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 Robert Kemble and Victoria Lyndon fell in love at first sight. Unfortunately, Robert is the earl of Macclesfield, heir to a dukedom, while Victoria is a vicar’s daughter. They are both willing to toss convention aside and marry anyway, but their fathers will not have it. Each father prevents his child from eloping and both Robert and Victoria are convinced that they were not really loved. Seven years later, Robert is a confirmed rake and Victoria has had no choice but to become a governess to a series of rebellious children with indulgent mothers. They meet again and all their old wounds reopen; they have never gotten over each other. When Victoria seizes her independence, it’s up to Robert to show her the value of love and companionship; he can’t fail this time.
This was another “eh” read for me. I don’t believe in love at first sight. I just don’t see how you can love someone without knowing anything about them. Of course, as a teenager I had plenty of infatuations and I called them love, so to me, this is what happened with these two characters, only they never quite got over it. While I somewhat understood the fathers’ motivations in keeping apart the couple, if frustrating, it annoyed me that both of them immediately fell for the deception. If anything, that backed me up on the fact that they didn’t love one another yet, they simply had their heads in the clouds. The first 60 pages did not have me sold on this book.
After that, thankfully, it got better. Victoria and Robert are far more interesting once they’ve had a proper try at life. They have scars from both each other and from other experiences. It took them a frustratingly long time to realize what had happened to them, but what I really liked was that they didn’t immediately fall into each other’s arms because their fathers had lied to them and they were still oh-so-in-love. They still had to work through their problems and try to understand what they want to get out of their lives.
Probably the only reservation I had about the rest of the book was that it got sickeningly sweet at the end. Obviously, I like romance novels, but when the moon winks at one of the characters, it feels a little strange. They just felt a little ridiculous in their professions of love; I would have hoped that by the end, Victoria and Robert had learned enough about life to realize that one can’t promise everything and the moon. I guess that’s just me being picky and unromantic, though.
All in all, a lovely light read; some reservations, but I did enjoy it.
IndieBound | Powell’s | Amazon | Amazon UK
 From the back cover:
It was whispered all through London Society that he was a murderer, that he’d spent his youth in an asylum and was not to be trusted – especially with a lady. Any woman caught in his presence was immediately ruined. Yet Beth found herself inexorably drawn to the Scottish laird whose hint of a brogue wrapped around her like silk and whose touch could draw her into a world of ecstacy. Despite his decadence and intimidating intelligence, she could see he needed help. Her help. Because suddenly the only thing that made sense to her was the madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie.
This is such an interesting premise. That was the first thing I thought when I heard about this book. I’ve never read a romance novel in which one of the main characters had a mental illness of any type. I think Ian is meant to have Asperger’s syndrome, and while I can’t even begin to tell you whether this is a very realistic depiction or not, I think it succeeds extraordinarily well in providing a story that is a little bit different.
Since Ian has this illness, he has certain handicaps on his relationship with Beth, especially at first. He’s convinced he can’t fall in love, for example. He doesn’t feel emotion the same way that other people do, merely mimics their behavior when he realizes he’s missed something. In one of their first scenes together, Beth weeps at an opera while he remains unmoved, completely unable to understand what she’s feeling, although he could easily play back the music and sing the words to her. It takes him a good long time to actually fall in love and understand what it is, although he knows he wants to be with Beth very early on in the novel.
In contrast, Beth appears to be a heroine bent on healing Ian and getting him past some of the scars from his childhood, mainly helping him realize that he is not his father, and falling in love with him despite the fact that he never meets her eyes. This seems an impressive feat to me, but I think the author succeeds in making their love story believable.
There is also a slight mystery plot woven throughout based on Ian’s accusation as a murderer. It’s interesting enough and adds some external tension to the story, but as always, this isn’t what this book is really about. It does, however, set up the Mackenzie family as “villains” of a sort, men incapable of escaping their father’s legacy, as a start to this new series. I’ll continue reading as I quite liked this one. I’d definitely recommend The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie to other fans of historical romance.
