A Pirate for Christmas: A Regency Novella by Anna Campbell

Blurb...

What is vicar’s daughter Bess Farrar to do when the dashing new earl, the man gossip paints as a ruthless pirate, kisses her the day they meet? Why, kiss him right back, of course! Now Lord Channing vows to claim the lovely firebrand, despite interfering villagers, a snowstorm, scandal, and a rascally donkey. The gallant naval captain’s first landlocked Christmas promises mayhem – and a lifetime of breathtaking passion.

Wooing his vivacious lady, the new Earl of Channing finds himself embroiled with matchmaking villagers, an eccentric vicar, mistaken identities, a snowstorm, scandal, and a rascally donkey. Life at sea was never this exciting. The gallant naval captain’s first landlocked Christmas promises hijinks, danger, and passion – and a breathtaking chance to win the love of a lifetime.

A Pirate for Christmas is a romantic, fun, passionate Regency novella written by one of the genre's brightest stars. I smiled, I sighed and even giggled my way through this holiday tale and, as always, look forward to whatever it is Anna Campbell dreams up next!

Click here to purchase A Pirate for Christmas on Amazon

Kisses, She Wrote (Prince Catchers #1.5) by Katharine Ashe

“Let the fantasy begin.” 

Oh, how I love this story! And what a surprise, that, because I absolutely loathed Charles Camlann Westfall, the Earl of Bedwyr, in I Married the Duke and could not, for the life of me, understand how this vile man could be deserving of his own story. Well, I was wrong about him, and I am so glad I was!!

Blurb...

Handsome as sin and scandalously rakish, Cam Westfall, the Earl of Bedwyr, is every young lady's wickedest dream. Shy wallflower Princess Jacqueline of Sensaire knows this better than anyone, because her dreams are full of the breathtaking earl's kisses. And not only her dreams—her diary, too.

But when Cam discovers the maiden's not-so-maidenly diary, will her wildest Christmas wishes be fulfilled in its pages . . . or in his arms?

My thoughts...

I agree with other reviewers who said that this novella doesn't read like a novella. We had learned enough about both characters in I Married the Duke that the author didn't need to waste pages on their back-story and history. Instead, we get to dive right in to Cam and Jacqueline's tale and I loved every word of it.

Ms. Ashe really outdid herself with the beautiful prose and poetry. At the start I thought I'd be bored with it but, in truth, it took my breath away. This storytelling is sheer brilliance and I'm so very glad I didn't pass it over!

An ARC was provided by Avon Books. In appreciation I'm giving them an honest review.

I Married the Duke (Prince Catchers #1) by Katharine Ashe

There were moments I loved this story, and moments I wanted to scream because things were taking so long to work out, but all in all I Married the Duke is an entertaining tale!

Blurb...

Arabella Caulfield, one of three orphaned sisters, has clung to an ancient gypsy prophecy as the only way to save her family from endless heartbreak. Now she has twelve days to reach a remote French castle and fulfill her destiny: to marry a prince.

Along the way, Arabella meets Lucien Westfall, decorated naval captain and the new Duke of Lycombe. She thought he was a pirate. He thought she was a governess. Two wrongs have never made such a scandalously perfect right.

My thoughts...

It's interesting that as I read other reviews of this book, many people loved the beginning and hated the end, saying that things dragged. I feel just the opposite! The beginning drove me crazy with what felt like dialog that was forced and slow. That said, by the end of the story I was hooked and immediately started reading book #1.5, Kisses, She Wrote, which is fabulous!

I truly enjoyed the secondary cast, and some of my favorite scenes were those spent aboard merchant brigantine Retribution. Unique locales and quirky characters have made this a story I won't soon - if ever - forget!

The bottom line...

I highly recommend I Married the Duke to anyone who loves Regency era romance, but please don't be discouraged by the slow start. For while there, I had a tough time feeling much of anything except annoyance at Bella and Luc. But again, by the end of the story I was completely invested in them and fell in love with their much deserved happily ever after.

An ARC was generously provided by Avon Books. In appreciation I'm giving them an honest review.

The Way to a Duke's Heart by Caroline Linden

 

Charles de Lacey, Lord Gresham, is running out of time, running from his responsibilities, and running from love.

Destined to be a duke, Charles de Lacey has led a life of decadent pleasure, free of any care for propriety or responsibility. It comes as a terrible shock to learn that he might be stripped of everything, thanks to his father's scandalous past. He has no choice but to find the blackmailer who would ruin him—and his only link to the villain is a woman who may be part of the plot…

To save his fortune and title, he vows he'll stop at nothing—in fact, he's all too eager to unravel the beautiful, tart-tongued Tessa Neville. She intrigues him and tempts him like no other lady ever has. With only his heart to guide him, and keenly aware that his entire future is at stake, Charles must decide: is she the woman of his dreams, or an enemy in disguise.

