Pride & Passion by Charlotte Featherstone

Lucy Ashton has basically brought herself up after her mildly selfish parents only paid her some attention when it was beneficial to them.  Now with her mother gone and having been all but ignored by her father, she is loathe to accept his decision that she marry Adrian, the stuffy Duke of Sussex.  Lucy has been brought up to know her duty but she just can not bear it to be to Sussex.  After basically telling her he would curb her impulsive, bold nature she dislikes him even more.  But the final straw comes when Sussex hands Lucy a handkerchief, a handkerchief that came from the man Lucy loves and is part of her shameful secret, a man that killed another in front of Sussex and is an enemy of the Brethren Guardians.  Lucy refuses to believe that Thomas would kill anyone and be an enemy to Sussex and his two friends, who are the Brethren Guardians and trusted with keeping an evil from surfacing.

Adrian is at a bit of a crossroads.  He knows and believes what he saw but convincing Lucy of that is proving to be difficult and dangerous.  Plus his past comes back to haunt and devastate him as well.  Adrian has quite a secret that he is uncertain that he wants anyone, especially Lucy, to find out.  But when circumstances force Lucy and Adrian to spend time together, feelings explode and secrets slowly tumble out.  

Overall, this is another beautifully written book by the obviously very talented Charlotte Featherstone!.  She has quite a way of writing a beautiful, haunting story that will grab you from the start and keep you enthralled until the end.  Adrian is portrayed as a stuffy Duke but he is a very passionate, even a bit sensitive, man that loves with his whole heart and will stop at nothing to guard what he loves the most.  Lucy took a bit of warming up too for me.  She comes off a bit childish and spoiled because of her childhood but once the walls around her are broken down, she becomes a fascinating woman who holds on to her sharp, smart tongue while giving with her whole heart.  The secondary characters are excellent as well.  We get to see a bit more of Lord and Lady Black (from Seduction & Scandal) but the ones that almost stole this book was Adrians blind sister, Elizabeth and the third member of the Brethren Guardian, the rakish Marquis of Alynwick.  Fair warning, this book ends with a cliffhanger that will leave you clamoring for their story, Temptation & Twilight, right now!  The only thing that sort of bothered me about this book was the ending.  I know it is to lead you up to the next book but it seemed a little much for this book, but I still enjoyed it.  If you are looking for a mysterious, sexy hero who wants what he wants and won't bend until her gets it paired with a feisty but scared heroine with some heart-pounding action, this one will fill that request!  4 stars

The Brethren Guardians series


     Out now                  Out July 2012

Early November releases

Wow, can you believe it is almost November already??  Here are some of the upcoming historical romance books you can look for at the beginning of the month, enjoy!

November 1st



The Pleasure of Bedding a Baroness is a new to me author and I love the cover so I will be trying her out :) I can not wait to get my hands on The Virtuoso! I feel like the previous two books have had a lot of momentum for Vals story! And since If You Give A Girl A Viscount seems to loosely be based on Cinderella, well, I'm all for that :) And finally, Engaged in Sin sounds like an excellent, spicy romance with a tortured hero left blind from the war that is always right up my alley!

Also releasing November 1st are two interesting sounding historicals that are a bit out of my normal range but I am looking forward to, nevertheless :)

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a a weekly blog hop hosted by Breaking the Spine where we all mention one upcoming book release we are waiting for.

This week my pick is Unraveled which is book three in the Turner series by Courtney Milan.  I have loved the previous two and a half books, Unveiled, Unlocked and Unclaimed, and I can not wait for Smites story!  Here is the goodreads.com summary:

Smite Turner is renowned for his single-minded devotion to his duty as a magistrate. But behind his relentless focus lies not only a determination to do what is right, but the haunting secrets of his past—secrets that he is determined to hide, even if it means keeping everyone else at arm’s length. Until the day an irresistible woman shows up as a witness in his courtroom…

Miranda Darling isn’t in trouble…yet. But she’s close enough that when Turner threatens her with imprisonment if she puts one foot wrong, she knows she should run in the other direction. And yet no matter how forbidding the man seems on the outside, she can’t bring herself to leave. Instead, when he tries to push her away, she pushes right back—straight through his famous self-control, and into the heart of the passion that he has long hidden away…

Courtney Milan is self publishing this story and I know that has caused a bit of a uproar but authors need to do what is best for them (Ashley March is also going this route in the future).  As I have a Kindle its all good to me but I know its frustrating for some fans.  Anyways, Ms Milan says we can hopefully look for Unraveled by the end of November!  
What about you?  Have you read the very talented Courtney Milan and plan to follow her into self publishing?  Or are you on the fence about authors taking the self publish route?

