I was intrigued by this book because seton mentioned how much she liked in over at the Amazon thread “How about HPs’ that you like“. Seton is correct that this is a bit fresher take on the mistress/bazillionaire trope. The one drawback is that I thought the writing was kind of rough in places and I’m not quite sure how to demonstrate that.

The story starts out with a young woman, Amber, writing in her diary about the imminent arrival of Warwick Kincaid, the new owner of the hotel where she works. Her first entry reflects exasperation with the furor the ownership change has created in the staff but subsequent entries show a changing mindset until Amber is swept away into Warwick’s life, as his mistress. Amber seemed much younger than 25 at times. She knows that being with Warwick is bad for her, that it offends everything that she thought she believed in, but she cannot bring herself to leave him.

Warwick treats Amber pretty poorly but you make us feel sorry for both of them by showing that Warwick’s actions make himself miserable. He’s just as much a victim to their lust/love/whatever as she is. Whether this bitter self hatred of his own actions is palatable will depend on the reader. Having read so many worse “heroes” in other books (see below), Warwick registered only as mildly assholic, particularly because after the first couple of scenes, we see that Amber has him wrapped around her finger (although she isn’t aware of it yet). Warwick tries to treat Amber poorly because he actually does love her. He wants her to break up with him and be happy to shake the dust of Warwick off her feet. But because he loves her and is weak, he also doesn’t want to leave her so he is constantly sending out mixed signals.

When Amber starts finding her nerve and bossing Warwick around, I started to really enjoy the story and certainly felt satisfied at the end. I still felt that the use of the diary and the way in which Amber talked and thought seemed too young for the story being told. C+

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Dear Ms. Craven:

This book features one of the stupidest heroines of all of time. Joanna’s father has a gambling problem and so he gets his 19 year old daughter to dress like a slut to distract other card players. Joanna feels helpless but she does it because she loves her father. It’s not like she doesn’t have options though. Her uncle owns some kind of manufacturing firm but oh no, that might require her to take secretarial courses. She churns internally with shame over how her father uses her but he loves her and so she must save him. By acting like a slut. Okay.

He displays this fatherly love by pretending she is his hot young piece on the side. All together, “ewwww”. One night in Australia, they fleece some young man and she plays a part by letting the young man feel her up in the gardens. Joanna feels awful about this but because she didn’t want the man to feel her up, she is innocent and should be absolved of wrongdoing. No matter what her father tells this young man. She extracts a promise from her father that he’ll never use her in such a way again, but alas, she is pressed to do her duty a year later when the young lamb’s protector comes after them.

Joanna’s affronted that Vassos Gordanis treats her like she is some tart at poker games who is someone’s fancy piece. Because I guess he should see inside her and recognize her shame. Thankfully she is a virgin so she can prove that she is no one’s fancy piece, just an idiot who allowed herself to be used over and over again. D

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So why do I buy books from Mills & Boon? Because some books I want to read now. I guess it is the curse of the early adopter. I pay more now to read something that you can all enjoy three months later but you know what? I don’t regret it in the least because I’ve read and re-read portions of Katrakis’ Last Mistress a dozen times and when it comes up for sale in North America in March of 2011, I’ll be able to tell you all to run out and buy it. But really we are a global reading community and for many others, Mills & Boon is one of their primary shopping sites so let me tell you why I loved Katrakis’ Last Mistress and why shopping at Mills & Boon might be in your future.

Katrakis’ Last Mistress by Caitlin Crews came to my attention over at the blog of Meljean Brook. Now, while I love Meljean’s books and her writing, I haven’t always loved the books she’s recommended. I recall that she loved India Grey and it took four books of Grey’s before I found one that I enjoyed. Meljean wrote that Crews’ book kept her up until 2 am. What caught my attention was that the hero was emotionally stunted and the heroine would not give up on him. I had to try it.

This book has high emotion, a lot of agnst, great dialogue and a meaningful character arc. It does not have a sappy, baby filled epilogue. In fact, the epilogue or last chapter, really, added the perfect texture to the story, providing you hope for the couple’s future without any saccharine.

Tristanne Barbery has a helpless mother who has racked up crippling debts and an asshole for a stepbrother. Unfortunately, Peter Barbery controls access to Tristanne’s trust fund. In order to have access to such funds, Tristanne must date a wealthy and powerful man while Peter attempts to close a funding deal for the family business. The possibility that Tristanne may marry more wealth will put investors at ease. Peter has no care for Tristanne, her pride, or her reputation. He merely says that she must use what “assets” she’s been given and help her family for once.

