Category: Anthology

Dressed to Kiss by -Madeline Hunter, Caroline Linden, Megan Frampton, and Myretta Robens

On By BarbaraIn Anthology, Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Tracy's Reviews3 Comments

Dressed to Kiss
Our overall rating for this book is:  3.75 of 5 stars.  See each individual review for a rating for that novella.

Tracy’s Review of The Duke’s Dressmaker by Madeline Hunter —  4.5 of 5 Stars
Selina Fontaine works as a seamstress at the shop, her newest client Lady Giles was taken against her better judgment – she is helping the young woman when her brother in law, Randall “Rand” the Duke of Barrowmore arrives to bring her home – the man that ruined her life. Rand recognizes the woman that almost married his brother Giles four years ago. Selina is worried he will make trouble and force her to run again, so when he approaches her later, she agrees to talk to him. She blames him for Giles throwing her over – but she doesn’t know the real truth and after talking with her – Rand doesn’t want her to find out. He leaves her with a warning to stay away from Giles and never to mention him to his sister in law Edeline. She agrees and thinks she will not see him again. But Rand can’t forget her or help but feel a little guilty for the downward turn in her life caused by Giles. He tells himself he is only interested in her because his family wronged her – but acknowledges that for the lie that it is – he is attracted to her and makes excuses to see her.

They spend time together and eventually become lovers and more truths are revealed. Selina has fallen in love with him and accepts that his lover is the only role she can play in his life. But when Giles returns and tries to get her to help him with Rand, the ugly truth of their break up comes out and Selina wonders if Rand’s attention has been four years in the making. Rand is furious with Giles and has to face his feelings for Selina and what to do about them – but it may all be for naught as Selina has disappeared.

This was a well written, fast paced novella, with steamy love scenes, wonderful characters, a bit of drama and to die for hero (I loved how Rand treated Selina) and finally a believable HEA that left me wanting more!!

Barbara’s Review of The Colors of Love by Myretta Robens – 2.5 of 5 Stars

This is a highly improbable tale from a new-to-me author.  The writing was well done and the ARC was one of the cleanest I’ve ever read – no typo’s etc.  The characters just didn’t resonate with me and I had a hard time figuring out where they were coming from.

Delyth’s family is wealthy gentry, but she wants more, so she runs away to London.  She finds work as a costume seamstress in a local theater and works there until she finds a more respectable employment as a seamstress at Madame Folette’s.  Delyth is a gifted designer and seamstress but has absolutely no color sense at all.  She dearly loves bright, intense colors and mixes them together liberally – to the point that they hurt your eyes to look at them.  To her delight, she finally had a customer, Lady Marjoribanks whose taste ran along the same lines as hers and they created a gown.  Delyth’s description of the dress colors is: “Oh, they were wonderful:  a deep crimson with a violet over-skirt, yellow piping, and just a hint of the palest green lace.”  Delyth is so happy until she reads the fashion column, Aglaea’s Cabinet, in the newspaper and it speaks of the dress worn by Lady M.

Simon Merithew is the brother of a Viscount and he’s also the author of the fashion column, Aglaea’s Cabinet.  He has immediately jumped to the conclusion that this dressmaker must have decided to shame Lady M by displaying her in such awful colors and he decides to expose her for doing it.  So, he brings his sister to the dress shop and commissions Delyth to make her a gown – then, he demands that she make several gowns and that she must live in their home will doing so.

At Simon’s home, Delyth enters through the front door, she is served tea in the drawing room with Simon and his sister and she is provided with a sumptuous visitor’s bedchamber.  That is one of the most improbable situations I’ve read in a long time.  Then, Simon actively pursues her and proposes marriage.  Sorry, I just didn’t see the attraction nor did I believe the scenario.

Barbara’s Review of No Accounting for Love by Megan Frampton –  4 of 5 Stars

I liked this story.  You have two people of disparate backgrounds who find that one other person with whom they can be comfortable and ‘at home’.  Henry Dawkins is a huge, but gentle man.  He seems to fit that old saying “a bull in a china shop”.  There are few if any, small-to-medium sized heroes in romance books, but Henry is larger than most.  Add that he is shy and socially awkward and you have a really sweet and lovable hero.  Henry’s sister Felicity is the one who now runs their mother’s dress shop.

Our heroine, Katherine, is the daughter of a Viscount who was impoverished before he died.  There was no money to settle on Katherine and she had to enter service as a companion to a spoiled, rich, beautiful heiress.  That heiress has set her sights on Henry because he is the one man who has said ‘NO’ to her (yep – I don’t buy it either).  The heiress decides to go to the dress shop and wait until Henry is there without his sister.  That way, she can basically blackmail him into coming to her home for dancing lessons.  Henry has no interest whatsoever in the heiress, but he is very attracted to the heiress’ companion, Katherine.

I loved both the hero and heroine, they were lovely together.  I loved that both were virgins and that they learned together.  I’m not sure how Henry could take on the expense of having a wife nor was I confident of his financial success, but I still enjoyed the love story between Henry and Katherine.

