Ready Set Rogue by Manda Collins

I started 2017 with the best of intentions. I was going to read more and blog more and run more and do more. I signed up for a couple of blog tours as motivation to get back into it more regularly, and then I missed my post date for Ready Set Rogue by Manda Collins!  But better late than never...

WHO WILL WRITE THE BOOK OF LOVE?

When scholarly Miss Ivy Wareham receives word that she’s one of four young ladies who have inherited Lady Celeste Beauchamp’s estate with a magnificent private library, she packs her trunks straightaway. Unfortunately, Lady Celeste’s nephew, the rakish Quill Beauchamp, Marquess of Kerr, is determined to interrupt her studies one way or another...

Bequeathing Beauchamp House to four bluestockings—no matter how lovely they are to look at—is a travesty, and Quill simply won’t have it. But Lady Celeste’s death is not quite as straightforward as it first seemed…and if Quill hopes to solve the mystery behind her demise, he’ll need Ivy’s help. Along the way, he is surprised to learn that bookish Ivy stirs a passion and longing that he has never known. This rogue believes he’s finally met his match—but can Quill convince clever, skeptical Ivy that his love is no fiction?

Don't miss Ready Set Rogue, the first in Manda Collins' new series set in Regency England!

The plot of this is right up my alley. It's also almost commonplace these days, as every historical has a bluestocking or two. It almost makes me miss the headstrong beauties! That said, when the request came in, I was pretty excited to give it a go. As the story opens, Quill is decidedly against the ladies inheriting his aunt's house. He is rude, arrogant, and unlikable. I really questioned if he would ever be able to turn it around, and to be honest, it takes a while. Ivy is less intimidating from the beginning, but she's also less interesting to me. She's a language scholar, and while that should be interesting it almost feels like a tacked on quirk than something ingrained as part of her. This is one of my pet peeve- the quirky quality- and Collins narrowly skirts it here.   The mystery progresses nicely, if a bit openly for a secret, and the I was happy with the plotting of the book.  My biggest complaint with the book is the dialogue. It can't seem to settle on proper conversation for the time period, and awkward flirting. Collins does a poor job of integrating the tension with the characters natural personalities, and I found that it drew my attention to the fact that I was reading, instead of letting me sink into the book. It didn't make the tension seem real and I was always aware that I was reading a book. I wouldn't mind finding out what happens in the rest of the series though, and will likely continue reading.

I've Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm by Kelly Bowen

What is it with romance novels all having cutesy titles now? I suppose this is better than the old style of Wild Savage Love or whatever.  I started I've Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm back in November, I almost finished it before it's December 16th release date, and then Christmas happened. So it became my first book of 2015 instead. Don't let this incredible delay of finishing it turn you away tho, it was really a lovely debut.

Here's the description:

WHERE SECRETS SMOLDER . . .Calm. Cool. Collected. Gisele Whitby has perfected the art of illusion-her survival, after all, has depended upon it. Years ago, to escape an abusive husband, Gisele "disappeared." Now she must risk revealing her new identity to save another innocent girl from the same fate. But she needs a daring man for her scheme, and the rogue in question shows a remarkable talent . . . for shattering Gisele's carefully constructed facade and igniting her deepest desires.
. . . PASSION IGNITESThis isn't the first time Jamie Montcrief has awakened naked and confused from a night of drinking. It is, however, the first time a stunningly beautiful woman offers him payment afterward. Gisele has a business proposition for him, a mission involving cunning thievery and a brazen rescue. How can he say no to a plot this dangerous . . . and a woman this delectable?

Gisele is desperate. Time is very quickly running out to stop her abusive husband from taking a new wife. (Don't let the relationship here stop you. It is explained well, but not without spoilers.) She has to prevent him from subjecting another woman to what she knows lurks behind his facade of normalcy. The problem is, she can't stop him herself (spoilers!) so she has to recruit the perfect partner. She finds more than she bargains for when she stumbles across Jamie Montcrief. Gisele has been through more than any woman should have to bear, and is still so human. She's not a depressed, scared creature, but instead strong and honorable and determined. She takes risks but only ones that will help other people, nothing foolish or unthought out. 

