The Rake's Inherited Courtesan: A Scandalous Bequest: Ann Lethbridge

"HIS OUTRAGEOUS MISTRESS..

"Daughter of a Parisian courtesan, Sylvia Boisette longs for respectability, though gossips say she is nothing more than a gentleman's paramour.  Now, with her guardian dead, she finds herself in a shocking situation...

"Christopher Everden is appalled by his uncle's will--Madamoiselle Boisette is now his courtesan!  Although his body responds to Sylvia's tempting sensuality, he knows he should rid himself of his disreputable charge.  But, surprisingly, Sylvia has a vulnerability to match her exceptional beauty.  Perhaps his inherited mistress could become his rightful bride!"

The title to this book does not do it justice.  As the saying goes, I caution you to not judge this book by its cover (or title); there is far more to this story than meets the eye and I was certainly pleasantly surprised.

Readers immediately encounter young Sylvia at the reading of the will of her former protector and guardian.  Everyone else in attendance seems to presume the rumors to be true:  Mr. John Everden took a very much younger Parisian woman as his mistress, installed her in his household...and then willed her to his youngest nephew.  Sylvia had been well cared for under Mr. Everden's care for many years and she had been led to believe that now she would make her own way in the world.  That is, until the will reveals that her care -- and what little money she is to receive -- lies in the hand's of Mr. Everden's nephew, Christopher.  He is, perhaps, even less excited about the situation than she.  Surely his uncle had been addled!  How dare he insist upon such a scandalous arrangement?  Wasn't it bad enough that he'd been dragging the Everden name through the mud housing this young courtesan for so many years, now he had to saddle Christopher with her and charge him with her care?  Unfortunately for Christopher, he cannot find a way out of the arrangement.  Every chance he has to try to rid himself of Miss Boisette runs aground.  Then again...the more time he spends in his presence, the less sure he is that he really wants to be rid of her forever...  Their journey takes them across England, through London, and even back across the Channel to the place of Sylvia's birth.  Christopher learns there is far more to Sylvia than he'd first been led to believe and he comes to realize that Sylvia is far more innocent than the first impression she'd presented.  Meanwhile, Christopher teaches Sylvia that she is worthy of respect and trust and, just maybe, even love.  But, with a dark and tragic past such as her own, how can Sylvia possibly allow a good and honorable man such a Christopher to lower himself to include her in his life?  Surely she will never be accepted and she cannot allow his sterling reputation to suffer.  Unfortunately for the two of them, there may not be time for them to sort through their complex attraction.  There is an unknown evil lurking in the shadows, stalking Miss Boisette everywhere she goes.  A very powerful man wants Sylvia to disappear from English shores, even if that means locking her away in France and immersing her in the hellish life she'd once escaped long ago.

Sylvia was an intelligent female lead.  She was immensely brave, quick-witted, and eloquent.  I enjoyed the realism of her unwillingness to let just anyone into her life, especially given the sad circumstances of her upbringing.  She rode the fine line between looking out for herself (as one would expect from a woman who grew up as she did) and being selfless for those she loved.  She, however, also recognized that there were certain things she could not change about herself and certain things which would never be accepted.  She'd learned how to play to some of those assumptions (as evidenced in her first private meeting with Christopher), and also how to recognize when she was in over her head.  This came into play in her relationship with Christopher on numerous occasions and I found it all endearing and excellent characterization.

Christopher as a male lead was wonderful.  He was kind and caring, but not overly soft; and I definitely appreciated that his backstory made sense as far as this aspect of his personality.  He was also strong, brave, intelligent, and had strong morals...and more than a bit handsome if we go off of Sylvia's impressions of him.  What more could a girl want?!  He will go to any lengths to protect his family and those he loves -- even if that means crossing the Channel in pursuit of a certain kidnapped French girl and going undercover to retrieve her from the clutches of a ruthless Madame.  Christopher knows that Sylvia will never be safe until the discover who is behind all of this...and the answer to that question could very well turn Sylvia's whole world upside down.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  The first few chapters started off a little bit slowly.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I think I placed a lot on what conclusions I was going to come to once I saw more of Sylvia.  Exactly how archetypal would she be?  A reformed fallen angel?  A misunderstood courtesan?  Something else entirely?  Thank goodness she was the latter because I don't think I would have enjoyed this book nearly as much.  I found the spark between Sylvia and Christopher to be excellent. It didn't drive the entire plot (which was nice and seemed to stay true to both of their personal motivations and personalities), but was a satisfying undercurrent of dare-we-act-dare-we-not.  Once the passion and desire between the two of them finally comes to a head, I must say that their chemistry was delightful.  I very much enjoyed Lethbridge's writing.  Do note that she is an English writer, so some of the words and formatting are decidedly "unAmerican."  I found that I didn't mind this, though, and it was actually easier to believe the characters to be English because of this.  I thought her sense of place was lovely.  It drew me into the story and I was utterly absorbed in the scenes.  This book truly turned out to be a gem on my shelves and I absolutely look forward to reading more of Lethbridge in the future.