Tracy’s Review of A Fashionable Affair by Caroline Linden —  4 of 5 Stars

Evan Hewes, the Earl of Carmarthen has plans, he wants to raze and then rebuild Vine Street, all the owner have sold their buildings to him, save one – Sophie-Louise Dawkins aka Madame Follette. She has steadfastly refused all his offers and due to the location of her building, threatens to destroy his plans. He cannot build around her as her building shares a wall with another – so he decides to pay her a visit. He is surprised by the lovely woman at the shop and hopes to make her acquaintance once his business with Madame Follette is done. He is floored to learn that she is her daughter and is managing the shop in her mother’s extended absence. He explains the situation to her and Felicity is stunned – her mother never mentioned any of this to her. She refuses to sell and sends him away.

She goes to see her brother and learns that their mother didn’t tell him either, but he thinks the Earl is telling the truth. Felicity gets an idea – she goes to see Evan’s solicitor and makes a deal – she will convince her mother to sell if Evan can find her a shop in a better location. Evan agrees and takes the task on himself – to expedite things of course! He takes her to see a property and she apologizes for her reaction at their first meeting but is annoyed again later when she sees the property he takes her to. He doesn’t understand the problem and is annoyed – but he is not giving up, this project means too much to him. He finds more properties and treats her with more respect, she, in turn, apologizes for the misunderstanding and they form a friendship – but that friendship is tested when she falls in love with a property only to learn that he didn’t tell her the cost of the rent – she is upset and just wants to get away from him.

Evan knows he should have told her, but figured he would work out a deal with the owner of the property – he wants her to have the shop and a reason to keep seeing her so he will find a way to make it work. He doesn’t see her for a few days and misses her, so when he sees her at a theater benefit he finds a way to talk to her – thanks to his mother and sister. He introduces her to his mother and sister, then apologizes for not telling her about the rent and says he hasn’t given up – he will keep his word. When he returns her to her box, her brother is nowhere to be seen. He takes advantage of his absence and offers to see her home. She agrees and invites him in.

They begin an affair and grow close, sharing their pasts, their hopes and dreams, everything is perfect – until her mother returns. She warns him not to visit her and in their time apart, Evan learns something that will guarantee Sophie-Louise will sell to him, but using the information will ensure that he will lose Felicity. Will he find a way to keep her AND the Vine Street project?

This was a wonderful novella with two fantastic leads, I loved their interaction and even if the ending was a little hard to believe, I really enjoyed the story.

Barbara’s Thoughts:


The Prologue gives you a nice introduction to the back-story behind the dress shop and how Felicity came to be managing it.

“Once renowned for creating the most envied gowns in London, Madame Follette’s dressmaking shop has fallen far out of fashion. The approaching coronation of King George IV offers a chance to reclaim former glory by supplying stunning new wardrobes to the most glittering society in Regency England. In the face of long-held secrets, looming scandals, and the potential ruin of their shop, the dressmakers of Follette’s are undaunted, not even by the most unexpected complication of all: true love.”

What was missing? Well, an epilogue. Each story had its beginning and its end, but overall, we never really learned what happened with the shop. Each seamstress married wealthy, aristocratic husbands, so — did they continue to work in the shop? And, Henry — with all of the wealthy new aristocratic connections, did he manage to get more clients so he could support himself and his new bride?

Tracy’s Thoughts:



I read Madeline Hunter’s & Caroline Linden’s contributions to this anthology – I enjoyed them both and will definitely be going back to read the other two novellas as soon as I can!

The premise of the anthology is nicely set up with a prologue explaining the history of Madame Follette’s modiste shop. The collection features stories of the women (and one man) who work together to ensure the success of the shop.

I felt that both the novellas I read were well written and paced nicely, with likable characters, steamy love scenes, and HEAs. So really my only complaints are there was no epilogue and I felt like both stories that I read ended a little abruptly. But even with that said, I would be happy to recommend this anthology!

Mrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies by Theresa Romain and Shana Galan

On By TracyIn Anthology, Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Hi All! We are going to change things up a little bit with this review. Since both Barbara and I read this book and we both had differing views of the stories, we decided a joint review was in order!

Mrs. Brodie's Academy for Exceptional Young LadiesMrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies by Shana Galen

Release Date: September 18, 2018

Our Average Rating for the Collection: 4 of 5 stars

Barbara’s Review:

I hope that this anthology is a precursor to a series by one or both of these authors because this only whetted my appetite to learn more about Miss Brodie and her academy. How did her school come to have such diverse offerings in the curriculum? How did she come by instructors who could and would teach those diverse subjects? How did she even come to start a school?

The Way to a Gentleman’s Heart by Theresa Romain (4 out of 5 stars)

Marianne Redfern’s family wasn’t wealthy, but she was happy – after all, she loved Jack Grahame and he loved her in return. He wanted to marry her! Then, she learned the scoundrel was betrothed to a rich heiress when the banns were read in church. She could understand him needing to marry for money in order to save his family, but she couldn’t forgive that he didn’t even have the courage to tell her. Since she couldn’t stand to stay there, she just packed up and left for London. Since the skills she’d learned in the household of a gentleman didn’t really have any value in the employment market, she got desperate pretty fast. Luckily, she came across Miss Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies where Miss Brodie was willing to take a chance on her. She started in the kitchen as a kitchen maid and, over eight years, she worked her way up to cook. She was proud of herself for what she had accomplished. It was hard but very rewarding work and she was good at it.

