Love Romance Passion » Bastard http://www.loveromancepassion.com Because Books Don't Fall Asleep Afterwards! Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Review: The Soldier by Grace Burrowes http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-soldier-by-grace-burrowes/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-soldier-by-grace-burrowes/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:59:58 +0000 Aggie S. http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=12582

Reviewed by Aggie S.

Devlin has finished with war and serving his King. He just wants to go home and take care of the family holdings. Upon arrival he finds a waif of a child in his fountain, dirty and straggling looking. He is informed that this waif conveyed with the estate, which he finds hard to believe. He is to be responsible for this child’s upbringing.

First thing he determines is that the child needs a bath, but nobody in the castle will help, so he assumes that this waif is a male child and then finds out differently rather quickly. Second he finds a governess, Emmaline, o take care of this unruly waif and a tutor to teach.

Emmaline is running from something or to something; Devlin can not decide which. But alas the soldier in him comes out again and he is determined to find out and do something about it. Emmaline in the meantime has decided that things are heating up too much and decides to take off again. She gives him notice and takes off. Winnie, in the meantime, becomes more of a handful because she wants Emmaline back. What happens, does the hero get the girl or do circumstances make things impossible?

Review: A must read! For an English romance this has a great story to it and was hard to put down once started. I hope to find more like it by this author.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: The Soldier

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Kris Kennedy's writing is very engrossing. The Irish Warrior was a page turner from start to finish. It’s a story of an Irish warrior slated to be king and an English widow struggling to run a business. Both get trapped by the evil Rardove, a man promoted by the English King Edward to the aristocracy. A journey that must end in the purest of joys or deepest of sorrows begins when the young widow frees the warrior from the prison and together they escape in the dead of night for their freedom and their very lives.

Finian O'Melaghlin is everything one could ask for in a hero. He’s noble, compassionate, capable, and honorable. He has his pride and his strength. He is a man other men will fight beside because they know he’s on their side. And if rumor is true, he’s also got a way with the ladies… but don’t take my word for it, just ask the ladies or really just ask the heroine.

Senna de Valery is a beautiful widow and very young. Her first marriage was at age 15 and it did not go well or last very long. There’s implied evidence to rape in her background and it’s made her people shy (though she doesn’t realize this until later that she is so and she certainly doesn’t seem it, but that’s part of the transformative power of love in this novel). When confronted with danger and cruelty, she’s defiant, strong, and smart. Senna is a heroine to root for.

Rardove has ties to both of them in ways that are equally obvious and concealed. Kennedy gives readers one right off the bat and hints at the other until it’s revealed late in the book. Rardove delights in torture and pain and power and the pictures Kennedy paints are vivid if not comprehensively detailed.

The lovemaking scenes are burn your fingers hot and are told so beautifully that you will probably count them as part of your all-time favorites. The intrigue and politics that make up the suspense half of the story are heart-pounding. In short, you could not go wrong picking up a copy of this book.

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: The Irish Warrior

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Let me start off by saying Derek is one hot hero, he's like number 11 on my top ten heroes list, just a hairsbreadth from being there.

Derek Craven is a self-made man. He’s wealthier than most of the gentry, but he is not one. Born in the slums of London to a prostitute and abandoned into the care of others, he’s had to fight for everything. He gets his kicks sleeping with the married women of the ton as a way to get back at the men who won’t let him into their inner circles. He makes the mistake of tangling with Joyce Ashby, who seeks retaliation when he breaks off their affair.

Miss Sara Fielding is a quiet country mouse and an acclaimed author. Most people confuse her with the fictional character of her second novel. Part of the reason her novels are so well received is because they are so well researched. Determined to make her third novel on gambling an equal success she decides to research the most infamous and exclusive club of all – Craven’s.

Favorite Sex Scene: Where Derek introduces her to the pleasures of doggy style… and how she thought sex wasn’t possible if she was on her stomach. Tehe. It was hot and cute at the same time.

Aw Moment: When he steals her spectacles so he can keep a little reminder of her in his life.

