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Thursday, June 8, 2017

Review: Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath

Title: Waking Up With the Duke
Series: London's Greatest Lovers
Author: Lorraine Heath
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: June 28, 2011
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 0062022458
ISBN-13: 9780062022455

They are masters of seduction, London's greatest lovers...
Renowned for his bedchamber prowess, Ransom Seymour, the Duke of Ainsley, owes a debt to a friend. But the payment expected is most shocking, even to an unrepentant rake—for he's being asked to provide his friend's exquisite wife with what she most dearly covets: a child.

Living for pleasure, they will give their hearts to no one...
Lady Jayne Seymour, Marchioness of Walfort, is furious that such a scandalous agreement would be made. If she acquiesces, there must be rules: no kissing...and, certainly, no pleasure.

Until love takes them by surprise.
But unexpected things occur with the surprisingly tender duke—especially once Lady Jayne discovers the rogue can make her dream again...and Ransom realizes he's found the one woman he truly cannot live without.


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Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Review: Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman by Lorraine Heath

Title: Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman
Series: London's Greatest Lovers
Author: Lorraine Heath
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: November 30, 2010
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 0061922951
ISBN-13: 9780061922954

As the black sheep second son of an earl, Stephen Lyons has gained a reputation in the art of seduction, but when his wicked ways result in scandal, he enlists in the army to redeem himself. On the battlefield, he proves courageous...until he is seriously wounded. Returning home to recover, he discovers he can't the angelic beauty who arrives at his doorstep, his babe nestled in her arms.

Mercy Dawson will risk everything to protect the son of the dashing soldier she once knew and admired. When Stephen offers to do the honorable thing, she is determined that London's most notorious gentleman will desire her and no other. But Mercy fears that what began as an innocent deception could destroy her dreams and their blossoming love if Stephen ever learns the scandalous truth...


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Monday, September 26, 2016

Review: Talk Sweetly to Me by Courtney Milan

Title: Talk Sweetly to Me
Series: Brothers Sinister
Author: Courtney Milan
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: August 18, 2014
Publisher: Courtney Milan
ASIN: B00MUC5UUQ

Nobody knows who Miss Rose Sweetly is, and she prefers it that way. She's a shy, mathematically-minded shopkeeper's daughter who dreams of the stars. Women like her only ever come to attention through scandal. She'll take obscurity, thank you very much.

All of England knows who Stephen Shaughnessy is. He's an infamous advice columnist and a known rake. When he moves into the house next door to Rose, she discovers that he's also wickedly funny, devilishly flirtatious, and heart-stoppingly handsome. But when he takes an interest in her mathematical work, she realizes that Mr. Shaughnessy isn't just a scandal waiting to happen. He's waiting to happen to her...and if she's not careful, she'll give in to certain ruination.


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Review: The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan

Title: The Suffragette Scandal
Series: Brothers Sinister
Author: Courtney Milan
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Courtney Milan
ASIN: B00LNIR6SW

An idealistic suffragette...

Miss Frederica "Free" Marshall has put her heart and soul into her newspaper, known for its outspoken support of women's rights. Naturally, her enemies are intent on destroying her business and silencing her for good. Free refuses to be at the end of her rope...but she needs more rope, and she needs it now.

...a jaded scoundrel...

Edward Clark's aristocratic family abandoned him to die in a war-torn land, so he survived the only way he could: by becoming a rogue and a first-class forger. When the same family that left him for dead vows to ruin Miss Marshall, he offers his help. So what if he has to lie to her? She's only a pawn to use in his revenge.

...and a scandal seven years in the making.

But the irrepressible Miss Marshall soon enchants Edward. By the time he realizes that his cynical heart is hers, it's too late. The only way to thwart her enemies is to reveal his scandalous past...and once the woman he loves realizes how much he's lied to her, he'll lose her forever.


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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Review: The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan

Title: The Countess Conspiracy
Series: Brothers Sinister
Author: Courtney Milan
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: December 17, 2013
Publisher: Courtney Milan
ASIN: B00HCP4FNO

Sebastian Malheur is the most dangerous sort of rake: an educated one. When he’s not scandalizing ladies in the bedchamber, he’s outraging proper society with his scientific theories. He’s desired, reviled, acclaimed, and despised—and he laughs through it all.

Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, on the other hand, is entirely respectable, and she’d like to stay that way. But Violet has a secret that is beyond ruinous, one that ties her irrevocably to England’s most infamous scoundrel: Sebastian’s theories aren’t his. They’re hers.

So when Sebastian threatens to dissolve their years-long conspiracy, she’ll do anything to save their partnership...even if it means opening her vulnerable heart to the rake who could destroy it for good.


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Saturday, September 24, 2016

Review: The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan

Title: The Heiress Effect
Series: Brothers Sinister
Author: Courtney Milan
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: July 15, 2013
Publisher: Courtney Milan
ASIN: B00D4ANSXE

Miss Jane Fairfield can’t do anything right. When she’s in company, she always says the wrong thing—and rather too much of it. No matter how costly they are, her gowns fall on the unfortunate side of fashion. Even her immense dowry can’t save her from being an object of derision.

And that’s precisely what she wants. She’ll do anything, even risk humiliation, if it means she can stay unmarried and keep her sister safe.

Mr. Oliver Marshall has to do everything right. He’s the bastard son of a duke, raised in humble circumstances—and he intends to give voice and power to the common people. If he makes one false step, he’ll never get the chance to accomplish anything. He doesn’t need to come to the rescue of the wrong woman. He certainly doesn’t need to fall in love with her. But there’s something about the lovely, courageous Jane that he can’t resist...even though it could mean the ruin of them both.


