Tag: Anna Bradley

The Virgin Who Captured a Viscount by Anna Bradley

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

The Virgin Who Captured a Viscount (The Swooning Virgins Society, #5)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: The Swooning Virgins Society #5
Publication Date: 10/4/22
Period: Georgian – 1772 – 1796
Number of Pages: 320

Oh! My Goodness! If you hitch your horse to this wagon, you are in for a wild and wonderful ride! I’ve read and loved all of the books in this series, but this is the best one yet. We’ve seen Daniel in the background of all of the books of the series – taking care of the ladies, protecting them, but always subservient, quiet, and unobtrusive. Somehow though, you just KNEW there was more to him than meets the eye. You knew he had a story – and now we finally know that it is a hum-dinger!

Mairi Cameron has to find Daniel Adair and convince him to return to Coldstream within the Scottish borders because it is the only way to save her grandmother’s life. She’s followed his trail and learned that Daniel Adair is now Daniel Brixton. She and Daniel were friends when they were small children – she adored him then – but he and his father took off and she hadn’t heard anything from him since. Now though, her grandmother has been accused of Daniel’s murder after the village found the body of a small boy in a pond on the local Viscount’s property. Twenty-four years ago, when Daniel disappeared, he loved her grandmother as much as Mairi did, so he’ll surely return to save her grandmother – since he isn’t dead.

Mairi tracks Daniel for several days and finds him in the worst slums of London. It seems that the sweet, loving Daniel Adair she remembers has grown into the slimiest of creatures who calls himself Daniel Brixton. He is part of that criminal element that populates the underbelly of London – or is he? Well, he certainly must be – just look where she found him. Then, of all things, she had to save his life from one of those thugs bent on knifing him. He certainly owes her now! Except, he doesn’t see it that way – and he has no idea who she is and he’s quite positive he’s not Scottish. Oh! My!

Against his better judgment, Daniel takes Mairi back to Clifford School so Lady Clifford could help him decide what to do with her. He certainly couldn’t leave her in that hovel in which he found her, but he also had no intention of going to Scotland with her. Of all things – she thought he was Scottish. Ha!

Daniel and Mairi are delightful characters and I enjoyed watching them sizing each other up and coming to a truce. After Daniel and Mairi head out for Coldstream, Scotland, the fireworks really begin – between them – but also with the whole fantastical tale Mairi tells Daniel. Can it all be true? Then – the additional revelations that come to both of them will rock their worlds to the core.

I highly recommend this book and hope you will love Daniel and Mairi as much as I did. I loved that the villains actually got their just punishment – and – of course – one of my favorite things – there was a lovely epilogue. Yep! A truly lovely read.

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

View all my reviews

Not Just Any Earl by Anna Bradley

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

Not Just Any Earl (Games Earls Play, #1)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: Games Earls Play
Publication Date: 12/14/21
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 186

This was a nice, straightforward introduction to the series, Games Earls Play, the Templeton sisters, and, of course, it includes a sweet romance. If you are looking for an exciting, heart palpating, hold-your-breath kind of read, well, this isn’t it. It is a steady, lovely romance between two very likable people who seem totally wrong for each other but are really so very right. I would have liked for it to be a tad longer so we could have gotten to know the characters a bit better – and so we could have spent more time seeing the dastardly dirty folks in the ton get their comeuppance.

The Templeton sisters are Emmeline (our current heroine), Euphemia (the oldest), Mathilda (the youngest), Juliet (her book is next I think), and Helena who is in service as the governess to the Marquess of Hawke (maybe he will be her hero???). Three years ago, two of the Templeton sisters had been in London for their season when their mother, Alice, ran off to the continent with her lover. The scandal, of course, drove the girls out of London and they’ve never set foot in it again. Since their father’s death, their circumstances have become direr and direr – until all of them will probably end up in service. So, when their father’s old friend, Lady Fosberry, coaxes Juliet and Emmaline back to London, it is their hope that Juliet will make a match – particularly with Lord Melrose.

Jonathan Parrish, the Earl of Melrose, is the male equivalent of a diamond of the first water. All the ladies admire him, sigh over him, and wish he’d notice them. He’s decided he’ll marry this season – and he supposes it might as well be Lady Christine Dingley since his mother once expressed a desire for that. He’s not particularly attracted to her, but he does have to marry. Isn’t it nice that fate has a way of stomping all over our best-laid plans?

At Lady Fosberry’s ball, Jonathan heads across the ballroom to request a dance from Lady Christine but becomes distracted when he notices a lovely widow with whom he’s spent some pleasant hours. Did I mention Jonathan is drunk as a skunk? He follows the lady from the ballroom and thinks he has lost her until he enters the library and notices her (well, he thinks it is her) there. He quietly comes up behind her and — well, she didn’t stop him from kissing her – and she even kissed him back. Only, it wasn’t the lady he thought it was. Oops! He never saw her face because it was so dark – and now, he really wants to find her, she intrigues him – but he has no idea how to find her nor can he even describe her.

I really liked Jonathan because he was a lovely, sweet, caring, honorable man. I also really liked Emmeline who was all about family, and it was heart-warming to see the two of them become friends and then come to love each other. Again, I would really have liked the book to have been just a tad longer so we could see more of their coming to love each other.

I would recommend this book to a friend as a nice set-up for what promises to be a very nice series. The writing is good, the characters are very likable, the plot is a good one, but, overall, it is a pretty bland read. The set-up for the next book, which I assume will feature Juliet and Jonathan’s friend Lord Cross, is threaded throughout this one.

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

View all my reviews