 After eleven years, Helen Carter is sick and tired of being the ignored mistress of the Duke of Lister. Worse, she knows that if she leaves him, he’ll take her children, Jamie and Abigail, away from her. So she flees, with the help of a friend, to a dirty castle in Scotland inhabited only by a taciturn, scarred war veteran. Sir Alistair Monroe is used to children screaming at the sight of his twisted face and can’t imagine venturing outside his castle any time soon, preferring to write his books about nature in solitude. When Helen and her children arrive in his life and embrace him despite his appearance, Alistair realizes that his world isn’t confined to his castle tower, but that he will indeed have to fight for what he loves.
I have been feeling a little bit burned out on romance novels lately. I read a whole lot of them because I was stressed and eventually they all started to feel the same. You’ll see this if you stick around to read more reviews later this month and next month. This book, however, I loved, despite the fact that I felt weary of the genre. In fact, it totally revolutionized my boredom with the formula because I felt it was good enough that I cared how the couple got to their happy ending. It ceased to be a formula and became a wonderful love story, which is exactly what I look for in my romance.
I probably can’t even tell you why this is different. I loved both characters; at first I didn’t think I was going to like Alistair, but once we learn a little bit about who he is and how he’s changed because of the war and his scars, it’s impossible not to feel for him. Watching him resist his growing feelings for Helen just because she’s beautiful and he’s not, even though she clearly returns his affections, is heartwrenching and definitely had me rooting for their happily ever after. Helen was a similarly interesting character, having been a mistress for years because it was easy for her and easy for her family once the Duke of Lister had got the idea in mind. I liked her experience, it made her a little different from the blushing virgins who never have any idea what to do. Surprisingly, I even loved Helen’s children. I must be growing to like romances with children because I definitely felt they added to this story. They were sweet and loveable and, most importantly, integral to the plot.
The fairy tale at the beginning of each chapter added to the story’s ethereal feel. I like how each excerpt applied beautifully to the chapter it headed and I loved the fairy tale’s ending as much as I loved that of the actual book. There is a bit of a mystery involved with regards to Alistair’s injury in the Colonies, but it isn’t completely resolved. Since I jumped in with the third book of a series, I can only imagine that this is a continuous plotline and will be wrapped up in the fourth book.
To Beguile A Beast revived my flagging interest in romance with a wonderful story, great characters, and touching moments. There is definitely a reason Hoyt has received so much praise in the romance community. I’m thrilled that I have another of her books waiting for me. If you enjoy the genre, this is a book worth reading!
 Three years ago, Frances Allard left her past behind to become a teacher at Miss Martin’s school for girls in Bath. One Christmas after visiting her elderly great-aunts, Frances’s carriage gets stuck in a snowstorm. Behind her is Lucius Marshall, Viscount Sinclair, a man who has just been admonished to settle down and take a wife. When his carriage knocks hers off the road, he is obliged to escort her to a mostly abandoned country inn. Two days is all it takes for them to cast a spell over each other, but Frances will not be his mistress and Lucius knows his grandfather has his ailing heart set on Lucius’s marriage with Portia Hunt. Three months later, Frances and Lucius meet again by chance, but he knows this time that he can’t let her slip away from him again.
This is the second book I’ve read by Mary Balogh and I found it just as enchanting as the first (Simply Perfect). We know from almost the beginning that Frances has “a past” which is preventing her from saying yes to marrying Lucius or even allowing him to court her, but that doesn’t stop his journey to win her over from making us fall in love with him. He’s a little too arrogant in his knowledge of what’s good for her, but the thing is, she does want to do everything he tries to get her to do, including marry him. She just has to break down the boundaries of her past first, and only by forcing her into society again will that happen, although Lucius doesn’t know it at the time. I did think Frances’s issues with her past a little exaggerated once we learn what they are, but this is not a romance which is heavy of external plot, nor does it matter.
Besides the characters, I also liked how this book portrays the struggle of contentment versus happiness. Contentment is generally relatively easy to attain. I’m content when I’m reading or thinking about history. I’m happy when I’m with Keith, and believe me, it was difficult and risky to get where we are today, and it’s going to be still more difficult to get where we want to be. It’s absolutely worth it. In this book, Frances is content as a schoolteacher and might even be content with her other beau. Lucius could be content with Portia and children. Together, they would be happy but it’s hard and risky to get there. I like that. It rings true to life and reminds us why taking risks to go after what we really want is so worth it. Doesn’t have to be a person of course, it’s true in all aspects of life.
Overall, I found this to be a moving and enjoyable novel. Definitely a worthy read for anyone who would like a little more romance in their lives. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
This book is available from Amazon and Amazon UK .
