April 8th, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, Book Review, Children, Dukes and Earls, Egypt, England, Historical Romance, Pirate, Politician, Rogues and Rakehells, Secondary Romance, Victoria Alexander, Widow or Widower
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The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander follows not one but three couples on their journey to love. Luckily two are more peripheral and have overall less air time in the novel. The main couple is Sabrina Winfield and Nicholas, Earl of Wyldewood. The other couples are Sabrina and Nicholas’ offspring from their first marriage, and Sabrina’s friend with Nicholas’ sister.
Sabrina has for the last ten years a life of total propriety. She has been prim, poised, controlled, tame, and dull. She misses the adventure from her past—the intrigue, the thrill, and the illicit nature of her work. She could command the loyalty of men, change fortunes, and guide her own affairs. With her young daughter about to wed, Sabrina yearns keenly to let loose and be free of society’s demands. When she hears about her late husband’s last gamble and subsequent winnings, Sabrina ransacks her London home.
Having found the French letter with instructions to legendary gold buried in Egypt, Sabrina packs and sets off to reclaim herself and to change her fortune. Unfortunately, her daughter’s finance’s father seems to think it’s his business to keep her out of trouble. The annoying Earl of Wyldewood, a politician with a streak of rakish charm a mile long, is determined to unearth Sabrina’s secrets. She is terrified of revealing them, for her past could land her in prison. Under the guise of helping his son, Nicholas is following Sabrina to Egypt with the intention to protect her. However, if he were honest with himself, he would have followed her anyway for underneath her prim exterior, Nicholas suspects that Sabrina may just be the perfect wife.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Buy: The Perfect Wife
Originally posted 2008-12-08 07:47:04. Republished by Old Post Promoter
April 5th, 2009 — 4 Stars, Comedy of Manners, England, Historical Romance, Mistaken Identity, Victoria Alexander
Secrets of a Proper Lady is a tale of deception, mistaken identity, and double… double crosses, all in the name of love. Victoria Alexander weaves a delightful story all about the comedy of manners and if it wasn’t for the delightful bedroom scene could be considered a Regency romance. The scandalous and amusing misconceptions are definitely worth reading.
Miss Sarah Palmer is being most scandalous in her behavior. On the behalf of her employer, distant cousin, and good friend she is stalking Mr. Sinclair’s secretary, a Mr. Warren Lewis. It is imperative that Lady Cordelia know all about the man her father is forcing her to marry. Mr. Sinclair could have bad breath, loose morals, or worse still be a total bore. Warren Lewis, looking out for his employer and good friend, finds his conversation with Miss Sarah Palmer to be most engaging and informative… at least about Sarah herself.
The more Sarah meets with Warren to learn about Daniel Sinclair, the more she wants to spend time with him. Time not spent talking strictly about Lady Cordelia’s assets or Mr. Sinclair’s. She wants to get to know Warren. He isn’t wealthy, but then again Sarah doesn’t care about that. She is looking to marry for love and she could quite easily come to love the honest and upright Warren Lewis.
Unfortunately for Sarah, she is really Lady Cordelia. Warren Lewis is not her intended, nor the man she is supposed to get to know. But his kisses are intoxicating and his eyes mesmerizing. How can she reveal to him that she is not Miss Sarah Palmer, but the woman his employer is going to marry sight unseen. He would surely despise her! And her father would be most upset because his business would fail without the elder Mr. Sinclair’s money and connections, maybe not immediately, but it would fail and the family would be in ruin. Cordelia has wanted to be considered an adult in her family for years, and here was the opportunity to achieve that; for even spoiled princesses must make sacrifices. If only Warren were the prince she needed, or a knight that could find the treasure and rescue her from her fate.
Warren Lewis is just as conflicted as Cordelia, though he doesn’t know that the woman he loves is his employer’s future wife. He needs a wealthy heiress as all his business dealings and prospects in America are sure to dry up and disappear without a sudden and heavy influx of money. Sarah is a woman whose affections a man should not play with unless he intends to marry her. Warren Lewis can not marry Sarah, because he is really Daniel Sinclair and the heiress he suddenly needs is the woman he’s been avoiding; Lady Cordelia Bannister. How on earth is he going to confront the sweet and charming Sarah Palmer and tell her of his deceit and his intentions to marry another woman? He can’t, he just simply can’t. If only Sarah was wealthy in her own right, or his father’s money wasn’t tide up in preparation for dealing with Lady Cordelia’s father… why then everything would be perfect, he could tell Sarah he loved her and wanted to marry her. If only.
Rating: 4 stars
Buy: Secrets of a Proper Lady
Originally posted 2008-12-06 06:10:04. Republished by Old Post Promoter
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August 1st, 2008 — About, News, Nora Roberts, United States of America, Victoria Alexander
The Romance Writers of America’s 28th Annual Conference is going on right now as you read. Do you not know what the RWA is? It’s the largest organization in North America for romance writers, readers, publishers, agents, etc. There are two requirements for a romance novel based on RWA’s charter. First it must contain a central love story and second, it must end happily.
Big name romance authors are featured all throughout this four day event. Victoria Alexander is one of them. She is the keynote speaker as I mentioned before on my twitter page. Not to mention the authors and board members blogging about their experience at the RWA conference blog page.
The Romance Writers of America started in the 1980 in Houston, TX. Now is has many more chapters and thousands of members. But how do you become a member-what are the eligibility requirements?
Visit their membership page for more information on general membership, associate membership, and affiliate membership.
Fun fact: Nora Roberts was the first author inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
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