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Matchmaker Trilogy (Book 3)

As usual, I’m starting a series at the end, which doesn’t seem to matter much.

The scandalous heiress is Augusta Meredith, a very wealthy young woman, but the money was earned by her parents, not inherited, which doesn’t sit well with the ton. When she goes off to Bath she decides to masquerade as a widow, Mrs. Flowers, because she thinks a widow is held to lower standards of behavior than a single girl, and she’s probably right – to a point.

Josiah Everett, known as Joss, is also looked down on for his dark skin; his grandmother was from Calcutta and married an English soldier. But when Joss and Augusta get together, the pages fly by.

This is a fast, fun read and I enjoyed it.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SECRETS OF A SCANDALOUS HEIRESS by Theresa Romain. Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 6, 2015). ISBN 978-1402284052. 320p.

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I’ve been reading more romances than I ever have before, and I find a lot of these authors through a co-worker, Barbara, who orders all the paperbacks for my branch. She has been reading romance for years and often steers me to writers I may not have heard of. That was the case here; I was going on vacation and wanted a couple of paperbacks to take to the beach and this was one that she put in my hands.

Normally, we weed our paperbacks on a regular basis, which means we pull the old books to make room for the new. Except Barbara has some favorites like this one from 1996 that she refuses to pull.

A Dangerous Man starts off slowly. We meet Mercy Coltrane, an American heiress who has come to England to find her brother. She tries to enlist the Earl of Perth, Hart Moreland, in her search. She knew Hart back in Texas when he worked as a hired gunslinger for her father, and even saved her life when she was being held at gunpoint.

Hart is trying to forget his past and see his sisters wed. He doesn’t want the ton to know about his past, and is afraid Mercy will ruin everything. All the British aristocrats are mesmerized by the beautiful, vivacious American, including the Duke who is to marry Hart’s sister.

The book is slow going until a little ways past the middle. Hart is a damaged character and it becomes obvious that Mercy will be able to save him. Once their characters start interacting, the book moves along nicely and then gets pretty hot by the end. There was a lot of wooden characters to get through to reach that point and I’m not sure it was worth it.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A DANGEROUS MAN by Connie Brockway. Berkley (October 1, 2013). ISBN 978-0425253953. 384p.

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Mackenzies Series (Book 6)

This is the sixth book in the series, and my first read from this author. This was an unusual historical for me. It is set in England and France, and the main protagonist, Violet Bastien, is a famous medium, along with her mother.

It turns out her mother has a gift, but Violet has a way with machinery, and machinations. She’s able to produce scary knocking sounds, shadows, eerie lights and so forth, all the better to fool her clients and increase her payments.

Daniel Mackenzie is a wealthy lord and an engineer who is equally fascinated with machinery, and is designing a race car. When he wins at a card game, the loser offers to repay the debt by introducing him to Violet.

Daniel quickly realizes she is a fraud but is completely intrigued with her inventions.  In a moment of panic, Violet bashes him in the head and thinks she’s killed him. She dumps his body at the door of a nearby doctor and hightails it to France.

Daniel isn’t dead and he follows her,  learning about Violet’s past but falling in love with her smarts and her sense of adventure. This story had an intriguing premise that is never really fulfilled; the history was more interesting than the characters, so I doubt I’ll be reading any more of these.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE WICKED DEEDS OF DANIEL MACKENZIE by Jennifer Ashley. Berkley (October 1, 2013). ISBN 978-0425253953. 384p.

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Captive Hearts (Book 1)

Burrows is another first time read for me. She has won many awards and her books often top the best romances year end lists. Now I understand why.

This is the first book of a trilogy, and was not your typical reformed rake and lots of balls type romance. Instead, we meet Christian, the Duke of Mercia, who has been captured by Napoleon’s army and tortured for close to a year. He is released at the end of the war, and returns home, a broken man, only to find that his wife and son have both died. His daughter Lucy is all he has left, and she has become mute in his absence.

His wife’s cousin Gillian, the Countess of Greendale, has recently become a widow when her elderly husband dies. She was horribly abused, and is in fact rejoicing in her husband’s death. There is an inquest into his death, but she is cleared rather quickly.

