~~Lily Wellstone is the type of friend we all love to have--kind, generous and loving. She arrives at her friend Eugenia's home to help her overcome the loss of her husband and is able to draw Eugenia out of her sadness and start to smile and live again. While doing this, Lily attracts the attention of Ginnys brother, Mountjoy, but as Lily believes she lost her one true love in the war, she thinks she will never love again but is tempted enough to start a hot (!!) affair.
~~The Duke of Mountjoy never expected to be a duke, he was just a farmer raised with his brother and sister by his aunt and uncle until a long lost lineage line gave him the dukedom. He has grown as comfortable with his new life as he can and it shows in his dedication to making the land and tenants happy and prosperous but it has short sighted him a bit to his sister's grief and more of what society expects out of a duke. The arrival of Lily opens his eyes--and heart--to his surroundings and helps him get a closer bond with his sister. Mountjoy is practically engaged to a neighboring woman and knows it is his duty to marry Miss Jane but he just can't get the alluring Lily out of his mind. He believes a quick affair before he proposes will cure his lust.
~~The attention to detail of the fashion in this book was wonderful! Lily is a fashion plate and takes great care and pleasure in making sure she is exquisitely dressed for each occasion and I loved how Ms Jewel wrote out all the delicious details. I adored how Lily was just flabbergasted that Mountjoy had no qualms about looking anything less than perfect. Mountjoy dresses for comfort, not fashion and it shakes all of Lily's sensibilities and it was a delight to see Mountjoy slowly come around on his thinking of tailoring and clothing choices. Perhaps being fashionably presentable as a duke isn't such a bad thing after all?
This was my first Carolyn Jewel book and what drew me to want to read this book was the stunning cover and having read the book now, I appreciate the detail of the cover so much more but I also loved the story. The beginning started out a bit slow but once it got going for me, it was wonderful! The dialogue between Lily and Mountjoy was stiff and proper when around family but when they were alone...phew, smokin! I adored, absolutely adored, how Mountjoy grows to call Lily Wellstone. That is just so sweet and personal to me. Oh, and the ending. Sigh. You can feel the love between Lily and Mountjoy and the last chapter left me with a huge smile and happy sigh so big that I immediately read it again. Romantic to a T. Overall, a entrancing romance that will leave you happily satisfied and looking forward to the next story in the series! I know I can't wait for it! 4 stars
I won an arc of this book from Carolyn Jewel, thanks!!
Seducing the Scoundrels
Not Proper Enough Sept 2012
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