December 21, 2017

No Earls Allowed by Shana Galen

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Series: The Survivors #2

Publication Date: March 6, 2018

It is a truth universally acknowledged
that a lady can do anything a man can do:
backwards and in high-heeled dancing slippers.

Lady Juliana, daughter of the Earl of St. Maur, needs all the help she can get. She’s running a ramshackle orphanage, London’s worst slumlord has illicit designs on her, and her father has suddenly become determined to marry her off.

Enter Major Neil Wraxall, bastard son of the Marquess of Kensington, sent to assist Lady Juliana in any way he can. Lucky for her, he’s handy with repairs, knows how to keep her and the orphans safe, and is a natural leader of men.

Unfortunately for both of them, the scandal that ensues from their mutual attraction is going to lead them a merry dance…

I love the hero! Neil, any woman who doesn’t fall in love with him, needs therapy! He is struggling with PTSD, after suicide missions during the Napoleonic War. He is the illegitimate son of a Marquess, acknowledged, but not loved. His father hands him jobs go to, being a soldier, he carries his missions out! His father, and the Earl of St. Maur , very close friends, have a new mission for him, bring the Earl’s daughter home! The biggest problem is, she is totally an Earl’s daughter! She is running an Orphanage, not helping, running it, daily, she spends nights there, in Spitalfields, the very dangerous part of London. Neil figures this will take one afternoon, gather her up, take her home. He did not count on a house full of little boys, roof leaking all over the place, general chaos. Nor, did he count on meeting the most beautiful woman, that he had ever seen! Love the story, love the children, love his witty friends! I love what one of them said, “The two of them together, were too pretty go look at”! Love that!
I highly recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!

February 11, 2018

To Love a Scandalous Duke by Liana De la Rosa

My Review: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Series: Once Upon a Scandal

Publication Date: September 25, 2017

November 30, 2017

Captivated at Christmas: Holiday Tales with Earls, Lords, and Charming Scots by Julie Johnstone

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Publication Date: November 27, 2017

Give yourself the gift of romance this holiday season, brought to you by USA Today bestselling author Julie Johnstone. Enter the glittering, glamorous, and sometimes treacherous world of Regency England, where true love awaits in the arms of an honorable Scot, a dashing earl, and a roguish baron. Put on your slippers and become the bold heroine with the spirit and the heart to capture her Prince Charming and receive the Christmas kiss she deserves!

CHRISTMAS IN THE SCOT’S ARMS

Laird Liam MacLeod wishes to marry for love, but scheming lasses are making it hard to do so. Given the opportunity to escape to London for the holidays, Liam takes it with a halfhearted hope that perhaps English ladies will be different. But the calculating debutantes leave him with little faith—until he meets Cecelia. She’s beautiful, witty, and knows nothing about his fortune. With a tattered reputation and a duty to marry well to save her family from ruin, Cecelia cannot pursue the longings the honorable, handsome Scott awakens in her. But Liam is more tempting than she could ever imagine, and when presented the opportunity to marry a duke who could save her family or the laird she now loves, Cecelia decides to follow her heart instead of her head. That is, before Liam reveals a secret that may well prove charming Scots are the most dangerous rogues of them all.

THE REDEMPTION OF A DISSOLUTE EARL

The Earl of Hardwick lost his soul and his heart the day he chose his fortune over the woman he loved. Charlotte Milne trusted in happily ever after until her knight turned out to be wearing rusty armor. Separated by disloyalty and pain, each of them struggle to bury the memories of the other. But then a mandatory summons from the Duke of Danby sets them on a path of collision at Danby Castle. With the tides of irrevocable change rising, Drew must find a way to show Charlotte that even the most selfish of rakes can be redeemed by love, and he must do it before the woman of his heart becomes the wife of another.

SEASON FOR SURRENDER

Lillian Lancaster would rather catch the plague than a husband. Unfortunately, her inheritance hinges upon her marrying a lord. Commanded by his grandfather to immediately marry or become penniless, the marriage-adverse Lord Edgeworth decides the perfect choice would be a woman who wants nothing to do with him. What starts as a marriage of convenience becomes quite alarmingly inconvenient when desire flames and dangles the promise of something more than either dared to imagine. Now, Lillian and Edgeworth must decide if they are courageous enough to risk their hearts and surrender to love.

So light a fire, snuggle in with a cup of chocolate or tea, and let the magic of these three stories cast a holiday spell upon you!

