nerissa meets Ben at a turning point in her life, when she had been desolate about the futility of the future she had envisaged of a love that was impossible.

For Ben, trust is a hard commodity to find, having held up the short end of the stick in his previous marriage. Some would say that Ben is a glutton for punishment given how he who swore off marriage altogether, and then goes onto tie the knot with Nerissa, a woman who was definitely going to cause him a lot of heartache and pain along the way.

I loved how Ben forces Nerissa into examining the depth of her own feelings when it comes to a whole host of issues that are revealed along the way and his patience with her. Most men would not have found it possible to be that patient, knowing that your wife’s heart belonged to someone else, the wife that you fell for a long way back.

While the story had a lot going for it, I found the execution of some of the aspects to be a bit problematic. There were elements of the story that definitely held my attention, like how obsessed Ben actually is about his wife, even when he had sworn off of marriage altogether when his first marriage failed so spectacularly.

I was also intrigued by Nerissa’s feelings – seldom do novels explore the nuances of the female emotions as it does Nerissa’s in this story. The raw emotions and the psychology explored in the story was riveting but the continued rehashing of how wounded Ben’s pride was and how his ex-wife had done a number on him made the story a tad tiresome. Skipping chunks on inner monologues in the story made it all worthwhile!

Recommended for fans of Charlotte Lamb and her unusual stories. I am guessing, given the ratings for most of her books, she is either a hit or miss for readers!

Final Verdict: Secret Obsession is a fitting title for a story that explores a husband’s hidden infatuation with his wife, whom he pursues and wins over through the biggest gamble of his life!

Favorite Quotes

When she heard him come downstairs again she went out into the hall in a hurry. He was carrying his suitcase and she felt a pang of dismay as she realised he had meant it; he was really going.
‘Ben, listen… I can’t come now. How can I when they need me? But…’ she began, and he turned a grim face to her.
‘No buts, Nerissa. I meant what I said. I’m sick of this charade of a marriage. I can’t live with it any more.’
He was gone a moment later, the front door slamming behind him, and she stood rooted to the spot, white-faced and stunned. She heard the car start, the engine roar as he put his foot down on the accelerator, the sound of the wheels churning gravel as he set off along the drive.
Ben had left her.

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Phoebe by Minerva Spencer

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: The Bellamy Sisters, #1
Publisher: Crooked Sixpence
Hero: Paul Edward Needham
Heroine: Phoebe Bellamy
Sensuality: 3
Published On: May 31, 2022
Started On: June 07, 2022
Finished On: June 18, 2022

“Everyone comes from somewhere, Twickham—even the lowest chimney sweep could trace his bloody lineage back six hundred years if he had the leisure and money to do so.”

Minerva Spencer is a one of a kind author who creates such intricate love stories that are hard to put down. Phoebe, the first book of The Bellamy Sisters series proves the same, bringing to readers the story of 20 year old Phoebe Bellamy and 35 year old Paul Edward Needham, Viscount Needham.

The Bellamy family consists of eight members, with Phoebe the fourth daughter being in charge of managing the meager finances of the family that is in dire straits. Phoebe considers herself to be plain and average unlike her sisters, most of whom she views in a more favorable light than she does herself.

When Phoebe encounters Paul, her first impression of him is not a favorable one. However, Paul has a need for a wife to establish his daughter in society, Paul whose newly acquired title which does not really earn him the approval of the established members of the ton, who view him more as a boorish merchant than the entitled ones. Phoebe too has a reason for a husband – to rescue her family from going bankrupt and saving her family home from ruin.

As these two enter into a marriage of convenience and traverse the tricky corners of married life, especially with the family circumstances being what they are for both, Phoebe starts to realize that most, including herself, tends to underestimate her husband for various reasons, believing him to be more brawn than brains.

It is Paul’s secrets and back story that makes for enticing reading as the story progresses. Paul who had held the short end of the stick in the parenting department with a father who had not cared for much except for his status and wealth, and believed that what did not kill his son, only made him stronger.

Paul’s toxic family is what gives this story the edge, not to mention the man himself who I fell head over heels in love with. Sadly, Phoebe never did really grow on me as she continued to be rather stuck up in my opinion about where she comes from. I also never understood why she was so angry about Paul taking control of Phoebe’s family home, when her father making them homeless if otherwise was a foregone conclusion.

Paul from the beginning treats Phoebe with nothing but gentleness. His bedroom recreation itself takes into consideration her pleasure first and foremost which is telling of the kind of man he is. What I found odious was how Phoebe always chose to believe the worst when his actions dictated otherwise, and even though she leaps to his defense towards the end, she always tended to continue to be in shock when she realizes that the truth is so far from what she conceived it to be. I truly wanted to love Phoebe as much as I did Paul, but alas I did not believe that Phoebe was worth the gold standard that was Paul.

Recommended for fans of the romance genre, those who love a good meaty story to sink their teeth into!

