Tag: Hellions of Halstead Hall

Review: A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries

Posted March 23, 2012 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Holly‘s review of A Lady Never Surrenders (Hellions of Halstead Hall, Book 5) by Sabrina Jeffries

When the youngest Sharpe sister hatches a plan to gain marriage offers, the straight-laced Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter knows he’ll do whatever it takes to ruin her scheme…

With two months left to find a husband to fulfill her grandmother’s ultimatum, Lady Celia Sharpe sets her sights on three eligible bachelors. Becoming betrothed to one of these wealthy, high-ranking men will surely prove her capable of getting married, so hopefully the wedding itself won’t be necessary for Celia and her siblings to receive their inheritance. Step two of her audacious plan is hiring the dangerously compelling Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter to investigate the three men she’s chosen. But with Lady Celia bedeviling Jackson’s days and nights, the last thing he wants is to help her find a husband. And when she recalls shadowed memories that lead his investigation into her parents’ mysterious deaths in a new direction—putting her in danger—Jackson realizes the only man he wants Celia to marry is himself

 This is the final installment of the Hellions of Halstead series. I’m sad to see it end. I’ve enjoyed spending time with the Sharpe family.

I have to say, I was much more bothered by Hettie’s interference in this novel. I’m not sure if it’s because we got more from her POV, or if her meddling went over the top. While I understood her reasons for being wary of Pinter, it didn’t make a lot of sense for her to push him so hard. Especially when it was obvious Celia cared for him. It went against her actions in previous books, where she played the part of disapproving harpy, but was secretly working to push the couple together.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the novel. I liked that Pinter wasn’t a member of the aristocracy. He was an investigator with Bow Street and lived in a modest home in Cheapside. Though he wasn’t dirt poor, he wasn’t rich, either. We don’t see enough of these types of heroes in romance. Of course it was somewhat ruined by Celia’s giant inheritance, but whatever.


Celia has a lot of insecurities. Her grandmother – and some of the other members of her family – have made her feel like she isn’t good enough to find a husband. “Who would want to marry you” is what she feels like they’re saying to her. Especially her grandmother. Because of this, there was additional conflict with Pinter (who himself had insecurities about marrying above himself). While it could have been extreme, I think Celia’s issues gave her an air of vulnerability that made her more likable. She wasn’t just a brash young woman looking to challenge the men of London to duels. 



There were several times I snickered over Celia’s attempts to downplay her knowledge about weapons and Pinter’s determination to see her outed. The two of them had great chemistry, as well as quick-witted banter.

The mystery behind their parent’s murder is finally resolved here. While I wouldn’t say it was completely contrived, I did think the resolution was somewhat anti-climatic. I might have liked to see it come about earlier in the novel so more time could be spent on the reactions of the family. Still and all, this was an enjoyable read and a nice way to close out the series. 

4.25 out of 5

The series:
The Truth About Lord Stoneville (Hellions of Halstead Hall)A Hellion in Her Bed (Hellions of Halstead Hall)How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

This book is available from Pocket Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: To Wed A Wild Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

Posted December 8, 2011 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

Tracy’s review of To Wed A Wild Lord (Hellions of Halstead Hall #4) by Sabrina Jeffries

Drowning in guilt over his best friend’s death seven years ago, Lord Gabriel Sharpe, the Angel of Death, knows his only hope at redemption is a race against a shocking opponent.

Shrouded in darkness for the past seven years, the infamous racer Lord Gabriel Sharpe is known to accept every challenge to race thrown at him. When his next challenge comes in the form of his late best friend’s sister, Virginia Waverly, Gabe is shocked. Yet she presents just the opportunity Gabe needs–marriage to fulfill his grandmother’s ultimatum and ensure his inheritance. What he didn’t count on was needing her love.

Gabriel Sharpe knows he had to get married. His grandmother gave him and all of his siblings an ultimatum: all 5 of them must get married with the year or they lose their inheritance. Three of his siblings have acquiesced and they even found true love but Gabe knows that that’s something that will never happen to him. His best bet is to get married to someone he can do some good for – and that’s Virginia Waverly, his deceased best friend’s sister. Gabe lives with almost crippling guilt over the death of his best friend, Roger Waverly, because they were racing at the time of Roger’s death seven years prior. Had Gabe not raced Roger then he’d still be alive. Gabe cares not for himself or his life in general but he has left Roger’s sister almost penniless with basically no prospects for marriage.

Virginia believes that she hates Gabe Sharpe but once she gets to know him she realizes he’s truly not the person that his reputation, or her grandfather, make him out to be. She’s not giving in quickly though and challenges him to a race – if Gabe wins the race then he can court Virginia. But when Virginia’s grandfather finds out about it all hell breaks loose. On top of that when Virginia finds out about the inheritance ultimatum she’s fit to be tied and not about to be a part of Gabe’s scheming.

This is yet another great addition to the Halstead Hall series. Gabe is nothing like I thought him to be in previous books and that was so wonderful because I can’t say he was shining in such a great light before.

Gabe is so torn up about his friend Roger that he really cares nothing about living. He turns his nose up at death and seems to escape it on a regular basis. When he starts talking to Virginia and getting to know her a bit better he realizes that maybe there’s more to life than he thought and maybe cheating death constantly isn’t really what he wants to keep doing. I very much liked seeing Gabe grow and become “more” in this book. He seemed like he had his life in a strange place but when you got to know all the details behind his decision to live the way he did it really made sense.

Virginia was one strong woman. She really was a shining light in the lives of the people around her and she managed to become that for Gabe as well. It’s not that she was just disgustingly sweet it’s just that by being herself she brought out the best in people. I loved that she held her own when she was with Gabe and didn’t become some simpering miss. Ok, she melted in his arms but hey – he was hot! lol

We also got to know more about the mystery behind the Sharpe’s parents death and that was definitely worth reading about. Overall it was a great story definitely not to be missed.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Pocket Star. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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