The Rogue to Ruin by Vivienne Lorret (Misadventures in Matchmaking #3)

Ainsley is the eldest of the Bourne sisters and, at 27 years of age, she presumes she will never marry. In the past, she was once betrothed to a horrible man who was emotionally and physically abusive. She managed to escape. The Rogue to Ruin is her story of love and marriage, the third and final book in the Misadventures in Matchmaking series.

Now, Ainsley has decided that The Bourne Matrimonial Agency is not doing well because of the gaming hell across the street. Reed Sterling is the proprietor, a former boxer who retired and made his fortune running the business. Ainsley is certain that his business is keeping potential clients away — not the fact that her two sisters have married two of the wealthier clients, as many suspect. And, she's decided to declare war on Sterling's to drive it out of business.

Reed Sterling's early life was hard. First, his father was killed in a duel and then his mother married a series of awful men. Boxing and then his business were his escape from hardship. But he's developed a strange attraction, in recent years. The eldest of the Bourne daughters is the most buttoned-up and stiff of the lot. So, why does he find her so appealing? When Ainsley declares war on his business he's slightly amused. But, when he walks in to find a man she was formerly betrothed to threatening Ainsley, he is determined to keep her safe. How will he square his newfound affection with the damage she's doing to his business? Will the dangerous man to whom she was formerly betrothed become violent, again, or can Reed protect her?

Highly recommended - It took me a while to warm up to Ainsley. Unlike her lighthearted and slightly silly sister, Briar, you're not as quickly grabbed by the personality of the character. But, it doesn't take long to realize the couple is perfect for each other and to begin to root for them. And, I absolutely adored the ending.

This is the last book in the Misadventures in Matchmaking series and I recommend reading them in order because the other two sisters occasionally flit in and out with their spouses. Plus, there's a delicious surprise at the end regarding a regular character who is not a part of the family. I loved this series. Usually, I don't keep romance books for a reread but I've held onto all three of the books from the Misadventures in Matchmaking series, I enjoyed them so much.

I received a copy of The Rogue to Ruin from Avon Books in exchange for an unbiased review. Many thanks!

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Ten Kisses to Scandal by Vivienne Lorret (Misadventures in Matchmaking #2)

Ten Kisses to Scandal by Vivienne Lorret, the second book in the Misadventures in Matchmaking series, is the story of the youngest sister in a family of matchmakers. Briar's elder sisters are in charge of interviewing potential clients, investigating their lives to discover their characteristics in order to find their perfect match, and doing all the important paperwork. Meanwhile, Briar is relegated to serving their clients tea.

Determined to become a matchmaker herself, Briar sets out to try to meet up with a potential client -- one who is unaware that the spontaneous and imaginative youngest Bourne sister sees him that way. On her way to see this potential client, Briar ends up viewing an infamous rake ravishing a woman (well . . . kissing her passionately and such) as he sends her off in a carriage. Briar is both scandalized and fascinated.

The rake, Nicholas, is surprised by this enchanting and naive young woman, her wild imagination, and her infatuation with chocolate. When she is later challenged to find him a bride, Briar makes a deal with Nicholas. If he will teach her about what attracts males and females to each other, how to read their body language, etc., she will pay him for each lesson with a single kiss. She'll be able to observe him and find the right matchmate while she learns. But, as each kiss becomes more passionate, will Nicholas drop his guard and fall in love?

Highly recommended to romance lovers - I'll mention the negative first (there's only one): there was something done in one of the two sex scenes that totally grossed me out. As anyone who reads my blog regularly knows, I'm not into graphic sex scenes, anyway, so I'll just skim those in the next installment. It wasn't enough to turn me away from this delightful series, by any means, but it certainly surprised me. What makes Ten Kisses to Scandal shine is the author's sense of humor. In Briar, she has created a truly adorable and entertaining character. Often, romance authors will describe a character as enchanting or clever without showing them to be so through dialogue. Briar's imagination and charm are well described and shown. She really is a delight. And, while Nicholas is a rake, Lorret also beautifully shows his soft side and makes the pairing believable. I loved Ten Kisses to Scandal and can't wait for the third book in the Misadventures in Matchmaking series.

