Holly‘s review of And Then He Kissed Her (Girl-Bachelors, Book 1) by Laura Lee Guhrke
An expert in etiquette, Emma takes her pristine reputation most seriously. But the devilish Lord Marlowe is determined to prove that some rules of proper behavior are made to be broken…
Supremely sensible Emmaline Dove wishes to share her etiquette expertise with London’s readers, and as secretary to Viscount Marlowe, Emma knows she’s in the perfect position to make her dream come true. Marlowe might be a rake with a preference for can-can dancers and an aversion to matrimony, but he is also the city’s leading publisher, and Emma is convinced he’s her best chance to see her work in print…until she discovers the lying scoundrel has been rejecting her manuscripts without ever reading a single page!
As a publisher, Harry finds reading etiquette books akin to slow, painful torture. Besides, he can’t believe his proper secretary has the passion to write anything worth reading. Then she has the nerve to call him a liar, and even resigns without notice, leaving his business in an uproar and his honor in question! Harry decides it’s time to teach Miss Dove a few things that aren’t proper. But when he kisses her, he discovers that his former secretary has more passion and fire than he’d ever imagined, for one luscious taste of her lips only leaves him hungry for more…
This is the first book in Guhrke’s Girl-Bachelor series. I picked it up because I’ve enjoyed novels by her in the past and because I thought the blurb sounded good. I’m glad I did because it turned out to be a cute read.
Emma was wonderful. I really liked how confident she was. When she realizes Harry lied to her about reading her manuscript she chose to walk away from him. I loved that. Especially since it left him in a total bind and threw his company into an uproar. She didn’t let him get away with anything. One of the best things I liked about this book is that Emma doesn’t fancy herself in love with Harry in the beginning. She isn’t one of the secretaries that’s in love with her employer. They’re relationship is very platonic in the beginning.
I loved Harry. In the beginning he was so insufferable I couldn’t stand him, but as the story progresses and he realizes what a gem Emma really was (both to him personally and professionally) he really shaped up. I loved that he decided he needed to teach Emma a lesson, but in the end he was the one that learned. So cute.
The story starts off kind of slow (a theme with this series, I think) but once it takes off it more than makes up for the slow pace in the beginning. This is one of those stories you want to read for the heroine. Although Harry was great, Emma really stole the show.
4 out of 5
The series:
This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I read this book a while ago, and I really liked it. Emma was amazing.
I felt that this was one of the best historical romance books out there!
This is one of my favorite LLG books 😀
This book made Laura Lee Guhrke a must-buy and must-read for me! Just made me cry, loved it!
I really loved this book as well, though I’m still making my way through the series, I have a feeling this will be my favorite. I loved the fact she saw him for what he was from the beginning yet they still had their affair and lovely interludes, I’m glad it ended happily for them, for a while I was very sad for her.
Would y’all believe I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for over two years now, and still haven’t read it? What am I waiting for??? Okay, definitely moving it up a few spots.