Review - A Duke of Her Own by Lorraine Heath

A Duke of Her Own by Lorraine Heath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lorraine Heath’s A Duke of Her Own, the first of the Rogues and Roses books, focuses on Lady Louisa Wentworth and the Duke of Hawkhurst. Louisa is an earl’s daughter, but the estate is impoverished. Deciding to take her life into her own hands, Louisa begins a career as a social chaperone for a pair of American heiresses seeking titled husbands, Jenny and Kate Rose. Hawkhurst, himself desperately in need of funds, sets his sights on marrying Miss Jenny Rose. The only problem is her chaperone, whom he can’t seem to ignore.

In this book Heath tells a different story than she has in other novels. The protagonists honestly don’t seem to get along much at all, and neither seems very likeable. Both are very flawed individuals. Louisa is far too judgemental and Hawk is too secretive. Although both overcome these traits, that doesn’t come until the end of the book and feels rather rushed. The end of the story leaves many characters’ arcs unconcluded, and feels a bit unfulfilling. Overall it felt the book was lacking in true emotion, which is a vast departure from many of Heath’s other works.

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Review - Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas

Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The final book in Lisa Kleypas’ Bow Street Runners series, Worth Any Price, focuses on Nick Gentry, the infamous thieftaker and underworld mogul turned Runner. Nick was previously introduced in Lady Sophia's Lover as Sophia’s believed-dead brother. Having survived the prison hulk he was sentenced to at fourteen, Nick has done what he must to create a place for himself in the world. When unscrupulous choices compel him into becoming a Bow Street Runner and complying with the law, Nick aims to and becomes the best on the force. A private assignment to recover a missing young woman leads him to discover Charlotte Howard. Rather than marry the man her parents have promised her to, she’s been in hiding for two years. Rather than return her to her erstwhile betrothed, Nick decides to marry her himself. Now the two must learn to live together and discover what kind of relationship they could have.

As always, Kleypas weaves an interesting and compelling story that is hard to put down. The book is both deeply erotic and starkly emotional. The hero, Nick, has studied all forms of lovemaking with an eminent madam, and is eager to put his lessons to good use - leading to some very steamy bedroom scenes. Nick’s past, however, becomes a major hurdle that both he and Charlotte have to struggle to overcome. It seems as though it is difficult to write a brooding, mysterious main character when he is one of the point-of-view protagonists, but Kleypas manages to illuminate enough of his character while keeping some shrouded in mystery that it works. Overall a great read, and a satisfying ending to the trilogy.

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Review - Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas

Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lady Sophia’s Lover is the second book in Lisa Kleypas’ Bow Street Runners series, and focuses on Sir Ross Cannon, the stern head magistrate of the Bow Street court system, and Sophia Seymour, a young woman he hires to be his assistant and housekeeper. Sophia has a vendetta against Ross and is determined to make him fall in love with her, and then break his heart. However, she finds that she can’t gain his heart without losing her own.

This book is quite a departure from the previous book in the series, where the male protagonist at times seemed a bit unlikeable. Both Ross and Sophia are both interesting, compelling characters, and their story is both engaging and erotic. As far as romance novels go, this one is especially steamy, with blatant desire burgeoning at their first meeting in the opening pages of the book. Kleypas expertly transformed the staid Sir Ross, introduced first in Someone to Watch Over Me, from a fairly boring side character into a passionate hero. There is a surprise twist that occurs in the second half of the book, and Kleypas executed it and its conclusion admirably. Overall this is an excellent read!

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Review - Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas

Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Someone to Watch Over Me is the first in Lisa Kleypas’ Bow Street Runners series. In it, readers are introduced to the Bow Street Runners, an elite police force in London. One of the premier members of the unit - Grant Morgan, is alerted to a body found in the Thames. Upon investigating, he finds that the person, a young woman, is actually very much alive, and also someone he knows - Vivien Duvall, a prominent courtesan. Grant takes Vivien to his home, where he discovers that she has no memory at all of who she is. Determined to get revenge for a wrong she has done to him, Grant tells Vivien that she is his mistress and must stay with him, while he searches to find out who might have wanted to kill her. In the meantime, she tries to reconcile what he’s told her about herself with what she feels to be true inside.