Note: I received a copy of Ten Kisses to Scandal from Avon Romance in return for an unbiased review.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

How to Forget a Duke by Vivienne Lorret

In How to Forget a Duke by Vivienne Lorret, Jacinda and her sisters run the Bourne Matrimonial Agency. Each sister brings her own special skills to the agency and Jacinda's talent is scoping out the right matchmate for her clients: she's a snoop. When the Duke of Rydstrom comes to the agency seeking a wife with a fortune, Jacinda is on the job and soon sneaking into his London home. Something about the Duke and his paperwork just doesn't seem right. What could he possibly be hiding? A letter tips her off and she travels to his crumbling castle in Sussex to find out.

The Duke of Rydstrom is a haunted man with a secret. He blames himself for the loss of his parents in a tragic accident at their cliffside home and wants to make amends. But, in order to do so, he must keep his secret close. In the meantime, he needs a wealthy wife to help pay for upkeep of the castle. She doesn't even need to stay with him. Can anyone break through to the duke and help mend his heart?

When Jacinda mysteriously washes up beneath the duke's cliffside home with a head wound and no memory, the duke (whose name is Crispin) has no choice but to take in the meddlesome woman until she heals. But, how can he keep his secret from her prying eyes? And, what will he do when he begins to realize he is drawn to her?

Jacinda doesn't remember anything at all. She wouldn't even know her own name, if not for the fact that she met the Duke of Rydstrom before washing up near his ancestral home. If she did, she'd know that the most important thing to bear in mind is that she should never, ever fall for a client. She's also unaware that she has discovered the duke's secret. What will happen when the duke finds out? Will her memory ever return or will she be forced to eventually return to a life that she has completely forgotten?

A little aside, before I give my rating. I very seldom read romance and probably would never touch it if I hadn't happened across a writing group in the 1990s that was associated with the Romance Writers of America. It was the only really active writers' group I could find and they were welcoming and warm, hosted a lot of wonderful speakers and held an annual workshop. Because their teaching revolved around what they read and wrote, I went through quite a lengthy romance-reading phase (although not exclusively -- I'll never be a romance addict). Everything they talked about applied to writing in general. It wasn't merely about writing for the market, although some of what they discussed was geared to the romance market.

So, I have a minor history of having gone through a years-long romance phase, finding my favorite romance genres, and then slowly peeling away from them. I now just read the occasional romance for the change of pace. When you read my rating, please remember that I am not the typical romance reader.

Recommended - While there were times I was pulled out of the story (who in their right mind would think Jacinda and Crispin appropriate names for a couple in a historical romance?), I liked Jacinda and the duke almost immediately. But, what I really loved about How to Forget a Duke was the fact that the building of the relationship was very slow and believable. A lot of romance books throw hero and heroine together and into bed too quickly for my taste. I like to actually feel like a love story could happen. Show me a little sparkling interaction, a slow revelation of the things a couple hold in common and the quirks that they find appealing in each other. Vivienne Lorret does these things beautifully with Jacinda and the duke. While the "secret" was one I guessed early on, it's meant to be obvious. So, if you guess it in the early pages, no worries. It won't ruin the reading for you. The few things I would consider anachronisms (the names and the idea of a matrimonial agency, for example) were not enough to spoil this charming story. I'll be looking forward to reading more by Vivienne Lorret, in the future.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Christmas to Remember by L. Kleypas, L. Heath, M. Frampton, and V. Lorret, and a couple final Fiona Friday pics

I can't leave for a holiday break without being completely caught up! And, I just finished A Christmas to Remember, last night. So . . . one last review, at least for now. I'm not going to stop myself from jumping online to review over the holiday break, if I feel like it, this year. Youngest son is the only person coming home and he isn't going to be around for long, so I'll return or just drop in to do a post or two if I feel like it.

A Christmas to Remember is a book of short stories with a Christmas theme (although, honestly, I don't recall a reference to Christmas in the first story -- I might have just overlooked it). I'm not a regular romance reader, so it's worth mentioning that I may approach this book through a different lens than the romance crowd, although I used to hang out with romance writers and published a romantic short story, myself (long ago, in a land far, far away). I'm completely unfamiliar with all four authors but I've heard the name Lisa Kleypas and her name appears in the largest font, so I presume she's the better known of the four. A little about each:

"I Will" by Lisa Kleypas - With a father on his death bed and threatening to cut off all money (but not the rest of the estate), Andrew, Lord Drake, needs to come up with a solution to convince his father to release the funds. He must find a young lady with an impeccable reputation and convince his father that she has reformed him from his dissolute ways. He convinces Miss Caroline Hargreaves to help him, promising to clear her brother's debts and stop leading him astray. But, Drake is surprised to find that the petite Miss Hargreaves hides a passionate, lovely personality behind her stiff exterior and spectacles. Will she reform the rake or will he use her and leave her hanging?

