Tag Archive | romance

Redemption of Lord Rawlings

The Redemption of Lord Rawlings (House of Renwick) – ♥♥♥

Philip – Lord Rawlings – is a duke in need of money. When his father died, there was a stipulation in the will that he had to marry before turning 30 in order to receive his inheritance. Abigail (Abby) is the younger sister of Emma from the book Seduction of Sebastian. You have to read that book to understand the animosity on the part of Abby towards her sister.

Emma and Sebastian are hosting Abby for her season. Abby has set her sights on Phillip, but he is trying to dissuade her of that notice. He does not think he is good enough for her.

At the same time, Emma and Sebastian are trying to help Phillip get married. They feel indebted to him because he helped them get together. Among the ton, Phillip is known as a rake and reprobate. Polite society refuses to associate with him. Since Sebastian is known as the “Angel Duke” beyond reproach, Emma hopes their association can help change his image so that he can marry.

Abby did seem to be immature in the way she tried to manipulate the situation, but she had good intentions. Phillip thought he had nothing to live for, but was trying to fight giving the ton any other reasons to vilify him. Sebastian and Emma proved to be great supporting characters and the kind friends that Philip needs to help him come around. Once he accepts the fact that he is in love, it is easier to embrace Abby’s love for him.

Overall, I gave The Redemption of Lord Rawlings (House of Renwick) – 3 hearts because for part of the book, I was annoyed with Abby’s underhanded attempts to control people. That being said, this book is an entertaining read. The story can stand on its own, but to get the full impact of story’s nuances, you need to read The Seduction of Sebastian St. James (House of Renwick) first. It is a great follow up to the The Seduction of Sebastian St. James (House of Renwick). I do not often read books in a series (I feel that takes commitment). The main characters of that book were supporting characters that further the story. It was not just that they were related, they were an integral part of the story.

There is another book in the series that tells the story of Nicholas and Sara. I have not decided if I am going to go back and read that story yet. But most likely I probably will in time.

Romance in Paris and NYC? Yes Please

Jul15

Brianna and Colin meet in Paris while both are there on business. The attraction is so strong; Brianna changes her plans to return home so she can have an extended weekend fling. Trying to ensure that her wild and crazy spontaneous behavior does not follow her home, Brianna’s only condition was that they would not reveal their last names. While the fling was supposed to be a fun diversion from reality, it becomes indelibly imprinted on both of them.

As serendipity would have it, they meet again when they get back home to New York. Colin is part owner to a major luxury hotel chain. And Brianna is daughter to a famous clothing designer. Why the two have never met before Paris or even knew what each other looked like is beyond me. It seems that they ran is the same circles. They were both strikingly good looking people and successful in their fields. The paparazzi seemed to have no trouble getting her picture, so why did she not have a familiar face to Colin? But I digress since I am over-thinking the plot line.

For me, this romance was about average. They went from being strangers to I-need-you-in-my-life in a few weeks. In my opinion, Brianna dropped the L-word too quickly. I guess all those private plane trips gave them ample time to talk and get to know one another.

In typical romance book fashion, there is a secret that almost threatens to tear the couple apart. When the truth comes out, I could not understand why Colin did not say something sooner. I do not think it would have been that big of a deal. Brianna had her secrets too, but at least she did open up to Colin.

My only real complaint was with the unsolved mystery. The couple’s issues are resolved but there are still lingering questions about the incident involving her sister. I guess that will be addressed in the following book? This is the first book I read from this author, so I did not know if that was supposed to be part of this particular story or part of the series’ story.

Overall, the story was entertaining. This is a nice light romance read for one afternoon or while on vacation. The love scenes are not too scandalous but still quite steamy. I would read another book by this author. I like Brianna’s family and would read their romance stories too.