Final Verdict: The best thing about this story was Paul, the big brute of a hero who was a gentle giant, with a penchant for control in the bedroom, who designs exquisite lingerie for his beloved!

Favorite Quotes

“There is something I don’t think you understand about me, Phoebe. Or perhaps you’ve just refused to accept it. But I am, in the main, the sort of man who guards all his possessions—”
She tried to jerk her chin away. “I am not your poss—”
He held her more firmly and continued as if she’d never spoken. “Where you are concerned, I am an exceedingly jealous man. I don’t like it when you have nuncheon with Dixon, just the two of you, flaunting your behavior for all our neighbors to see and speculate about. I don’t like it when you flirt and charm him every night at dinner and then answer me in monosyllables. And I don’t like it when you go off riding with my handsome young noble secretary—”
“But we didn’t do anything.”
“But you wanted me to think you might, didn’t you, Phoebe?”
She opened her mouth to lie and deny it, suddenly ashamed that she had hoped to get a response out of him.
But not one this frightening.
Phoebe chewed her lip; what in the world could she say? “I don’t—er, I—”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said coolly. “What matters is that I don’t like watching or knowing that Dixon gets to enjoy the pleasure of your company while you deny me. You are mine, Phoebe, mine alone. Mine to enjoy however and whenever I please.”

She’d not believed she could feel more naked, but when he raised the gauzy gown over her head and tossed it aside, she knew she’d been wrong.
His lips parted and a low humming noise rumbled in his chest as he looked at her bare body.
That was when it struck her that it was Phoebe who was causing her husband to flush and breathe harder.
Exultation surged through her like sweet, slow-moving honey at the realization.
She was the one making this man—who always appeared so untouchable—shake and sweat and gaze with hunger.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Duncan’s Bride by Linda Howard

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: MIRA
Hero: Gideon Reese Duncan
Heroine: Madelyn Sanger Patterson
Sensuality: 3.5
Published On: May 25, 1998
Started On: January 28, 2022
Finished On: January 28, 2022

WANTED: A WIFE for able-bodied rancher. Must be of steady character, want children, and be able to work on ranch. Age 25 to 35 preferable.

Duncan’s Bride by Linda Howard is a favorite of mine from long before. I don’t particularly remember why a review for this delightful book was never written by yours truly, but I aim to rectify it this time around having come upon that sad realization.

34 year old Gideon Reese Duncan (Duncan) is a rancher who lost everything to his ex-wife, having slowly built back his life from the ashes that were left behind in the wake of the departure of the woman who had felt entitled to take half of everything that he had owned. Having crawled his way back to a position from which he could start thinking about a future again, Duncan decides it is time to find himself a wife once again, but this time he is going to be smart about it. There would be no courting her, no seeking love – just a plain old arrangement of convenience where he would get what he wants out of the marriage without the emotional and financial entanglements.

28 year old Madelyn Sanger Patterson (Maddie) is restless with her lot in life and yearns for something that would take her out of the rut her life has become. When she stumbles across the ad placed for a wife, something in her urges her to act and respond to the call. Ultimately, even though Duncan believes that he might be making the wrong choice once again given how drawn to Maddie he is physically, there is no denying fate when something is written down to happen, and that is exactly how Duncan finds himself married to Maddie, a woman who is accustomed to all sorts of comforts in life, someone Duncan has misgivings about her suitability to the kind of life that is ranching.

However, Duncan soon finds out that his wife is not a shrinking violet he thought she would be and is more than capable of living up to the expectations of any rancher looking for a partner who is willing to give it their all. The sexual attraction between the two is something Duncan embraces wholeheartedly, a bonus under the circumstances when he had been resigned to a life of comfort and companionship when he had initially sought to get married.

For Maddie, Duncan is the man who makes everything within her come alive, the missing piece of her soul that perfectly aligns with her desires and needs. While Duncan is a hard man to reach emotionally, Maddie believes that she is making headway, slowly but surely, up till the point where Duncan’s stubborn pride gets in the way, putting her everything they have together on the line. But Maddie being who she is, is willing to give Duncan the kind of fight he would not win easily, and that is one of the many reasons why this book stands out in a big way.

Duncan’s Bride is a story that features a hero that can only be defined as alpha. Once bitten, twice as shy, Duncan guards his emotions closely and his checkbook even closer. Having learnt his lesson when it comes to preying women, Duncan is determined that no one else would get the best of him, not even the surprise that is his mail-ordered bride Maddie. Thwart her attempts he does, especially when it comes to considering her as an equal partner in their marriage, the fear of losing everything once again preying on his mind, when Duncan does not realize that going down that road he is sure to lose what is most precious to him above everything else.

