Month: April 2019

The Claiming of the Shrew by Shana Galen

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews1 Comment

The Claiming of the Shrew (The Survivors, #5)The Claiming of the Shrew by Shana Galen
Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Survivors, #5

Release Date: April 16, 2019

Lt. Colonel Benedict Draven has been introduced to readers as the stoic, serious and dedicated to King and Country leader of the “Survivors” – but at the end of the last book, readers got a shock when they learned the seemingly “confirmed bachelor” was married!!

Draven met Catarina Neves five years ago in Portugal, where he was on campaign. She enters his tent and holds him at gun point – demanding a husband. He disarms her, refuses to marry her and sends her on her way. But Cat is desperate to escape an unwanted match and refuses to give up her idea to marry. When days later, Draven catches her trying to lure one of his men out of the camp, he intervenes. He takes her back to his tent to talk and then learns why she needs to marry – in a spur of the moment decision, he agrees to wed her – knowing the marriage won’t be considered legal in England. They marry, share a kiss and part – neither truly expecting to see the other again.

Five years later – Cat shocks Draven by showing up unannounced at his home, she completely misinterprets the scene and leaves in a rage – Draven follows her and she agrees to meet with him the next day. She wants an annulment of their marriage so she can remarry. Draven refuses and says they should spend time together before they decide if they should annul.

Cat needs the annulment, not because she truly wishes to remarry, but because she is being blackmailed by Juan Carlos – a rival lace-maker in Barcelona. Cat has come a long way in the last five years, she left home with her younger sister Ines and became a renown lace-maker, leaving Portugal and settling in Spain. Juan Carlos had tried for years to buy her business, but she steadfastly refused, but when he witnesses her saving herself from a rapist, he helps her cover up the incident and then demands that she marry his son and give him control of her business. Cat feels she has no choice, but Draven isn’t cooperating and soon learns the truth. He vows to help her and when the threat of Juan Carlos is done, they can decide how to proceed with their “marriage”.

Draven is and always has been attracted to Cat, but he is surprisingly insecure regarding his age, he is much older than Cat (almost 20 years) and is sure that she wouldn’t want to shackle herself to an old man. But the more time he spends with her, the more he wants and he is not sure he can let her go. For her part, Cat is grateful to Draven and his age doesn’t concern her, she is attracted to him and wants him, but she is not willing to forfeit her freedom to be with him – or any man. But the more time she spends with him, she begins to wonder if with Draven she can have it all.

This was a wonderful May-December romance, with lots of cameos from previous (and dare I hope, future) “Survivors”, featuring a feisty heroine, a swoon-worthy hero, a really nasty villain, a bit of action, some steamy love scenes, a cat that you will not soon forget and a delightful HEA! The only reason I didn’t give the book 5 stars is because I felt that Draven’s obsession about his age got to be a bit repetitive, thankfully, he finally gets over it, but not before I got tired of hearing about it. This book is the fifth book in the series, but I believe it can be read as a stand alone title with no problems.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me.*

The Charity of a Viscount by Linda Rae Sande

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)4 Comments

The Charity of a Viscount (The Widowers of the Aristocracy Book 4)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Widowers of the Aristocracy #4
Publication Date: 2/28/19
Number of Pages: 298

This is the most delightful book! It is bright, funny, entertaining, and filled with romance. The characters are fully developed and you get a nice dose of the characters from previous books in each new book. Oh! And the ending is absolutely the best I’ve read in a very long time. But, if you want a lot of navel-gazing, angsty, poor-pitiful-me scenarios, then this book isn’t for you. However, if you want witty, imaginative and endearing characters with wonderful romances this is exactly the read you want. Yes, I did use the plural – romances – because there are two lovely romances in this book. Another great thing – one of those romances is between an older mature couple. BTW – I guess I should mention that there are no sex scenes – other than those behind closed doors — but that was definitely not a problem for me.

The Mature Romance is between widower Marcus Batey, Viscount Lancaster, and Charity, widowed Countess of Wadsworth. Marcus saw and wanted to court and marry Charity over twenty years ago, but because of trickery and deceit, she had to marry a cold, faithless man she neither loved nor wanted. When Charity was betrothed to the earl, Marcus married his good friend Joan as all of his family had expected. Unlike Charity, Marcus and Joan had a good marriage although neither actually loved the other romantically – they were really good, affectionate friends. Marcus and Joan had two sons and a daughter and Charity had two sons and longed for a daughter.

Charity is barely surviving because the estate was bankrupt when her eighteen-year-old son took charge. He’s trying to turn things around, but, being young, inexperienced and not yet fully matured, it is hard to do. Charity isn’t sure what to do with herself in London after all those years living in the country, so when she sees an advertisement for a matchmaker at a local charity, she thinks she’ll apply. Turns out, she’s quite good at it.

Marcus is aware that Charity is now widowed and in London and he has every intention of wooing and winning her – never mind that she has no intention of EVER marrying again. Marcus inveigles an invitation for Charity to attend the Abercrombie’s ball where he plans to begin his wooing. Marcus has quite an active imagination and has ‘seen’ some of the most delightful things taking place between them. Now, if he can just make them come true.

The younger romance is between Analise Batey (Marcus’ daughter) and Luke Merriweather, Viscount Wessex (Marcus’ younger friend). Theirs is the secondary romance, but it is no less lovely. Luke had never met Marcus’ daughter, but when he saw her at her come-out ball at the Abercrombie’s he knew that had to change. He finagled an introduction and the sparks flew – yet, somehow, Marcus never picked up on what was happening. Then, Oh! My Goodness, when he does learn – that scene is priceless and you just have to read it.

Marcus and Charity have a harder time getting their HEA, but seeing their journey is a really nice thing. You quickly come to admire all of the different characters – and there isn’t a scoundrel in the lot.

I definitely recommend this wonderful read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.