Month: December 2018

Taming A Christmas Wallflower by Tammy Andresen

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)3 Comments

Taming a Christmas Wallflower (Taming the Duke's Heart Book 7)Taming a Christmas Wallflower by Tammy Andresen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Taming the Heart #7
Publication Date: 12/4/18
Number of Pages: 90

This is a delightfully romantic short novella. The story is excellently told. Being a short novella, you might think that you’d feel as if you were missing a part of the story, but you don’t. You feel as if you get to know the characters and can understand their connection. We actually got a romance and a half, so I’m hoping that we get the other half in a later novella. Otherwise, I’ll be sad to have missed it.

Lady Amelia Chase is a wallflower because she is very shy and very, very intelligent. She spends her time reading books and she tends to quote facts from those books when she is nervous in a social situation. When she does that, eyes glass over, people glance around and soon find an excuse to leave her company. So, she is happy to spend her time against the wall conversing with her friend, Lady Ethel Stark, who has a physical deformity from a childhood illness. Both ladies are lovely, well dowered and they come from excellent titled families – yet, nobody seeks them out.

William Maddox is the oldest son of a very wealthy shipping company owner. He hadn’t been thinking of marriage, but he has been thinking that some of his activities and friendships need to change since they are getting stale – particularly his friendship with Lord Riley. He might even have to re-think his friendship with Michael Wayne unless his attitude changed.

Will and Michael are attending a house party near Will’s country estate for some Christmastide entertainment. Will let himself get suckered into a bet with their friend Lord Riley and regretted it as soon as it happened. However, it was done and he’d keep his word – at least he thought he would before he met the lovely Lady Amelia. The bet was to manage to get a kiss from either Amelia or Ethel.

Will is immediately drawn to Amelia and Michael is drawn to Ethel. As Will and Michael spend time with the ladies, they find that they want more than just winning a bet. Will the bet come back to haunt them? Can they court and win the ladies of their choice? It is a really delightful and romantic read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but, as always, it is filled with errors of one sort or another. The author also uses a monetary (or other) term that I just don’t understand. The wager was for one thousand galleons. What is that? Surely it isn’t a wager for ships – that would surely be a whopper of a bet. So, is it some kind of money? I don’t know, but it just jarred me a bit every time I read the word.

I hope you will enjoy the story.

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Highlander Ever After by Paula Quinn

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Jacobean/Stuart Era (1603-1714)3 Comments

Highlander Ever After (The MacGregors: Highland Heirs, #8)Highlander Ever After by Paula Quinn

Barbara’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Highland Heirs #8
Publication Date: 12/18/18
Number of Pages: 400

I understand this is the last book in this excellent series and I’m sorry to see it end. It has been an excellent series with wonderful characters. This addition to the story is well-written, well-plotted and the characters are memorable – not to mention that it includes nice visits with former heroes and heroines.

In the first few chapters, I thought I didn’t like Sina at all. However, as I thought about it, her reactions were very true-to-life. She was a young lady not accustomed to anything other than court-life. She was betrothed to a man she loved and all was right in her world. Then, in the dead of night, she is taken, at the order of Queen Anne, to be married to a Highland savage. She was just taken – no time to pack or even say goodbye. As soon as she arrived, she was expected to marry a man she had never met but greatly feared. She showed quite a bit of spunk trying to fight the marriage but finally had no choice. Was she unhappy – you bet! Did she make everyone aware of her unhappiness – you bet! Could she have had more sympathy for Adam — yes she could have. Adam was in the same situation as Sina, he was forced into the marriage as well, but at least he didn’t have to leave his home, family, friends and live in a place where everything and everyone made you afraid. So, I came to like and respect Sina even though I thought the thing with ‘loving’ William went on a little too long.

Melusina (Sina) de Arenburg is a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Anne (last of the Stuart monarchs). She is also the illegitimate daughter of the future king, George (first of the Hanoverian monarchs). Sina and Anne have become close during Sina’s tenure as Lady-in-Waiting – at least Sina thought they had. Then, when Anne had Sina gathered up and taken to the Scottish Highlands to be wed to a Highland savage, she couldn’t believe Anne would betray her like that. When she arrived at Camlochlin Castle she was terrified, but not so terrified that she couldn’t at least try to get out of it – but – to defy the Queen. Oh! What a dilemma. Well – she might have to marry him, but she didn’t have to make it easy on him and she surely didn’t have to consummate the marriage.

Adam MacGregor is the oldest son of the clan chief. Adam is tall, strong, handsome as sin, and loves his life as a single man. He has no ambition to follow as clan chief and is actively promoting his sister to fill that role. Then, a coach arrives with a female aboard and orders for him to marry her. Although Adam has no desire to marry, especially not a stranger, he knows he must follow the Queens orders so he can keep his clan safe. The MacGregors have been proscribed, but they have been mostly left alone because of the MacGregor’s relationship with Queen Anne. This marriage is Anne’s way of keeping the MacGregor’s safe after she dies. Adam sucks it up and decides to make the best of the marriage. Since they have no choice but to wed, they might as well make the best of it and try to be happy. Well – he might as well try, because apparently, Sina has no intention of cooperating.

I loved watching Adam slowly but surely wooing Sina. Who could resist him? He’s wonderful, thoughtful, caring and interested. Sina fights the attraction, but it is useless. Just as Sina comes to the conclusion that she cares, Queen Anne dies, Sina’s father becomes King and he demands Sina’s return to court. How can Adam let her go when she has come to mean so much to him? How can Sina leave when Adam has come to mean so much to her? Again, they have no choice.

Half of this novel takes place at Camlochlin Castle on the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands and the other half takes place in London. It was fun watching Adam show up all of those dandy London Lords. Could Adam win over the King and leave London with his wife? You’ll definitely be rooting for Adam and Sina to find their HEA.

I hope you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did. If you find yourself disliking Sina in the beginning, just remember who she is and what has happened to her – and – put yourself in her place. Would you handle that any better than she did? I wouldn’t.

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”