While Duncan at times makes you want to give him a couple slaps (and hard) because of his stubborn nature and that formidable pride of his, that is also part of the reason why this story worms its way into your heart in a way that is undefinable. Maddie is the perfect antidote to the poison that Duncan has consumed even though he cannot see it for what it is, and when the inevitable happens, Duncan obviously thinks the worst, to be proven spectacularly wrong in a way that makes all the heartache worth it. The grovel game in this novel is strong, which gives it the perfect five stars the story so deserves.

Recommended for fans of marriage of convenience trope romances featuring strong, stubborn, and prideful alpha heroes and their equally stubborn and strong women who do not give up. Duncan and Maddie do not disappoint!

Final Verdict: Duncan’s Bride is a story that I will never tire of; the arrogant and virile hero being brought to his very knees makes the angst-ridden pages all worth it!

Favorite Quotes

Vaguely she heard other people around them. It didn’t matter. He was making love to her with his mouth, arousing her, satisfying her, consuming her. He increased the slant of his head, tucking her head more firmly into his shoulder, and kissed her with all the burning sensuality she had sensed in him on first sight.
Her heart lurched as pleasure overrode shock, swiftly escalating to an almost unbearable tension. She not only welcomed the intrusion of his tongue, she met it with her own, making love to him as surely as he was to her.

He tossed the washcloth into the basin and took his hat off, dropping it onto the floor. The arm behind her back tightened and drew her in to him as he bent his head, and his mouth closed over hers.
It was the same way he’d kissed her in the airport, the way he hadn’t kissed her since. His mouth was hard and hot, urgent in his demands. His tongue pushed into her mouth, and she met it with her own, welcoming, enticing, wanting more.

The sunlight sifted down through the leaves, dappling his gleaming skin, and his eyes were fiercely primitive as he kneed her thighs apart. He looked wild and magnificent, and she made a soft whimpering sound of need as she reached for him.
He tore her clothes, and she didn’t care. The seam of her chemise gave way beneath his twisting fingers, and the taut rise of her breasts thrust nakedly up at him. He sucked strongly at her while he shoved her skirt to her waist and hooked his fingers in the waistband of her underpants. She lifted her hips to aid him, but heard the rip of lace, and then he threw the shreds to one side.

He undid her skirt and stripped it down her legs; then she parted her thighs and reached for him again, and he couldn’t wait a minute longer. The sight of those sleek legs opening for him was an image that had haunted his dreams. He’d intended to be easier with her this time, but as soon as he penetrated she made a wild sound in her throat and her hips rolled, and he went mad again.

Green eyes locked with gray. He hooked his fingers in the hem of her skirt and jerked it upward, at the same time spreading her legs and moving forward between them. She sank her hands into his wet hair and held his head while her mouth attacked his with a fierce kiss that held mingled anger and desire. He said, “Maddie,” in a rough tone as he tore her underpants out of the way, then jerked at his belt and the fastening of his jeans.
It was just as it had been in the back of the truck. The rush of passion was hard and fast and overwhelming.

He unbuttoned her blouse while she performed the same service for his shirt. When he had undipped her bra he slowly brought their bare torsos together, turning her slightly from side to side so that her breasts rubbed his chest and his curly hair rasped against her nipples, making her arch in his arms.
“God, I can’t get enough of you,” he muttered.
“I don’t want you to.”

Release left her weak, pliable. She lay back across the hood of the car, breathing hard, her eyes closed. Reese gripped her hips and began thrusting hard and fast, wanting that sweet weakness for himself. Her eyes slowly opened as he drove into her, and she closed her hands around his wrists. “I love you,” she said again.
Until he heard the words once more he hadn’t realized how badly he’d needed them, wanted them. She was his, and had been from the moment she’d walked through the airport toward him. He groaned, and his hips jerked; then the pleasure hit him, and he couldn’t think for a long time. All he could do was feel, and sink forward onto her soft body and into her arms.

She felt drained, more exhausted than before. She lay limply as he knelt between her legs and tore at his clothes, throwing them aside. She could barely open her eyes as he positioned himself and then invaded her with a slow, heavy thrust that carried him into her to the hilt. As always, she was faintly startled by the overwhelming sense of fullness as she adjusted to him.
His full weight was on her, crushing her downward. There was nothing gentlemanly about him now, only the need to enter her as deeply as possible, to carry the embrace to the fullest so that there was no part of her that didn’t feel his possession.

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Trophy Husband by Lynne Graham

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Alex Rossini
Heroine: Sara Dalton
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: December 06, 1996
Started On: October 09, 2021
Finished On: October 16, 2021

The Trophy Husband by Lynne Graham, originally published in 1996 is a story that delivered on the angst, heat, and love of the kind that is all consuming. The story begins with 23 year old Sara Dalton, having been anonymously tipped off to the fact, walks in on her fiance Brian and cousin Antonia in bed together.

Devastated beyond words, solace comes in the form of her boss, 34 year old Alex Rossini who miraculously makes an appearance at the right moment to help her pick up the pieces. One thing leads to another and before Sara knows it, she has lost her virginity to Alex in the most passionate encounter of her life.

