Spotlight Tour - - Marie Force's Fatal Series

On the 26th of July, Harlequin's HQN Books will release Fatal Identity, the tenth book in Marie Force's Fatal series, starring popular couple, Vice President Nick Cappuano and Lieutenant Sam Holland. To celebrate, many of the books in the series are being sold at discounted prices and this tour offers both a Rafflecopter giveaway as well as a special pre-order promotion.

Sample the series by downloading the prequel novella, One Night With You for FREE and the first full-length book in the series, Fatal Affair for only $2.99.





Washington, D.C., Metro Police Detective Sergeant Sam Holland needs a big win to salvage her career--and her confidence--after a disastrous investigation. The perfect opportunity arises when Senator John O'Connor is found brutally murdered in his bed, and Sam is assigned to the case. Matters get complicated when Sam has to team up with Nick Cappuano, O'Connor's friend and chief of staff...and the man Sam had a memorable one-night stand with years earlier. Their sexual chemistry still sizzles, and Sam has to fight to stay focused on the case. Sleeping with a material witness is another mistake she can't afford--especially when the bodies keep piling up.








Register your pre-order of Fatal Identity for a chance to win one of two terrific prize packages. 

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win the entire set of Fatal books. (books 1-9)



a Rafflecopter giveaway


Fatal Identity
Fatal Series - Book 10
By Marie Force
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: July 26, 2016

As the first anniversary of her marriage to Vice President Nick Cappuano approaches, Lieutenant Sam Holland is dreaming of Bora Bora—sun, sand and a desperately needed break from the DC grind. But real life has a way of intervening, and Sam soon finds herself taking on one of the most perplexing cases of her career.  

Government worker Josh Hamilton begs Sam to investigate his shocking claim that his parents stole him from another family thirty years ago. More complicated still, his "father" is none other than the FBI director. When a member of Josh's family is brutally murdered, Sam begins to question how deep this cover-up goes. Is it possible the revered director was part of a baby-napping ring and that others involved are also targets? 

With a killer intent on deadly revenge and her team still reeling from a devastating loss, Sam's plate is full—and when Nick and their son, Scotty, take ill, is her dream of a tropical anniversary celebration in peril too?

Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of 50 contemporary romances, including the Gansett Island Series, which has sold more than 2.3 million books, and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books, which has sold more than 1.2 million books. In addition, she is the author of the Green Mountain Series as well as the erotic romance Quantum Series, written under the slightly modified name of M.S. Force.  All together, her books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide!

Her goals in life are simple—to finish raising two happy, healthy, productive young adults, to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can and to never be on a flight that makes the news. 

Join Marie’s mailing list on her website at marieforce.com for news about new books and upcoming appearances in your area. Follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MarieForceAuthor, on Twitter @marieforce and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/marieforceauthor/. Contact Marieat marie@marieforce.com.

Connect with Marie

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ON VACATION.....

We're on vacation! 

We'll be back with more 

news, reviews, blogs, and giveaways on

Thursday, July 21st.

See you then! 

Cathy Maxwell Winner

My apologies for the delay in announcing the winner of a Kindle copy of 

The Fairest of Them All by Cathy Maxwell and my thanks to cheryl c for 

bringing it to my attention. In one of those crazy coincidences, random.org has

chosen comment #13 as the winner and that person is:

cheryl c

Congratulations!

Please send your email address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Review - - Always My Girl

Always My Girl

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: July 5, 2016

Anna Hannigan and Quinn Shaughnessy have been best friends since they were six years old when the Hannigans moved next door to the Shaughnessys, and Anna has been in love with Quinn almost as long. Unfortunately, her love is unrequited.  Quinn sees Anna strictly as his best bud, just one of the guys. Anna exchanges her job at a local pub, a jeans-and-tee shirt position, for a career in real estate that requires more feminine attire, not as an upwardly mobile career move but as a way to make others see her differently. But the change is not enough to alter Quinn’s perspective.