Jamie is a true hero. (I think I might always say that.)  He's carrying a ton of guilt around with him from his war days, and he's not exactly legitimate, but aside from those minor things he's perfect. He Does The Right Thing. Jamie's backstory, while not as tragic as Gisele's is well done and you can see exactly how he ends up naked and hungover. When he realizes the gravity of the situation Gisele has hired him for, he doesn't hesitate.

Was the romance believable? Not entirely. It's hard to get a fix on just how long the story takes. At times it seems so quick and unbelievable, but at other times you think maybe weeks have passed. I want to think this in intentional- you need to believe there is a rush on stopping the wedding, but you also don't want it pointed out that they fell in love in a week. I didn't really see much of a falling in love, at least not on Gisele's part. It's not until she's confronted with Jamie's past that I felt that she saw much in him but lust.

Which brings me to one of my two quibbles- I had a hard time believing that their first "moment" together would have happened so early. No, I'm not talking upon meeting, but if the entire book is only a week or two? And this goes back to the unclear time line, I'm not sure how fast things happened. I felt that with Gisele's past, she probably wouldn't be so quick to make out with Jamie.  My other quibble is that at times the dialogue felt too modern. This is common in romance novels. I think inexperienced authors often fall to the too modern or too stilted side of things. I'm willing to overlook this in a debut author, and can honestly say I enjoyed the dialogue tremendously, even if it was out of time, and am happy to give Bowen a second chance. I feel like she has a lot of potential and an eagerly awaiting the sequel, A Good Rogue is Hard to Find.

The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn

I have already forgotten my 4 item review format and have to go look it up. It’s probably a good thing my children are loud and obnoxious or I might go around forgetting them too.

 

The Blurb, from Goodreads:

He thinks she's an annoying know-it-all...

Hugh Prentice has never had patience for dramatic females, and if Lady Sarah Pleinsworth has ever been acquainted with the words shy or retiring, she's long since tossed them out the window. Besides, a reckless duel has left this brilliant mathematician with a ruined leg, and now he could never court a woman like Sarah, much less dream of marrying her.

She thinks he's just plain mad...

Sarah has never forgiven Hugh for the duel he fought that nearly destroyed her family. But even if she could find a way to forgive him, it wouldn't matter. She doesn't care that his leg is less than perfect, it's his personality she can't abide. But forced to spend a week in close company they discover that first impressions are not always reliable. And when one kiss leads to two, three, and four, the mathematician may lose count, and the lady may, for the first time, find herself speechless ...

New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn's enchanting third novel in the Smythe-Smith quartet is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud and tug at your heartstrings in equal measures.

 

The Short of It:  I think this is one of the best Julia Quinn books in recent memory.  The plot takes a fairly contrived turn near the end, but that is balanced out by Hugh and Sarah being so enjoyable.

 

All the Rest:  The last four or five Julia Quinn books had really lost some of the charm that made me a Julia Quinn fan. It was to the point where I decided I was going to have to stop seeking out her new releases. Then for Christmas I got a Barnes and Noble gift card, so I went ahead and bought this one and I'm glad I did. The humor from the previous books is back, and I didn’t feel like the situation between them was completely contrived, not once you accepted that there was a duel in Hugh’s past.  The attraction between them is terrific even when they hate each other, and Hugh’s despair over what he’s done to his life is heartbreaking.  The only thing keeping me from recommending it wholeheartedly is the turn the plot takes about ¾ of the way through. This twist depends entirely on the book before it (A NightLike This) and seems a bit over the top. I told myself to accept that everyone really does feel the way they say they do about the situation, and was still able to enjoy it in the end.  (Sorry to be so vague, but it’s a pretty big spoiler.)

 

I especially enjoyed one small moment with Sarah and her cousin Iris, where Sarah is forced to consider how she’s always treated Hugh, and everyone else, and instead of just being angry she really looks to change her actions and attitude.  This one little bit makes Sarah much more than a flighty girl looking to get married and gives her the chance to grow.  Hugh is interesting in that he's not a perfect specimen of manhood. He's got a ruined leg and thinks that he's just not worth anything, what with the leg and the duel and all. I love seeing him begin to think of himself as a man again. While it’s not a five star read, it was satisfying, and worth spending my money on.