I received a copy of Designed by Desire (The Hamiltons: Fashioned with Love) from Netgalley for an honest review.
You can click any of the links in this post to buy Designed by Desire (The Hamiltons: Fashioned with Love) on Amazon

An innocent trying to seduce a man is hilarious

Jul5

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In the prologue, Emma is almost the victim of a sexual assault. That changes her from a fun loving adventurous young girl to a jaded and somewhat bitter person. With some reluctance years later, her parents allow her to have a season in order to find a husband.

Sebastian, also known as “Angel Duke” since his reputation as a buffer proof, is looking for wife. He needs to choose but he is bored with his choices of immature debutantes. He meets and is drawn to Emma. She acknowledges the attraction but does not even feel she is a worthy contender for marriage considering her perceived sordid past. He is a duke that is above reproach and she is supposedly “tainted”.

Side note: it is sad to me that when a woman is a victim of a sexual assault, people still judge her as if she caused it to happen. No woman asks for it. As in Emma’s case, it is usually a mentally twisted man whose desires motivate him to take by force what is not belong to him.

Back to the story…

Emma and Sebastian have a similar goal: get married. They agreed to help each other find spouses. This was funny to me since it is obvious that they want each other. There was plenty of back and forth funny banter between the two of them. I was laughing out loud at Emma’s so-called efforts to try to seduce Sebastian. She was such an innocent that it was cute.

In the end, Sebastian and Emma confront their respective demons and are able to resolve the issues holding them back from acknowledging their love for each other. This was a great story!

To buy The Seduction of Sebastian St. James (House of Renwick) on Amazon click any of the links in this post

Maid in the USA

Jun15

MAID in the USA (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) by Judy Angelo ♥♥♥

As the story begins, Celine is a maid who is content to clean a room of a luxury hotel. Her first view of Pierce was when he got out of the shower. If this were real life, she run screaming calling him a freak and probably mace him. But this is a romance novel so she was slightly shook up. Once she was over the shock of seeing all of his glory and he was dressed, he made her an interesting proposition: become a nanny for his cousin’s four-year-old daughter.

That seems really random.

He claims it has something to do with her eyes. Once again, if this were real life, she would turn down his offer assuming that he was some kinky freak. But in Romance Land, Celine has an open mind and goes to his house to meet his niece. When Celine meets Kylie she agrees to be the child’s nanny. From there it is the usual romance along with her helping Kylie deal with the grief of losing her mother.

There was not anything about this story that caused me to be annoyed (like some other books by Judy Angelo). Celine was a tenderhearted leading lady for this story. Pierce was conflicted as most men usually are when they are trying to come to terms with the fact that they are in love.

I do wonder what is it about romance novel plots where the uber-rich man falls for the maid/nanny and we assume they will live happily ever after. I guess that is what we wish would happen. In real life, we have Arnold Schwarzenegger who fell for his maid, had a “love child” with her, broke up his marriage, and I do not think he is still with the homewrecker. So maybe that was not true love. But then again, the demise of that relationship might have had something to do with the fact that he was still married at the time of the affair. But I have digressed way off topic.

Overall this was a good story. MAID in the USA (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) was worth the money for relaxing feel-good romance.

Forevermore is so cute

May30

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥♥

In this novella, Cameron sets his sights on Clarice when he met her while visiting for his cousin’s wedding. He was a man who knew what he wanted and was confident that he would succeed. Clarice was a widow who did not have good experiences with men. In short, even though she was attracted to Cameron, she did not think she was worthy of his intentions.

Cameron was a man with little time before he had to return home, so he had to make the most of every opportunity to show Clarice how he felt. It was love at first sight. All perceived barriers would not prevent him from having the woman with whom he fell in love.

I loved the story. Clarice was full of reasons why it would not work. Cameron shot holes through everyone. I particularly liked how it ended. Yes it is a given that it is a happy ever after ending, but Cameron’s finesse was top-notch. I loved his attitude. Even though this is a novella, I thought the characters had enough depth for the story.

It is rare that I rate a novella so highly, but I loved everything about this book. Buy this book!!!! You will not be disappointed.

You can buy Forevermore: A Jewel Trilogy Novella on Amazon by clicking any of the links in this post