She decides to approach Nikos Katrakis, a man she’s always kind of lusted after but has never had the nerve to approach because somehow she knew that being within a hand’s distance of Katrakis was like putting herself in the mouth of the lair of the dragon. (She uses the dragon comparison throughout the book). Nikos is fiercely glad to be approached by Tristanne. He has had a vendetta against the Barbery family, particularly Peter, and for years has slowly eroded the Barbery fortune by a careless word here and there to the point that Peter is on the brink of ruin. He just needs a slight push. Nikos had no intention of using Tristanne but decides that fortune has placed her in his hands and he’ll exorcise this lamentable attraction toward her and wield her lust for him in a triumphant finale that will humiliate the Barbery’s and bring their illustrious name to ruin.

But Nikos is not prepared for Tristanne and her indomitable spirit. Initially she gives herself to him on a superficial level which makes Nikos want what she holds back and as they delve deeper into a relationship, Nikos has to keep reminding himself of his need for revenge.

I thought that Crews did a great job of showing exactly why Nikos was so broken. Toward the end, he tries to explain to Tristanne that he doesn’t believe in love and he goes on to explain why. Nikos was abandoned by his wealthy father to be brought up by an unfit mother. When he was orphaned, he sought out his father and as his father had no heir, his father reluctantly brought Nikos into the family, all the while telling Nikos he wasn’t fit to be a Katrakis. Nikos had a half sister and he longed to be her protector, to be loved by her (in a familial way) but she despised him too, even when she was at her lowest, she still saw him unfit to wipe her tears and comfort her broken heart. Nikos had never known love, didn’t trust proclamations of love, and knew as fiercely as he knew the sun would set tomorrow that Tristanne could never, ever love a man such as he.

There is a scene at the end in which Nikos does something so awful that you think redemption cannot be convincing yet Nikos’ actions make total sense because Tristanne has to see Nikos as his worst and still love him for Nikos to believe that the world may indeed be round when all his life, he has believed it to be flat.

In this story, Tristanne is the one with the strength and resolve even if Nikos is portrayed as the alpha male. She stands up to Peter and in many ways, stands up to Nikos. Her willingness to accept the joy now and deal with the pain later is all believable because you (or I) as the reader believed in Tristanne’s personal strength of will. Nothing could crush her, not even Nikos even though he tries his very best. Make no mistake. Nikos is cruel to Tristanne in this book. Yet, we see his internal struggle with pursuing his revenge and his bewilderment at Tristanne and the person that she brings out in him:

Was that her game? To make him betray his own vows to himself? If so, he was appalled to see how well it was working. What was next? Would he break into sobs in the center of the village piazza? Weep for his wounded inner child? He would more readily saw off his own head with the butter knife that rested on the crisp white linen tablecloth before him

The dialogue exchanges in this story are priceless, some funny, some witty, and some very poignant. For example, Tristanne boldly asks Nikos to kiss her, as a “favor.” Nikos questions why he should kiss her when there are so many other women on the yacht he could be kissing:

Surprise shone briefly in her gaze, then was replaced by something else. She swallowed, and then, very deliberately, smiled. It was a razor-sharp society smile. Nikos did not mistake it for anything but the weapon it was.

“Surely there are points for asking directly,” she said, her distractingly strong chin tilting up, her accent an unidentifiable yet attractive mix of Europe and North America. Her dark lashes swept down, then rose again to reveal her frank gaze. “Rather than lounging about in inappropriate clothing, hoping my décolletage might do the asking for me.”

and the exchange continues:

“But I am not in the habit of kissing strange women in view of so many,” he continued, his voice pitched for her ears alone. “It has a nasty habit of ending up in the tabloids, I find.”

“I apologize,” Tristanne murmured. Her clever eyes met his, daring him. “I was under the impression that you were renowned for your fearlessness. Your ability to scoff in the face of convention. Perhaps I have confused you for another Nikos Katrakis.

“I am devastated,” he replied smoothly, his eyes on hers. He moved closer, and something inside him beat like a drum when she still did not step away. “I assumed it was my good looks that drew you to me, begging to be kissed. Instead you are like all the rest. Are you a rich man’s groupie, Miss Barbery? Do you travel the world and collect kisses like a young girl collects autographs?”

“Not at all, Mr. Katrakis,” she replied at once. She tilted her head back, and raised her brows in that challenging way of hers. “I find rich men are my groupies. They follow me around, making demands. I thought to save you the trouble.”

Later when Tristanne decides that Nikos needs her as his mistress:

“How long will you stand there?” Nikos asked casually, without looking up from his paper. His voice was like a touch, a rough caress that made her shiver. “Why do you loom about with that serious look on your face, as if you are attending your own execution? This cannot be how you think mistresses act, Tristanne, can it?”
Hateful man.