 

Source: I bought it.

The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan

One of the last books I read in 2013 was The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. I adored the first books in the series earlier in the summer and when this showed up on NetGalley I was quick quick to grab it up. I barely hesitated before diving into it.

Sebastian and Violet have been friends for years, but a long held secret between the two of them has begun to threaten their friendship- and I'm not talking about the fact that he's secretly in love with her. No, this secret is much more scandalous and threatens to ruin the lives of their families as well. Sebastian is well-known for his talks on evolution and genetics, and in the era of Darwin has quite the crowd of followers, many of whom wish him ill. What will happen when he fesses up his hatred of this life to Violet? Can he just stop being the scandalous man everyone believes him to be?

A description like that sounds like this one will be all about Sebastian but shockingly, it's not. Sebastian is terrific. He's loyal to Violet to the core, even when he's setting aside his love for her in order for her to be happy. Violet has more than one secret, and her history with her late husband has taught her that she's unlovable, hard and brittle. She knows that were she to dare to have feelings that she'd shatter apart. It is very hard for the reader to like Violet at all. She's purposely this way, and honestly I think Milan might drag this out a touch too long. However, when the secrets all come out, and boy howdy do they!, you find yourself wanting to hug Violet yourself. Violet and Sebastian are SUCH a good pairing. He so desperately wants her and yet he keeps himself from even touching her casually, so long as he can tell she can't handle it.

This being a Courtney Milan book, there are of course other issues at play. As with the others in the series, she addresses social issues and women's rights and changing thought. I can't really go into this more without giving away spoilers, but needless to say it's very well done and I completely loved it.

 

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Once She Was Tempted by Anne Barton

Guys, we have a contender for Best Book of the Year.  I was starting to worry that Courtney Milan was gonna take the title without a fight, but Once She Was Tempted by Anne Barton was absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Daphne Honeycote has a scandalous problem. She and her sister were living in poverty just two years ago, with a gravely ill mother. In order to bring in a little money, to literally kept death away, Daphne posed for two scandalous paintings. This was unlikely to ever be a problem, as they weren't members of society and no one who knew her would ever know, but now her sister Annabelle has married a duke and the paintings are on verge of discovery. One of them has fallen into the handles of Benjamin Elliot, Earl of Foxborn, and since his young protegee has his eye on Daphne, Ben is obliged to scare her off.  Daphne manages to convince him that she's not the girl he assumes, and then enlists Ben in helping her find the other painting. Scandal seems inevitable when the owner of the second painting makes plans to auction it publicly at the largest ball of the season.

Obviously, you don't run across innocent girls posing for semi-nude paintings often in historical romances.  That alone was enough to draw me in, but then when you think about texting and how easy it is for teenagers now to send out a picture that they might later regret, well, I had to see how this would play out. Barton does a terrific job of portraying how anxious and upset Daphne is over it, and how it really wasn't something she took lightly, or even really regretted. The resolution to the scandal is terrific- it isn't miraculously solved, but she manages to find a way to avoid the complete scandal, which I really appreciated.

Daphne is so likeable. She manages to speak her mind, and flirt, and still worry about being a nice person. She's much more worried about the scandals impact on her sister and family than for herself. She's not too perfect, she did pose for the paintings, after all, and she's not adverse to speaking bluntly when the situation calls for it.

Ben is one of my favorite heroes so far this year. He's handsome and smart, and a war hero. He's still mourning the death of his best friend in battle, and dealing with a horrible war injury of his own. He's often in great pain and suffers from PTSD and depression of the most believable sort.  He's honorable, and he believes that he's too cynical and weary to properly court Daphne, let alone marry her. This is a common argument in a romance, but for once it's not all for show.