Quinn, a former NASCAR driver, is a serial dater whose only serious commitment is to his business, a chain of auto repair and restoration shops. When he arrives at the beach site where the wedding of his brother Aidan and Zoe Dalton (Made for Us) is taking place, Quinn sees a curvy beauty in a bikini and is set to make his move when he realizes the beauty is Anna. Then he insists she cover up all that she is exposing. He is uncomfortable seeing Anna as a woman who stirs his libido, and he fights the attraction until desire proves more powerful than fear. But this couple still has major obstacles to overcome.

The pattern of Anna and Quinn’s relationship, with Anna as the giver and Quinn as the taker, is a long-established one, and it does not change when they become lovers. Anna has to learn to assert herself and Quinn has to lose the selfish jerk he often is before this romance has any hope of leading to forever.

This is the third novel in Samantha Chase’s Shaughnessy Brothers series, and it has the strengths and the weaknesses of the first novel. The characters are deftly drawn with intriguing layers, and the Shaughnessy family dynamics, including the effect of their mother’s death on each of them, are complex and interesting. Anna has been part of their family for so long that they regard her as one of their own. The affection they have for her complicates matters when she and Quinn move from friends to lovers. I found Anna a sympathetic character. Even when I cringed at her patient Griselda ways, I understood her and rooted for her to take a stand.

All of these factors make for an interesting, engaging read. But Quinn, like Aidan before him, is a hero with a high jerk quotient. In fact, in a contest for jerkiness, Quinn would be the winner. For much of the story, he is selfish and self-absorbed, incapable of seeing any view but his own. Flawed characters often win my heart, but the flaws need to be balanced by appealing qualities. For me, Quinn failed the balance test. Even the transformed Quinn is not enough to overcome my initial dislike.

Final verdict: I wavered between 3.5 and 4 stars for quite a while before settling on 4. As a small-town romance, Always My Girl deserves kudos for its solid characterization and credible creation of tangled familial ties and strong sense of community. Chase excels in weaving humor and poignancy into her stories, and she does not disappoint with this one. Some readers may find Quinn more likeable than I did. Regardless, I like the Shaughnessy family enough to have added This Is Our Song (December 6, 2016), rock star Riley’s story, to my book calendar.

~Janga

PJ's Novella Reviews Winner

The randomly chosen winner of Kindle copies of

A Gentleman Never Tells, Stranded With the Scottish Earl, and Once Upon a Moonlit Night is:

PTupper

Congratulations!

Please send your email address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Review - - Then He Kissed Me

Then He Kissed Me
Cottonbloom - Book 2
By Laura Trentham
Publisher: St. Martin's
Release Date: June 28, 2016

Best friends and confidants, young Nash Hawthorne and Tally Fournette were inseparable but, at the age of ten, dual tragedies ripped them apart. Skinny, nerdy Nash was sent to live with his snobby, well-to-do aunt on the Mississippi side of Cottonbloom where he thrived academically, if not socially, going on to excel in college and beyond. Tally remained on the blue-collar Louisiana side of the river that separates Cottonbloom, struggling to survive the dire circumstances in which she and her older brothers found themselves after the deaths of their parents and rebelling when faced with the shame and frustration of being unable to keep up at school because of undetected dyslexia. To say she had a chip on her shoulder would be a major understatement.

Fast forward 18 years...  

Nash returns to Cottonbloom to teach history at the local college. No longer the skinny kid who fished the river with Tally, he's educated, world-traveled, and quite the sexy hunk. He's also determined to rekindle a friendship - and maybe more - with the childhood best friend he never forgot. But there are obstacles - both his own and the ones Tally throws in his path - that must first be overcome.

Though Tally owns a successful gym, she still views herself as inferior, especially to Nash. She's ashamed that she never attended college and while she's a whiz with numbers, she still has difficulty reading due to her dyslexia. She can't imagine why a man who reveres books would want anything to do with a woman who can't read one. Adding to her battered self-esteem is her abusive ex-boyfriend who refuses to leave her alone, consistently reinforcing the belief that she was weak and stupid to ever have let him into her life.  Her feelings for Nash quickly grow but in order to trust in the love and happiness he offers, she will first have to learn to love and accept herself.

