Lord of Mischief by Sasha Cottman

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke of Strathmore #6
Publication Date: 6/1/18

This is the second book I have read by Sasha Cottman and it is an excellently written and excellently plotted book. It is basically Bonnie meets Clyde (without the bank robbing) – and we all know what an ill-fated relationship that one was!

Freddie Rosemount is the second son of a Viscount who wants to make his mark on the world. Evidently, he doesn’t care if that is a good mark or a bad mark because he certainly gets into some very, very questionable activities. He also doesn’t seem to have a thought or care for anyone or anything other than himself. Who he inadvertently hurts doesn’t matter. He has the opportunity to join The Bachelor Club and will do whatever it takes to get enough points in the contest to win that membership. He races bareback headlong through London in the dark of night, deliberately insults members of the ton, takes on an unruly dog and gives it a ridiculous name – each test he is given is more vile than the last and he intends to pass them all with flying colors.

Eve Saunders is the female version of Freddie Rosemount – but without the freedom to act upon that wildness. She does manage to join up with Freddie and help him in his quests. They say they are trying to maintain her reputation, but they flaunt convention at every opportunity. Eve is jealous of her older sister and is determined to beat her to the altar. She is determined to marry Freddy long before she knows him well enough to know if she does/could love him. She is attracted to his wildness because it calls to the wildness within her.

Freddie’s father finally steps in to curb his son, but that doesn’t stop him. What finally stops him is something that is done by the man who runs the Bachelor Club. I don’t believe Freddy would have changed his ways if that hadn’t happened. He certainly wasn’t upset by anything else they had done – no matter how heinous. It was only after something could have affected him personally that he thought he needed to take a look at himself. Had that not happened, I believe he would have continued on with his wild lifestyle. So – I never grew to like Freddie – nor did I grow to like Eve.

The fact that I didn’t care for either the hero or the heroine doesn’t mean that the story wasn’t well written. It was. The plot was excellent and the writer stayed with that plot. So, I’m giving it 4-stars.

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“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.”

My Gentleman Spy by Sasha Cottman

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke of Strathmore #5
Publication Date: 2/1/18

Gibraltar 1817 – ‘Hattie Wright sucked in a deep breath before slowly letting the air back out. The long drop over the side of the ship to the water below was a heart-rending distance.’ Thus begins our adventure in this well written and well-plotted novel. This is the first time I’ve read anything by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While this book is part of a series, I felt it could easily be read as a stand-alone. I liked that almost the entire cast of characters were non-titled.

Up until a couple of years ago, Hattie led a happy, privileged life with loving parents and a caring, supportive brother. Then her parents had a religious conversion to a much more zealous sect of the church. They also seemed to be deeply under the influence of Reverend Peter Brown. Their zealotry caused a rift with Hattie’s brother and they became totally estranged. To make matters even worse, they betrothed Hattie to Reverend Brown. Her parents renounced everything and they were all headed – against Hattie’s will – to be missionaries in Africa. Hattie knew she had to escape and the only way she could see to do it was to jump overboard while the ship was near enough to Gibraltar for her to swim to shore. It seems that the normally compliant Hattie had grown a spine.

William Saunders, a former spy for the crown, is a lonely widower on his way home to England. He longed to return to England and his large, loving, supportive family, but he knew he was going to miss the warm weather of the continent. He was treating himself to a farewell tour of the now peaceful cities of lower France and Spain before he returned home. Thus, he was sitting on the beach when he noticed a ship far out in the water and – what was that – there was someone, a female, who just went overboard! He had to save her!

Will and Hattie are attracted to each other, but each has secrets – he shares his – she doesn’t. I love that she outmaneuvers him at every turn. The vaunted spy outdone by the amateur – that is good. Once they reach England, she manages to outsmart him and escape. He has to find her and make her his wife – can he? Will she have him? What made her so desperate to run away from him? What is she hiding? What danger does she face? All questions that can be answered when you read the book. So happy reading!

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.”