The romance between them is so very well done. They both know this is a bad idea, and they are both resisting, but at the same time they don't spend all their time together going on and on about what a bad idea it is. They enjoy each others company, and they they get home at night they realistically know it's not going anywhere.  Until, of course, they have to admit it. This is exactly the romance novel I've been waiting for all year.

Once She Was Tempted was provided to me by the publisher and NetGalley, but I will be purchasing the first book in the series, When She Was Wicked. I also received the novella To All The Rakes I've Loved Before, book 1.5 in the series, from NetGalley and while it was good, I rather wish it had been a full length novel.

Once She Was Tempted will be released on October 29th.

A Most Devilish Rogue by Ashlyn MacNamara

Remember last year when I looooooved A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn MacNamara? I couldn’t stop raving about that book for months.  Sadly, MacNamara’s follow up, A Most Devilish Rogue, didn’t strike the same note with me. I wanted to love it. I went into it fully expecting a repeat performance and I didn’t get it.  It’s not a complete loss, I can see the potential in the book (and the author) but I wasn’t swept away.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

Years ago, when Isabelle Mears was still a young miss too infatuated to know better, she surrendered her innocence to a dishonorable man. Though ruined and cast out from society, she has worked hard to shelter her illegitimate son, Jack. Having sworn off men in her quiet but dignified life, Isabelle is unprepared for the deep longing that rips through her when a handsome stranger rescues her rambunctious six-year-old from the pounding ocean surf.

George Upperton is a man in trouble with debts, women, and a meddling family. He is, by all accounts, the last gentleman on earth Isabelle should be drawn to. But loneliness is a hard mistress, and caution gives way to desire . . . even though Isabelle is convinced that happiness can’t be found in the arms of such a devilish rogue. Only when Jack is kidnapped does Isabelle discover the true depth of George’s devotion—and how far a good man will go to fight for the woman whose love is all that matters.

Ok, so, the good: I LOVE that romance novels are branching out more from the peerage. I love that not every hero is a duke and not every heroine is a young pretty heiress.  I love that while this book does have ties to the first, they have very little to do with each other. I don’t remember George being in the first (tho he very well could have been, maybe he was the best friend and I don’t remember) and this book spends exactly zero time rehashing the first. If you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t know there was a first book, but since you do know, it’s nice to revisit the characters. This is a terrific compromise between a series and standalones.

The bad: I didn’t like George OR Isabelle. The title of the book leads you to believe that George is a scandalous rake. He’s not. He’s pretty darn average, aside from being greatly in debt. He is pretty honorable and it’s great points in his favor that he immediately jumps to her aid when Jack disappears. Unlike much of the peerage, he doesn’t ever judge her for her past or make her feel shame. But I also didn’t find him to be a romantic hero.  Isabelle was not at all sympathetic. Here’s this young mother, cast out by family, whose child is missing and she’s much more concerned with her past and her class than with her missing kid. I just never really thought Isabelle had any emotion other than shame.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to fall for a romance novel if you don’t fall for the main characters, so this one just didn’t work for me.

One other thing to note, about both this book and romance novels in general: It seems to be more and more common, or maybe just more obvious, that authors are trying to give their characters a Thing. This is always something that makes them quirky or unique and that would not be accepted by Society, for example, they read trashy serial novels, or they are members of a geological society, or they want to do away with the practice of wearing gloves (I might have made that one up. Maybe.)  MacNamara doesn’t hesitate to do this as well. In this case, it didn’t really work for me either, but it’s entirely possible that my problem was in not loving George. I just couldn’t see his quirk as something to be hidden away in secret.

Despite not loving this book, I will still go ahead and read MacNamara’s next book as I think she’s an author to watch, and I am thankful to NetGalley for giving me the chance to review this one.

A Most Devilish Rogue will be released on August 27^th.

Two books from Courtney Milan (and two novellas)

This got long, but the short version:
These are really terrific books. Courtney Milan is now at the top of my favorite authors list and I will be recommending The Governess War and The Heiress Effect to everyone who will listen. If you are at all a romance reader, I highly recommend that you pick these up. The Duchess War stands a good chance of being my favorite book this year, and in my Top Ten ever.