…

“I am calculating your net worth,” she replied coolly. She arched her eyebrows when his old gold eyes met hers, and ruthlessly tamped down her urge to squirm, to look away, to submit to the command in even his gaze. “I imagine that is the favorite pastime of most mistresses, in fact.”

In part what makes it such a joy to re-read this book is the lovely prose Crews employs, her elegant compilation of words into sentences. Nikos tells Tristanne at some point that mistresses don’t look poised and Tristanne replies that she will strive to keep her hair “in a great tangle.”

I can see this book not working for some, particularly if the mistress angle or the revenge angle bothers readers but this book is full of such emotion and great characters, that I do not regret buying it early at Mills & Boon and I won’t mind when it shows up in my March Harlequin Presents subscription.

Best regards,

Jane

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I was introduced to your work through the Blogger Bundle Volume II: WeWriteRomance.com Selects Presents that was released by Harlequin at the start of the year.   I really enjoyed your work and after exhausting your digital backlist (which, at the time, was about 4 titles) I proceeded to hunt down most of your print backlist through used book resources.   My favorite work was The Bellini Bride but as it was used and few people I know had read it, I wasn’t able to chat with anyone about the book.   So I forced Robin to read it and we spent an hour or two gabbing about the greatness of this book.   But now it’s been released in digital format and now I can share with the rest of the readership why I think this Harlequin Presents book is more subversive of the romance tropes than many single titles out there.

The story opens with Marco Bellini, a wealthy member of the elite Italian society, contemplating his mistress and the fact that he needs to marry.   Marco thinks to himself that he loves everything about her but what she is.   Marco views his mistress, Antonia, as a woman lacking in certain moral value. She’s not good enough to be wife material because Antonia has been the lover of a famous painter, Stefan Kranst who immortalized her nude body in several paintings.

Antonia throws out to him that half the reason he is with her is because of her noteriety.

‘You got what you came looking for, Marco,’ she told him. ‘You got the woman in the painting. You had no interest in me as a living breathing human being!’

Two streaks of colour hit his cheekbones, his whole body stiffened in affront. ‘That’s not true,’ he denied.

‘Yes, it is,’ she insisted. ‘Take away the kudos in being able to lay claim to Stefan Kranst’s notoriously sexy model, and it would take away the desire; I always knew that.’

While some may be frustrated that Antonia stays with Marco despite the fact she knows that he doesn’t love her and despite the fact that he does not view her as an equal.   But Antonia is a woman who has loved unwisely, at most, and through the story we begin to see her gain agency.   Part of Marco’s failure to perceive her as anything but a bedmate, as his mistress, is in part due to his own myopia, but also because Antonia does not trust Marco to share with him insights that might make her seem more real to him. True, he should have sought this information out, but he does not until he begins to acknowledge that losing Antonia would be worse than any public shame.

Marco wants to believe he is a decent and honorable man and certainly he has not bought Antonia’s affections.   He won her affections but in reality, Marco has to come to grips with the cavalier way he has been treating Antonia and his own complicated feelings toward her and her public face.   The themes in the book could have gone wildly wrong and the payoff begins to come out half way through the book when Marcos begins to realize the depth of his hipocrisy.   He loved the art and the art form of the nude and loved the painting of Antonia and the idea Antonia. Once he had her, possessed her like the painting, he began to like the painting less and less because he viewed the exposure of nudity of someone he knew as something of which to be shameful.   He was ashamed of Antonia.   A bigot. A hypocrite.

But his mother had admired the woman in the painting before she had known Antonia had moved in with him. Now all she saw was a woman willing to expose herself for all to see and who possessed no conscience about doing it. She also despaired, because her son had not yet assuaged what she saw as his obsession with both the painting and the woman.

And because he was a proud man, he could not acknowledge that he was in love within someone that he felt shame about; that those he cared about would feel shame about. Marco then realizes that it is he who should be ashamed.   He realizes that here he is, this supposed connoisseur of art, placing moral judgments on the subject of that art.   My complaints about the book are not the prose which Robin has called rough (I didn’t notice) but that I wish the story arc for Antonia had been a little stronger.   I think part of this was due to space constraints.   But what I love is that this story takes the idea of the purity of the heroine as a commodity and challenges the hypocritical views toward that. In order for Marco to win Antonia back, he must accept that others will always perceive her to be less than moral, that others may always look down on her as he had once had. Marco does and faces down that cynosure in a spectacular way. While imperfect in some ways, this book is on my keeper shelf. A-

Best regards,

Jane

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This two book collection is bound together on the basis that both heroes are named Xander. When I first read the introduction, I thought this was a RIDICULOUS idea and in fact, had written that down in my pre-review notes. How would I keep these men apart? Wouldn’t the characteristics of Xander One bleed into Xander Two when I was reading the second book? Who thought of this??!!??