What Alex wants out of her is more than a one night stand, and he pursues her relentlessly until Sara gives in. While Sara has many misgivings when it comes to a marriage of convenience, the need to escape from the stifling impact of Brian and Antonia’s presence that looms in front of her and is inescapable is one added incentive that pushes her to say yes.

Needless to say, Alex and Sara’s marriage turns out to be as tumultuous as it is passionate. I had such fun watching these two navigate their way to their happily ever after. Alex, who for all intents and purposes accelerated the process by which Sara tumbled into his arms, and battled with jealousy and possessiveness of the kind that drives him crazy was one of the highlights of the story as it developed.

It was quite entertaining to see Sara slowly wake up to the fact that she hit jackpot when it comes to Alex and the way he loves her – though at times Alex makes it really hard for anyone to reconcile with the fact. Sara has her work cut out for her in convincing her husband that the love she feels is all for him and no one else.

There was a lot of angst in this story. I could understand and empathize with both Alex and Sara and their inability at first to communicate freely with each other, especially when it comes to their feelings. Alex who did not have the most loving of childhoods, has a tough time talking about his emotions, and Sara who grew up with her aunt and uncle who gave her a home upon the untimely demise of her own mother, leaving her feeling like that she was always an intruder in their home.

I thoroughly enjoyed how Alex gave as good as he got at times, making Sara see the error of her ways, while at the same time, Sara certainly knows how to keep Alex on his toes, leading him to do things so out of character that one can only determine that it is the love bug that has bitten him so.

Recommended for those who love a story that is driven by a hero who is possessive and would go out of his way to ensure the heroine is only his for the taking!

Final Verdict: For the hilarity, the undeniable passion, and love that is of the soul-binding variety; The Trophy Husband is a story that stands the test of time!

Favorite Quotes

He wound his forefinger into a silky strand of her hair and slowly lowered his dark head, almost as if he expected her to shout, No! at the last possible moment, but Sara was wholly entranced. Bella… beautiful, she was savouring dreamily.
And then she found out what his mouth felt like on hers and she froze when his tongue probed between her parted lips. She had never liked that… but his sensual mouth became more insistent, more demanding and she trembled, pulses suddenly racing, heart accelerating madly, and she discovered that she had no resistance, no urge to pull back from that intoxicating pleasure.

She heard a voice moaning, didn’t recognise it as her own, her fingers tightly gripping the hot, sleek smoothness of his shoulders as her back arched. Pleasure she had never dreamt of was shooting through her in agonising waves and there was hardly a pause between one peak and the next. She twisted beneath him, couldn’t stay still, wanting, needing, her thighs trembling, tightening on the ache building inside her.
He said something caressing in Italian, and the last thought that she would afterwards recall was that Italian was definitely the language of love in that incredibly rich, deep voice of his, and then he skimmed a hand through the damp curls at the base of her taut stomach and the world became a delirious, multicoloured shower of lights behind her lowered eyelids as he discovered the moist heat at the very heart of her.

‘Alex…’ she gasped tautly, her entire quivering body reaching up to his in helpless need, reacting with liquidhoney-enticement to the tantalising, hot, hard probe of his flesh against hers.
The surge of pain caught her on the crest of tortured anticipation. She gasped in shock, eyes flying wide to meet similar shock in his startled gaze. ‘Cristo cara…’ he said in hoarse disbelief, but the momentary frown etched between his ebony brows was swiftly wiped away and the dark eyes glittered more golden than ever.
And then he moved again lithely, powerfully deepening his penetration, and a truly stunning wave of breathtaking sensation swept her back into that wild oblivion where only the demands of her own hungry body held sway.

Alex reached for her clenched fingers where they rested on the seat. Momentarily she attempted to draw back from the contact and then, for a reason she could not begin to comprehend, her fingers stayed where they were, curled within his larger hand. She trembled; she didn’t know what was happening to her. She had a sudden, terrifying urge to throw herself on Alex and sob her heart out. In all her life she had never felt more confused. He drew her relentlessly closer.
‘Alex…no…’ she whispered pleadingly.
But Alex didn’t listen. He twined lean fingers into her fall of hair, tugging her round to face him. Her eyes burned as she met his shimmering gold enquiry and every tiny muscle tensed. Her pulsebeat thumped at the foot of her throat, a terrible excitement rising inside her no matter how hard she fought to suppress it.

Alex lowered his dark head and took her mouth with hungry urgency. Fire in the hold, she thought wildly, madly, feeling the instantaneous charge of her own helpless response. She wanted to grip him, hold him, mesh with every hard, muscular angle of his lean, virile length. The scent of him, the touch of him inflamed her senses with a drowning passion that was utterly self-absorbed. Tiny little sounds escaped her throat. Hot, electrifying pleasure engulfed her with every thrust of his tongue.
Her fingers slid with shameless hunger beneath his silk shirt, skimming luxuriantly over skin as smooth as velvet, feeling the taut contraction of his sleek muscles as he jerked and groaned beneath her exploration. He swept her up and pulled her down on top of him, expert hands gliding up the quivering stretch of her thighs, hitching up her confining skirt and then bringing her down again, sealing her into raw contact with the hard, throbbing length straining against his zip.