Big Page Suck: I could have done without the giant interlude at Greenwood Corners where she gets engaged to the pompous mama’s boy, Perry Kingswood. At the very least I felt that maybe Derek should have stalked her or been lurking nearby somewhere.

Evil Woman: I could also have done without the wicked and perverted Lady Ashby. Without her the giant angst-ridden conclusion wouldn’t have gone off the way it did what with kidnapping, presumed death, etc. but something similar could have occurred and been just as good.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

PS - Magdalen this is the book you've DNFed a few times, so don't go out and buy a copy again! lol

Buy: Dreaming of You

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guestreview

By: Zarabeth, guest reviewer

This is a fantastic spinster story set in 1836 England. Our heroine, Amanda, is a 30-yr old spinster supporting herself as a novelist who has decided to do something for herself, for once in her life. As we well know a never-married 30 yr old woman is quite on the shelf, but this does not prevent her from having the same sexual needs as any other woman. So our heroine, and my heroine for this, hires a male prostitute for her 30th birthday completely disregarding social conventions of virginity and premarital sex.

On her birthday a suitable man with an association to the escort service does appear on her doorstep and we assume that this is her prostitute. As the reader we are mortified to learn that this man is not a prostitute despite his sexual actions with our heroine. Later in the book Amanda and the not-prostitute Jack meet at a social/publishing event.

The story as a whole involves Jack doing everything he can to get Amanda back in bed and eventually convinces her to have an affair with him. I very much enjoyed the affair and the experiences of our main characters in public and in private (rating: 5). Once Amanda decides that the affair must end, things get pretty complicated and despair ensues. Months into this unfortunate depression we discover that Amanda is pregnant. Again, our never-married 30 yr old woman has just discovered that she is pregnant- this is a problem. Our Amanda must now decide whether to move to the continent or marry below her standards and whether or not to tell Jack about his child (rating: 4).

I call this a solid 4.5. There are 2 reasons that this review is not a full 5: there is some rear-entry stuff (gags and feels uncomfortable) and there is a bit too much time spent on inner-turmoil instead acts based on inner turmoil.

Rating: 4.5

Buy: Suddenly You

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-suddenly-you-by-lisa-kleypas/feed/ 2 Review: Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-by-tessa-dare/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-by-tessa-dare/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:51:47 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=8069

Three Nights with a Scoundrel is the final installment in the Stud Club trilogy by Tessa Dare. Of the three men making up this exclusive and revolutionary club, I was uncertain if Julian Bellamy had what it took to be a hero because his character was fairly off-putting in the first two books. He had his vengeance mission going for him and he certainly cared about the girl but there didn’t seem to be much else to him. Was I ever wrong. Julian Bellamy has a whole other very secret side and we as readers get to learn all about it.

The vengeance mission is finally concluded in Three Nights with a Scoundrel. I fully recommend reading the first two novels in the trilogy if you’re the type who wants to get the full long arc of the vengeance mission. To recap what it is: Leo Chatwick, founder of the Stud Club, was found murdered. Four people witnessed it: the two brutes that beat him up, his companion who he was arguing with just before the brutes showed up, and the whore he’d paid to accompany him for the evening festivities. Of the three heroes, Julian is the most consumed with finding Leo’s killers and it’s been a long and twisting route to get to the final chapters.

He’s also been promoting that Lady Lily Chatwick needs to be married. He tried to get the heroes from the first two novels to do it, but they fell for their own heroines. He tried twisting the arms of other gentry. In the end he had to face the fact that he loved her and wanted her for himself – which is why his efforts never worked, because he was sabotaging them from the start by picking men he knew in the end would not ask for her hand or that she wouldn’t accept even if they had. That’s because she’s subconsciously wanted Julian all this time and only after a mind-blowing kiss does she let herself dream it might be possible.

Lily was a very big reason why I liked the book so much. She’s lost her hearing due to an illness and has learned to cope. In the book she makes even bigger efforts to break out of her comfort zone and attends social gatherings for the first time on her own without her brother there to subtly help her keep track of conversations and people. She’s very brave and very genuine of heart. Tessa Dare doesn’t undermine her efforts by miraculously healing her of hearing-loss (something that happens a lot with damaged characters especially with hearing and blindness).