The plot in this story is very interesting and engaging, although it seems to move pretty slowly at the beginning. The characters feel slightly undeveloped - it felt as though we didn’t really understand their thoughts and motivations, and if that understanding was necessary then it was shoehorned in at that point. One of the characters is confused about a decision that must be made, and beyond the dialogue the reader isn’t given much information about why the character is confused about what seems like an obvious choice. Later another character says something to the effect of “oh, this is why you always feel this way” in reference to a situation that the reader was never made aware of, so what was supposed to be a revelation was in fact entirely new material. Nonetheless, it was a good book and worth the read.

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Review - The Scoundrel in Her Bed by Lorraine Heath

The Scoundrel in Her Bed by Lorraine Heath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Scoundrel in Her Bed is the third book in Lorraine Heath’s Sins for All Seasons series, and tells a much different story than the previous two books. The focus of the series is the Trewlove family - a group of individuals who were sold to a “baby farmer” in infancy. The practice was common at the time as a means to rid the nobility of unwanted illegitimate children. For a fee a woman would take in the child, and often the child perished soon after. This book focuses on Finn Trewlove and Lady Lavinia Kent. The two fell in love despite their very disparate social positions, until circumstances separated them. Now, eight years later they have reconnected.

In this book the main characters have to deal with the issues that caused their separation and the repercussions from it. After eight years they are both very different people than the young couple who fell in love without a care. Can they rebuild on that, do they even want to? At one point the heroine muses “They’d changed once, and they would change again, and she didn’t know how one remained in love when people constantly changed.” This is an question that is not exclusive to a historical setting, but all relationships everywhere.

Amidst the relationship issues there are other, darker themes in the book that are dealt with as well. The other books in the series have touched on the issues of baby farming in more roundabout ways, but this book tackles it head on. The book is good, but heavy. Parts of the narrative are definitely tearjerkers, and while of course there is a happily-ever-after, Heath takes us on a very long route to get there.


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Review - Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath

Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Surrender to the Devil, the third book in the Scoundrels of St. James series, Lorraine Heath focuses on the characters of Frannie Darling and Sterling Mabry, Duke of Greystone. The book sits in the middle of the series, and while it is possible to read it alone, much of both the central, as well as peripheral characters is influenced by the events of the previous two books in the series.

The protagonists of the story, as in the previous two books in the series, are of very different social classes - Frannie grew up on the streets while Sterling has always been the heir to a dukedom. While it would be easy to think that this difference would be the key to the story, it is in fact relegated to a back burner of the romance between the two. Although omnipresent, and in many ways shaping their romance, it isn’t the cornerstone, which is refreshing. Frannie, as with the the others of “Feagan’s lads”, who grew up on the street, makes it a goal to help others less fortunate. She opens an orphanage to try to help the children, and it gives her drive and passion. Sterling has spent his life in pursuit of his own pleasures, and gives little thought to others needs, until he meets Frannie. The conclusion is somewhat predictable, yet altogether satisfying, as is the book as a whole.


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Review - The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath

The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Earl Takes All, the second book in Lorraine Heath’s Hellions of Havisham series, tells a singularly unique story that is at once tense, romantic, and heartbreaking. It is truly deserving of the phrase “emotional rollercoaster”. While Edward Alcott’s identical twin brother is dying in the jungles of Africa, he begs Edward to “be me”, in order to protect his wife from the grief that could cause her to miscarry their baby. Upon returning to England, Edward must pretend to be his brother, the Earl of Greyling until his brother’s wife, Julia, gives birth. Edward and Julia have never gotten along, except for one stolen kiss in a garden years ago that neither can forget.

Heath does an exceptional job of dragging readers through ups and downs throughout this story. The emotions and actions of the characters felt completely utterly believable, even in the middle of an unrealistic situation. Heath did an excellent job of letting the readers into both the hero and heroine’s thought processes throughout the story, rather than telling a more one-sided story, which helped flesh out all the currents running through each scene. Even knowing that a romance novel must have a happy ending, I was seriously doubting that things could ever work out for the protagonists. Overall, a great read that you won’t be able to put down.


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