Our two weeks at the shore consists of my husband fishing while I read. Some of the books are worthy of an individual review and some get short comments. Usually the short reviews are of the historical romance genre ( or, as I like to call them, "Bodice Rippers)
If you are a regular reader of POV, you know that I was told to downsize my library. I did the best that I could and what I could not get on the only bookshelf allowed to me, I stuck under the bed. Things were going well until my husband opened our front door to find a bag of books from a new neighbor. I was delighted; it included new Bodice Rippers by some of my favorite authors.
The first was THE TROUBLE WITH HONOR by Julia London. Honor is the eldest of four sisters. They are stepdaughters of the Earl of Beckington who is dying. His death will force the sisters out of their luxury lifestyle and their place in society. The Earl's son, the future earl, is engaged to a social climbing young lady who wants the stepsisters out of her life. The only way Honor can see to save her and her sisters is to convince the biggest rake in London to seduce the fiancee, giving Honor time to find a husband who will support her and her sisters in style. Well, you can see where this leads.
The thing that makes a Regency Romance such fun is the heroine is usually audacious and witty; Honor is both. Julia London is able to take the typical historic romance plot and keep it moving with a few surprises along the way. Usually when the story contains a group of sisters that means that each will have her own book. The next sister's name is Grace. It sounds as if I will have to hunt for her story.
DEVIL'S PRIZE is by Kat Martin. Damien, Lord Falon has cheated the exquisite Lady Alexa Garrick out of quite a large sum of money at the gaming table. She is too proud to ask her brother for the money and when she asks Damien for more time, he tells her that he will forgive the debt for one night in his bed. From this simple idea the reader is treated to a plot that not only includes some hot sex, but smuggling and French spies.
Kat Martin also does fun romances set in the "Old West" I always pick up her books when I find them. She meets all of my requirements for an entertaining read; witty dialogue, plot twists and relateable characters.
Eloise James is probably the steamiest of these authors so I was surprised to find that the hero of WHEN BEAUTY TAMED THE BEAST is badly crippled and unable to father an heir. Since all of Society believes that our heroine, Linnet Berry Thrynne, is expecting the Prince's child but that he will not marry her, she agrees to travel to Wales to marry the bad tempered Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant. Linnet is sure that once she simply flashes her famous smile at Piers, he will fall in love with her.
.Piers has turned his castle into a hospital and has gained the reputation as an excellent physician. His patients come from as far away as London. When scarlet fever breaks out, he has to fight the local doctors who believe that bleeding a patient is the only cure.
This was actually the best of the three for character, plot, a bit of medical history and a bit of a moral lesson. This is another author that I depend on.
After several days of reading steamy sex scenes, I am ready for an old-fashioned murder mystery, Then, of course, I might just go back to some more Bodice Rippers.
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