He lowered his head and let the tip of his tongue graze a rose-pink bud, skimming a hand up over the tautness of her quivering ribcage, discovering the thunder of her racing heartbeat as her whole body leapt in response to that tiny caress.
‘Alex…’ she gasped.
‘Feeling like this is special, bella mia,’ he muttered raggedly. ‘Dio… you are so beautiful.’

Now…’ Alex groaned when she was on the brink of an intolerable excitement.
Her gaze collided blindly with his and then he pulled her up to receive him and drove into her hard and fast and her head fell back and she cried out with the hot, torturous pleasure of that penetration, her body yielding to the forceful possession of his. He moved again with sinuous eroticism and the pleasure increased to such unbearable limits that she lost herself entirely. With every tormenting stroke he took her higher and her nails raked down his smooth back as her spine arched and the sunburst heat in her loins suddenly expanded, every muscle clenching in response as she went flying over the edge into a release that convulsed her in violent waves.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | Harlequin | Apple

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Taming The Beast by Heather Grothaus

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Zebra
Hero: Roderick Cherbon
Heroine: Michaela Fortune
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 01, 2009
Started On: July 29, 2021
Finished On: August 09, 2021

Taming The Beast by Heather Grothaus is a novel that kept popping up in my recommendations list every now and then. Being the fan of anti-heroes that I am, I decided to give this historical romance a go and ended up enjoying this story as predicted.

When the story begins, 29 year old Roderick Cherbon is injured at war, and would like to be left alone in peace to die from his painful injuries. Roderick has always been on the receiving end of his father’s wrath, and it had been his father’s ultimatum that had driven Roderick to travel to the Holy Land to make something of himself or lose his home forever. With no love lost between him and his father, Roderick would rather leave this world than face his father as a failure. Through his slow, painful, and unwanted recovery, he receives the news of the ultimate demise of his father after which the story continues.

It is thus that two years later Roderick returns home to Cherbon as a changed man both on the inside and out. The horrific scars lining his body and face speaks of a war that has left its mark, while on the inside, the wounds of the childhood he endured with no love nor affection makes him an embittered shell of a man. Returning with his friend Hugh and son Leo in tow, it is upon his homecoming Roderick learns that in order to keep his home, he has to get married before his next birthday, and he has just one year to fulfill the condition set by his father.

Michaela Fortune is the woman who harbours the dream of marriage to Lord Alan of Tornfield, Roderick’s cousin who is set to inherit Cherbon if Roderick fails to fulfill the condition of marriage. But when Michaela’s dream is shattered, it is her need for vengeance that at first carries her to Cherbon and offer herself in marriage to Roderick. However, from the moment that she lays eyes on Roderick, all of that starts to change. Where everyone sees nothing beyond the frightful scarring on his face, what Michaela observes is the beauty of his eyes that draws her to him.

Roderick is a distrustful hero as they come, and with good reason. He thwarts and resists Michaela’s efforts at every turn, unable to believe that a woman such as Michaela could be drawn to a “cripple” like himself. With Hugh, Roderick’s best friend in the mix and Roderick’s old nemesis who still haunts Cherbon, it is an interesting cast of secondary characters that adds to making the story a compelling page-turner.

I enjoyed Taming the Beast in many ways. Roderick’s character is one that draws the reader in; you empathize and sympathize with his plight, while at the same time wanting to shake some sense into him so that he could see the fortune that has come to his life in the form of Michaela. But for someone who has known nothing but misery and agony in his life, with little to no love being part of his most formative years, it is only too understandable where he is coming from. If it were contemporary times, Roderick is the kind of character who would undergo therapy his entire lifetime.

Luckily for Roderick, Michaela is the kind of heroine who is as stubborn as they come, and a little bit on the clumsy and “crazy” side enough to want to win the affections of Roderick. Because Michaela sees what the rest cannot – that inside the downtrodden and injured form that is Roderick lies a heart that craves love and a soul that cries for affection and acceptance.

With a little bit of the mystical tossed in, Taming the Beast is the kind of story that has enough substance that makes it for great reading. Recommended for those who love a great historical romance, featuring a hero that is taciturn to boot and a heroine who never ever gives up!

Final Verdict: Taming the Beast is aptly titled; drawing Roderick out of his shell requires all the patience and love that Michaela has to offer – and seeing him give in is the best reward!