Christmas in a Scot’s Arms
The talented Julie Johnstone takes her Medieval series (Highlander Vows: Entangled Hearts) and brings it forward to the year 1815.
Liam MacLeod, descendant of Iain and Marion MacLeod, is now Laird and visiting London to meet with his sister’s intended when he comes to the rescue of Miss Cecelia Cartwright.
Miss Cecelia Cartwright has the misfortune of ruined reputation, a father who put the family in financial ruin and a mother who demands Cecelia must marry for money. Which makes her encounter with the impoverished Laird Liam MacLeod hard to bear as she is fascinated by the Scotsman.
Ms. Johnstone does a remarkable job giving us a glimpse into the future for descendants from her amazing Highlander Vows series!

Remaining reviews to follow

Check out this book on Goodreads: The Forsyte Saga (The Forsyte Chronicles, #1-3) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/103159.The_Forsyte_Saga

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Pearls

The three novels which make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family between 1886 and 1920. Galsworthy’s masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women. This is the only critical edition of the work available, with Notes that explain contemporary artistic and literary allusions and define the slang of the time.

The End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Publication Date: March 23, 2013

After years in the United States, Jane returns to the tranquil Scottish estate, Elvie, where she’d spent a magical childhood. Memories of Elvie have always summoned the image of Sinclair, the rakish man she had once dreamed of marrying, but now that she is home, she finds Sinclair a different man. His charm has a purpose, and Jane can no longer trust him or herself.

I highly recommend everything Rosamund Pilcher has ever written. She will become a Modern Day Georgette Heyer.
I recommend all of her books! You must Read September, and Coming Home! Awesome Books, that you will never forget!
Thanks! Enjoy!

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

My Review: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Publication Date: May 30, 1996

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centres on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new step-sister enters Molly’s quiet life – loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.

Wives and Daughters is far more than a nostalgic evocation of village life; it offers an ironic critique of mid-Victorian society. ‘No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority’, writes Pam Morris in her introduction to this new edition, in which she explores the novel’s main themes – the role of women, Darwinism and the concept of Englishness – and its literary and social context.

This is a true Classic, the movie is also a Must See, with a young Keeley Hawes! Awesome!

The Rake by Suzanne Enoch

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Pearls

Series: Lessons in Love #1

Publication Date: June 4, 2002

Three determined young ladies vow to give three of London’s worst rakes their comeuppance ― but when these rogues turn the tables, who truly learns a lesson in love?

Once upon a time, the notorious Viscount Dare charmed Lady Georgiana Halley out of her innocence ― to win a wager, no less! ― and now he must pay dearly. The plan is simple: She will use every seductive wile she knows to win Dare’s heart…and then break it. But his smoldering gaze once again tempts Georgiana to give in to desire ― and when he astonishes her with a marriage proposal, she wonders: Is he playing yet another game…or could it truly be love this time?

The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Publication Date: July 8, 1997

At his death in 1547, King Henry VIII left four heirs to the English throne: his only son, the nine-year-old Prince Edward; the Lady Mary, the adult daughter of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon; the Lady Elizabeth, the daughter of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and his young great-niece, the Lady Jane Grey. These are the players in a royal drama that ultimate led to Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne–one of the most spectacularly successful reigns in English history.

Must Read! How sisters could turn on each other, with a father, as brutal as Henry the VIII, it’s no wonder they turned out, as driven as they were, to hold on to The Throne of England!
I highly Recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!

Exodus by Leon Uris

My Review: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Publication Date: October 1, 1983

Exodus is an international publishing phenomenon–the towering novel of the twentieth century’s most dramatic geopolitical event. Leon Uris magnificently portrays the birth of a new nation in the midst of enemies–the beginning of an earthshaking struggle for power. Here is the tale that swept the world with its fury: the story of an American nurse, an Israeli freedom fighter caught up in a glorious, heartbreaking, triumphant era.

Another Classic! An Absolutely Must Read! I highly Recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!

The Dangerous Gentleman by Julia London

My Review: 5 out of 5 Pearls

Series: Rogues of Regent Street #1

Publication Date: January 16, 2009

It was strictly business as Adrian Spence claimed the woman his brother desired. A hasty wedding, and Lilliana Dashell was his—sweet revenge on the father who disinherited him and the brother who let it happen. Their wedding night is a revelation as passionate, innocent Lilliana ignites fires Adrian tries desperately to deny. By day he is a stranger. By night he is the lover of her dreams, and she a shameless wanton in his arms. But Adrian is determined that no woman will ever possess him. And Lilliana knows that her only hope of taming this very dangerous gentleman is to unlock his deepest mysteries and open his shuttered heart to love….

This is an Awesome series! I highly recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!