Viking Warrior: Connie Mason

 

"He would never forgive

"After a brutal attack on his farmstead, Wulfric the Ruthless had sworn vengeance on the Danish raiders for killing his young wife.  But when he laid eyes on Reyna the Dane, all he could see was a woman of extraordinary beauty, with flowing hair the color of moonlight and a body and Valkyrie would envy.  She was his thrall, gifted to him by his brother to warm his bed.  Could this beautiful healer also was the fire burning in his heart?

"She would never forget

"Stolen from her home by wild Norsemen, Reyna would always remember the face of the barbarian who'd destroyed her life.  When she first caught sight of her new master, she thought he was the very man he'd vowed to hate forever.  But Wolf's golden body and seductive kisses awoke very different feelings within her.  As one deliciously long Northern night blended into another, she realized he was no longer her enemy but her beloved..."

I used to adore Connie Mason.  My shelves are filled with her books since she's such a prolific writer.  This is the first one of her books I've read in quite some time...and I hate to admit that I was not over-the-moon about this book...

To begin, I felt like we came into the book after a lot of things had already happened which would have helped further the characterization.  Don't get me wrong; I fully understand that a great deal DID happen before this book began.  What I mean is I always felt like something was missing -- as if we lacked some information or set up to fully comprehend motivations or personality quirks.  I don't know how else to explain it other than I felt like something was not there and I felt like it should have been; like we were expected to understand certain things about the characters, but couldn't because the book had just begun.  The characters did develop and we learned more as the story went on, of course, but they were more so developed on the surface rather than with deeply-individual personality traits.  There wasn't all that much that was special about them.  Wulf was a stereotypical viking.  Reyna was a free woman-turned-slave at the hands of the man who had helped overrun her village in a blind act of rage and vengeance.  Her one unique trait was her healing knowledge.  We didn't learn much more about their characters:  they had no likes or dislikes, no defining characteristics which would set them apart in my mind from any other characters in a romance novel set in this time and place.  I longed for more!  I wanted to love them.  I wanted to be enthralled with their chemistry and their spark.  I just wasn't.  There was so little beyond their physical attraction (which felt extremely abrupt on Wulf's part, in my opinion) that it felt lacking.  Sure, each character had some admirable characteristics, but nothing above and beyond what one would expect in order to make a character simply "likable."  There was little to endear them to me.

I looked forward to a great deal of character development.  How would Reyna overcome her fear of males after her abuse and her hatred of the man whom she viewed as the cause of all her pain?  How would Wulf balance his attraction to Reyna as his thrall and the knowledge that she was still, above all, a Dane -- the breed he'd sworn to hate after the vicious attack and murder of his wife and unborn child?  It would seem that physical attraction can override a lot of deep, terrible emotions...  Granted, Wulf helped to clear up some misunderstandings with Reyna, but I didn't see why his sins should be absolved so cleanly.  I think all of this goes back to the lack of character development.  I believe it may have been sacrificed for sheer quantity of intimate scenes.  There were so many that I started to lose interest ("Oh, there they go again...").  Not to mention, they all became rather repetitive -- so much so that I was practically begging Wulf to show of some different moves!  (That last one is probably a really petty observation from my own personal tastes, but it is what it is.)

Perhaps one of the biggest issues I took wit this book was the language.  The use of modern turns of phrase and slang were numerous and jarring.  They truly ripped me out of losing myself in the book and caused me to struggle with suspending my belief.  Using "'tis" over and over again is all fine and well until you try juxtapose it to something like "adding spice to your life," or some other such phrase.

The book had a great deal of potential and I went into it with such high hopes.  All of my past reviews of Connie Mason were simply glowing (other than my observation that she seems to have found a good formula for a romance novel and tends to use it over and over again).  I was so hoping this one would be counted amongst one of the better ones.  Alas, it was not to be.  I found the characters flat and the plot a bit drawn out.  I thought some of the setting descriptions were well done and transported me into the scenes quite well.  Other than that, I do not believe I will be rereading this one again and it has already been stacked on my "to be donated" pile.