Loved the pet bird too.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Buy: Three Nights with a Scoundrel

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The Prince of Midnight was recommended to me by Anime June while guest blogging about My (Not-So-Secret) Favorite Romance Character Types because the hero was damaged and delicious.

I believe this romance also fulfills my lust of big age differences. I can’t remember how old the heroine was (17 maybe?) but the hero’s retired at 33, painting and sculpting in an old castle in France with Nemo a tamed wolf for company by the time Leigh Strachen tracks him down to help her avenge her family’s brutal destruction and murder.

Sophocles Trafalgar (poor guy, luckily he goes by the initials S.T. most of the time) Maitland is a partially deaf ex-highwayman who couldn’t walk a straight line if his life depended on it. When caught in an explosion he lost not only part of his hearing but also his balance. He’s prone to headaches, dizziness, and nausea.

S.T. is a completely charming, dashing, tripping all over himself hunk of a hero. He’s the romantic in the relationship as the heroine is an emotionally walled-off ice princess. With Leigh constantly sneering at him, holding him in contempt, mocking his efforts, and telling him he’s useless I’m surprised S.T. stuck with her, but he does because he knows she’s been hurt and needs a champion.

In fact the more she puts him down and humiliates him the more S.T. is determined he is to go with her, protect her, and prove her wrong. He wants to be her hero and against all odds he manages to steal her ice cold heart and warm it with his own.

There’s some religious cultism in the novel, which one should be aware of before starting. The bad guy, the Right Reverend James Chilton, sets himself up as some great religious man with a direct line to God. He has convinced through trickery, showmanship, and charisma the rest of the town—which consists mostly of TSTL females and a dozen or so men—to follow him and do all that he says. It reminds me Jonestown Massacre where everybody was following Jim Jones blindly and drinking the Kool-Aid. Lucky for Chilton’s followers, the Prince of Midnight was there to protect them from their own stupidity.

The Prince of Midnight is an emotionally intense read as both the hero and heroine have transformations. I almost cried reading S.T.’s pleading to not pour acid in his remaining good ear. When Leigh found out and beat the crap out of the Dove of Peace for following this order I cheered her on… it was so sad thinking that Leigh finally admit to herself and to S.T. that she loved him only for him not to be able to hear the words.

Another intense scene which comes earlier in the novel is his taming two badly mistreated horses. He does it once on his own and then instructs Leigh on how to do it with the more hurt of the horses. When the abused horse begins to trust her, she cracks and falls to pieces realizing she loves the horse… and possibly though she won’t admit it yet, S.T. too.

It’s too good to miss. Thanks AJ!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Buy: The Prince of Midnight

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Story: Nurse Jane Wetherby and Lord Edward Kellington have a very brief and hot affair behind enemy lines at the Battle of Waterloo. Jane convinces Edward (Ned) of her widowhood when in fact she’s an unmarried virgin – talk about your virginity surprise! Of course the dunderhead ruins it all by proposing they continue the illicit affair instead of proposing marriage. Jane disappears and because he doesn’t know her real name he can’t find her when he comes to his senses.

They meet again seven years later when Ned shows up in Marston Vale to do his duty and pay to the family, which as we all know means he’s got to get hitched whether he likes it or not and trust me he does not. The bride-to-be in question was loosely arranged between the parents and is an unkind scheming woman Ned has no interest in – though he’s quite interested in the kind surgeon he meets riding in – very interested. Now he’s just got to convince her to marry him!

Review: This is a stunning and beautiful romance. I couldn’t put it down, which I feel is a good indicator of how fabulous it is! :) There’s quite a lot going on in this novel: a second son of a duke turned soldier/spy, mistaken identity, virginity surprise, a bastard secret baby from the union, another woman/arranged marriage, a wicked grandfather, a murder, several attempted kidnappings, one real one, the heroine’s a surgeon, and at least one more thing to tie it all together. I was swept up in the adventure and rooted for the characters from the first paragraph and I think you will be too. Be sure to pick this book up if you like Regency romances and anything else I’ve mentioned to this point. I can’t wait to see what else Maureen Driscoll turns out next! I'm particularly looking forward to Lynwood's romance.