"Deck the Halls with Love" by Lorraine Heath - Lady Meredith Hargreaves is soon to be wed to Lord Litton, thanks to a kiss in a garden. Caught by her father and brothers, a wedding was considered the only possible solution to her compromising position. And, Lady Meredith thinks Lord Litton will make a fine husband. Months after the Season, she's still stung by the rejection of Alistair Wakefield, the Marquess of Chetwyn. Now, Chetwyn's intended is marrying another man and his sights are back on Lady Meredith. With a Christmas wedding soon to take place, can Chetwyn convince the only woman he ever truly loved that he's right for her?

"No Groom at the Inn" by Megan Frampton - Lady Sophronia Bettesford's father was not wise with his money and now she's on her way to take care of a relative's children and chickens. While she's waiting for her coach to arrive, James Archer shows up and asks her to marry him. Then, he clarifies. He needs a fake betrothed to accompany him to a party in the country. For mere weeks of pretending, he's willing to set her up in a country cottage. Sophronia is thrilled to have her lady's maid restored to her side and no prospect of chickens in her future. But, will she be able to tame the restless traveler who is slowly stealing her heart?

"The Duke's Christmas Wish" by Vivienne Lorret - Ivy Sutherland has passed her season without success and is now firmly planted on the shelf. But, her friend Lilah is in need of a husband and Ivy is certain that the Duke of Vale will perfectly fit the bill. Lodged in the duke's immense castle with at least 100 guests, there are plenty of young ladies from which the duke might choose. But, he's distracted by his science experiments and inventions, especially a formula for marriage that the duke believes will save the trouble of going through that awkward Season business. In his ledger, he says Ivy is of "no consequence". Then, why does he find that he has eyes only for her? And, how can he resist a woman who comes up with a better idea to fix a problem with one of his inventions than he himself has imagined?

So . . . not the typical romance reader and I would not have thought to buy this book, but Avon sent it to me, unsolicited. And, wow, am I happy they did! Some years I'm in the mood for holiday reading, sometimes I avoid it. This year, I was craving a little Christmas spirit and I am perfectly fine with a bit of fluffy, predictable romance. And, for the most part, these stories were very predictable. While the final story, "The Duke's Christmas Wish" was, in my humble opinion, a little rough around the edges, I thought it was the least predictable of the four. But, I enjoyed them all.

My hands-down favorite was the third story, "No Groom at the Inn," by Megan Frampton. Sophronia starts out the story a bit on the stiff side. She doesn't want to be called Sophy or Sophycakes, as James lightly proposes. She has a love of words, her father having played the Dictionary Game with her for many years, and each chapter begins with a quiz - which of the three definitions fits the word? The answers are at the end of the story. There are loads of references to the chickens Sophronia will no longer have to tend, some surprisingly witty dialogue, and a marvelously clever ending in which James plays a game to let Sophy know his feelings have been altered. Even at around 100 pages, I found "No Groom at the Inn" surprisingly convincing because the two characters seem suited to each other. They're able to catch each other's meaning when necessary with vague gestures and their dialogue is frankly adorable. By the end of the story, Sophronia is fine with whatever James wants to call her and even responds in kind.

Highly recommended - I'm not sure how regular romance readers would feel about this set of short Christmas stories, but I loved being swept up in a little holiday romance and thoroughly enjoyed A Christmas to Remember. There were several deflowerings of young ladies, so I added a family warning for those who are sensitive about sex scenes. When I regularly read romance, I favored clean romance but I that was primarily because I prefer that a romance is about the things (apart from sex) that make a relationship magnetic, like what two characters have in common, what makes them laugh or lean in to hear more or think twice about that person that didn't appear to be their type, at first. I thought the interaction between the characters was charming and I was enchanted by all four stories.

Final cat photos! It would be easy to blame today's cat crazies on the unexpected snow we got overnight (!!!!) but they never go outside, so I think it was just cats being normal. Here's a pic of their dust-up, followed by the innocent look, after they finished whacking each other.

Wishing the happiest of holidays to all!

Bookfool, with Isabel, and Fiona

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.