 Recently, a romance reading friend recommended both Courtney Milan and Tessa Dare to me. In a move quite unlike myself, I bought a "stack" of e-books to try them out almost immediately, and then I read them all back to back to back, I think 9 books between them. I never BUY books, and I never read the same author twice in a row. It was unheard of, but I loved every one of them.

I read the Tessa Dare books first, but I loved the Milans more, so I'm starting there. As with any good author, you don't have to read these in order but I would recommend that you do so. The series is called The Brothers Sinister and they should be read in this order:

The Governess Affair (prequel novella)
The Duchess War
A Kiss for Midwinter (Not about one of the brothers at all, but rather a friend. A novella)
The Heiress Effect

The Governess Affair and A Kiss for Midwinter are both novellas, but still both very good. The Governess Affair really sets you up for The Duchess War, so I'd get them all. If you have an e-reader you can get all four books for under $10. I linked to Amazon above, but the same is true if you have a Nook.

SO, the books themselves! I'm not going to try and break down each title in detail. I've been planning on that and haven't written a single word, so instead you get a gushing post about the series as a whole. (Or as whole as it can be with the last books not yet published.) I'm really not sure why they are called The Brothers Sinister. There is absolutely nothing sinister about the three men.  They aren't rakes, they aren't snotty peers, they don't have scandalous pasts. (Well, Sebastian has some scandal, but it's not about women or gambling or anything most romance novel heroes would be known for.) In fact, the the men are all completely upstanding and respectable. They are smart, charming, honest and likable. They are not all titled, and the hero of The Governess Affair is as far from a duke as it's possible to be, on purpose.  These are not books about finding and catching a wealthy duke or a rich heiress to bring money to an old estate. They are very much the opposite of that, with our heroes working to actively end the peerage and gain rights for the common man. With the exception of The Governess Affair, these are all smart modern men who are politically active and aware.

The women, however, all have the potential to be scandalous. They all have a secret to keep and they are all the wrong women for the heroes. They are unconventional, both in appearance (one has a scar, one is larger than is in fashion, one is pregnant (scandal!)!) In every case there is some reason why they should not be together and it's more than just "family feud." There are real legitimate reasons, especially in the case of the two full length novels, of why this is A Bad Idea.  This doesn't stop anyone from falling in love, of course. The tension is delicious and for the most part, the romance really works. None of them fall in love overnight, or over a week, which is becoming more and more common in romance land.  These books take time to develop and while they may feel something early they don't announce their engagement a week after meeting.

These books are smart, both in the writing and in the plot lines, especially in the case of the two full length novels. These people are doing something, not just sitting around attending balls and gambling halls.  Milan has a knack for turning a plot just slightly, so that instead of falling into the expected, familiar, romance land story line you get a book that is fresh and unexpected. You might think you see where it's headed, and you might be all tense about it, but she twists it before it happens and it's so much more satisfying. There aren't any Big Misunderstandings or juvenile actions.  The adult behave like rational adults. The plots are never convenient ways to throw them together or apart.She mixes together class and legitimacy and politics and you never feel as though you're reading a history lesson.

I am now an impatient fangirl and can not wait for Sebastian's story this winter (I suspect it will be my favorite!)  and I just noticed a final novel about Oliver's younger sister is in the works as well.





(Sorry about the images being all over the place, Blogger and I aren't getting along this morning!)

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

The Duke of Halford’s mother is desperate. Her only son, the 9^th Duke of Halford, has not married and she needs a grandchild.  To speed things along, she kidnaps him to Spindle Cove, where there are an abundance of unmarried women. She tells Griff to pick any woman in the room and she will make her into a suitable Duchess.  Griff is not on board with this plan. He has his own reasons for remaining unwed, reasons that he is not willing to share with anyone else. After a properly scandalous youth, he has withdrawn from society and is a bit bitter than no one really noticed. In order to get back at his mother for this scheme, Griff picks the least likely woman in the room, the serving girl.