Favorite Quotes

Before her bravado could slip away from her, Michaela stood and stepped to stand perpendicular to the Lord of Cherbon. To her surprise—and her fearful excitement—he, too, turned, so that they stood facing each other, little more than a handsbreadth apart. Michaela looked up into his once more darkly shadowed face, and before she could hesitate, she reached up with both hands and pushed the hood back from his head.
He flinched, but Michaela paid him no heed, letting her arms go back slowly to her sides and her gaze rove over his face, his scars, his full lips, his beautiful, dazzling eyes, sating her curiosity as she’d not had chance to since first seeing those green depths. The only sounds in the room were their breaths meeting and swirling together before dashing toward the crackling flames to be washed up the chimney.

“Are you going to kiss me again?” He gave her a dangerous grin, the scar on his cheek going white by his eye like a warning.
But she could not heed it. “I think I shall.” She licked her lips. “Do you mind?”
For one who was so deliberate in his movements, Roderick had taken her into his arms within the span of a blink, and this time, it was he who kissed her. Roughly, wetly, his mouth open and his tongue invading her. Michaela could only cling to the front of his tunic, her head spinning, her heart racing, her breath flown somewhere beyond the keep. The feel of him was intoxicating to the point that she felt she’d been drugged.

Michaela felt her smile to the tips of her ears and she leaned down, placing her mouth near Roderick’s ear. “It will please me very, very much, my lord. Thank you.” She pressed her lips to the high, rough ledge of his cheek. She pulled away, but only slightly, and Roderick turned his face toward her.
He leaned forward and kissed her mouth, softly, his lips barely touching hers, and so Michaela flicked her tongue out to taste him.
In the fraction of a breath, Roderick had released Michaela’s right hand to turn her and pull her over the arm of the chair onto his lap. Her arms snaked around his neck like the wild vines that had once claimed Cherbon, and Roderick kissed her as if he would consume her. His arms cradled her, his hands cupped her shoulder and buttock, and Michaela buried her hands in his hair, holding him to her, claiming him as her own, at last.

“I want you,” she said against his mouth, smashing her lips against his, mumbling her words, nibbling at him, licking him. “Roderick, please…”
His hand left her breast and traveled down to the L of her trunk and legs, where her gown had caught between her thighs. He slid a flat palm into the seam, and when he touched her there, even through the thick wool, Michaela’s whole abdomen clenched.
“Yes,” she sighed. “Roderick, take me to your bed.”
He said nothing, only claimed her mouth again as his fingers snagged a fold of her gown and slid the heavy skirt up, slowly, until it bunched around her hips. His fingers found her, wet and aching, and he touched her again, invaded her, until she was arching her hips and moaning words she could not understand into his mouth. He was answering her, but she could not understand him either.

“I’m here for you,” she whispered in his ear. “For all of you.”
“You’re making a mistake,” he growled back, an animal so weary from his ensnarement that the worst he could do was a frightening sound.
She shook her head. “No. I have made many mistakes before—some I admit were with you. But not this night.”
“I can’t love you. Not like you want me to. I don’t even think I can love Leo.” His voice caught, as if he would weep.
“I want you to love me—and Leo—however you can. That is enough.” Then she kissed him again, more deeply. He still did not respond. She raised her head only slightly, whispering the words into his mouth as the thunder crashed around them. “And until you can, I will love you both enough for all of us.”
This time when she kissed him, he kissed her back.’

In the murky darkness, she could see him shake his head. “This is a mistake, Michaela.”
“No, it isn’t.” She was tired of waiting for him. Reaching behind her toward his right boot, she felt for the cold hilt of his hidden dagger.
Roderick became instantly alarmed as she moved to his feet. “No—stop—”
But she had the blade in hand before he could rise, and with one swift flick of her wrist, she drew the dagger’s sharp edge up the center of the ladder his laces created. Aided by his erection, his breeches pulled apart soundlessly, save for the whoosh of breath that came from the Lord of Cherbon, himself.
Michaela tossed the blade over the edge of the bed and it disappeared into the darkness with a clang.

“I can never be the man you want me to be,” Roderick warned her, each word wracked with pain and shame.
“You already are.” Pulling apart his breeches fully, his manhood sprung free, Michaela threw her leg over Roderick’s hips. She took him in her hand, despite his strangled, “Michaela, wait,” and without giving herself time to be afraid, Michaela sank onto him.
Her cry mingled with Roderick’s—pain and wonder and fear. She settled onto his length with difficulty, but did not relent until she had taken him all. She paused for a moment as the throbbing pain receded and then slowly, she began to ride him, the link around her neck swinging in time to her movements, out over Roderick’s face, making a warped ring of shadow when the lightning flashed.

