My Notorious Gentleman (Inferno Club #6) by Gaelen Foley

My Notorious Gentleman is book #6 in Gaelen Foley's Inferno Club series, a historical romance meets special ops meets small town life story. This installment has all the facets I love most in my escapism reading; humor, passion, romance, and a great storyline, all centered around my very favorite thing - a hero in need of love and the heroine who will stop at nothing to make him believe he's worthy of hers.

If you haven't experienced Ms. Foley's historical romances, you're missing out on some great reading.

Blurb...

Former spy and Inferno Club member Lord Trevor Montgomery is about to ace the greatest danger of all—marriage! Yes, he has every lady of the ton swooning, but he doesn’t have a jot of interest in any of them, except for shy, warm-hearted Miss Grace Kenwood—the parson’s daughter.

She could steal his heart—if he believed he still possessed one.

Note... I'd like to say this can be read as a standalone, but to really enjoy it, it's best read in order.

An ARC of this story was provided by Avon Books (a long time ago, and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read it) and to show my appreciation I'm giving them an honest review!

Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare

Some wallflowers bloom at night...

Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door.

Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet. His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her guard. He's wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.

Only Violet understands him. And she knows he's not what he seems.

She has one night to draw forth the secrets of this dangerously handsome rogue. Is he a smuggler? A fugitive? An enemy spy? She needs answers by sunrise, but her captive would rather seduce than confess. To learn his secrets, Violet must reveal hers and open herself to adventure, passion, and the unthinkable... Love.

Warning: The heroine packs a pistol, the hero curses in multiple languages, and together they steam up a cold winter s night.

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I'm keeping this review short and sweet, just like the book - Spindle Cove is a wonderful series, and this book is an absolute delight! Romantic, steamy, exciting and witty, a truly entertaining story!

Less Than a Gentleman by Kerrelyn Sparks

Playful, passionate, exciting… regardless of the genre, Kerrelyn Sparks sure can tell a story!

This is such a great historical romance! I love the Colonial America, Revolutionary War backdrop, and the mystery, the intrigue, the battles… everything about this drew me in and kept me turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning.

The story:

The British are gaining ground in South Carolina, and in their bloody attempt to win the war, burning everything in sight. Captain Matthais Murray Thomas is doing everything in his power to stop them, as well as protect the innocent colonists who find themselves at the mercy of the British. Clearly, Matthais has better things to worry about than taking a bride, much to his mother’s frustration, and since he won’t take the need to marry seriously, Jane does everything and anything she can to “help” him in along. And much to Matthais’s annoyance, she’s even stooped to inviting “suitable” women to stay at their plantation, and sleep in Matthais’s bed.


After the British burned down her home, Caroline Munro is a woman with a mission: get her very pregnant sister, and her niece and nephew to safety. Fortunately they find their way to the Loblolly Plantation where they have a safe place to rest awhile. Knowing that Captain Matthais Thomas was away fighting, Caroline didn’t think it was a problem to masquerade as his fiancée, but when Matthais arrives home unexpectedly and realizes that Caroline is not the woman she claims to be, he makes it his mission to learn all he can about this imposter while hiding his own identity from her.

My thoughts:

Kerrelyn Sparks writes exciting, funny, sexy, paranormal romances with her Love at Stake vampire series, and I’m here to tell you that this non-paranormal historical romance is just as exciting, just as funny, and just as sexy! And when I say funny, I mean I snickered, giggled, and even laughed out loud at some of the banter between characters. Matthais’s growing frustration with Caroline’s supposed deceptions and innocent double entendre references to “A small knob? A tiny twig, a wee button, a small prick?” made for some seriously funny reading.

But best of all? With Less Than a Gentleman, Ms. Sparks has proven herself to be one of the rare historical romance authors who can write outside of the same-old, same-old genre offerings - and do it well! There are others in this book who need their stories told, and I hope Ms. Sparks gives them their chance to speak, too. That would make me a very happy lady!

Note: I was excited to learn that this is the sequel to The Forbidden Lady, originally published as For Love or Country. As soon as I found that out, I bought it. That's how much I enjoyed Less Than a Gentleman!

My thanks to Avon Books and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of this truly awesome story!

