Laura Lee Guhrke: The Marriage Bed

The Marriage Bed: A-
historical - Victorian
Lady Viola Hammond & Viscount John Hammond


The third book in an unofficial series, we have seen Lady Viola's estrangement from her husband in the books Guilty Pleasures and His Every Kiss.

On Ms. Guhrke's blog, she stated that she had received many inquiries about Viola and her story. When was she going to kill off John (the lowly scumbag!) so that Viola would be able to get her own story? Ms. Guhrke decided to rekindle the romance between the two, something this blogger feels she did successfully.

After eight and a half long years of separation, John is in desperate need of a legitimate heir. His cousin, Percy, whom had been responsible for producing an heir, suddenly passes and John realizes he must make amends with his wife.

One problem.
She absolutely hates him.

When they had married, she was a naive and innocent girl of seventeen who was madly in love with John. After all, he was charming, handsome, and paid the kind of attention to women that they desired. Unfortunately for Viola, John needed to marry someone with a large dowry, something Viola was in possession of with her older brother being a duke and all.

They have six months of happiness.
Then Viola realized John married her for her money, that he had never loved her, and he had even had a mistress until the day of their wedding.

She shuts him out, devastated, and John found comfort in the arms of other women.

By the start of the novel, John has had numerous (but not an excessive number) of mistresses. Viola has created a new life for herself. And society knew that Viola and John were to never be invited to the same social functions. Ever.

And so begins this surprisingly emotional novel.

Emotional for me because I completely felt for Viola. I have the greatest of admiration for any author who manages to make the main conflict of the book less than idiotic. (Like the heroes who are traumatized by a bee sting from their childhood, heroines who refuse to get with the hero because of, oh I don't know, something stupid). Had I been in Viola's situation, I would have been equally as appalled and devastated, but at the same time, I empathized for John.

I also felt this novel managed to capture a sense of realism that a romance is generally unable to do.

I did, however, have some disagreements with the way the author managed to end the book. Thirty pages left and she managed to throw some unnecessary stuff in that bungled the complete happiness I would've felt otherwise.

Bottom line: a worthwhile read, disregarding the last two (stupid) chapters.



PS: I'm totally sneaking into Borders to read Lisa Kleypas' new novel, Married by Morning. I refuse to buy it unless I know I like it. Yes, I'm cheap like that. That's how I roll. *dust shoulders off*

=D

Happy Tuesday!
I hope your Memorial Day was safe and filled with fun.

Mine was awesome:

Pro: managed to get a tan
Con: only from mid-thigh to the knees. I'll extraordinarily tan (and hot!) thighs. Ooh yes, just call me sexy....

Laura Lee Guhrke: His Every Kiss

Hallo!
I'm keeping true to my word and am back with reviews!

At this point, I should probably thank Jen, a book clubber, because I "borrowed" books she no longer wanted to keep, aka books she wasn't planning on rereading. She was going to donate it, but I took them instead. I have the big box in my trunk (it's easier to keep in there and take out several books instead of transporting the entire box). Fear not, I will donate it after I get through the books.

So, thanks Jen! :)


And without further ado:


His Every Kiss: A-
Historical - Victorian
Grace Cheval & Dylan Moore

Everyone knows about Dylan Moore -- his brilliant talent and his pleasure-seeking ways -- but no one knows the torment that lies beneath his reckless veneer. Only one woman gets a glimpse of the forces that drive Dylan's soul, a woman who haunts his dreams and evokes his passions as no other woman ever has before.

Disgraced and destitute, Grace Cheval wants nothing to do with the seductive man who desires her. When Dylan offers her a position as governess to his newfound daughter, she knows his true intentions are dishonorable. Yet she finds this charismatic man hard to resist, and she returns his passionate kisses with a fire that matches his own. Can Dylan dare hope that this proud, spirited beauty will melt the ice around his heart? (amazon)

I was first introduced to Mr. Dylan Moore in Guilty Pleasures. He is dark, wild, an utter rake, and ...tormented.

Now, it sounds so wrong to say that I like dark, "tortured" heroes, but it's true. I don't like foppish guys. I don't like effeminate, overly expressive guys who are wont to get dramatic and start up a sobfest. (Mr. Darcy > Mr. Bingley..!)

So when we meet Moore in Guilty Pleasures, he is prolifically gambling, whoring, drinking, and smoking.

Then you start reading His Every Kiss, and you find out that he has suffered a damage that causes him to hear a perpetual whining in his ears at all hours of the day, a tragic accident for Great Britain's greatest composer. He gives up hope, but our lovely heroine, Grace, steps in and saves him. He doesn't find out who she is, what her name is, and she has disappeared.

Five years later, they meet again.

Moore also discovers he has a child - a daughter - one he has never known about. Isabel is the product of one of many affairs he's had, and when Isabel's mother dies from scarlet fever, Isabel is dropped off at Moore's house. He is, unsurprisingly, horrified.