Suffice to say I was wrong and that I not only enjoyed the tales of the two Xanders but recommended it, although primarily to those who like HPs in the first place because these two books aren’t particularly subversive like say The Bellini Bride by Michelle Reid, but entertaining. After all, I did get two books for the price of one.

The Greek and the Single Mom by Julia James

Clare once lived a very glamorous life full of expensive clothes, frequent travel, and a luxurious life. Circumstances, however, reduced her to waitressing parttime in addition to a fulltime job to provide money for her son and the older woman who had become part of Clare’s family. But her circumstances, though reduced, were better than being the discarded mistress of a heartless Greek tycoon.

Four years earlier, Clare was temping and one look from Xander Anaketos felled her. She went to dinner with him and then to his bed and became his mistress. She knew from the start that she should guard her heart but as time went on and Xander still returned to her bed, night after night, she began to think that maybe, just maybe, their relationship was different. Sadly, Clare was fooling herself. While she was dreaming of a happy ever after, Xander was falling for someone else. He returns from a business trip, takes her out to their place at St. John’s hotel and tells her it is over. Clare gets up and walks away and disappears from Xander’s life like a puff of smoke.

In the catalogue of HP stories, the mistress one appeals to me, primarily because these women get involved in a purely sexual relationship (although often this is their first). A mistress often plays the reviled woman and to see the mistress elevated as the female protagonist in a romance novel is enjoyable.

There is high drama in this book, from the scene in the restaurant where Clare is given her walking papers in the form of a diamond necklace to the discovery by Xander of his son. I wavered between agony for Clare, hurt for Xander that he had missed so many years with his son, and disgust at the way he treated Clare. I liked that Clare threw his actions back in his face,

"You're not real,' she said. Her voice had changed. "You're just not real. You actually think I would tell a man who'd chucked me on the garbage pile, who'd paid me off with a diamond necklace, that I was pregnant by him?’

Xander spent his whole life disengaging himself from attachments. He changed his watches, his cars, his yachts, and his women. Clare was his one exception and when he found himself getting too attached, he ruthlessly severed their connection.

The story is compressed and thus, the emotions move quickly from anger and resentment toward lust and something else; however, because the two had a prior relationship, it was believable. The Greek and the Single Mom delivers a lot of emotion in a short time. B

The Millionaire’s Contract Bride by Carole Mortimer

Xander Fraser has a problem. His wife has died and he is left with a six year old daughter. His wife’s father is making noise about challenging Xander for custody.

Casey Bridges is a single mom with a six year old son who lives on the edge of the Fraser estate. They are tied together because Casey’s husband ran off with Xander’s wife and then both died in a jet crash. Xander proposes that the two of them marry so that Casey can provide a better life for her son and Xander can keep custody of his daughter. At first, Casey objects because they don’t love each other but Xander points out how their previous marriages weren’t based on love and this business based proposition is at least more honest:

"How about marrying someone you actually love?'

He gave her a pitying glance. "Don't tell me, after seven years of marriage to a man like Sam Bridges, that you still believe in the love myth? Any more than I do after seven years of marriage to Chloe?'

Ah, a marriage of convenience story. Love. Unfortunately, because of the shortened circumstances, I believed less in the love between Casey and Xander. I felt like that they could have learned to love each other over time, but not in the time frame presented. Both had underwent horrible marriages to unfaithful people and you would think that would have marked them more.

This was more frothy and less emotional than The Greek and the Single Mom so the two together made a nice collection but the marriage of convenience story lacked the believability and verve of the first. C+

Best regards,

Jane

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I believe this is your debut release although you have another book coming out from Berkley under the name, Margaret Rowe (Tempting Eden). It is a Regency historical set in 1820 featuring a true courtesan but, as the title suggests, by mistake.

Charlotte Fallon has a sister, Deborah Fallon, who is a courtesan. “Since the age of sixteen, she had flaunted her assets and traded one rich man for another.” Deborah has perfected the courtesan game and made herself into a much sought after courtesan. After months of pursuit, Sr Michael Xavier Bayard has won the right to be La Fallon’s protector. Only Deborah is running off with Arthur Bannister, the “prematurely balding third son of an earl” because while Bay offered money, jewelry, and a wonderful house on Jane Street, Arthur has offered marriage.

Charlotte comes up from the country to find her sister, Deborah, in the process of packing up. Deborah wants Charlotte to fulfill the contract made with Bay. Bay’s generous, good in bed (or so his past mistress has said), and it will be no hardship for Charlotte, who shares the same glossy black hair, blue eyes, bountiful body, bee stung lips, or so Deborah claims.