Update

Work is kicking my butt lately (two required extra hours of work the past two weeks...each day!) so my time to actually review is getting shorter at the moment.  I have been assured that this will hopefully clear up soon....what soon means, though, is anyones guess!!  Grrr...  But here are a few of the books I have coming up to read and will be writing reviews for. Here is what I have slated to read by the end of November (but will all be read and reviewed by mid-Nov):




And here is what I have to read by the end of December, lots of great ones coming out on the 27th!!




See!!  Lots of good ones from Avon in Dec :) :)

And I have one more lined up but since it comes out the end of January it will be a bit before I can get to it, plus I need to read the previous two novels in the series but really looking forward to this one!  I loved Shana Galens Lord and Lady Spy :)



Any one in particular that you are looking forward to?  I'm very eager to start the Eloisa James one!

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt

Silence and Mickey.  If you have read the previous two books in Elizabeth Hoyts Maiden Lane series (Wicked Intentions and Notorious Pleasures) I need not say more as fans have been waiting for this story since our couples first life changing meeting in Wicked Intentions.  Now there is always that lingering question...can a book with so much anticipation live up to the hope readers have been clamoring for?  Oh, yes.  Yes, yes, yes.  Ms Hoyt knocked it out of the park with this one.

Mickey O'Connor, notorious river pirate, caused Silence Hollingbrook to question her love for her late husband after Mickey forced Silence to leave his palace in a state of disarray after she came to bargain back her late husbands goods from his ship that Mickey stole.  After she returns home, untouched, her husband refuses to believe her and he later dies at sea leaving a huge sense of loss upon Silence.  When a baby girl is left on her doorstep, she throws all her love into caring for little Mary Darling and when she awakens one day to find her gone she panics until she receives a note from Mickey stating that he has something she wants.  All the little pieces click into place as to who Mary Darling truly is but this is her daughter now and she knows she will do everything in her power to get him back...even if it means going back to Mickey and sacrificing her fragile reputation again.

Mickey truthfully could care less about his little daughter...her mother was just a whore and of no importance but Mickey has many enemies and his number one enemy wants the little baby to hold over Mickey's head.  And to get to Mary means the evil Vicar needs to go through Silence and that is just unthinkable to Mickey.  No women has ever gotten under his skin like Silence has from there one meeting nine months ago and he knows he must protect her at all costs and the only way to get her to stay with him, is through Mary Darling.

The transformation of Mickey O'Connor, river pirate, into a man that cares more about life than just money and power is excellent.  It didn't happen overnight, it was a gradual, very believable process.  I loved Mickey.  His demons from his past will break your heart and make you understand how and why he grew up into the man he did.  I was a bit surprised at the little twist in the middle of the book..it threw me off for a bit but it was a perfect solution that played out in the end.  And even with all the pirate jargon talk (I did have to read a bit of it out loud to make sure I was reading it right), I really fell for Mickey, pirate and all.

Silence.  I really wasn't sure how she was going to be able to handle this strong, bossy, snarly man but she surprised me.  Her 'mama bear' instincts kicked in and she stood her ground with Mickey and refused to bend to her rules.  It lead to quite a few humorous situations with Mickey roaring at her and Silence just smiling and saying no, thank you.  It sort of reminded me of  Beauty and the Beast when Belle first arrives at the Beasts castle so of course that made me smile.  But watching Silence fall in love with Mickey was delightful.  She knows it just isn't right but she again surprised me when she followed her heart instead of doing what her family asked of her at one point but then standing her ground in the end.

Overall, definitely one of my favorite historicals I have read this year.  It will grab you from the beginning and keep you flipping the pages all the way through the heart pounding ending.  And the epilogue will have you clamoring for the next book, Thief of Shadows, right away again.  Thank you Ms Hoyt for stepping up and delivering a absolutely wonderful story that will leave many smiling faces and sighing hearts in its wake and be enjoyed for years to come! 5 stars

Maiden Lane Series

Thief of Shadows Expected release July 2012
Lord of Darkness Expected release December 2012

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a a weekly blog hop hosted by Breaking the Spine where we all mention one upcoming book release we are waiting for.

This week by WoW title is A Lady Awakened, the debut novel from Cecilia Grant releasing Dec 27th.  Here is the goodreads.com summary:

Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes . . . for a fee.

Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?

This book has quite a lot going for it...it has a beautiful cover and quite a bit of high praise from high profile authors such as Eloisa James and Mary Balogh so that makes me very eager to read it!  It has a very interesting premise and I am very anxious to see if Ms Grant can deliver a wonderful HEA!  Lots of awesome books coming out on Dec 27th but this is one at the top of my list!