Lady Midnight: Amanda McCabe

"A courtesan in training

"Everyone that Katerina held tea has perished in a tempest off the coast of Italy.  With not a penny to her name, the once-moneyed Venetian lady knows she must travel far to forge a new life.  No one would ever accept her if they learned that her mother was Lucrezia Bruni, the infamous courtesan breeding young Katerina to fill her shoes someday....

"A governess in hiding

"Still mourning his late wife, Michael Lindley knows life must go on--and that his little sister and daughter need a woman's nurturing.  When a dark-eyed beauty alights on his doorstep claiming to be a widowed governess, Michael feels a fire rekindled in him that he thought had been snuffed out long ago.  And in Katerina, who thought her capacity to love had gone down with the ship, there flares a yearning that only Michael can subdue.

"A woman in danger--and in love...

"But as they give in to the desire that knows no words, a stealthy enemy plots his revenge--and their newborn passion must undergo  the ultimate test...."

I decided to test the waters with a new author from my shelves upon shelves of unread reading material.  This one is a standalone novel (according to FantasticFiction.com) and it seemed like a very good place to start.

The overall premise of the plot was interesting.  Having an foreign character attempting to hide her past and insinuate herself amongst a well-off English family as set starts a new life for herself was a captivating idea.  It brought some variety to a genre which so often remains relatively similar, despite characters having vastly different personalities.  I think Katerina's background brought an excellent facet to her character and created some interesting internal dialogue.  I also feel the way in which she was written felt very realistic (i.e. how she struggled with intimacy and confused/ resisted her emotions toward men) given her upbringing.  Her connections to Michael's daughter and sister felt so genuine and warm.  I liked how she had to figure out her role as governess along the way, as well as how she had to form her new persona.  The struggles she overcame during her adaptation felt realistic and certainly added to her character (and the shine I took to her).

Michael's own past was rather well-crafted as well.  The tragic loss of his wife and his physical/emotional scars served to create a powerful male lead with a strong sense of self and good motivation to remain on the straight and narrow.  His family is his world and the comfortable household he's formed create a sort of bubble away from the temptations of his former life.  He's essentially created a haven for his family...but something is missing.  That something turns out to be a beautiful, mysterious Italian governess.  While "Kate Brown" seems to be everything his family needs, he can't help but believe there is something far more to this lovely young woman; he sees it in her unconsciously-sensual movements and her carefully crafted backstory.  Despite his belief that there is more to her story than meets the eye, Michael finds himself enticed by Kate's dark beauty and penchant for fantasy.

The sensual heat and tension between the leads is quite enjoyable!  Both are torn between their respective difficult pasts and the enticements of the present.  When they finally decide to act upon their simmering desires, a whole new world if possibilities is opened up to them.  The lines between employer and governess become blurred and Kate realizes that she would do absolutely anything to keep Michael and his family in her new life.

Unfortunately for Kate, her past is not as dead and buried as she'd believed.  A specter comes to haunt her and puts at risk everything for which she's worked so hard.  Does she tell Michael her deepest secrets or risk them coming to light on their own?  Will he cast her out and destroy any chance of love and a new life?  Will her past drag her back to the life of charades and false pretenses, forcing her to bury the spark of self-awareness and individuality she's come to cultivate during her precious time on the untamed moors?

I found the plot very interesting and fairly well-paced.  I might take away a few points because there was a bit of a drag during some of the midway points of the story where the plot slowed a touch, but it was nothing terrible.  The characters were likable and interesting because each had his or her own obstacles to overcome above and beyond the typical "falling for an unsuitable man/woman and resisting it."  I will say that I wanted a bit more romance once Kate and Michael decided to act upon their affections.  There was so much build up with the heat between them that I wanted more.  The supporting characters were drawn in very interesting forms as well.  Christina, in particular, was quite fascinating.  She seemed to really come into her own toward the end of the book and it made me wonder if, in fact, this is not a standalone novel and Christina might possibly have her own story.  I would definitely read it!

Fire Song: Catherine Archer

"The Wrong Bride

"To the dashing Roland St. Sebastian, a king-decreed marriage to the biddable daughter of his enemy was bad enough...but when the blushing bride turned out to be her spitfire sister, Meredyth, Roland's wrath was boundless.  And though the redheaded vixen's kisses drove him nearly mad with yearning, he wondered if he would ever learn to tryst her--or if he was destined to live a life of loneliness with the woman he loved."