It is Charlotte’s intention to be off before Sir Michael comes home. Instead, he arrives at his Jane Street residence and proceeds to bed his mistress. “She slept as if dead, having the most delightful tipsy dream somewhere past midnight. But when morning cae and she found her nightgown hanging from a fat angel’s head and a naked man with his lips planted firmly around her nipple, she knew her dream was now a nightmare.”

This is one of the problematic areas. Charlotte is not a prostitute but nor is she a virgin. At the beginning of the coupling, it appears from Charlotte’s point of view that this is unwanted and initially fights him off, yet the two proceed to climax. Later in the chapter, clues are given that Charlie not only consented but was a full participant. During the consummation scene, I wasn’t sure. I read it twice and came away with some ambiguity. However, the post consummation exchange displays what I enjoyed so much about this story.

“You should do that more often.” Sir Michael spoke from the doorway, sinfully handsome even when dressed in clothes that had lain on the floor all night.
“What?”
“Smile. I was beginning to think you didn’t have teeth. Oops, I forgot. You did bite me, didn’t you? In several places.” He rang a long forefinger down the column of his throat.
Oh merciful heavens. She had bitten his tongue in anger, but the other bites, love bites when she’d nipped his delicious salty skin, were done under the influence of an altogether different emotion. She was going to Hell with Satan as her tour guide.

Deborah has run off with a necklace that belonged to Bay’s grandmother and was only “on loan”. Now that she is gone, he wants the jewelry back. Charlie must stay with Michael until the necklace is retrieved and he claims, Charlie must fulfill the terms of Deborah’s agreement with him.

The house where Charlotte lives is on Jane Street. It is a well known area for housing courtesans. It’s an address coveted by women and the men who want to keep them.

He’d won the leasehold on Jane Street in a spectacularly lucky card game a little over two years ago. Lucky for him, at any rate. The Marquess of Angleton had been unhappy, his mistress even more so. Rumor had it she was so furious at Angleton for eviction from ‘Courtesan Court’ that she stabbed him with a fork. The man’s hand had been bandaged for weeks. Puncture wounds were the devil to heal.”

Charlie gets to know the other women on Jane Street, their stories from the titled widow who lives there, to the young woman attached to the crazy Marquess next door. I thought the Jane Street bit was so well done I ended up googling it to read more about the history of Jane Street only to discover that it was probably all imaginery. Damn you and your convincing writing skills.

Charlie is wonderfully conflicted. She was happy living the virtuous life in a small country village but she can’t deny that the rich gowns, the connection with The Janes, and the physical pleasures provided by Bay are delightful. She almost dreads becoming virtuous again Charlie does not want to be a rich man’s plaything even if that rich man is Bay.

Bay’s feelings deepen for Charlie but he has his own committment issues and a VERY good reason for being shy of getting into the marriage game.

It’s trite to say that love conquers all in this book, even though it does. The characters are delightful in this story. Charlie is all wryness and self deprecation. Bay is good natured, funny but not snarky. He’s portrayed as a very typical male. In one part of the book, he contemplates the unfairness the weight society places on a woman’s virtue and marvels at how Deborah is able to put her guilt behind her, the guilt she suffered when she gave up her virginity in hopes of marriage and received scorn instead. Bay recognizes that he has never felt guilt over a coupling, “except perhaps with that Spanish camp follower who raked his back like a frenzied panther. It had taken Frazier weeks of potions and ointments to get the swelling down, all the while mumbling that female fingernails would kill him sooner than a bayonet.”

In another scene, Charlotte mocks Bay’s idle existence. Bay claims that he collects art!

Charlie snorted. “Art that is by its very nature suited to the advancement of your pleasure.”

How did she know he’d gazed at his paintings a time or two, his cock firmly in hand? He felt his color mount.

Charlie and Bay are such normal characters, trying to fight their very natural attraction to each other. In the end, their baser impulses win out.

I mentioned at the outset that there were a couple of parts of the book that seemed odd to me and one was when Bay was assaulted. His reaction to this seemed disproportionately subdued. I understand that Bay was kind of a happy go lucky guy (or at least he tried to live that way) but I thought it was taking his character trait a bit too far at that point.

Having said that, those two issues really take nothing away from the sexy chemistry and the wry humor that permeates the story. I really enjoy those books where the characters take real joy in their pleasure and this is one of them. It’s a steamy historical that I enjoyed re-reading for the sake of the review. B

Best regards,

Jane

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I’ve enjoyed several of your other books for Harlequin Historicals and was delighted when you contacted me offering a copy of your latest in the “Wessex Weddings” series for possible review. (Note: FTC discloser out of the way!) And the heroine is a Fallen Woman too. Even better. At first I didn’t realize that the hero is the same man used as a decoy in “An Honorable Rogue,” but once I recalled this, it upped the incentive to read the book.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Four years ago, Lady Emma of Fulford would never have thought she’d be sorry to lose her livelihood – washing dirty laundry in an icy cold river – that puts clothes on her back and a roof over her head. But then she also never thought she’d have an illegitimate child or not be living in her father’s noble household. A love affair gone bad has landed her where she is today and that somewhere is desperate to escape the abusive father of her child who has somehow tracked her down.