Seeing that Grace is living in a state of near poverty, he offers her a job as a governess to his daughter. She grudgingly accepts, knowing that Moore will try to hit on her and turn her into his mistress. But what can she do? She needs the money!

Hence, their relationship starts.


For one, I'm always wary of reading a story where there is a child/ children involved. Don't get me wrong. As mean and snarky as I am, I completely love children - how could I not? I'm surrounded by children since I tutor. But children are bratty and take up a lot of time, energy, and attention. I normally like my stories to focus solely on the hero and heroine, as I read romances for their journey into love. I don't read romances to read about kids who throw temper tantrums and have issues only the most qualified therapists can being to unravel. Since most authors cannot do an adequate job writing about two people falling in love, I don't see why they feel the need to throw a kid into the mix.

Luckily, Isabel is eight, not a full-fledged teenager (*shudder*) and I was surprised to find that she brought a unique aspect to the story. I enjoyed reading about her and I liked Moore's slow transformation into a caring and loving father.

I also found Grace and Moore's story to be quite enjoyable. Grace has been badly burned from her previous marriage and unlike other dim-witted females, she works to apply what she's learned from her previous marriage.

In other words, she doesn't say "I'm not going to lose my heart as easily as I did last time!" and ten minutes later, professes her love to some random stranger on the street. She shows admirable restraint and self-control, two traits I admire greatly.

Though Moore is quite the dark, brooding figure, I must admit, I ended up giggling and rolling my eyes towards the end when he is so pathetically groveling on the ground. (The part where the two people gush about their love for each other..) He was turning the entire scene into an entirely dramatic sobfest... I guess it was an emotional thing for them both, but.... gad, man! Get a hold of yourself!

Bottom line: Despite the slight emo ending, it was a good read and I would recommend it as a fun, fast, light read.

PS: Read an excerpt here.

PPS: the back of the book is ridiculous. As long as I've been reading romances, I can not get over the atrociousness of cover art.


Eek, why is this dude shirtless in the middle of the night?

Oh right, to seduce the woman whose dress is falling off her.

Hotness!





Also, HI APRIL! I haven't followed up since my last entries, but I don't think I will be able to get an e-reader anytime soon. It's one of those greedy wants, haha. Your recommendations don't sound familiar to me, so I will (happily) look into it!

Also, why erotica > chick-lit?
Is it because the chick-litty females are sometimes so ...dumb? :P

Laura Lee Guhrke: The Wicked Ways of a Duke

The Wicked Ways of a Duke: B

Prudence Bosworth & Rhys de Winter, Duke of St. Cyres
Sequel to And Then He Kissed Her

Prudence is a poor seamstress, working hard to earn her living. She sees Rhys, is attracted to his good looks and starts to idolize him when she witnesses him acting “honorable” and “gentlemanly.” She doesn’t listen to society’s rumors of Rhys actually being a rake…

Things take a turn for the better and overnight, Prudence becomes an heiress – her father, the cad who ran off when she was a child, had actually gone to America and was the founder of the famous Abernathy department stores. She’s rich – in that her annual allowance is a million pounds per year! (Think back to when prices were a lot cheaper PLUS the fact that the current conversion rate is almost two dollars to the pound! I imagine, in today’s terms, she’d be making well over 10 million a year…)

Rhys, the Duke of St. Cyres, is in a pitiful state. He’s beyond poor. He’s dirt poor. However, it is a solution that can be quickly remedied: marry wealthy. To his wonderful surprise, the cute seamstress that caught his eye has grown into an overnight sensation.

He goes about manipulating and playing Prudence like a well-tuned piano and convinces her to marry him. Rhys is beyond surprised when he feels himself starting to fall in love with Prudence.

There is a catch to Prudence’s inheritance: she must marry within a year, with her prospective fiancé approved by the Board of Male Members handling her finances. The entire ton is aware of these rules and when Prudence announces her decision to marry Rhys, people warn her about his rakish ways.

But, as expected, the truth comes out. Prudence feels betrayed and she calls off the wedding. She stands up to her scumbagish cousins – the ones who ignored her for years, making her work long hours to survive and ones that magically reappeared after finding out she was rich. She chooses to donate her inheritance to charity.

I won’t go into too much detail but magically, everything gets solved and everyone is happy in the end. (Sorry, have I said too much?)

The firs half of the book is an absolute bore. I put it down and almost didn’t pick it back up; I only finished it because it was the book selection for my book club. The second half of the book redeems the lackluster first half and the ending is nice. Enjoyable read…except for the fact that the British sure liked to name females after strange character traits: this is like the seventh Prudence I’ve read about. (And there apparently were a million girls named Patience, Faith, Hope, Grace, and all those nice things that girls have deep inside them…)

I liked that Guhrke really went out of way to make Rhys a really huge asshole. But we all know that he loves her (deep down) and his actions at the end of the book are wonderful. A bit cheesy, but wonderful.

Worth reading for fun.

A word of caution! The cover art for this book is absolutely hideous. I want to rip it off and shred it into tiny pieces.