Laura Trentham is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. I've fallen in love with the citizens of Cottonbloom and their divided town, especially Tally and Nash. These two really spoke to me. I ached for Tally and all she had endured and while I usually go for alpha heroes, Nash's beta-hero character stole my heart. Trentham's characters are well formed and complex, and she brings them to vibrant and realistic life on the pages of her books. They could easily be people you'd meet at the Saturday morning farmer's market or a Friday night street dance. She surrounds them with a supporting cast of interesting characters, some of whom have stories of their own that are inter-woven with the hero's and heroine's, adding layers of richness to the book without drawing the focus away from the main couple. And then there's the town of Cottonbloom, a character in itself that Trentham brings to vivid life through her words. Reading the Cottombloom books, I can smell the magnolias in bloom and feel the sultry heat of deep south summers on my skin. It's all part of the total reading experience that she does so well. 

Then He Kissed Me is going straight to my Best of 2016 watch list and also to my keeper shelf, along with the first book in the Cottonbloom series, Kiss Me That Way. I have no doubt that they will soon be joined by the third book, Til I Kissed You, due to be released August 2.  I highly recommend Laura Trentham's Cottonbloom books for your summer reading pleasure. As each book builds upon the previous one in the trilogy, I would encourage readers to read them in order. 

~PJ

Novella Reviews - - Quick Bites of Delicious Romance

A Gentleman Never Tells
By Eloisa James
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Release Date: June 28, 2016

Once upon a time, Lizzie Troutt was a young woman filled with hopes and dreams. Those dreams were dashed when the man her father forced her to marry deposited her at his mother's home an hour after their wedding, informing her that her duty would be to care for his mother while he lived in another home with his mistress, Shady Sadie Sprinkle. Five years later, to put an exclamation point on the whole sordid affair, he had the audacity to die in the woman's bed, leaving Lizzie a humiliated, disillusioned, virgin widow determined to never marry again. Eighteen months later, Lizzie's happily married sister convinces her to visit them in the country where she hopes to lure Lizzie away from the books she hides behind and back into the world. Where, hopefully, she can meet a man who will convince her that not all males are cut from the same cloth as Lizzie's despicable husband. 

Eighteen years ago, the Honorable Oliver Berwick was not the most considerate of young men, running with a group whose leader considered it fashionable to affix unflattering labels to young women who were not the Ton's beauties. In the intervening years, Oliver has matured and now deeply regrets his part in hurting the feelings of those young woman who were the butt of their jokes. If fact, according to his 15-year-old niece Hattie, who is living with Oliver while her missionary parents are abroad, he's become a "stodgy old twig." When Hattie finagles an invitation to a house party being hosted by the parents of her good friend and Oliver realizes that the hostess is one of the girls he and his friends ridiculed all those years ago, he sees a chance to finally offer his long overdue apology. He had long ago decided to never marry so meeting a woman he could love while at the party was so far out of the realm of possibility that it never crossed his mind...until his first glimpse of Lizzie. But does he have what it takes to draw Lizzie out of her self-imposed exile and teach her to once again laugh, smile, and give love a chance?

What a sweet, witty, and heartwarming story! Oliver is a terrific hero. I so enjoyed his dedicated courtship of Lizzie. He's one of the good guys and, heaven knows, after what Lizzie endured at the hands of her late, unlamented husband, she certainly deserves a good guy. The secondary cast forms an engaging, caring, and humorous backdrop for our main couple that moves the story along. Also, it's clear while reading Hattie's scenes that Ms. James knows the roller-coaster daily drama of living with a teen-age girl and is able to find the heart and humor in it. As an added bonus, there's a lovely scene with Josie and Mayne, the much-loved heroine and hero from James' Pleasure for Pleasure, the final book in her Essex Sisters series and an indoor croquet match that is not to be missed. 

This feel-good novella goes into my keeper collection. I've already read it twice and no doubt will revisit it again in the future. 





Stranded With the Scottish Earl
By Anna Campbell
Publisher: Anna Campbell
Release Date: June 30, 2016

Proud, independent Charlotte Warren is happy managing her father's estates and has no intention of tying herself to a husband which is why she's put out by the letter she's received from her father telling her that he's found the perfect man for her. Still in her Cinderella costume after the village's Easter play rehearsal, she's alone in her home (the household staff is still in the village) when a tall, handsome man arrives at her door.