 Isidore, the Duchess of Cosway, has never met her husband, and at 23 years of age, she is getting impatient. In Duchess by Night, she goes to the country’s most scandalous house party because she knows that will lure him back to her. She is tired of being a virgin, of being single, and wants to start a family and feel like a real wife. Her scheme works and Simeon Jermyn, the Duke of Cosway, returns to her side, only to suggest that they annul their marriage. She is clearly not the woman he expects and after spending years learning to calm himself and avoid all temptations, her passionate nature is simply too much for his restraint. Isidore can’t let that annulment happen, not after all her years of waiting and when she likes the duke so much, and decides to break through Simeon’s barriers at any cost.
I feel that Eloisa James has hit her stride in this installment of the series. I have moderately liked the two out of three that I have read of the series, but this one was stunning and made me seriously long for the last two stories. I finally felt that the love story here was given the time it deserved. No one changed beyond expectations, the main characters’ interactions sparkled, and I grew even more attached to the secondary characters; Jemma, her husband the Duke of Beaumont, and the Duke of Villiers. They were properly behind the main storyline but I felt that each of their characters has been growing and changing in an impressive manner and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
One quirk that I’ve never come across in romance before is the couple’s lack of experience. Isidore has not slept with or even kissed any other man. Shockingly, neither has Simeon kissed or slept with any woman. The scene in which they both share their first kiss is amazing. It was also a fantastic change of pace to have the characters figuring out what to do in the bedroom. It’s awkward and adorable and best of all, furthers their relationship more than you’d find in most of these books. I liked Simeon better for his lack of rakeish behavior, actually. Romance novel heroes have a reputation. They are men who have experienced all there is, who are experts at the seduction of women. This one? The first time for these two is the epitome of embarrassing. I had to love both of them more after that.
I really have to revise my opinion of these books. If the last two, This Duchess of Mine and A Duke of Her Own live up to the promise in this book, this may become one of my favorite romance series. Simply put, I loved it. I can’t wait to get my hands on the last two of the series.
Amazon | IndieBound | Amazon UK | Powell’s
 Miss Anne Jewell is a teacher at Miss Martin’s School for Girls. She is beautiful, beloved by all of her friends, but has a son, David, by a man who was not her husband and is thus branded by society. When Joshua, a cousin of her son’s father and a great help to her, offers to take David and Anne to Wales for a month of summer vacation, Anne can’t refuse for her son’s sake and hesitates when she is treated as a guest rather than as the servant she considers herself. Sydnam Butler is a war veteran, missing an arm and an eye and scarred down half of his body. Now he is steward for his friend’s estate and dreams of buying a small property from him, believing that no woman will love him when children run in fear of his face. Both Anne and Sydnam must heal and understand in order to embrace the feelings that they unexpectedly discover for each other.
Mary Balogh, please welcome yourself to my favorite authors list. I loved this book. It’s not at all what I’d expect from a romance novel. It’s not all passion and sex; that’s fine sometimes, but when it comes to emotional intensity, this book completely astonished me. Both of the main characters are very scarred, Sydnam on the outside and Anne on the inside from the rape which led to David. Here they must overcome the belief they share and learn that they are good enough and that they can love and be loved. They become friends first and developing attraction comes later. It’s so refreshing to read a novel without stunningly beautiful main characters. I didn’t realize how great that would be until this book came along.
Somewhat surprisingly, I also loved David’s part in this novel. He is a child but it’s easy to see his influence on not only his mother but on Sydnam, forcing Sydnam to break a little out of his shell and try to be different. There is a little subplot rotating around Sydnam’s artistic ability and how he can learn to paint again with his left hand, something he thought he would never do. No one is allowed to remain comfortable in this book, everyone has to take a step outside of their comfort zone and learn to compromise to be with other people, which is what love is all about.
Oh, I can’t gush enough about this one. Even the sex is quite subdued if that’s what puts you off romances. This is an emotionally satisfying, moving read that I think is worth a try by everyone.
Available via IndieBound, Powell’s, Amazon, and Amazon UK.
