Hide your daughters and your maiden aunts…Lord Samuel Travis is back.―The London Hearsay, special society edition

Equal parts scoundrel and seducer, he’s returned to London determined to mend the rift with his older brother. All Sam must do is take possession of a tumbledown town house. A seemingly simple task, except the house is occupied—by an infuriating, whip-smart beauty who refuses to do his bidding.

Miss Juliette Lacey’s wallflower days are over. She has a plan to turn her eccentric family into the toast of the ton—but the devilishly handsome rake trying to oust them from their home thwarts her at every turn. How can one man be so vexing and make her simmer with desire?

As her attraction to Sam deepens, Julie’s problems grow—she may have, once upon a time, secretly shared a kiss with his honorable older brother. Suddenly, Julie’s caught between a rogue and a marquess, between passion and respectability. Torn between two brothers, what’s a girl to do?

Lord Samuel Travis has been on the continent trying to deal with his father’s death the only way he knows how – get drunk constantly and bed women.  That didn’t exactly work but he’s now back in London and not doing a whole lot better.  His older brother, Nigel, has had enough of Sam’s antics and kicks him out of the house.  In order to get back into his brother’s good graces he must kick people out of a town home that apparently belongs to the estate.  Sam’s determined to do this right except when he gets to the house he finds not only an old man but his young, beautiful and fierce niece.

Juliette Lacey has been taking care of her aging uncle for years but now that her two sisters have married and moved out she’s the only one there to keep him on the straight and narrow.  When Samuel Travis shows up and demands they move NOW Juliette puts her foot down.  She knows that the house belongs to her uncle she just needs time to prove it.  In the meantime, she’s dealing with Sam’s brother Nigel who is trying to blackmail her into being his mistress by holding the house over her head.  Yeah, he’s a real bastard.

Sam agrees to stay in the house so that Juliette can look for the deed to the townhouse but the more time he spends with Juliette and her uncle Alistair, and the no time drinking, he sees the type of man he could be.  One who’s not only cut out to be a lazy sod, but someone who can make his own way and be someone that Juliette could be proud of, if she’ll have him.

I can’t say that this was a love at first sight story, but it was pretty darned close.  That was love for Samuel at first sight.  For Juliette it was pretty much loathing at first sight.  Sure, she thought he was attractive but the minute she found out what he was there for she put her guard up.  Of course Samuel eventually wooed her into his bed but that was actually ok in my book.  I was just happy that it kept Juliette away from the evil brother, Nigel.

The story moved quickly in all ways.  I thought that some of it could have been slowed down a bit (the romance) as it would have given us time to truly get involved in the characters and the feelings they started to share.  That didn’t happen however, so I dealt with it. 🙂  Overall it was a good book with a cute story.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Wayward Wallflowers Series

NEVER SEND A DEBUTANTE

William Ryder, Earl of Castleton, is at the end of his noble rope. Not only has he broken ties with his longtime mistress, his mother has publicly announced her wish for him to marry a suitable young lady―if only to help him raise the twins left in his care. Hiring a governess should solve some of Will’s problems…but when he meets the candidate in question, he finds himself in an entirely new predicament.

TO DO A WALLFLOWER’S JOB

Miss Margaret Lacey is brainy, beautiful, and, once upon a time, Will’s betrothed. But she bowed out of the engagement―and, since then, has never been the same. A tragic accident robbed her of everything, and now, at age twenty-three, her marital prospects are slim to none. Penniless but not without pride, Meg convinces the vexingly handsome Will to hire her for the job. What neither of them could have expected from this arrangement, however, is an attraction that burns stronger than ever. Are these two lost souls finally ready to be schooled in the art of love?

Meg Lacey is the daughter of a vicar and when she was 15 years old was introduced to the boy next door – who would one day be an earl – and told that he was her betrothed.  The boy, Will, didn’t look all that thrilled to be marrying her so Meg stated that she would never marry (in a much harsher way).  Now it’s eight years later and Meg is going for a job interview to be a governess.  When she finds out that the man she’ll be interviewing with is her old betrothed she tries to get out of the interview but doesn’t succeed.  She ends up getting the job and decides to stay out of Will’s way as much as possible.

Will was always intrigued with Meg and could never understand why she didn’t want to marry him.  Now that she’s older and he spends more time with her he likes her even more.  He’s also thrilled that she’s taking care of the twins that were the daughters of his deceased cousin as he had no idea what he was doing.  As time passes Will falls in love with Meg – and she with him – but Meg won’t ever marry him and he’s not sure he’ll ever talk her into it.

This was a cute story.  It was pretty predictable but in a good way.  There weren’t too many surprises but sometimes it’s nice to read a book that is easy-going and makes you smile.

Meg was trying to save her family as her parents had died and her uncle had taken her and her sisters in.  He had no money and Meg was trying to help.  She was a good person but had some pretty deep guilt about her parents’ death – thinking that she was the cause of it.  This guilt, in a roundabout way, had to do with Will and that’s why she would never marry him.  I was happy that she finally changed her mind about it all in the end.

Will was a great hero and one that fell hard and fast for Meg.  I appreciated the fact that when he realized he was falling for her he didn’t get upset at himself or try to deny his feelings – he just went for it.  I also liked the fact that he was so good with his cousin’s twins.  Diana and Valerie were definitely a handful and even though he had no idea what to do with children he was still patient and kind with them.

There was a portion of the story that had to do with a marriage hungry debutante and her family.  I didn’t care for this portion of the story at all and really thought it could have been left out – but that’s just me (maybe). 🙂

Overall it was a cute romance and one I’d recommend if you don’t like a lot of angst in your historical romances.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5