Hello and Happy New Year!  I'm starting off 2021 with a period romance novel review.  Catherine Archer was a new author for me (another book pulled from my overflowing collection of unread books), so I was looking forward to trying something new after working my way through several Amanda Quick novels.  I have often struggled with period romances set so far back in time (1200s, to be exact), probably because I know for a fact how damn hard life was for them.  Knights in shining armor and castles and Crusades all sound glamorous, but life was horrible for most; even many of the better-off lived in questionable conditions (to say nothing of the hygiene).  I know I'm reading far too much into this time period, but I can't help it.  Coupled with all of this, the mentalities were so vastly different from what we know.  The men in these types of books are often rough and a bit too domineering for my tastes.  They lack a sense of respect for the female leads and, in turn, the female leads have to be overwhelmingly headstrong and outspoken in order to make dent in the mentalities of the times.  This can sometimes be a bit too much for me.  Archer managed to dance along this line fairly well and better than some other authors I've read with books set in this time and place.  Roland was intriguing and attractive.  I found his personality to be strong, but not abusive toward Meredyth, despite his distaste for women after what his mother had put his family through.  He knew his role in the world and his marriage; he wasn't afraid to exercise his power, but he stopped just short of becoming and overbearing brute a time or two.  Had he stepped over that line, however, I probably wouldn't have cared for him.  Meredyth went back and forth from being the selfless, soft woman born to help others, to a sharp-tongued shrew who was far too headstrong for her own good.  She had quite a few redeeming qualities and I found a great amount of sympathy for her because of her backstory, but she frustrated me on many occasions.  I found her to be a tad too strong willed for a woman of her position.  She had been raised to care for her family's household and to put her sister first, caring for her above all others because Celeste was seen as more "delicate" by their father.  A woman who was so used to being in her sister's shadow and working (unappreciated) on things behind the scenes would surely not have been so forward with Roland.  Of course, this is all personal opinion and many may not agree with my assessment.  I just found the duality of her personality to be a bit too contrary.

Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of the plot.  Celeste is ordered by the king to wed Roland in an effort to stop the feuding of their families once and for all.  In a desperate move, Meredyth disguises herself and is wed to Roland in Celeste's place.  Upon realizing that he has ben tricked, of course, Roland is incensed and believes it to be a final trick played upon him by his old enemy, Meredyth and Celeste's father.  He finds out that the women were the masterminds and he decides he has no choice to honor his marriage to Meredyth and they must begin their lives as man and wife.  Poor Meredyth realizes she's gotten in far over her head with this latest attempt to help Celeste.  No sooner does she realize the gravity of the situation then she's swept away from the only home she has ever known and thrust into Roland's own unruly household filled with staff and villagers who have nothing but animosity for her family.  Not only this, but she must grapple with a new husband who did not choose her, who has a mighty distrust for women, and who butts heads with her attitude.  I did like the chemistry between Roland and Meredyth.  They had a nice spark and the tension between them seemed palpable.  However.  I found the "romance" to be a bit lacking in variation.  I don't know if it's because this book is "older" (as in, I read the 10th Anniversary print and the copyright date is 1998...) or if it's a style choice, but it was all a bit more tame and each scene felt like a rewrite of the same thing over and over again.  (Probably WAY too much TMI, but does Roland not know any other way to pleasure a woman than to touch her breasts and use his "member"?!?  I feel like I need to refer him to Monica from "Friends" -- my apologies if you don't get the reference, but I promise it's a good one.)

I will say another area in which I struggled a bit was the inner dialogue.  Almost the entire book seemed to take place in Roland's and Meredyth's minds!  There was a remarkable lack of actual dialogue.  I think this made it feel like the story dragged on far longer than it needed to.  Since so much took place within their minds, there was very little action for a majority of the story.  I think this is part of the reason that the last few chapters felt a bit rushed.  There was so much build up with their respective inner musings and indecision that everything moved so very quickly once actual action occurred.  The conclusion of the book was a bit too "Brady Bunch" for me.  I like a satisfying ending; and this doesn't mean it has to be all happiness and rainbows.  It was tied up a bit too neatly for my tastes and it felt a bit sudden.  There wasn't even an epilogue where we were given a taste of what life was like after the conflict resolution.  I think the addition of an epilogue might have made me a bit happier in this particular instance just because it all ended up feeling so rushed.

I will say that this was an easy, quick read.  I liked reading a new author and I liked this one better than others set in 1200s England.  There were some imperfections and some things fell a bit short, but I didn't dislike the book.  I'm tempted to read more by Catherine Archer in the future.