**********

The Way to a Duke’s Heart is the final book in the The Truth About the Duke trilogy and a fun, charming story. Scandal, mystery, romance and blackmail make up this tale, and I enjoyed every minute of it! This is my first taste of Caroline Linden’s writing and a truly pleasant experience. The characters, their lives and circumstances, kept me invested and wanting to know more about them, especially the scandal surrounding Charles’ rightful – or not – claim to the Dukedom. 

And speaking of Charles, I found him to be clever, insightful, immensely charming, and most definitely sexy, too! But aside from all this, I think what I loved most about him were his insecurities and uncertainties because they made him an imperfect hero, one I wanted to bring home and love until he could see in himself the man that I saw in him! Charismatic, flawed, honorable and sexy... Charles is the kind of hero I love in my historical romance reads.

Tessa is a truly great heroine, one I felt connected to early on. Unconventional, independent, compassionate and loving, she might have been stubborn but she was never annoying – okay, maybe occasionally annoying, but nothing I couldn’t cope with! She felt deep love for her family, and shame for what she had put them through, and so she spent her life trying to prove herself and win back their respect. I loved this about her! She didn't whimper and whine about the things that had happened. There was no “Woe is me!” simpering. She knew what had to be done and then set about putting everything to rights, thus restoring her family’s faith in her! Though I have to say, I'm not entirely sure she had ever truly lost it.

In addition to the wonderful leading couple, there was an awesome supporting cast, but my favorite was Tessa’s clever, elderly companion, Eugenie, who stole the show a time or two.

Before closing, I want to reiterate - Although this is the third book of the trilogy, it really does work well as a standalone. Ms. Linden did a fabulous job giving us the back-story without it feeling forced or dictated. That said, I will most definitely be reading the prequel, I Love the Earl and the first two full length novels, One Night in London and Blame it on Bath, and look forward to reading more by this very talented author!

The bottom line: While there were areas the story lagged a bit, The way to a Duke's Heart is a brilliant work of twists and turns that never felt contrived or predictable. I’m very impressed that, although I hadn’t read the first two books, I never felt lost or as if I had missed something. The relationship and the romance built at a comfortable pace and I found myself cheering for Charles’ and Tessa’s happily ever after and when they reached it, knowing it was a love meant to be.

3.5/5 stars

My thanks to HarperCollins/Avon Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Tryst With Trouble by Alyssa Everett

Happy "It's About Bloody Time" Release Day!!

A Tryst with Trouble is finally being published! Seems Ms. Everett is another author who fell victim to the mess that is/was Dorchester Publishing and her book release was delayed...as in, it didn't happen. But I'm thrilled to share that Carina Press was smart enough to see it for the gem it is and now you all have the opportunity to do the same!

I'm wishing Ms. Everett much LONG OVERDUE success with this wonderful story.

My Review:

A Tryst With Trouble is a charming, funny, somewhat steamy Regency romance by debut author Alyssa Everett. The witty dialog and hilarious insights into the characters’ thoughts has made this one of the most delightful novels I’ve read in a long time.

The Marquess of Beningbrough, known as Ben to his friends and family, does not want to follow in his father’s footsteps… in fact, he wants to be as far removed from those footsteps as possible. The reason? Because of the gossip surrounding his father’s supposed homosexuality and Ben’s concern that others might think that his apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Ben’s solution? To become the ultimate man’s man so there can be no question about his own sexuality!

Lady Barbara Jeffords is the oldest daughter, and though she is not, by any stretch of the imagination ugly, she’s been passed over time and time again by suitors who favor her younger sister, Helen. Because of this, Barbara has decided that all men are shallow, arrogant and boorish, and that being single is a blessing rather than a curse.

Helen is betrothed to Teddy, Ben’s cousin, but rumor has it that Helen’s been trysting with the neighbor’s footman, and even though Teddy is ready to break off the engagement, when said footman turns up dead and it looks like Helen might be the culprit, Teddy jumps in to claim that he’s the killer in order to protect Helen.

With gossip, blackmail and murder threatening to see someone swinging from the hangman’s rope, Ben and Barbara, who are both certain that neither Teddy or Helen are guilty of the crime, work together to find out who did it and why, and this made for some great times!

Normally I have trouble with stories written in the first person, and when I realized that this was written in the first person, from two different points of view, I was a little skeptical about how it would turn out. The author did a great job of moving the story along, and even though we get both Barbara and Ben’s POV of a scene, it never felt repetitive or overdone. In fact, the POV changes gave us some of the funniest moments in the book.

The bottom line - Whew! Okay, as I said, A Tryst With Trouble is a simply delightful story filled with enough twists and turns to keep it light and highly entertaining. The most enjoyable parts of the story were those spent inside Ben and Barbara’s minds, and with their often self deprecating, laugh out loud funny banter! I’m so looking forward to reading more by this very talented author!