I picked this one up because after reading Fool Me Twice, since I wanted to read the story of the Duke of Marwick’s brother and Elizabeth Chudderley. However, I think I may have been in more of a Loretta Chase mood since I also picked up Miss Wonderful around the same time to learn more about Alastair Carsington, the brother whose engagement Rupert refers to mournfully a few times in Mr. Impossible. Basically, it is not that this is a bad romance novel, but I think I was in the mood for a more humorous romance. Not that this one […]
If You Don’t Want Your Estranged Wife to Show Up, You Probably Shouldn’t Spend Her Money
The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran
I picked this one up based on Malin’s review. One nice thing about Cannonball Read is that with Malin, emmalita and Mrs. Julien, I had a nice list of go to authors handy when I finally decided to try romance. However, having worked my way through most historical romance novels by Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Julie Ann Long, and Sarah McLean among others, I am always excited when I notice a review for an author I had not noticed before. This novel uses an estranged marriage plot, and due to the circumstances that led to the […]
Being kidnapped on your wedding night and sent to a prison camp in Australia – gonna have a bad time
The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran
William “Liam” Devaliant, the fifth Earl of Lockwood, is overpowered and kidnapped on his wedding night in Scotland, taken south and chained onto a prison hulk on its way to Australia. No one believes his mad story about being an earl, or if they do, they don’t care. Four years later, he’s back in London, a very changed man, determined to enact his revenge on the man behind the plot to have him abducted, his own cousin. All the male retainers in his household are basically former convicts who survived along with them. In the eight months since his return […]
A historical romance with lies, angst, an opportunistic heroine and a hero with amnesia
A Lady's Code of Misconduct by Meredith Duran
Jane Mason is an heiress, but her money is being slowly embezzled by her unscrupulous relatives to further her uncle’s unscrupulous political career and she’s being kept far away in the country, to make sure she can’t meet anyone who might marry her. Her aunt and uncle plan to marry her off to her cousin, and eventually, Jane reluctantly agrees on the condition that she get a season in London first. She hopes to meet another suitable man she can convince to elope with her, offering him a share of her father’s vast fortune as long as she is free […]
Historical Romance with Strong Women (and a Couple of Guys)
Lady Be Good and Luck Be a Lady by Meredith Duran
This is a previous review updated with the next book in the series… Lady Be Good Meredith Duran writes very strong, character driven historical romance, but Lady Be Good never quite grabbed me. It was as accomplished as readers have come to expect from Duran and involving at the time, but I didn’t really think about it once I was done. That said, I would really like to read the next novel in the Rules for the Reckless series, Luck Be a Lady, as it involves an up-from-the-the-gutter hero and a very proper heroine and those are almost always fun. From […]
The Ice Queen and the East End gangster
Luck Be a Lady by Meredith Duran
Miss Catherine Everleigh has spent most of her life at her father’s side, learning to appraise antiques and become the natural successor to his auction house. Her brother got to go away to school, Catherine was tutored at home by a governess. Her father’s will stated that she would have equal controlling share in the Everleigh Auction Rooms with her brother, but only once she’s married. Now she knows her brother is embezzling funds to support his political ambitions. He keeps introducing her to what he considers suitable marriage candidates, but Catherine knows that they would all play directly into […]
A historical romance with antiques appraisals
Lady Be Good by Meredith Duran
Lily Monroe is trying to make a better life for herself, working hard to acheive the dreams her dead sister had for them about becoming a respectable gentlewoman and rising above their poor backgrounds in London’s East End. She now calls herself Lilah Marshall and is one of the hostesses at Everleigh’s Auction House, making a decent living. Unfortunately, her uncle needs her to do him one last favour, involving the use of some of her thieving skills to acquire some documents. Lilah’s dirty deed is witnessed by one of the auction house’s prominent customers, Viscount Palmer, who doesn’t hesitate […]
Another Historical R–oad Trip!
Your Wicked Heart by Meredith Duran
Amanda Thomas was stood up at her wedding. Now, having gone to her fiance’s hotel to find out what the hell happened, she encounters a man who says her beloved is an imposter. Everyone agrees with him, bowing and scraping in a way that strongly suggests he may very well be the real Viscount Ripton. Here we are just one chapter into the Victorian romance Your Wicked Heart and our heroine is alone, penniless, unemployed, confused, jilted, stranded, and still wearing her very uncomfortable wedding dress. To add insult to injury, the man claiming to be the real Viscount Ripton […]