Pauline has her own reasons for agreeing to the plan. She’s been promised a grand sum of money when she fails, if she’ll only play along to prove his mother wrong.  She dreams of opening her own lending library, and a grand sum of money would certainly help. However, she also cannot leave the village for more than a week, so Griff’s mother has only a week to make the transformation.  But what happens when the Duke falls in love with the serving girl?

A spectacularly good romance, that’s what!  I loved this one completely.  I had my doubts, the scene at the very beginning when he chooses Pauline and it appears he’ll make a joke out of her had me squirming, but he quickly pulls her into the plan and I forgave him. There are several points in the book where I feared my discomfort of embarrassment would cause me to dislike it, but each time it is handled deftly.  The book is over very quickly, with Griff and Pauline falling in love in just under a week. I'm not entirely sure why he falls for her, but it is fairly believable, while Pauline falls in love for reasons other than his title and money, which was lovely.

Griff's character is probably one of my recent favorites in a romance. He has a really great reason for being withdrawn, and when he finally admits it to his mother it's heartbreaking. The possibility of a serving girl actually marrying a Duke is entirely far fetched and both Griff and Pauline never really lose sight of that. My favorite scene in the book is one in the library in which they discuss just how far apart their statuses really are- Griff forcefully drives home his point and Pauline accepts her role in it.  It's hard to believe that it'll be possible for them to end up together, but once again Dare manages to stretch the boundaries just a tiny bit so that you can accept it.

I've now read three Tessa Dare books in quick succession and I can honestly tell you that she's high on my list of favorites. A Week to be Wicked is good, but Any Duchess Will Do and A Lady by Midnight are both terrific. They are smart and funny, and manage to poke fun at the "bodice ripper" genre while still being incredibly romantic, and, well, hot.

My copy of Any Duchess Will Do was provided for review by Edelweiss.

The Lady Most Willing, briefly.

The Lady Most Willing...: A Novel in Three Parts by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway.  Eccentric Scottish laird kidnaps potential brides for his nephew heirs and sequesters them in his cold drafty castle until someone falls in love.  

The Lady Most Willing crams three love stories into one full length novel, with mixed results. (stone-cold earl, haughty duke, down-to-earth villager, rich-but-ruined heiress, etc.) Each romance reads like a novella, and while I want to love novellas, there is just not enough time for any plot except Love at First Sight. Once they admit this to themselves (or each other) there's no time to explore it, instead jumping straight to acceptance and marriage. We all know I'm a huge romantic, but I'd like to see a little more relationship development, please.  I did enjoy Catriona (the one they nabbed on accident) and Taran (the Laird) quite a bit. The novel also renews my desire to try out an Eloisa James full length novel, and reminds me that I miss the "old" Julia Quinn, and really should re-read The Duke and I. Recommended for fans, but don't expect it to make your "Best of" lists.

Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly

My library has one small set of shelves for "New and Popular" books. It's a bit misleading, because "new" means "new to our library" not "newly published". This means that I will often go to look over the shelves and find several books from an author's backlist, including books published decades ago. This was recently the case with Carla Kelly. There were a good half dozen of her books sitting there in a row, and I thought that it was interesting that I had never read a Carla Kelly, since she's written 40+ books, and I picked two up. One of them happened to be a Harlequin Historical from June 2010, and the third in a trilogy, Marrying the Royal Marine . It should also be noted that I've only read a couple Harlequin Historicals, because in my mind a historical should be longer. And the covers are cheesy.  I sat down yesterday and read the entire thing. If I were the type to buy and keep books, this one would be a keeper.

Polly Brandon is the youngest illegitimate daughter of a complete sleezeball. She's grown up in orphanages and believes herself to be ugly and unworthy. Despite these things, she's generally fairly content and when the opportunity arises for her to travel to Portugal to help her older sister in the war, she goes. After boarding the ship for a week long trip, she discovers that she gets horribly sick on boats, and being the only female on the ship, has to accept help from Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Junot, Royal Marine. (Seems unlikely, but it's well done as to why it has to be him.) The two are immediately comfortable with each other, and find themselves secretly falling in love, despite each knowing it's impossible. After arriving in Oporto, they are separated for a time, but the feelings don't go away. The Napoleonic War throws them back together, in horribly intimate circumstances, and they manage to fall completely in love.

