Tracy’s review of Not Proper Enough (Seducing the Scoundrels #2) by Carolyn Jewel

The Marquess of Fenris has loved Lady Eugenia from the day he first set eyes on her. Five years ago, pride caused him to earn her enmity. Now she’s widowed, and he’s determined to make amends and win her heart. But with their near explosive attraction, can he resist his desire long enough to court her properly?

After the death of her beloved husband, Lady Eugenia Bryant has come to London to build a new life. Despite the gift of a medallion said to have the power to unite the wearer with her perfect match, Eugenia believes she won’t love again. And yet, amid the social whirl of chaperoning a young friend through her first Season, she finds a second chance at happiness.

Unfortunately, the Marquess of Fenris threatens her new found peace. Eugenia dislikes the man, but the handsome and wealthy heir to a dukedom is more charming than he has a right to be. Constantly underfoot, the rogue disturbs her heart, alternately delighting and scandalizing her. And when their relationship takes a highly improper turn, Eugenia must decide if the wrong man isn’t the right one after all.

Four years ago Lady Eugenia’s husband died. It took a a very long time to recover from his sudden death and just recently has she even been out of her mourning clothes. Now she’s in London as a chaperone. She runs into Lord Fenris who is her sister-in-laws cousin and she wants nothing more than to be away from him. He was a friend of her late husband’s and he’s never anything but mouthy and condescending to her.

The truth of the matter is that Lord Fenris, Fox as he’s known to his friends, has been in love with Eugenia for years. He wants nothing more than to tell her what is in his heart but she wants nothing to do with him. Only…they start a bit of a friendship. They’re terribly honest with each other and she tells him that she hates him and he just replies with an, “I know.” Their friendship turns into a sexual affair but Eugenia fights herself constantly about whether she should be doing it or not. Eventually both Eugenia and Fox have to decide how their future will be and if it will have the other in it.

This was a great follow up to No Wicked Enough that I read and loved earlier this year. In this story we read about Mountjoy’s sister in London dealing with society and her feelings toward Fox. The two of them play each other so nicely and their wit was extremely entertaining.

I loved that Fox made no bones about his feelings for Eugenia even though she didn’t believe him for a minute. She always thought he was kidding or just just trying to charm her in to bed. But he was extremely sincere in his affections and I loved seeing him finally get to be with the woman he loved.

Now I didn’t dislike Eugenia and actually liked her personality and sense of humor quite a lot but her lack of knowledge at how she felt about Fox started to wear on me toward the end of the book. I was surprised it took her so long and actually felt bad for Fox.

The story was great though and I couldn’t put the book down – was actually mad when I had to go to sleep and stop reading! Lol I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see what happens next.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Series:

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

Tracy’s review of Not Wicked Enough (Seducing the Scoundrels #1) by Carolyn Jewel

When Lily Wellstone heads to the Bitterward Estate to comfort her widowed friend Eugenia, she certainly does not have romance in mind. In fact, the playful but level-headed Lily is amused to no end when, en route, a Gypsy gifts her with a beautiful medallion, claiming it will ensnare the romantic desires of a stranger.

But fate has other plans in the form of Eugenia’s ruggedly handsome brother, the Duke of Mountjoy. One day at Bitterward and Lily can’t deny the sizzling attraction between her and the roguish duke. Nothing can come of it, of course. She’s not looking for entanglements and he’s practically engaged. But whether it’s her outgoing nature and the duke’s outlandish ways sparking off one another; or the mysterious gypsy medallion working “magic,”—hearts are stirring in the most unexpected and wicked ways. . .

Lily is visiting her friend Ginny when she meets Ginny’s brother, Mountjoy. He is the Duke of Mountjoy and Lily is instantly entranced by the man. Not because he is a duke but because he is a beautiful, vibrant man who can match wits with her any day of the week.

Lily and Mountjoy soon start a sexual relationship with the knowledge that their partnership will end when Lily heads home. Now you may be thinking that it’s unusual for Lily to be so free with her body but she wasn’t a virgin when she started the relationship. You see she was in love once before but the man had died in battle. She has sworn that she will never love again the way she loved her Greer, but Mountjoy is an amazing man and she finds herself getting emotionally closer to him despite her better judgment.

From the beginning of the book until the end Mountjoy and Lily have an incredible connection. They both give as well as they get in the witty repartee department and can talk and share ideas without fear that they be judged by the other. Lily is really an unusual woman. She has lived on her own since she was very young and has not lived a proper life. When she fell in love with Greer it was, to her, for forever and she didn’t plan on falling in love again. Mountjoy is a very compelling man, however, and she finds that he makes her want to stay with him.

This book, for me, was almost perfect. Yes, there were things about it that I didn’t care for:
**The fact that we never knew Mountjoy’s given name I found to be annoying. I know that it was common in those times to just use the title name but I thought his sister would use it as a more familiar term – or he would at least let Lily know what it was.
**Part of the story line included a medallion that Lily received from a gypsy. Supposedly it was supposed to bring the wearer of the medallion to their true love. The medallion is mentioned quite a bit throughout the story but more as an accessory to Lily’s fashion. I’m not sure if we were supposed to believe that it worked or not but I just thought it a bit silly. The couple had such chemistry that it just wasn’t needed.
**Then there’s Lord Fenris who is actually Lily’s cousin. He shows up and Lily is afraid that he and his portion of the family will try to take her inheritance away. While this was a good way to bring Lord Fenris into the story (I believe for future books) it was a bit rushed on Fenris’s part for my liking. He proposes to Lily at one point and says they’ll suit well – how can he know that when he doesn’t know her at all?

You’d think that those points would bring the score down further for this book but really, the other parts of the book were so damned good I just didn’t care about the niggles.

Lily and Mountjoy are simply amazing together. The romance, the passion, the intelligence in the book just had me turning pages as fast as I could. In fact when I finished the book I turned back to the first page and read it all over again. It’s a strong compelling story that truly makes you believe in the love between the hero and heroine.

I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be reading more in this series.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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