Ewan Macrae, Earl of Lyle never expected to fall in love with a portrait but that's exactly what happened when his new friend, Charlotte's father, showed him the miniature of his daughter. Wanting to get to know her on his own, Ewan impulsively leaves London and arrives unannounced, in the pouring rain, on her doorstep. Knowing exactly who he is, Charlotte introduces herself as the housemaid, Flora whereby Ewan, knowing full well Flora is really Charlotte, introduces himself as Mr. Ebenezer Smith. Charlotte doesn't want him there but before he can leave, the rain washes out the bridge, trapping the household staff in the village and Charlotte/Flora and Ewan/Ebenezer on the estate. And then the fun begins...

I've enjoyed all of Anna Campbell's novellas but this one just might be my favorite. I couldn't possibly resist a charming, sexy, Scotsman who falls in love with a portrait; an independent, stubborn, English spinster who has vowed never to marry; and the overflowing river that traps the two of them together. I adore "trapped by the elements" stories! Add to that, Campbell's witty banter, sexual tension, humor, and charm, and you have a story that tickled my funny bone and captured my heart. Oh, and as a bonus, there's an epilogue that is an absolute delight. I'll be reading this one again!



Once Upon a Moonlit Night
By Elizabeth Hoyt
Publisher: Forever Yours
Release Date: July 5, 2016

If you've read Hoyt's Duke of Sin, you may have wondered what happened to heiress Hippolyta Royal after she escaped the clutches of the Duke of Montgomery. I know, I did! Well, wonder no more. In this fast-paced, entertaining, and sizzling novella, Hoyt gives readers the rest of the story and it's a winner.

Matthew and Hippolyta are worthy, bantering adversaries from the moment she flags down his carriage. Dressed in ill-fitting clothes and wearing mud from head to toe, it's no wonder Matthew doubts her story of being an heiress...although she does seem to have a vast array of knowledge for the actress (or worse) that he thinks she is.

Matthew, who has been in India mapping and collecting scientific samples, has reluctantly returned home to accept a bankrupt title he never wanted. He's exhausted, grumpy and, at times, downright rude. He agrees to give Hippolyta a ride to the next town but that's it.

When an incident at their first stop convinces Matthew to take Hippolyta all the way to London, the fun really begins.  Rapid-fire banter, unwanted attraction, and sizzling sexual frustration all combine to make this road romance from Hoyt a real treat. I liked both Matthew and Hippolyta and enjoyed watching them traverse the pitfalls of their relationship as well as learn to take ownership of who they are...both individually and as a couple. The secondary cast - on the road and in London - all add to the fun, especially Matthew's pet, a clever little mongoose named Tommy Teapot. Like many of Hoyt's stories, the sex scenes - and accompanying language - are explicit although, in this story, they don't occur until almost the end of the novella. I have to say, I really enjoyed the build up of sexual tension throughout the first eight chapters.

For fans of Hoyt's Maiden Lane books, Once Upon a Moonlit Night will be a welcome addition to the series. Readers new to the series, however, need not fear. This engaging novella stands very well on its own.


Are you a fan of novellas? Have you read any of the above? 

Tell me about recent novellas you've read and enjoyed. 

One randomly chosen person who leaves a comment will receive a Kindle copy of all three novellas. 

Deadline to be entered in the giveaway is 11:00 PM (EST), Sunday, July 10, 2016. 

Review - - A Summer to Remember

A Summer to Remember

By Marilyn Pappano

Publisher: Grand Central Forever

Release Date: June 28, 2016

Elliot Ross expected his life to fall into familiar lines once his eight years in the army ended. His family’s roots in West Texas were deep; the family ranch had been passed from generation to generation since the nineteenth century. When his parents found it prudent to sell the ranch and relocate to Arizona, it left Elliot at loose ends with no real sense of home. Wandering in search of a new place that feels like home, Elliot and a pit bull puppy he rescued and named Mouse stop in Tallgrass, Oklahoma. Elliot is complaining to Mouse about her prima donna ways while holding an umbrella over her as she takes care of business in the rain when he meets Fia Thomas, who overhears his conversation with his pet. It makes for an appealing meet-cute scene.