Gillian beseeches Christian to return to his country home to care for his daughter Lucy, and he agrees providing she will accompany him and act as his hostess. She agrees, and these two damaged people learn to trust one another. They have much in common, and really seem to understand what the other has been through and help each other to heal. Gillian is determined to help Christian get past weakened condition, and does simple things to help him, like peeling his orange for him so he doesn’t have to ask. In turn, he confides in her, and eventually grows stronger, both physically and mentally.

Christian is hiding a deep seated need for revenge against the half French, half English soldier who was his chief torturer. Upon learning he is in England, he decides to challenge him to a duel, leading to the shocking ending. But no worries, Gillian and Christian realize their love and need for each other and find their happily ever after. Burrowes offers up great characters who are fully realized, and a tragic story with a happy ending – what more could you ask for? I’m looking forward to the next books in the trilogy, The Traitor (Captive Hearts, Book 2) & The Laird (Captive Hearts, Book 3).

10/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE CAPTIVE by Grace Burrowes. Sourcebooks Casablanca (July 1, 2014). ISBN 978-1402278785. 448p.

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Can you judge a book by its cover? An old question to be sure, and with romances, I believe you can. Historical romances, anyways. This book is as lush and ripe as its cover.

This is my first book by Carlyle, and apparently, it is also her last romance. Booklist gave it a starred review, (and I concur) and also featured an interview with the author, who seems ready to move on to other things. Luckily, she has 22 novels already published so I’m bound to stumble across another.

The premise of this book is that the young widow Isabella Aldridge has been forsaken by her husband’s family after his death. Her parents are gone, and she has a young stepsister and half-sister to look after. She found a job as a governess for a woman of questionable repute, and when that child goes off to school, Isabella agrees to take another job as governess for the earl, Wiliam Mowbrey.

But when she arrives at his country estate, he takes one look at her and has a different idea altogether. He wants her for his mistress, but she is so shocked she runs away. She quickly realizes that she doesn’t have many options; good families won’t hire her and she needs an income, so she ends up his mistress.

This being a romance, they fall in love but fight their feelings until the very end. Lots of psychological torment and hot kinky sex precedes the happy ending, making this a really fun read.

10/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE EARL’S MISTRESS by Liz Carlyle. Avon (August 26, 2014). ISBN 978-0062100306. 400p.

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The Dressmakers, #3

Once again I started a new author in the middle of a series, but with romances it doesn’t really seem to matter. This was originally going to be a trilogy, but a fourth book is in the works.

A book that starts out with the heroine entranced with a Botticelli painting grabs me from the get go. Leonie Noirot, a dressmaker, is at an art exhibit wearing one of her latest creations, in hopes of drumming up business. While the paintings are drawing attention, all the young ladies are there for a different reason – to hear Lord Swanton, writer and reciter of gloomy, romantic poetry that the critics blasted, but the hordes admire.

Swanton’s cousin and closest friend is Simon Blair,  the Marquess of Lisburne. They have been away for a few years, but returned for the end of the London season so Swanton could face his detractors. Turns out, he doesn’t have to with every young woman in town throwing themselves at his feet.

Lisburne, who looks like a Roman god, which Chase points out way too many times, is the owner of the Botticelli painting that has entranced Leonie to the point where she is so out of it, she ends up falling – but right into Lisburne’s arms. The attraction is immediate and the dialogue amusing, and that continues throughout the book.

Leonie is a busy woman, as she constantly points out to Lisburne, with no time for dalliances. He is entranced though, and it is mutual. But Leonie has a dress shop to run, and Lisburne is only in town for a few weeks; can they make it work?

Simon’s cousin is Lady Gladys, a young woman who had a horrific first season. She is plain, frumpy in fact, and has a sharp tongue. Leonie sees her and determines to turn this ugly duckling into a swan. Swanton is entranced with her voice, and she with his poetry, and this is an interesting little subplot. Simon wagers Leonie his Botticelli against two weeks of her uninterrupted time (read into that what you will) that she can’t turn Gladys into a swan, and more to the point, get her a marriage proposal by month’s end, but if she does, the painting is hers.

The love scenes are well done without resorting to cliché, and not too explicit. Leonie’s two sisters were the stars of the first two books in this series, and now I have to go find those and catch up. This was a very enjoyable read, I can see why Chase is so popular.

9/14 Stacy Alesi

VIXEN IN VELVET by Loretta Chase. Avon; Reissue edition (June 24, 2014). ISBN 978-0062100320. 384p.