 Elizabeth Hotchkiss and her orphaned, poor, but noble family are in desperate need of a savior. Elizabeth acts as a companion to Lady Danbury, but that doesn’t pay enough for her to send her little brother, a viscount, to Eton like generations of his forebears have gone, nor even for their sustenance. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Elizabeth decides to somehow marry a rich man. Unknowingly, she is already falling in love with one, as Lady Danbury’s new estate manager, Elizabeth’s tutor in the ways of flirtation, is actually a marquis.
This is one of Quinn’s earlier books and it shows in the more stereotypical set-up, but it’s still a lot of fun. Elizabeth’s struggle, determination, and frustration all feel genuine. As for James, the marquis, he probably should have revealed his true identity to Elizabeth long before, but his secrecy is almost part of the fun. I liked both characters and I didn’t even mind Elizabeth’s younger brothers and sisters. Moreover, I just found out that a couple of these characters are in another of Quinn’s novels so I’m looking forward to seeking that out.
Overall, not much to say! Fun, enjoyable, light read. Not a lot of substance but delightful anyway. This may be my shortest review ever.
Available from Amazon and Amazon UK.
 Warning: This book made me a little angry, so I’m going to have spoilers in this review. Other than this, all of Julia Quinn’s books that I’ve read have been fantastic. See The Duke and I, The Viscount Who Loved Me, or An Offer from a Gentleman for examples.
When she was 10 years old, Miss Miranda Cheever was not a beautiful girl. She was not ugly, but her face was too long, her eyes were too big, and worse, only the same brown as her hair, plus she was gangly. At her best friend Olivia’s 10th birthday party, she was teased by another little girl because she was not pretty. Since she was so upset, Miranda was escorted home by Olivia’s older brother, Turner, a handsome viscount who assured Miranda that she would grow into her beauty, and advised her to start a diary so that when she was older and happy, she could remember this party. On that day, Miranda fell in love. Years later, Turner is hardened by marriage to woman who cared nothing for him, lying to gain his hand in marriage while pregnant with another man’s child. Miranda is about to embark on her first Season. When she is overshadowed by Olivia, Turner begins to spend time with Miranda, and as she realizes that her feelings have not changed, he realizes that she’s grown into all her potential.
Okay. I did not like this book. As you will know if you’ve been reading this blog, I normally love Julia Quinn. She writes believable, engaging, witty romance that is often a little different and more intelligent than you’d suspect. It’s never all about the physical aspects of the relationship, more about the characters. This book, however, had me more or less infuriated by the end.
For one thing, I didn’t really care for the characters. Miranda would have been a lovely girl. She’s set up well as the quiet, unassuming, clever, literary friend of a gorgeous heiress. She’s even funny. But she persists in loving Turner, and in my opinion, she has no real basis for loving him. I don’t really think that a single encounter at the age of 10 is enough, remembering how I felt about boys at that age and a little older. It was always love, and obviously, was also never love. When she grows up and really gets to know him, he’s turned into a cynical, bitter man who is convinced women are out to get him and at one point even wants to punish Miranda just because she attracts him. Is that kind of a man worthy of love? I certainly don’t think so. He wavers between wanting him, liking her, and wanting nothing to do with her, even after he’s told her that he will marry her. They do it, he says they’ll marry, and then he absconds from London for more than a month! Okay, obviously, this is meant to take place in a different time period, so she’d really have to marry him once she came back and proposed, but it’s almost instant forgiveness. Worse, she wants to change him after the marriage, when he’s turned into a perfectly wonderful husband already. Bad idea. I hate, hate, hate when romances do this. People don’t change on a dime because you want them to. It’s one thing to persuade him to love again, it’s another to pitch fits because he’s scared to say he does, and then say you don’t care if he says it or not. Wait, why are you fighting again? They got along so well until she decided words were more important than actions.
Also, I will be honest, sometimes these endings make me cry. This one just annoyed me. I’ll even tell you what happens, because I don’t think you’re going to want to read this after my review. He realizes that he loves her when their first child is born. Then she nearly dies in childbirth. Everyone assumes it’s a lost cause, but she magically recovers because he tells her that he loves her. She gets him to bring out her diary, with her declaration of love from age 10, and that somehow causes him to realize how much she loves him. Shouldn’t her actions over the past, oh, year indicate a little more of her love? I get that it’s supposed to be romantic and touching, but it’s not, and that’s the problem.