Fia, the youngest of the Tuesday Night Margarita girls, has had more than her share of tough times—a childhood without the love and support that should be every child’s birthright, widowhood after a happy but too brief marriage, and a mysterious illness that leaves her unable to continue her work as a fitness trainer or, on the worst days, to care for herself. But she is grateful for the good days, and on one day when she feels well enough to drive, she meets a cowboy who incongruously caters to a little dog with big ideas.

Sharing a burger and some conversation at Sonic might not be anyone’s idea of a perfect first date, but it’s enough to spark an attraction between Fia and Elliott. He falls head over heels in a heartbeat, and when he finds a job tailor-made for him too, he is certain Fia and Tallgrass are what he has been seeking. Fia loves the way Elliott makes her feel, but her health issues make her wary of commitment. Can Elliot convince her that she can trust him in sickness and in health?

This is the sixth novel in Pappano’s excellent Tallgrass series that focuses on a group of military widows as they grieve and move on with their lives. The series has been consistent in giving readers emotionally rich stories with engaging characters. This one is no exception. Elliot is a wonderful beta hero. The product of a loving, close-knit family, he is an optimist and a caretaker, and he is secure enough to be vulnerable. How can anyone resist a hero who rescues puppies, cooks like a dream, and personifies a modern knight in a cowboy hat? He can also be eloquent when the need is there, as when he reminds Fia of what love is:

Fia, the point is, loving somebody and making a commitment to them doesn’t have anything to do with health or wealth or social status or career or any of that stuff. It has to do with who you are and who I am and the fact that we’re better people together than we are apart.

Fia is a survivor, but even her own strength and her husband Scott’s love and belief in her have not healed all the scars of an upbringing that left her feeling like a burden. The diagnosis she finally receives exacerbates her fears. Watching these two reach their version of an HEA was a moving, rewarding reading experience.

Of course, the Margarita girls are there to support Fia, and fans of the series will be pleased to see many familiar faces. There is a heart-tugging secondary plot involving Marti Levin and Dillon Smith, bad-boy twin of Dalton (A Love to Call Her Own, Tallgrass #3). Whether you are a fan of small-town romance, military romance, or just contemporary romance with characters with whom you fall in love as they fall in love with each other, I think you will enjoy this one. I definitely recommend it.

~Janga

Review - - The Summer Bride

The Summer Bride

By Anne Gracie

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 5, 2016

 

Lady Beatrice is busy making plans for her fourth “niece” to make her debut, but Daisy’s plans are quite different. She has no interest in balls and soirees; she just wants to design the gowns that the ladies of the ton wear to such events. Daisy’s dreams are as big as her talent, but a husband and children play no part in them. She is already on her way to fulfilling her dream of designing clothes. She has more orders for custom dresses than she can handle. She just needs to save enough money to open a shop and to convince Lady Bea of the futility of trying to turn Daisy into a young lady in search of a husband.

Patrick Flynn is a friend and business partner of Max, Lord Davenham, Lady Bea’s nephew and husband of Abigail Chance (The Autumn Bride), and Freddy Monkton-Coombes, husband of Damaris Chance (The Winter Bride), but unlike them, he has not a drop of blue blood. An Irishman who overcame poverty and devastating loss through his own efforts, Patrick is a wealthy, self-made man who has no illusions about what makes him acceptable to the ton. His goal is to find an aristocratic bride, a proper lady with appropriate connections—the very opposite of independent, outspoken, fiery-tempered Daisy Chance.

To Flynn’s surprise, it is Daisy who first captures his attention and then claims his friendship and eventually his heart. But Daisy refuses his offer to partner her in her dress shop and his offer of marriage. Flynn’s only hope is to be as tenacious in his pursuit of Daisy as Daisy is in her certainty that Flynn and a family are not for her.

The Summer Bride is the fourth and final book in the Chance Sisters series, and it gets my vote for best of series, although I have loved all the others. I adored both Daisy and Flynn. Daisy is a rare romance heroine in that she is no lost heiress or stolen aristocrat, but a true throwaway child who grew up as a maid in a brothel. She is imperfect in body (She is lame) and in character (She is stubborn and tart-tongued), but she is also fiercely loyal to those she loves and courageous when confronted with obstacles. And she is a bit of a paradox in that she has a deep belief in her talent but little sense of her worth as a human being. Flynn is an appealing combination of arrogance and vulnerability, irresistible charm and a dangerous edge, single-mindedness and a tender heart. I have a weakness for the self-made hero, and Flynn joined my favorites. Their HEA was sigh-worthy and satisfying.