My Scandalous Viscount by Gaelen Foley

Sebastian, Viscount Beauchamp, lives by a code of honor, and now honor dictates he must marry Miss Carissa Portland. He has no regrets over stealing a kiss from the adorable little busybody--a fitting punishment for putting her delectable nose where it didn't belong. But now, caught in a compromising situation, he knows he must make her his bride. He's faced danger before--but nothing like this!

Carissa is not a gossip--she's a "lady of information." And all she was trying to do was warn the rakehell Beauchamp away from an irate husband. But even she can't flaunt Society, and while her head tells her that Beau's a notorious scoundrel, her heart--and her body--are captivated by his dangerous charm. But when Carissa next goes snooping, the secrets she uncovers about the Inferno Club may prove even more hazardous than falling in love with her own husband.

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My Scandalous Viscount is the fifth book in the very popular The Inferno Club series, and true to form, Gaelen Foley has penned a romantic, sexy, exciting tale that kept me up far too late into the night, unable to put it down!

If you’re a fan of historical romance, as I am, then you’ve probably already had the pleasure of reading the written art of Gaelen Foley. You know what I mean when I say that her stories have a level of substance to them that is often lacking in this genre. That’s not to say that they’re heavy, or angsty beyond bearing, but the characters aren’t just words on the page. They become living and breathing people – people I want to know better. I want to know what compels them to do the things they do, their thoughts, their actions - and Ms. Foley gives me that, and more.

I have to admit, I'm a hero driven reader, and Sebastian, Viscount Beauchamp, is my kind of hero! Sexy, exciting, witty, and with a sense of vulnerability about him that makes me want to steal him away and keep him for my very own. I often feel sorry for the heroines of any book I read, because I tend to make them work harder for my affection than I do the hero. That said, Carissa, while there were moments I wanted to throttle her, turned out to be a wonderful heroine, the kind of woman I would want for Sebastian’s happily ever after - if I can't have him for myself, that is.

The bottom line: My Scandalous Viscount has everything I love in my historical romance reads; excitement, intrigue, romance, passion, humor, and most of all, amazing characters whose lives and loves, and whose trials and triumphs keep me completely invested and coming back for more!

My thanks to Avon Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. What a pleasure it’s been!

Agent of Desire by Charlie Evans

 

Adrenaline junkie Jessica Booker joined the CIA to take on bad guys and flirt with danger. And with perks like sleeping with hot foreign men added into the mix, well…it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Now in Paris, she’s about to take on her second assignment as an official agent but is caught off guard when her new partner turns out to be Sims, a sexy CIA instructor. Sims was hard enough to resist in the classroom—in the field, he's a dangerous distraction. To make matters worse, Jessica’s target is a gorgeous Frenchman who manages to put her in the most compromising positions—positions she doesn’t altogether mind.

With rogue agents, classified secrets, and tempting men at every turn, this mission will prove to be the first real test of her skills, both in and out of the bedroom.

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Agent of Desire is Charlie Evans’ debut novel, as well as the first book in her Jessica Booker series. It’s a fast paced, entertaining, and sexy story.

This is told in the first person, from Jessica’s POV. There are a lot of things I liked about this book, including the way it unfolds, and all the twists and turns that kept me trying to figure out who the bad guys really are. It's nice to get this kind of story in which the heroine is the lead, and to see what is normally a man's world from a woman's perspective.

Another thing I really like about it is the heroine. Jessica is a strong, intelligent woman, though she does make some mistakes – trusting the wrong people, to start with – but still in all, a great heroine. She’s got an attitude that screams “don’t fuck with me” but she knows when she messes up and isn’t afraid to admit it. Not all heroines are as honest with themselves as Jessica is.

It's not always easy to tell a story in first person POV and still be able to get inside the hearts and minds of all the characters involved and, I'm sorry to say, that's something I missed in this story. As much as I enjoyed Jessica, I didn’t feel the connection – the draw – between her and the other players.

The hard thing about telling a tale from this point of view is that we're only going to get what the narrator (Jessica) gives us, and I really do think that’s where my inability to connect to anyone but her stems from. We got plenty of what's going on inside her, but not enough of what the others are feeling. In my opinion, with this being an erotic story, the sex scenes would have felt sexier had I gotten more of a reader/character connection.

The bottom line: Ms. Evans is definitely a talented writer and I enjoyed this world she's created. Agent of Desire is an impressive debut novel and start to the Jessica Booker series.

My thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.