Jack Grahame loved Marianne Redfern with all of his heart – and it broke that heart when he had to do as his father said and marry an heiress in order to save his family from ruin. It wasn’t the happiest of marriages because each of them was in love with someone else, but they did become friends of a sort. The money saved his family and the lands, but it didn’t save his heart. Then, he lost his father and his wife and had been in social mourning for the last two years. Now, it was time to find his heart again – if she’d forgive him and have him back.

Jack and Marianne have a bit of forgiving to do – on both sides. Their journey to their HEA isn’t smooth, but they each learn a lot about themselves during that journey. There is also a bit of humor – as in Marianne makes Jack a kitchen maid when she is short-handed in the kitchen.

Counterfeit Scandal by Shana Galen (4 out of 5 stars)

Bridget was working for the Home Office as a counterfeiter when she fell in love with Caleb who was a spy. Caleb left on a mission, a long and very dangerous mission – and he didn’t tell her he was going. Just as she learned she was expecting Caleb’s child, she was told that Caleb had died. She resigned from the Home Office and soon met a man who cared for her even though she didn’t love him in return. He was fine with her having Caleb’s child. So, she married him because she thought it would give her child a better life. Well – that was a mistake. Her husband was good to her and her son, James, but he was naïve when it came to money, so Bridget and her husband ended up in debtor’s prison. Rather than subject her young son (about 3 years old) to life inside the prison, she took him to a foundling home and told them she’d be back for him.

Several years later, her husband is dead and she’s out of prison with all debts paid. She’s been working at Miss Brodie’s Academy for a year and has saved up enough money to rent a room and to retrieve James from the orphanage. Except, the orphanage isn’t there anymore. It burned and nobody can tell her what happened to the orphans who lived there.

She rents the room with the intention of spending every spare minute looking for James. However, as she is leaving the home where she has rented the room, Caleb is entering the same home. She is absolutely and totally shocked. She tells him that he must find a new place to live and otherwise expresses her anger. Later, she realizes that she needs Caleb’s help to find James, so she tells him the whole story. He has also explained why he hasn’t contacted her and why they faked his death. They decide to work together even though it will put Caleb’s life in danger.

Their search takes them to Spitalfields and Mayfair and into a lot of danger. Quite an exciting search.

 

Tracy’s Review:

This was a sweet little novella duo by Theresa Romain and Shana Galen, both stories center around the school that the heroines work for – Mrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. Both stories are second chance at love stories and Ms. Galan’s has a tie in to her Survivor’s series!!

The Way to a Gentleman’s Heart by Theresa Romain (3/3.5 out of 5 stars)

Marianne Redfern is the head cook at the Academy, she arrived 8 years ago, with no skills, no money and a broken heart. Her love married another woman and she couldn’t bear to stay. She began as a kitchen maid and worked her way up to head cook. She is content, but she is still heartsore. When Jack Grahame reappears in her life, she is not sure what to feel – elation? Anger? Betrayal? Love? Jack made a choice years ago and sacrificed love for the greater good. Now widowed, he has to know, is it too late? This was a sweet second chance at love story, featuring two people with a lot of pride and a love that never died.

Counterfeit Scandal by Shana Galan  (4/4.5 out of 5 stars)

Bridget Lavery gave up her son 5 years ago when she and her husband were sent to debtor’s prison. Her husband died in prison and when she was freed, she got a job at the Academy teaching art and other less proper skills. She has finally saved enough money to get a room of her own and find her son. The orphanage she left him at burned down and no one seems to know what happened to the children. When she is leaving the boarding house, she runs into a ghost from her past, Caleb Harris, her former love, father of her son and a man she believed dead. Caleb is in hiding, he left Bridget years ago without a word and let her believe he was dead, he worked for the Foreign Office and left to be a spy. Now years later, he is back, but he has a price on his head. He is shocked to see Bridget, the only woman he ever love and the woman he had hoped to marry. He manages to follow her and tries to explain. She wants nothing to do with him and tells him to leave. The next day she is glad to learn he didn’t – she tells him about their son and asks for his help finding him. He agrees, but warns that there is a bounty out on him. They work together and the love they had is still alive, but will they find their son before Caleb is discovered? This was a great novella with steamy love scenes and a nice little tie into the Survivors Series, but it did end rather abruptly and I would have liked a better glimpse of their HEA.

While I enjoyed both stories, I finished the book not really knowing anything about Mrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies other than it is a school for girls and that besides traditional classes, they are taught self defense and some other questionable skills. I think I would have enjoyed a collaborative short story at the beginning of the book about Mrs. Brodie and why she started her school, I think it would have really added to the novellas if I understood the true goal and motivation for the Academy.

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