As always, Lady Bea was a delight, and I particularly enjoyed the scene where she proves that she is up to any challenge when the well-being of one of her beloved nieces is at stake. From beginning to end, this series has been about family, by birth and by choice. Both Daisy and Flynn have poignant stories about their birth families. In Abby, Damaris, Jane, and Lady Bea, Daisy has found a family to whom she is bound by mutual loyalty and abiding love. The ties of friendship that link Flynn and Max is strong indeed, but part of the reason I found the HEA a perfect ending to the series is that marriage to Daisy gives Flynn the family he has lacked since late childhood. The series begins and ends with the making of a family.

I have been recommending Anne Gracie’s books since I first read Gallant Waif fifteen years ago, and I am happy to give another of her books my highest recommendation. If you love historical romance that moves you to tears and laughter and introduces you to characters that linger in your memory and in your heart, I suggest you add The Summer Bride to your TBR list ASAP. I plan on rereading all the Chance Sisters books while I wait to see what Anne Gracie has for us next.

~Janga

Marnee Blake Winner

The random winner of a $5 Amazon gift card from Marnee Blake is:

Laney4

Congratulations!

Please send your email address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Fourth of July Winner

Congratulations to:

LSUReader

You won my 4th of July package of books giveaway!

Please send your full name and mailing address to me at:

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Review - - Once a Soldier

Once a Soldier

By Mary Jo Putney

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date: June 28, 2016

The year is 1814. Napoleon has been exiled to Elba, and Major Lord Will Masterson is weary of war and ready to return to England and the life he left there. But the army has one more task for him first. Colonel Duval, an intelligence officer whom Will met five years earlier when they and three others barely escaped before being executed by the French, asks Will to accompany a small, advance group of soldiers who are returning to their home, San Gabriel. The tiny country, located between Spain and Portugal, proved a staunch ally during the war, but news has been sketchy since a marauding French officer attacked the country and captured the monarch and his heir. England wants information, and the authorities believe Will is the man to provide it.

Will arrives to be met by a tall, pistol-packing Englishwoman, Lady Athena Markham. Athena is companion and advisor to Princess Sofia, who will become San Gabriel’s ruler once she comes of age. Independent and unconventional, Athena is unlike any other woman Will has known. As the two work together first to help rebuild war-ravaged San Gabriel and later to stand with the San Gabrielites when their enemy, undeterred by the end of the war, returns, a genuine friendship develops between the two. Underlying the friendship is an attraction that proves irresistible and a love strong enough to conquer all obstacles. And the obstacles are also genuine. Will finds Athena beautiful and fascinating, but she, the illegitimate daughter of a legendary courtesan and an aristocrat, is not interested in following her mother’s example or in becoming the wife that will plunge Will into scandal.

Once a Soldier is the first book in Putney’s new Rogues Redeemed series, and it is definitely another MJP winner. The portrait Putney paints of San Gabriel and the courage and tenacity of its people in enduring the costs war exacts and in struggling to rebuild and reclaim their lives is powerful. Athena is a heroine who lives up to her name without losing her humanity. She is ferocious in war, wise in counsel, and believably flawed. I particularly liked the relationship she and her mother shared for the first fourteen years of Athena’s life. Delilah was not another scheming courtesan parent who used and abused her daughter.

Will, of course, is wonderful—a tough war hero with a conscience, a willingness to give of himself, and a tenderness guaranteed to melt hearts. Fans of Putney’s Lost Lords series will recognize him as one of Lady Agnes’s lost boys and half-brother and champion of Damian Mackenzie (Nowhere Near Respectable, Lost Lords #3). The secondary characters are deftly drawn as well. The people of San Gabriel, from peasants to royalty, have a strong appeal, and Princess Sofia is predictably beautiful and brave and unexpectedly vulnerable and endearing. She has her own romance. I won’t spoil the surprise, but I will say her hero was a delight for several reasons. (I do like to see loose ends tied.)