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Thursday, September 22, 2016

Review: A Kiss For Midwinter by Courtney Milan

Title: A Kiss for Midwinter
Series: Brothers Sinister
Author: Courtney Milan
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: December 16, 2012
Publisher: Courtney Milan
ASIN: B00APONX6Y

Miss Lydia Charingford is always cheerful, and never more so than at Christmas time. But no matter how hard she smiles, she can't forget the youthful mistake that could have ruined her reputation. Even though the worst of her indiscretion was kept secret, one other person knows the truth of those dark days: the sarcastic Doctor Jonas Grantham. She wants nothing to do with him...or the butterflies that take flight in her stomach every time he looks her way.

Jonas Grantham has a secret, too: He's been in love with Lydia for more than a year. This winter, he's determined to conquer her dislike and win her for his own. It all starts with a wager and a kiss...


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Review: The Duchess War by Courtney Milan

Title: The Duchess War
Series: Brothers Sinister
Author: Courtney Milan
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: December 6, 2012
Publisher: Courtney Milan
ASIN: B00AKKGX4W

Sometimes love is an accident.

This time, it’s a strategy.


Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower, and she wants to keep it that way. After all, the last time she was the center of attention, it ended badly—so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. Wallflowers may not be the prettiest of blooms, but at least they don't get trampled. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention.

But that is precisely what she gets.

Because Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, is not fooled. When Minnie figures out what he's up to, he realizes there is more to her than her spectacles and her quiet ways. And he's determined to lay her every secret bare before she can discover his. But this time, one shy miss may prove to be more than his match...


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Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Review: 'Til Death Do Us Part by Amanda Quick

Title: 'Til Death Do Us Part
Author: Amanda Quick

Read copy: eBook
Published: April 19, 2016
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 069819361X
ISBN-13: 9780698193611

Calista Langley operates an exclusive “introduction” agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourning—a black mirror, a funeral wreath, a ring set with black jet stone. Each is engraved with her initials.

Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. Believing that Calista may be taking advantage of his lonely sister, who has become one of her clients, Trent doesn’t trust her. Scarred by his past, he’s learned to keep his emotions at bay, even as an instant attraction threatens his resolve.

But as Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calista’s own secret past—and that only her death will satisfy the stalker...


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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Review: Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick

Title: Garden of Lies
Author: Amanda Quick

Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: April 21, 2015
Publisher: Putnam Adult
ASIN: B00O2BS780


The Kern Secretarial Agency provides reliable professional services to its wealthy clientele, and Anne Clifton was one of the finest women in Ursula Kern’s employ. But Miss Clifton has met an untimely end—and Ursula is convinced it was not due to natural causes.

Archaeologist and adventurer Slater Roxton thinks Mrs. Kern is off her head to meddle in such dangerous business. Nevertheless, he seems sensible enough to Ursula, though she does find herself unnerved by his self-possession and unreadable green-gold eyes…

If this mysterious widowed beauty insists on stirring the pot, Slater intends to remain close by as they venture into the dark side of polite society. Together they must reveal the identity of a killer—and to achieve their goal they may need to reveal their deepest secrets to each other as well…


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Friday, September 5, 2014

Review: Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick

Title: Otherwise Engaged
Series: Ladies of Lantern Street
Author: Amanda Quick
Read copy: eBook
Published: April 22, 2014
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
ISBN: 110162101X
ISBN-13: 9781101621011

Miss Amity Doncaster, world traveler, is accustomed to adventure and risk. Benedict Stanbridge, a man of science and a spy for the Crown, has faced danger in the darker corners of foreign lands.

But they are about to face a threat that is shockingly close to home . . .

One does not expect to be kidnapped on a London street in broad daylight. But Amity Doncaster barely escapes with her life after she is trapped in a carriage with a blade-wielding man in a black silk mask who whispers the most vile taunts and threats into her ear. Her quick thinking, and her secret weapon, save her . . . for now.

But the monster known in the press as the Bridegroom, who has left a trail of female victims in his wake, has survived the wounds she inflicts and will soon be on his feet again. He is unwholesomely obsessed by her scandalous connection to Benedict Stanbridge—gossip about their hours alone in a ship’s stateroom seems to have crossed the Atlantic faster than any sailing vessel could. Benedict refuses to let this resourceful, daring woman suffer for her romantic link to him—as tenuous as it may be.

For a man and woman so skilled at disappearing, so at home in the exotic reaches of the globe, escape is always an option. But each intends to end the Bridegroom’s reign of terror in London, and will join forces to do so. And as they prepare to confront an unbalanced criminal in the heart of the city they love, they must also face feelings that neither of them can run away from. . .


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Monday, August 5, 2013

Review: The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick

Title: The Mystery Woman
Series: Ladies of Lantern Street
Author: Amanda Quick
Read copy: eBook
Published: April 23, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
ISBN: 1101621176
ISBN-13: 9781101621172

Beatrice Lockwood, one of the intrepid ladies of Lantern Street, is in the middle of a case when her past comes back to haunt her. Joshua North, a former spy for the Crown, has come out of a self-imposed retirement after a disastrous case that left him scarred and forced to use a cane. He is hunting the villain who is blackmailing his sister.

The trail leads him to Beatrice who is his chief suspect. But when he realizes that she is not the blackmailer they set out to find the real extortionist. Passion flares between them as they dodge a professional assassin. Meanwhile a mysterious scientist intent on resurrecting his dead lover using an ancient Egyptian formula for preserving the bodies of the dead is also hunting Beatrice. He is keeping his dead love perfectly preserved in a special, crystal-topped sarcophagus filled with the special fluid. But he needs Beatrice's paranormal talent to activate the reviving properties of the preservative in the coffin. Time is running out for everyone involved.

The two cases collide at a mysterious country-house filled with artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs. The drama concludes in the mad scientist's laboratory where Joshua discovers that the past he thought was dead is still very much alive—sort of.


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