She felt him grow inside her, heard his groans drawing out, longer and longer, his panting taking his words and tying them into unintelligible knots, and she knew that his time was very near. She was close, too, so close, and so she rode faster, deeper, letting loose her own throaty cries as she felt him in her very core, it seemed.
And then it started for her, an expanding around his length, slowly, infinitely, as if time had stopped, and then in a wink, her whole body, her whole world collapsed in with a crash and she cried out, froze.
Roderick gave a guttural yell and strained his hips upward, driving into her one time on his own, deeply, and his passion, too, erupted.
The link fell dim once more.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | Apple Books

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Her Baseborn Bridegroom by Alice Coldbreath

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Vawdrey Brothers, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Mason Vawdrey
Heroine: Linnet Cadwallader
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 22, 2017
Started On: June 20, 2021
Finished On: June 24, 2021

The first book in the Vawdrey Brothers series, Her Baseborn Bridegroom by Alice Coldbreath was such a fun book to read. Riding the high of my first novel from Ms. Coldbreath, I wanted to delve into one more book from hers, just to experience the sheer magic of a historical romance done right, all over again.

The story begins with 24 year old Linnet Cadwallader getting ready for her marriage, arranged for her by her uncle. When the puppet groom that had been arranged fails to turn up, and in his place comes his baseborn brother, Sir Mason Vawdrey, things take a rather interesting turn. Taking matters into her own hands out of sheer desperation, Linnet asks Mason to marry her to which Mason agrees.

From the start, Mason turns her life upside down by seeing the extent to which Linnet’s guardians controlled her life in order to be the recipients of the fortune that is in her name. Linnet’s uncle and aunt basically makes her a captive in her own home, using the excuse that she was too sickly to venture out and do more. All of that changes with Mason, as from the start, he allows her the liberty and freedom to be the mistress of her own home. I thoroughly applauded the fact that this particular arc was not dragged on for an eternity before being properly dealt with.

As their married life begins, both Linnet and Mason are in for surprises, with Linnet learning that she too shares the passionate nature of her husband’s when it comes to the marriage bed. For Mason, it is discovering that when it comes to his wife, his possessiveness for the very first time extends to a significant other, something that he has pretty much avoided all his life up till Linnet that shakes him up.

The best thing about this story was Linnet; she was amazing in every sense. Sheltered pretty much all her life, taught to think that her freckles were an affliction, and robbed of her right to make decisions for herself, the way she sparkles and shines is what made the story. The bravery she shows when Mason turns up and tells her what she has been sort of expecting to happen won big points from me. It is that bravery that lands her with Mason, who would most likely have walked away if otherwise. Linnet has a way of taking matters into her own hands – case in point, when she wants to gain her stamina and to the point where she got a “salve” for bigger boobs (you will have to read the book to enjoy the mirth and sensuality on that score).

Mason was a darling too! Sexy, broody, commanding, and most of all possessive of his bride in a way that soothes Linnet’s ravaged soul, I thoroughly enjoyed the way he kept rationalizing away his developing feelings for Linnet, trying to evade the possibility that he was head over heels in love.

Ms. Coldbreath has a way of developing the story line that shows to readers how the physical and emotional intimacy develops between main protagonists, who for all intents and purposes are complete opposites of each other. I would say that Her Baseborn Bridegroom delivered well on that score!

Recommended for fans of beautifully spun historical romances. Ms. Coldbreath is a gem of a find!

Final Verdict: Her Baseborn Bridegroom is the kind of novel that has you screaming with laughter one minute and melting from the heat next; Ms. Coldbreath definitely knows what she is doing!

Favorite Quotes

“Be calm wife,” he breathed against her temple, and she felt his mouth brush against her.
She puffed out her breath and dragged in a deep breath. “If . . . if you just give me a moment to accustom myself . . . ” she asked beseechingly. “I promise I’ll do everything you say.”
“Yes,” he agreed in a low, rough voice. “You will,” and in an unhurried move, he dragged his hand down until it lay between her breasts. Then his mouth was on her throat, and Linnet gasped when she felt his tongue lick her there. He shifted again, until his mouth was next to her ear. “Sweet,” he whispered. “You taste very, very sweet Linnet.”

“You please me, wife,” he said gruffly and lowered his mouth to hers where he kissed her entirely differently from how he had kissed her in the chapel. Their kiss there had been chaste and close-lipped. Now his mouth moved over hers in an intimate exploration. His tongue teased and prodded and invaded her mouth in a wet, hot slide that left her gasping and clinging to him, bewildered and reeling. And then his fingers were performing the same dance between her legs, petting and stroking and making her gasp into his mouth both in dismay and in shocked delight.

“I think I’ve been pretty considerate this last month,” he said and reached out to palm one of her small breasts. Linnet gasped. “The candles by the bed,” she choked out.
“I want to see what I’m doing.”
“But last time—”
“Last time I was feeling considerate. Tonight I’m not.”
Linnet blinked at him. Was he annoyed? She could almost swear his eyes were glowing. His other hand yanked the covers down, exposing her pale naked body to his roving gaze. Linnet cringed, but when her eyes flew to his he had a strange expression on his face that she didn’t quite recognize. It wasn’t disappointment, she realized with relief. No, not disappointment. It was almost . . . proprietary?