Guys, this was terrific. I loved every single bit of it. The setting is so well done, the author clearly knows her history (or seems to, I am not overly familiar with the war) but doesn't stop the story to teach you the details, she just assumes you'll figure it out. Rather than having war be the backdrop to force the time period, the war is front and center. These people are IN the war. The book does not shy away from the horrible bits- death, massive injury, rape, madness, starvation, misery. These things are not alluded to, they are THERE. And yet the focus on our couple is still maintained. It is so well done, that while you are horrified by the circumstances you're also able to believe the love story.

The hero is just terrific, despite being named Hugh. Compassionate and smart, good looking and terribly old. (He's 37.) He's honest with both Polly (who he calls Brandon) and himself. He knows he wants a wife and a family, and he is very aware that Polly is painfully young (she's 18 as the story opens.)  He is honorable, even as he walks away from her in misery. (So many romance heroes would give a pretty speech to her about how they can't be together, and break her heart before leaving. He doesn't do this.)  Polly is young, but not sheltered. She knows her position in life and is not trying to snag a hero or be anyone she's not. She's slower to realize her feelings, but like Hugh, is always honest with herself. She finds herself in an adventure much more dangerous than she ever dreamed, and she's able to stand up and be a hero in her own right. (I don't mean hero-who-won-the-war, I mean hero-who-does-the-right-thing-when-it'd-be-easier-not-to.) I really loved the way the author was able to give them both very distinct voices, and clearly showed their internal dialogue without becoming melodramatic or silly.  There were no moments of contrived drama, and I never had to suspend belief.

This will easily be in my top ten of the year, and I'll be watching the thrift store for my own copy. You better believe that I will be picking up the first two in the series at the library today.

You can find Carla Kelly online here and here.

A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara

I love a great romance novel, you all know that, and A Most Scandalous Proposal was the best one I read in 2012.  It's not quite perfect, but I enjoyed every moment of it, and found parts of it to be exactly what I love most about a romance novel.  Here's the premise, from Amazon.com:

In Ashlyn Macnamara’s stunning romance debut—perfect for fans of Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Sabrina Jeffries—two childhood friends in Regency England discover love with the most unlikely of partners: each other.

After watching her beloved sister, Sophia, pine over the ton’s golden boy for years, Miss Julia St. Claire has foresworn love and put herself firmly on the shelf. Unfortunately, her social-climbing mother and debt-ridden father have other ideas, and jump at the chance to marry Julia off to the newly named Earl of Clivesden . . . the man of Sophia’s dreams.

Since resigning his cavalry commission, Benedict Revelstoke has spent his time in London avoiding the marriage mart. But when he discovers that the Earl of Clivesden has his sights set on Julia, Benedict tries to protect his childhood best friend from the man’s advances—only to discover that more than friendship is driving his desire to defend her. He surprises them both with the force of his feelings, but when Julia refuses him, and her father announces her betrothal, Benedict fears he’s lost her forever—until Julia approaches him with a shocking scheme that will ruin her for all respectable society and lead them into an exquisite world of forbidden pleasures.

Childhood friends?? Say no more, I'm there. (You would think I'm pining after some childhood friend of my own, wouldn't you? I'm so not.)  I stumbled across this one last fall on Net Galley, and that phrase is enough to make me instantly request a book, so I did.  And I am so glad. Unlike most childhood friends novels, this one doesn't start with a prologue to their youth or a flashback, but instead starts immediately with the action. Benedict and Julia's friendship is woven into the text of the book, in a very natural and easy way.  Benedict realized he has feelings for her years before the story takes place, but Julia is slower to come to realize hers. Unfortunately for her, she's thrown into a situation in which she has to act on them before she has them (hence the title), but Macnamara manages to pull it off believably. Neither Julia or Benedict is without flaws, but the story uses the flaws to further the plot, instead of as filler space.

