Review: Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes.

Rowena’s review of Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes.

Hero: Colton Northfield, Duke of Rolthven
Heroine: Lady Brianna Northfield

The Duke of Rolthven’s new wife, Brianna, is the perfect aristocratic bride. So what would society say if they saw her with a copy of Lady Rothburg’s Advice–a courtesan’s lessons for the boudoir? When his innocent wife suddenly becomes a vixen in the bedroom, the proper Duke is truly astounded by her seductive powers. Following a courtesan’s advice might lead to trouble-but will it lead to Brianna’s ultimate desire: winning her husband’s love?

I’ve never read anything by Emma Wildes before but this book intrigued me. The blurb stood out to me and made me want to read this book and boy am I glad that I did. This book was a delightfully romantic story that had me gripped right from the very beginning.

In this story, the hero and the heroine are already married but the young heroine wants to keep the hero all to herself but knows that because of the times, the hero might take a mistress as do countless other husbands of the ton. In an effort to keep that from happening, she purchases a book that was banned because a scarlet lady (a courtesan) writes one of those self help books where she tells you how to keep and satisfy your man. She buys and reads the book against her best friend’s wishes and she begins an adventure in trying to woo her husband.

And it works.

Brianna was one of those strong heroines who you can’t help but want to befriend. She’s one of those heroines who sees how things could be and does whatever it takes to make it happen. She’s a genuinely good person and wanted the kind of marriage her sister had and went about making it happen. She was a woman in love with her husband and wanted to make him see that he could love her in return, she just had to show him how.

Colton was a man of gigantic responsibilities. He was the head of his family and he was a well respected Duke who took his responsibilities very seriously. He was the kind of hero who came off kind of stuffy but you could tell that there was a soft teddy bear underneath all of the respectability. I thought that Colton was a fantastic character who I wanted to get to know. You could see him struggling with the feelings his young wife was bringing out in him and you knew that he wasn’t a complete stuff since his relationship with his brothers were so normal. I loved him.

Colton and Brianna together was a delight. In every scene that they were together in, their chemistry leaped off the pages and I wanted to read more. Wildes did a great job of making me want more. Even when Colton and Brianna were fighting, I loved them because even though they weren’t the most perfect of characters, they weren’t the kind of characters that you didn’t like.

The secondary love story (which like Michelle says in her review, felt more like a second story instead of a secondary story because they got a lot of page time which I absolutely adored) between Colton’s younger brother, Robert and Brianna’s close friend, Rebecca was another fabulous addition to an already great story. Theirs was a story of the secret crush and when Rebecca finally makes it onto Robert’s radar, I cheered. I felt what Rebecca felt, I yearned right along with her and then there was Robert. He’s intrigued and he’s charmed and yet he can’t court her because of the reputation that he’s earned being a total womanizer. He’s stuck in a hard place and when he finally gets his in with Rebecca with the help of his brothers, I grinned like an idiot for the remainder of the book.

It’s a testament to my enjoyment of this book and the talent that Emma Wildes has that I’m having a hard time choosing which of the Northfield brothers is my favorite. I love them all for their differences. I loved watching Colton unwind and enjoy himself, I loved Robert’s charming personality and I adored…Damien. I really hope that he’s going to get his own book and I eagerly await it. Damien was a great character and an outstanding brother.

The relationships between each brother was a high point in the book for me. I loved watching them tease each other, laugh at each other and ultimately have each other’s back. From Colton going to Robert for advice in his love life to Damien laughing at Robert at every turn with his infatuation with Rebecca, it all made for an entertaining roller coaster of a ride and I was extremely pleased with this book. I think Elizabeth Boyle said it best on the cover of the book when she said, “This wickedly exciting romance will draw you in and take hold of your heart.” It did that for me and I’m thinking it will do the same for many other readers out there.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good historical romance to read. This has it all.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

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

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