Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Click to purchase

The Sinful Scoundrels (Book 2)

This is my second Vicky Dreiling book. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember I had read her before until I got to the end of this one and the “preview” of the next book in the series, What a Devilish Duke Desires. After reading the preview, I realized I had read that book and ended up just skimming most of it. I won’t review a book I haven’t read in its entirety, so I never reviewed it. I did read this book, although I’m pretty sure I nodded off now and again.

The premise is a fairly common one; Colin Brockhurst, Earl of Ravenshire, a rakehell, assumes his family home, where his mother is buried, will someday be his. But he receives a letter from his father informing him that the property is to be sold. He rushes home and his father tells him he can have the property if he marries within 6 weeks.

Lady Angeline grew up as Colin’s neighbor but his drunken appearance at her debut made them enemies. Lady Angeline has a problem; she broke off her engagement to the scurrilous Brentmoor, who subsequently spread lies about her, severely damaging her reputation. The only way to salvage it is to marry quickly, and to someone with a title.

I usually love this storyline but not so much here. You know from the get go they will end up together, and that’s fine. But what isn’t fine is the repetition – the thoughts, the dialogue, the dog peeing in the water closet. There is more than one way to express a thought or emotion but not in this book. Some of the actions didn’t make sense either – she’s a virgin with a sullied reputation yet doesn’t hesitate to jump into bed?

I was too invested in these characters to give it up but I really can’t recommend this book.

3/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

WHAT A RECKLESS ROGUE NEEDS by Vicky Dreiling. Forever (March 25, 2014). ISBN 978-0062334657. 384p.

Click to purchase

This is my second try at a Laura Lee Guhrke book and I liked this one a lot – more than How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days.

Linnet is a wealthy New Yorker in search of a husband. Her mother is convinced that she should marry an English peer, someone with a good title and there are plenty of impoverished Earls, Barons and so forth who could use a little American money. But Linnet isn’t interested in buying a husband; she wants to marry an American and stay in New York.

Nonetheless, her mother drags her off to London for the Season, where she collects several marriage proposals but turns them all down. After arriving back home, she meets Frederick, whom she had a serious crush on as a girl. To her surprise, he declares he’s madly in love with her and begs her to elope. She’s a bit hesitant but intrigued, and she agrees to a clandestine meeting. That meeting is interrupted by the Earl of Featherstone, who manages to ruin her reputation with one kiss. He immediately proposes, but Linnet is too angry to even answer. Linnet knows she needs to marry and fast, but she doesn’t want to be bartered in a business deal.

Finding true love is never easy, but it is a lot of fun in this clever, lighthearted romance.

3/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

CATCH A FALLING HEIRESS by Laura Lee Guhrke. Avon (January 27, 2015). ISBN 978-0062334657. 384p.

Click to purchase

 Rules of Scoundrels (Book 2)

First up, I must confess I didn’t read book one of this series. That said, after reading this one I probably will.

Our heroine drew me in right away, described as “brilliant, bespectacled daughter of a double marquess [who] cares more for books than balls.” I was hooked by reading the back cover.

Lady Phillipa, better known as Pippa, is engaged to be married to a very nice Earl, but a rather simple one who doesn’t seem too interested in her. Pippa is resigned to the fact that she will spend the rest of her life living with a man she likes but does not love, but who will allow her to keep her dogs and her scientific experiments.

When she’s two weeks away from the wedding, Pippa decides she needs to learn more about sex than she can find in books, and she figures the best way is to ask a scoundrel to help her out.

Cross is a well known rogue and owner of gambling hell, but when Pippa propositions him in her scientific way, he is determined to treat her like the lady she is. But she is smart and tenacious, and she perseveres. Cross is as smart as Pippa, and just as determined not to let her get her way or learn about the skeletons in his closet.

It is a lot of fun watching the two of them spar. Pippa is so smart about some things, and very naive about others, and that really helps make her character come to life. There is a lot of heat in this romance, but a lot of tenderness too. I really enjoyed it.

2/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER by Sarah MacLean. Avon (January 29, 2013). ISBN 978-0062068538. 384p.

Click to purchase

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.

Click to purchase

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.

Click to purchase

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.

Click to purchase

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.