Tag: Caroline Linden

About A Rogue by Caroline Linden

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

AboutARogueBarbara’s Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Desperately Seeking Duke #1
Publication Date: 6/30/20
Number of Pages: 384

Yikes! The Carlyle dukedom is in danger and the duchess is desperately seeking out possible heirs. Her older son, the duke, is sickly and has a very limited mental capacity – he certainly cannot marry and father children. That wasn’t such a problem until both of her younger sons died – one in the Army and the has just died of an unfortunate accident before he could marry and have children. The dukedom’s solicitor, Mr. Edwards, has been diligently searching for the heirs – because the duchess wants them to learn the ways of the dukedom before they have to take over. Three possible heirs have been identified and none of them make the duchess happy. One of them is a Frenchman, one is in the army, and the last is a cardsharp. Our current story features the cardsharp, Maximilian St. James.

Max had no desire to be under the duchesses thumb, but he was grateful for the money she handed him and for the promise of the yearly payout he would receive from the dukedom. Well, except that yearly payout came with strings – he had to become respectable and be on his good behavior. The judgment about whether he was respectable, of course, was the duchesses. Max didn’t care for that at all. Max has always wanted to be independent, but life circumstances just never allowed that. He had to make his life the best way he could. Now, he has a bold plan and he is so excited about the possibility of making his own future.

Max was introduced to Mr. Samuel Tate, owner of Perusia, a fine pottery factory when he was in London. Mr.Tate was impressed with Max and his relationship to the ton and subsequently invited him to visit Perusia. Mr. Tate had no sons and when Max presented him with a partnership proposal – as well as a proposal of marriage for Mr. Tate’s oldest daughter, Cathy, Mr. Tate was thrilled. Cathy, the sweet, docile daughter wasn’t thrilled though and promptly eloped with the man she did love. OOPS!

There was nothing sweet nor docile about Bianca Tate – Cathy’s only sister. Bianca, who was every bit as stubborn and pig-headed as her father, was furious that he’d just sell out his daughter like that. So, when Bianca discovered Cathy packing to run away with the man she loved, Bianca decided to help her. What Bianca didn’t expect was to end up having to marry Max in Cathy’s place!

I absolutely adored both Max and Bianca. Max was determined to win his wife’s affections and Bianca was determined to despise Max no matter what he did. It was so much fun watching Max slowly, but steadily, destroying all of Bianca’s defenses.

One of the most refreshing things about this story was that it wasn’t set in London among the ton. Yes, there were several titles involved, but they weren’t the focus. The focus of the story was Max and Bianca and I felt as if I really got to know them. The romance felt real and I could genuinely feel that they were in love. Also included in my ebook was a short novella featuring Lawrence, who is Max’s valet. It was a really sweet story as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to the second book in the series – A Scot To The Heart – which features the army officer – Captain Andrew St. James of his majesty’s Scotts Guards.

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

I Love The Earl by Caroline Linden

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Novella1 Comment

I Love the Earl (The Truth About the Duke #0.5)Barbara’s rating: 4/4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Truth About the Duke #0.5
Publication Date: 8/2/11
Number of Pages: 147

This was a lovely introduction to the ‘The Truth About The Duke’ series, we meet the Duke, learn about him unexpectedly becoming a duke, but we don’t really see much of him. We learn to like him, dislike him, and then like him again. We learned that he was troubled and that it had something to do with a youthful romance, but no explanations beyond that. The other books in the series feature his sons (many years later) as they fight the scandal the duke left behind and find their HEAs along their journey. This novella features the duke’s sister Margaret.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Gildart Jackson. His characterizations were consistent – you always knew which character was speaking. He has a nice voice and accent consistent with the time and place. Personally, I thought the pacing was a little slow, but after I increased the playback speed, it worked out just fine.

Let me start by telling you that I loved both of the main characters in the book. One of my favorite things is that you never have to overlook or forgive either the hero or heroine for anything. They are both so very true to who they are. They are honest and straightforward with each other. One of the best things is that there is absolutely no angst nor any TSTL moments. It was a lovely, fairly light-hearted, romantic read.

Margaret de Lacey has long accepted that she is a spinster. Once, she dreamed of love, marriage, and children, but no longer. She is content living with her brother and managing his household. Then, her brother unexpectedly inherits a dukedom and her whole world changes. She’s gone from the plain, uninteresting, drab woman in whom nobody was interested, to a very wealthy heiress with all of the penniless fortune hunters chasing her. Well, she’ll not accept any of them without being very, very sure they are as interested in her as they are in her fortune.

Rhys Corwen, Earl of Dowling is probably the most destitute of those looking for a fortune. He is very, very reluctant to marry for money, but he’s exhausted all of his options – even selling the furnishings in his homes. He’s agreed to go through a list his friend has of eligible heiresses. He’ll meet them, then he’ll decide whether he can go through with it or not. He’s met two or three of the ladies on the list, and then he meets Margaret de Lacey. Goodness, she is intriguing and he is drawn to her. He decides right then that she will be his.

Rhys constantly turns up wherever Margaret happens to be and they always have at least a brief interaction. Will he manage to change her mind about him? Will she ever accept him? What dastardly thing does her brother do? Can they find their HEA? You’ll just have to read this fun novella to find out.

I do wish the epilogue had been just a tad more fleshed out, it seemed just a bit rushed. I would also have liked to have seen more of a reconciliation between the siblings – a visit would have been so much better than a letter. I understand this was a novella, but just a few more pages would have made it absolutely perfect.