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid (Kellington Book One)

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-never-a-mistress-no-longer-a-maid-kellington-book-one-by-maureen-driscoll/feed/ 2 Illegitimacy in the Regency http://www.loveromancepassion.com/illegitimacy-in-the-regency/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/illegitimacy-in-the-regency/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:21:53 +0000 Guest Blogger http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=11231

by Grace Burrowes, guest blogger and author of The Soldier

This topic is of sufficient depth that several PhD’s could spend several thoroughly enjoyable lifetimes researching it, and still have plenty of areas for fascinating debate. That said, I am not a PhD, so disclaimers are in order: I’ve done research, but my efforts are by no means exhaustive nor meant to do anything other than tangentially inform works of fiction intended to entertain.

For starters, when I began to meet characters from “the wrong side of the blankets” and to research the Regency period, I realized I had preconceived notions that probably sprang not from the Regency era itself, but from the Victorian and subsequent impressions of the Regency mores. I expected a “stigma” associated with illegitimacy and I expected the occasion of illegitimacy to be rare and quietly deplored.

Except… human nature being what it is, contraception being the faulty to nonexistent thing it was 200 years ago, my preconceived notions were swiftly debunked. For purposes of my novels, I’ve tended to focus on upper class illegitimacy, and found examples of titles passing through sons who were only nominally of the title holder’s line (that is “legitimate bastards”), and households of very peculiar configuration indeed.

Some readers will be familiar with the Fifth Duke of Devonshire’s situation. His Grace’s household included his duchess Georgiana, who raised His Grace’s ante-marital daughter by a mistress; two daughters and a son born to Their Graces; a son and daughter born to His Grace and his mistress (the married Lady Bess Foster who was portrayed in the movie as Georgiana’s best friend and who married William upon Georgiana’s death); and for the first months of the child’s life, Georgiana’s daughter with Charles, Lord Grey, a future prime minister of England.

Going into the Regency period, this was one of the first families of the kingdom.

To ensure that anyone in line for the throne was of sufficiently patrician bloodlines, George III saw The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 passed, which required, essentially, either royal or parliamentary approval of any marriages contracted by George’s children (this is a gross oversimplification). As young men, the Royal dukes were not inclined to ask “Father, may I,” and several contracted void marriages—most would say Prinny among them.

When Princess Charlotte died in 1817, several of the Royal dukes finally accepted the bonds of legal unions, though between them they’d already sired something close to twenty illegitimate children. The Duke of Clarence (Prinny’s successor to the throne) had lived for twenty years with the actress Mrs. Jordan, producing at least ten offspring styled “Fitzclarences,” all of whom were illegitimate. Some respected historians claim that Prinny’s sister, Princess Sophia, also gave birth to a child out of wedlock.

With the royal family comporting itself thus, it’s safe to say illegitimacy, no matter how it might have been deplored privately or decried among the humble folk, was not regarded as a nasty little secret among the highest echelons of society.

And yet… When it came time for me to write a hero whose parents were not married at the time of his birth, I could not assume he’d be oblivious to the nature of his own antecedents. Devlin St. Just, the hero of The Soldier, might have been accepted everywhere on the strength of his ducal paternity, but as a man, as a human, he was still plagued with a sense of inadequacy, a need to find his own way, and a heart for any other creature cast in the role of stray or outsider.

THE SOLDIER BY GRACE BURROWES—IN STORES JUNE 2011

Even in the quiet countryside he can find no peace...

His idyllic estate is falling down from neglect and nightmares of war give him no rest. Then Devlin St. Just meets his new neighbor...

Until his beautiful neighbor ignites his imagination...

With her confident manner hiding a devastating secret, his lovely neighbor commands all of his attention, and protecting Emmaline becomes Deviln’s most urgent mission.