Her appeal for a job to the garrison commander of Winchester, Sir Richard of Asculf, initially gets her nowhere. They have a bit of a history since he’s a BFF of Emma’s brother in law, Adam, who was awarded her father’s lands. Richard takes a little pleasure in seeing her in such reduced circumstances since Emma apparently made life difficult for them after the Battle of Hastings fallout but he’s also honest enough to admit that she stirs his sexual interest. Not that he’s going to lay a hand on her as Adam would nail him for it.

But with Judhael making threats against her and terrified that he’ll discover the fact that they have a son, Emma is pushed to offer herself to Richard as a mistress with the hope that he’ll take her and her son with him when he returns to Normandy to settle an inheritance. Can these two find love as well as sexual feelings for each other during the journey?

I like a good medieval and am glad to see the subgenre making a bit of a comeback. But for me to be interested in it, I need more than the standard Norman knight (who’s usually a bastard) and willowy Saxon maiden snipping at each other in faux medieval dialogue. I mentioned before how much I appreciate the fact that you avoid this but let me say it again to emphasize how much this means to me. No “mayhaps!” No “tis, twases!” No irate Jayne!

I haven’t read the first book in the series “The Novice Bride,” but I gather that Emma is quite changed since then. Several mentions are made of how her viewpoints on various things have changed since her days as the daughter of a powerful Saxon thane. At this point, she’s taken refuge in an inn with several ‘ladies of the night’ and far from looking down her nose at them, she thinks of them as friends. She’s even tickled pink when they show up after her wedding to wish her well. She’s practical and not above doing what it takes to see to the safety and care of her child.

Richard is shown to be human. He’s a man who can appreciate Emma’s curves and who is also not adverse to enjoying, just a little bit, seeing her pay a bit for her past actions. But his honorable side quickly comes out on top and he goes to great lengths to help her and feels guilty when they succumb to passion. I figured some revelation was coming to explain his nightmares and at first rolled my eyes a little that a big Norman knight would be so anguished at what bothers him but then thought again about how any warrior might take a particular death hard and be haunted by it.

The book is also a bit of a road romance and I enjoyed reading about the journey conditions. Definitely not modern traveling with ‘en suite’ bath included and one can forget having any privacy. You handled some aspects of the story differently than I expected which in this case is a good thing. When a potential wife for Richard is mentioned, I had images of catfights and outraged foot stomping to dread but thankfully this didn’t come to pass. When Emma imagines she feels someone watching her during their trip, I thought of several scenarios involving showdowns between the men. Again, you took a different path.

Emma’s venture towards “please don’t go there” territory alarmed me somewhat. True, she is given one good reason but I would have preferred that she ask before she acted. And let’s be honest, Judhael displays more common sense about her choice of action than she did considering she also has the welfare of her child to consider.

“Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord” – and can’t we just tell this is a Harlequin title? – is a fairly fast read and is quite readable, which I consider to be two different things. It stays away from many of the subgenre’s conventions and features two likable lead characters. I think readers interested in medievals will welcome it to the list. B-

Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

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2. REVIEW: An Honorable Rogue by Carol Townend
3. REVIEW: Texas Ranger, Runaway Heiress by Carol Finch

So bring on the mistress, courtesan or fallen woman recommendations.   Please note if the book features a woman who pretends to be a fallen woman and is not (Bel, from The Duke, I am looking at you).

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: His Lordship’s Mistress by Joan Wolf
2. REVIEW: The Defiant Mistress by Claire Thornton
3. Women and Power in Historical Romances

I re-read your book recently in preparation for a year end list.   I was shocked when I checked the DA Archives and did not see a review for it.   I had to rectify that  immediately.   His Lordship’s Mistress is one of my favorite books and your work in the Signet Regency line was really wonderful.   There are so many that I enjoy revisiting and I am so grateful that you decided to resell your ebook rights to Belgrave House so that I could buy ebook copies of many of them.   I do think that His Lordship’s Mistress is the best of your stellar work in that line and I’ll do my best to convey why.

As Janine noted in the review of another of my favorite Wolf traditional regencies, A London Season, your writing style is simplistic and spare.   I really enjoy that style and it’s out in full force here.   His Lordship’s Mistress contains all the classic elements of a Wolf book: the heroine in trouble, gambling leading to despair, Shakespeare, and horses.