“Hmm, such sweet, sensitive little breasts,” he said huskily. “Do you like that?”
She bit her lip and squeezed her legs together, trying to shift against the pillows. “I—I’m not really sure . . . ” she said breathlessly.
At her slight movement, his other hand glided down, down until his fingers slid right into her curls and then the core of her, making her cry out in surprise.
He gave an approving growl. “It seems like you do, Linnet.”
She tipped her head back to look at him as his finger slid up inside her. Her cheeks felt scorched. She held her breath.
“Nice and wet for me,” he said thickly. “When you’re in my bed, that’s what I expect. You, naked and wet. Not to hear you talking about other men.”

“Linnet,” he gasped and thrust into her.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she murmured and felt his face turn into her neck.
He planted his palm at her side, lifting most of his weight off her and onto his arms.
“That’s good,” he said richly and thrust again, harder this time. “That means,” he groaned loudly. “I don’t have to hold back this time.”

“Next time,” he said. “You’ll find release when I’m inside you.”
Linnet’s head jerked back, but his eyes had already drifted shut. She stared at him in confusion, mulling over his words from earlier. “You can’t mean for me to sleep naked every night, surely?” she asked drowsily before tucking her head back into his chest.
“I do,” he answered. “And you will.”

He heard her gasp again and then her hands were travelling restlessly over his back. “Please Mason,” she whispered. “I want you to move like last time.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, luxuriating in the feel of her all around him, clasping him tight. “I will,” he promised groaning. “Just give me a minute. You feel so good, Linnet.”
“So do you,” she whispered back.
He wanted to be gentle and considerate, but he knew he wasn’t going to be. Then he remembered he hadn’t been last time. I want you to move like last time, she’d said. His eyes snapped open to look at her, but it was too dark to catch her expression. “Like last time?” he echoed, not quite believing his own ears. He’d been angry last time. Jealous, his conscience corrected him. He’d been a boorish lout. Loud and energetic. He hadn’t held back.
Her hands slid down his ribs to grip his hips, sparking his lust even further. “Yes,” she said huskily. “Please, Mason.”

“Um . . . ” she made no move to lie back. He stared at her. Was she trying to test his goddamn limits? He wondered incredulously.
“What?” he asked unable to help himself. What the hell did she want from him now?
“Well, for maximum efficacy,” she mumbled almost incoherently, “You have to . . . ”
He craned his ears to catch her words. “What was that?” he asked sharply.
“ . . . Lick it off,” she whispered, shamefaced.
He stared as she turned rosy pink all the way up her neck to the tips of her ears. There was a rushing sound in his ears and the next thing he knew he had yanked her forward into his lap so she straddled his steely erection.

“Ohhhhh,” she whimpered, arching her back and pressing even more firmly into his embrace, his hungry mouth, his rock-hard cock. “Oh, Mason!”
Her voice was so breathy, like a siren. His blood pounded in his head with the need to possess, to take from her sweetness.
“Was this what you wanted?” he asked her in a low growl, panting against the delicate swell of her bosom.
“Yes,” she answered dreamily without a trace of guile, her hands still running through his hair.

He caught his breath at the sight of her: naked, pale, and scattered in golden freckles. Beautiful. All mine. He shook his head again, his thoughts confusing him. It seemed to him now that he could barely remember a time that he had not been attracted to her. He tipped her onto her back and covered her with his body.
“Kiss me, Linnet,” he said huskily as he took her mouth. Gods, she felt so good. He groaned as he felt her palms move down his sides to his hips. “Touch me some more,” he whispered against her jaw.

“Husband?”
For some twisted reason, he felt pure pleasure at being addressed thus whilst deep inside her.
“Wife,” he whispered huskily, lowering his brow until their foreheads touched.
For one moment, they both stared into each other’s eyes, hovering on the brink of bliss together, and then he felt her tip over the edge, her cunny tightening and convulsing around him until with a shout he found himself spilling inside her. Holy hells. He dropped his face into her neck and concentrated on keeping the top of his head intact. He felt Linnet’s knees squeeze into his still-moving hips as she gasped into his shoulder.

He shuddered. “Linnet!” A sharp groan. “Holy hells!”
She licked and licked all around the top and down the sturdy shaft until he was shaking and she was running out of ideas.
“Just . . . Stop,” he gasped.
“Stop?” When she tried to lift her head to look at him his hands tightened on her hair holding her in place.
He swore, low and dirty.
No, that couldn’t be right, thought Linnet, narrowing her eyes. When he did it to her he took her all the way to rapture.
“Just—oh fuck, put me in your mouth,” he gritted out.

“Just how close are you, my leopardess?” he whispered and rubbed the pad of his thumb against her.
Linnet tensed and then cried out as her pleasure burst forth and engulfed her. She hung on for dear life as Mason hammered into her with renewed vigor, right the way through her own blissful tremors until, at last, he shouted his own release, pressing his hips forward and crushing her between his big hard body and the door as he spent himself inside her.

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