There are undoubtedly good moments in this book. The characters have sweet interactions. I laughed out loud at some point in the beginning of the book. The supporting characters had a little more to them (although not Miranda’s scholarly father, who conveniently doesn’t really care where she is or what she’s doing but loves her!) than usual. I wouldn’t mind reading a book about Olivia or Winston. In fact, Olivia’s book is coming out soon and I can almost guarantee I’m going to buy and read it. So it’s not all bad. It’s just that I have set the bar for Quinn romances higher than this. I read somewhere that it was primarily written in 1994, which may explain why it conforms to so many infuriating stereotypes and why it’s missing so much of the classic Quinn charm. By another author, the book probably wouldn’t have made me unhappy, although the problems would remain. I was just so disappointed.
I’d genuinely still recommend Quinn as a fantastic romance novelist and a great entry point for non-romance readers. I’d recommend going with The Duke and I. I’ll even link to that one on Amazon instead of this one. Now I know why there are always three copies of this in the library and all the rest of her books have holds lists. There is a reason!
 Description via the publisher:
CAN A WOUNDED BEAST . . .
Reclusive Sir Alistair Munroe has hidden in his castle ever since returning from the Colonies, scarred inside and out. But when a mysterious beauty arrives at his door, the passions he’s kept suppressed for years begin to awaken.
TRUST A BEAUTY WITH A PAST . . .
Running from past mistakes has taken legendary beauty Helen Fitzwilliam from the luxury of the ton to a crumbling Scottish castle . . . and a job as a housekeeper. Yet Helen is determined to start a new life and she won’t let dust-or a beast of a man-scare her away.
TO TAME HIS MOST SECRET DESIRES?
Beneath Helen’s beautiful façade, Alistair finds a courageous and sensual woman. A woman who doesn’t back away from his surliness-or his scars. But just as he begins to believe in true love, Helen’s secret past threatens to tear them apart. Now both Beast and Beauty must fight for the one thing neither believed they could ever find-a happy ever after.
Thanks to the absolutely wonderful people at Hachette Book Group USA, I have 3 copies of this book to give away! I haven’t read it yet, but I do have it in my possession and think it looks fantastic, and just a little outside the stereotypes (I’m beginning to love books with scarred heroes). Just because I’m backed up with reviewing doesn’t mean you should have to wait!
To enter:
- Leave me a comment on this post telling me why you read romance. If you don’t, tell me why you might like to give it a shot!
- For another entry, tweet or blog or both about this giveaway.
- If you’re a subscriber or if you’re a new subscriber, let me know for another entry.
Please leave a separate comment for each entry! This giveaway will be open for three weeks, so I will be closing it on June 29th. U.S. and Canada only, no P.O. Boxes please (sorry, publisher is shipping books and I don’t make the rules). Good luck!
 Miss Claudia Martin, aged thirty-something and well on the shelf, has made a life for herself by running a girls’ school in Bath, work that is fulfilling and thoroughly enjoyable. When the Marquess of Attingsborough appears at her school and offers to escort her and her two charges to London for their employment interviews, the stern Claudia is astonished and disapproving. She can handle herself very well, after all, and does not need his help. What she needs, however, is far different from what she’d like, a lesson Claudia very much enjoys learning.
This one started out slow, but very soon I could see why people love Mary Balogh. This book is heartbreakingly sweet. I could feel these characters fall in love with each other and I completely fell in love with them, too. Claudia is determined, stubborn, and ridiculously smart; falling in love doesn’t change her but augments her personality in wonderful ways. She’s stern for a reason and when we learn that reason, it’s much easier to feel for her and cheer for her to go after what she really wants.
As for the marquess, Joseph, he’s endearing all on his own. His love for his blind daughter and his discovery that he doesn’t have to hide who he loves or why is a touching part of the story on its own. He is so used to the rigid expectations of society that he never, ever thinks about questioning them until Claudia begins to question him. After all, she has shrugged off all expectations to become a remarkably successful woman; surely Joseph can do the same when it comes to a love for his daughter and moreover, a love for this woman.
Overall, if you’re looking for an emotional, heartening romance that makes you feel emotions and not just read about them happening, I recommend this. There isn’t much plot involved, but it’s hard to care. Worth noting, however, that this is the last in the “Simply” series about teachers at Miss Martin’s school. I have not read the first three, but I’m sure they would have only enhanced my enjoyment of this one.
Buy Simply Perfect on Amazon.
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