Jessica Andover has just buried her stepfather, a wastrel that gambled away her mother’s small fortune and left Jessica and her brothers with a crushing load of debt and no way to support themselves.   Jessica is quite lovely and so a neighbor buys the mortgage and tells Jessica she must either marry him or he’ll foreclose on her home.   Jessica refuses.   She would rather sell herself than indenture herself in marriage to a man who will have control over her and her property again.

Marry for money she would not do. The thought of putting herself into the power of some man for the rest of her life filled her with horror. She might as well sell herself, she thought.

Which had brought her to her second option. She knew the amount of money her stepfather had spent on women. It appeared, she thought grimly to herself, that there was a good chance of making money by selling oneself temporarily.

Jessica tells her family that she is going to Scotland to take care of an ailing aunt who might leave her some money.   She then goes to London to borrow money to pay the mortgage.   The loan allows her six months to pay it off.   She goes to the Convent Garden Theatre   because “Men looked for mistresses who were actresses or opera dancers, so Jessica’s limited worldly wisdom told her.”   She hopes to get a small part but when the manager hears her clear, beautiful voice and her aristocratic carriage, he realizes he has a find.   He casts her as Juliet and a star is born.

Philip Romney, Earl of Linton, arrives in London from his country estate to find everyone talking about Jessica O’Neill.   Linton is an aristocrat among aristocrats.   His lineage can be traced back to the seventeenth century.   He is proud but likeable; utterly correct in his aspect; and unappreciative of excess.   Upon seeing Jessica perform, he determines that he’ll have her.

Everything about this book has a refined feel to it.   When Linton asks Jessica to be his mistress, it is done in the most mannerly way conceivable:

"I have a house in Montpelier Square that is standing empty at the moment," he had said thoughtfully. "It would make me very happy if you would move into it and let me take care of you.”

Even in the dim light of the carriage she had been able to see the blue of his eyes. "I cannot afford to run a large establishment," she had answered in a voice that was not quite her own.

“It is not a large establishment," he had returned gently, "and of course I should make you a monthly allowance to enable you to cover all expenses."

When Jessica set out on this course to regain her independence and secure a future for her brothers, she did not imagine she would become famous or catch the attention of such a man as Linton. Linton does not expect to fall in love with his mistress. But they fall in love with each other for Jessica is a woman of depth and strength and Linton is a man of honor and purpose. Phillip begins to inexorably draw Jessica into serious society in an effort to pave the way for them to be together but everything is set against them. A man does not marry his mistress and he certainly does not marry an actress.

Their relationship and their love and their seemingly helpless situation changes them. Jessica comes to realize how foolhardy she was:

She thought back now to the arrogant, innocent girl she had been. Not for her the sitting back and allowing destiny to take its course. Not for her a convenient marriage to some unknown, boorish, rich man. It was all right for other, less proud, less determined women. Not for her. Not for Jessica Andover

Phillip’s changes aren’t as visible. While we get omniscient views of his life away from Jessica, we never get his point of view.   But as a proud man whose life was smooth as glass, his will was thwarted more than once.  Phillip is always viewed through the lenses of others, but we do get a full picture of who he is through his actions, dialogue, and perceptions of others.

Throughout the story, Jessica’s roles in the theatre, first Juliet and then Macbeth, provide a sort of backdrop for the movements in the book. Juliet as the young, innocent, arrogant when Jessica starts out, believing herself to come out of this unscathed. The story then moves into darker period where Jessica and Phillip are in love. Phillip, though, is more Lady Macbeth urging Jessica to screw her courage to the sticking point. (Neither are trying to kill anyone but perhaps societal expectations). Both plays represent the tragedy and doomed nature of their relationship.   Despite the references to Shakespeare, this novel is not heavy.   Instead it is balanced with humor, love, sadness, and, yes, sexual tension.

While the love scenes are delicate, there is something inordinately sexy in the way that Phillip would say to Jessica:

Silence had fallen, but it was the rich silence of deep, inarticulate companionship. He put down his cup and smiled at her, long and lazily. "Let’s go to bed," he said

Part of the reason, I think, is because of the restrained nature of the prose that once the reader falls into the book, like the titillation of the ankle in the Regency period, the mere reference of “bed” is provocative in His Lordship’s Mistress. This is one book in which the two acknowledge their love for each other early on, but there is significant external and internal conflict for Jessica which provides the drama for this powerful love story.

The book also contains one of my favorite romance declarations of love which Jessica makes some time after Phillip’s initial proclamation:

"I love you," she whispered to him deep in the night. "You own me, body and soul, do you know that?”

His mouth was on her, feeling her silken smoothness as she lay there, open to him as a flower lies open to the sun. His voice, when it came, was husky and unsteady. "The things a man owns, my darling, hold him far more securely than he holds them," he replied.