While Julia and Benedict are falling in love, Julia is also dealing with her parents' actions in trying to force her to marry the object of her sister's affections. Julia is determined not to hurt Sophia more by agreeing, even if she liked the man, which she doesn't. The relationship between the sisters is well done and their love for each other is neither to perfect nor too caricatured. Sophia inadvertently causes a little scandal herself, and the resulting romance is so sweet and charming that I wish the author had actually written it as two books. I really loved Sophia's beau- he was possibly my favorite character in the book- and wanted to see more of them.

I have a few very minor quibbles with some very minor details, but nothing that at all distracted from my enjoyment of the story. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves light historical romances. It's sweet and funny a little hot, while still not veering into slapstick or being overly flowery. I loved it completely and can't wait to see what Ms. Macnamara writes next.

You can see Ashlyn Macnamara online here, or follow her on twitter here.

I received this books as a review copy from NetGalley. It will be released on February 26, 2013.

Lisa Kleypas's Hathaways Series of romance novels

Last week while my husband was out of town, I sat myself down and read a book a day for three days. It was crazy. And lovely. I chose to finish up the Hathaway series of romance novels by Lisa Kleypas.

There are five Hathaway novels, to be read in this order:

1. Mine Till Midnight (my thoughts here)
2. Seduce Me at Sunrise (my thoughts here)
3. Tempt Me at Twilight
4. Married by Morning
5. Love in the Afternoon

I recommend that you try to read them in order, if for no other reason than to see how the men come to interact with each other. 

Now that that's out of the way, what about these three?

Tempt Me at Twilight is the story of Poppy Hathaway and hotelier Harry Rutledge. Poppy, like all the Hathaways, is intelligent and unusual and at the end of her third season is still unmarried. She has secretly fallen in love and finds that all in uproar when a ferret steals her love letter. Harry discovered said letter, and Poppy, and decides he has to have her.  So. Harry is kinda a jerk at the beginning, albeit a smart and sexy one, and you really wonder if he's going to be able to overcome it. Poppy is just perfect, of course. It's ok, as romance novels go, but not one of my favorites. The entire book takes place over about a month, and it's just too fast for both the falling in love and for Harry to overcome his own person issues. Harry isn't a peer and has made his own money, and of course the Hathaways are a bit unusual, so it's not the typical romance.  Additionally, there is a bit of unnecessary drama at the end that could have been left out altogether.

Married by Morning is Leo's story. Leo is the only brother in the Hathaways series, and he really reforms over the course of the four books, from complete reprobate to respectable gentleman. In his defense, he had a good reason for falling off the deep end, so you always kinda like him. Leo finds himself inexplicably falling in love with his younger sister's companion, who he has always fought with and who, of course, has a secret. Married by Morning is a variation on my favorite plot (friends turned lovers) and as such, I loved it. Leo steps up and takes care of Catherine and the scene at the inn is one of my favorites in a long time. Catherine holds onto her fears a wee bit too long, but I'm looking at it from the prospective of 2012, not the time she lived in.

Love in the Afternoon is the most different from the others, as it takes place at the Hathaways estate in the country. Beatrix is the most free spirited of the Hathaway girls. She prefers to be outdoors in the woods and she adopts every special needs animal she finds. When a shallow friend of hers refuses to write letters to Captain Phelan, whom Beatrix can tell is wounded inside, she steps in and writes the letters, and signs them from Prudence.  Of course they fall in love! But Bea is a real weirdo (for her times) and she can't admit it was her because it would shame Phelan to know that he fell for her. Captain Phelan is, understandably, hurt and angry by the deception, but then, suddenly (too suddenly?) he is over it and they are in love.  There are still problems but of course they overcome. As with Tempt Me at Twilight, there is a bit of "extra" baggage near the end that was completely unneeded.

Taken as a whole, a very good series. My memory of the first two is a bit hazy, but I loved the family interactions, and in particular the way all the men relate to each other. I would enjoy nothing more than having dinner with the Hathaway family. Kleypas does write a bit more sex in her books than Julie Quinn, but otherwise I'd suggest them to the anyone who enjoys Quinn.