Buy: The Soldier

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Grace Burrowes is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of The Heir, also a 2010 Publishers Weekly Book of the Year. She is a practicing attorney specializing in family law and lives in rural Maryland, where she is working on the next books chronicling the loves stories of the Windham family. Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish will be in stores in October 2011, and The Virtuoso will be in stores in November 2011, with more to come in 2012!  For more information, please visit www.graceburrowes.com.

GIVEAWAY: I have 2 copies of The Soldier. Open to US and Canadian readers only. Enter by leaving a comment. One entry per relevant comment; multiple entries allowed. Last day to enter: June 17, 2011.

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arcrev

Robin Kaye’s second book, Too Hot to Handle is witty and enchanting. Too Hot to Handle is the sequel to Romeo, Romeo. It follows Rosalie Ronaldi’s sister, Annabelle, on her tumultuous journey into love. Luckily for her, she has a sturdy cast of lively friends and a dog there to help her figure it all out. Her journey starts with this humorous first line: Ghosts don’t have sex, do they?

Of course the answer is no, but the distressingly dashing Doctor Mike Flynn looks almost exactly like her late boyfriend Chip Larsen. They could have been twins. Sure, his mouth is a little different, his nose broken and healed could have once been Chip’s nose, his eyes the same shape if different colors and his package is certainly better equipped… but other than that the similarities are shocking.

Annabelle’s past with Chip was rocky at best. Chip was not a very good boyfriend, even his sister thought so, but Annabelle never got the chance to really figure that out on her own. When the cancer came back, Chip refused to go through chemo again despite Annabelle’s and his family’s begging. Despite the heaviness of the emotional issues, this is still a romantic comedy.

Mike Flynn is working at a dead-end practice. His research though thorough wasn’t enough to prepare him for the realities. He’s going to be blackballed for bringing notice to a sloppy ill-informed partner. His only shot is to get out before it becomes common knowledge about his disagreements. Meanwhile his love life is pitiful, he’s tired of seeing the girls that Nick has let go, he wants a girl of his own and believes he struck gold with Annabelle who he met at her sister’s/his best friend’s wedding.

Mike’s background and Annabelle’s history will do their best to keep them apart. Life is messy, but with the help of a domestic god and busybody friends, family, and neighbors can it be cleaned up?

Rating: 3.5 - 4 Stars

Buy: Too Hot to Handle

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-too-hot-to-handle-by-robin-kaye/feed/ 1 Review: Because You’re Mine by Lisa Kleypas http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-because-youre-mine-by-lisa-kleypas/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-because-youre-mine-by-lisa-kleypas/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 09:17:42 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=1572

bookreview

Because You're Mine is a delicious, exquisite, and absorbing read. Absolutely delightful from start to finish. The pacing, diction, plot, and characters were all to my liking. There was nothing in the novel that drew me out of the reading experience. Honestly, I just couldn't put it down. I have a love of all Kleypas novels. She is simply a fantastic author.

Madeline Matthews is in trouble, but not the trouble one would usually expect. No, most of society would say Madeline was not in trouble at all as she was on the verge of making a most excellent match. For Maddy however the upcoming nuptials was the kiss of death. Marriage to Lord Clifton (cue many a bad guy's looks and smell) was tantamount to a gilded cage. He desired her only as his blue blood broodmare, a situation she could not endure. Explaining her feelings to her parents gained her nothing so Maddy hatched a plan that would in essence remove her as a possibility to be Lord Clifton's wife.

The plan is nothing short of daring as Maddy escapes boarding school and travels to London with a crazy plan to throw herself at Logan Scott's feet. Why him? She saw a print of his image and decided that he would be the one she would lose her virginity to... and her approach would be forward, because how else could a girl like herself gain the handsome actor's attention?

Logan Scott is attracted and irritated with the young girl. He knows she is a well bred lady, and a young untouched one at that. He refuses to give into her bewitching charm and plea to take her to his bed. In fact he tries to immediately send her packing. Unfortunately for him he just won't be able to help himself. A constant temptation, Maddy is underfoot all the time because the comanager of the Capital, the Duchess of Leeds, hires her to be an all around assistant for the theater.

Who will surrender first to the emotions brewing behind the curtains?

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: Because You're Mine

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