Secrets of a Wedding Night by Valerie Bowman

This was a very engaging, delightful debut!  Five years ago Lily and Devon fell in love and were determined to be together until Lily believed Devon left her and, in turn, Devon thought Lily left him for a wealthy earl and had led him on a merry chase.  Now widowed and penniless, Lily sees an announcement for Devon and his newly betrothed wealthy heiress, Lily decides to pen a scandalous pamphlet that scares off Devon's fiancee. Knowing Lily is behind this act, Devon confronts her and tells her he will show her a true wedding night, as surely her husband failed.  However, Lily is hiding a little secret and she is determined to resist Devon...or maybe she should seduce him?  What follows is a sexy battle of wills that keeps getting wrenches thrown into it--a bet, Lily's sister, Devon's gambling and the refusal of either party to tell the truth of their current situations and their shared past.

Valerie Bowman is now on my auto-buy list with this debut and I am already anxious for the next two books which will feature her sister and then the man who becomes her dear friend (he is very proper and I can't wait to see him fall).   The main reason I don't bump this up to a five star read is the fact Lily and Devon just can not talk to each other.  It is always frustrating to me as a reader when the couple don't just clear the air and move on, yet I know for the story it needed to be held in for quite some time so its a hard balance.  Lily is smart, protective, kind, loyal and has some spunk that flairs up after being called predictable.  Devon is sexy (yum), confident, strong and stubborn and together they make a very sexy, fun couple.  I did find it a bit odd that we did not see anything that was written in the pamphlet.  Usually when a scandalous bit of gossip is written, we as the reader get to see some of that but it wasn't a big deal, just different :)  So while parts of the story frustrated me just a tad, the writing and pacing was excellent.  I loved all the characters and I am looking forward to catching up with them again.  I loved the chemistry between Lily and Devon and Devon certainly delivers on his promise about showing Lily a proper wedding night!   Overall, a splendid debut full of wit, emotion, heat and love.  4 1/2 stars

Secret Brides series
March 26th, 2013 (Lily's sister and Devon's best friend)
Secrets of a Scandalous Marriage Late 2013