Putney is known for her skillful blending of romance and adventure, and she does it again here. Some readers may find the viniculture bits slow the pace, but others will enjoy the details, as  I did. I would also argue that the adventure doesn’t end when the leads leave San Gabriel. One of the novel’s great strengths is the development of the relationship between Will and Athena, one that grows from initial meeting until the HEA.

The book hooked me on the series, another mark of its success. I love the redemption theme, and I am intrigued by the four remaining rogues. I’m especially excited that Gordon, another Westerfield Academy alumnus and a mysterious secondary character in Not Quite a Wife (Lost Lords #7) is one of these rogues. Perhaps his story will be next or perhaps the next hero will be half-French, half-English Duval. Whoever the next hero is, I eagerly await his story.

 ~Janga

Review - - The Fairest of Them All

The Fairest of Them All
Marrying the Duke - Book Two
By Cathy Maxwell
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: May 31, 2016

Lady Charlene "Char" Blanchard may have bloodlines that are the envy of every marriageable English miss, but she lacks the money to go with them. Raised by her aunt, her mother's half-sister who is an actress and aspiring playwright, after the deaths of her parents, Char would do anything to repay the woman who took her in, even if that "anything" includes secretly picking pockets to avoid being evicted from their home or attending a ball in the hopes of catching the eye of the very eligible Duke of Baynton. 

Jack Whitridge, younger twin brother to Gavin, the Duke of Baynton has not been seen nor heard from since he went missing from school at the age of 15...until the night he crashes the duke's ball just as Charlene has captured Baynton's attention. Of course, Charlene recognizes Jack immediately. He's the brash American who caught her picking the pocket of his associate, chasing her through the streets of London...and haunting her dreams since. But he's not the man she needs to focus on. She owes it to her aunt, a woman who has given her everything, to capture the heart of the Duke, not his twin.

Jack and Gavin have always had a tenuous relationship, fostered by their late father. Gavin was the dutiful heir while Jack was the "less than" spare who strained to assert his independence. Living in America these past 15+ years has given him the distance and time to develop into his own man: a lawyer and American patriot. He's been sent to England in an attempt to avoid war between the two countries and needs Gavin's help to smooth the way with a British war office that views him as a traitor to the land of his birth. In addition to that, he hopes to reconcile with the family he loves and has missed. In order to do that, he must step aside and leave the path to Charlene clear for his brother. But Gavin, quite socially inept when it comes to women, keeps pulling Jack back into his courtship and into Charlene's sphere. Of course, the more time Jack and Char spend together, the closer they grow, until their initial attraction threatens to burst into a roaring flame. And the more Jack comes to know Char, the stronger he believes she's the right woman for him and not his brother yet his honor compels him to not pursue her...until Gavin does something close to unforgivable that changes the course for all three of them...and one more surprising character as well.

I think the Marrying the Duke series is one of Cathy Maxwell's best and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first two books as well as the prequel novella. Jack and Char are a wonderful match, kindred spirits, and I pulled for their happy ending throughout the ups and downs of their entire fast-paced, sometimes dangerous, journey. Though Gavin is smitten with Char and eager to propose marriage, it's clear to me that what he loves is the "idea" of Charlene, not the real woman. He sees only the carefully constructed facade that her aunt and godmother hope will capture his heart, not who she really is. And, while Gavin has now lost two potential wives to his brothers I can't feel bad for him because he has yet to know real love and he deserves to find that, hopefully in Maxwell's next book, A Date at the Altar, due out October 25th. Considering who his heroine is, I think this next book has the potential to be a rollicking good time!

 ~PJ

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing all you Americans out there a very safe and happy Independence Day!

How are you celebrating today? 

Will there be fireworks?

Do you have hot dogs and burgers ready for the grill or is your menu more diverse?

What's your favorite 4th of July dessert? I have a big ole watermelon in my sights! 

For those of you not living in the U.S., how do you celebrate your country's independence holiday?

I have a package of books* for one person who leaves a comment before 11:00 PM (EST) July 4, 2016. 

*If random.org chooses a comment from a person who lives outside the U.S., instead of the package of books (sorry, but postal costs are outrageous), I'll send you a Kindle copy of Chasing the Heiress by Rachael Miles. I'm really enjoying this new historical romance author!