I don’t know what you are writing now and while I haven’t loved your recent works, I never fail to be swept away in your short novels published back in the 80s. A

Best regards,

Jane

This book is out of print but can be purchased in digital form from Fictionwise in DRM free formats.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: His Lordship’s Desire by Joan Wolf
2. REVIEW: A London Season by Joan Wolf
3. REVIEW: Aunt Sophie’s Diamonds by Joan Smith

While you have been a long time commenter on Dear Author, I hadn’t picked up one of your books until recently. I kept meaning too but I never saw your name within the lines at Harlequin I usually perused each month. Jayne’s reviews of various Harlequin books has encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone and so when I saw your name, I immediately snapped up the title. I had no idea what to expect.

The Bravo Bachelor must be a continuation of members of the wealthy Bravo family. Gabe Bravo is the fixer. If there are problems or bumps to the furtherance of the Bravo empire, Gabe sallies forth to smooth the way, eliminate the obstacles in such a charming way that the impediment was apologizing for being there in the first place.

Gabe Bravo, however, meets his match in Mary Hofstetter. Mary owns a small patch of land that was willed to her by her now deceased husband. Gabe’s father has determined that this patch of land will be the site of a future Bravo resort. Mary is pregnant, alone, and cash poor but she keeps saying no because her husband wouldn’t have wanted her to sell and she doesn’t really care to sell either.

Gabe is fairly savvy and recognizes that Mary is not going to be open to flattery and affirmation. “He studied her face for a moment, thinking that his job here would be easier if she were a little needier and not quite so smart.” Instead, he tries to show her the beautiful resort, how it will fit into the landscape and how it will provide her and her unborn child with every opportunity:

Here’s what matters," he told her. "Sell that overgrown hundred and twenty acres out there to BravoCorp at the price I’m going to offer you this morning and you’ll be a wealthy woman. You-’and your baby-’will never want for anything for the rest of your lives. You can go to bed and get some rest when I leave because you won’t have to work. Not today. Not ever again."

I’m convinced, but Mary, not so much.

With another soft grunt, she sat a little straighter. "There are worse things than not having a lot of money. And better things than being rich. Things like a place you love to be. Like having good people to care for, who care for you. This ranch is the place I love to be. And as for having to work, well, isn’t that a lot of what life’s about? It’s true I’m pretty beat today, but I like to work, most of the time. And if I sold out to BravoCorp so you could carve the land my husband loved into pricey half-acre lots, well, I’d never forgive myself." The coffeemaker sputtered. She glanced toward the sound.

In just a few paragraphs you showed me that Gabe was really persuasive and that Mary was more interested in her own principles than the easy way out. The reason why this is so valuable is because this is exactly the conflict that plays itself out later in the book. It’s foreshadowing in a quiet but meaningful way making me realize that every scene is the story was carefully chosen to convey a message about the characters and not just filler. I really appreciated that.

Mary goes into labor shortly after Gabe’s presentation and Gabe finds that he cannot leave her alone. Mary’s mother in law was set to take care of her but Mary is delivering early and the mother in law is gone. Gabe’s innate sense of responsibility requires him to stay by Mary’s side through delivery, through her stay in the hospital, and then settling her at home.

The more time that Gabe spends with Mary, the more that he appreciates her good sense and practical and optimistic look on life. As for Mary, it’s hard not to be persuaded that the grass is blue when Gabe is describing it. Mary and Gabe fall into a physical relationship which suits them both until Mary realizes that she has no place in Gabe’s life; that he has a life outside of the ranch and the baby and that he has never invited her into that part and Mary becomes dissatisfied.

It was interesting to watch how Gabe inexorably tries to take over Mary’s life, to mold Mary into the perfect companion for him. He doesn’t do it because he doesn’t respect or care for Mary, he simply does it because it suits him, it makes his life more comfortable. Mary, though, grapples with her principles against the easy way out (see aforementioned introduction of plot conflict FTW!).   She cares a great deal for Gabe but she sees that a continuation of the situation between her and Gabe would result in a loss of self respect, a loss of her own sense of self.

This was a quiet romance but a smart one. I liked both Mary and Gabe. There wasn’t too much of the former Bravo characters. I thought that the relationship progressed naturally and the ultimate point of conflict was very authentic. It certainly encourage me to pick up more Rimmer books in the future. B

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers (up until April 1, you have to buy the ebook directly from Harlequin).

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Heart’s Bounty by Christine Charles
2. REVIEW: A Wicked Liaison by Christine Merrill
3. Bravo’s Documentary: Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings

Also, until June 1, 2008, the following books are only for sale at the eharlequin website in eformat.

***

His Mistress by Arrangement by Natalie Anderson. Emma is a hotel manager whose co workers think she is all work no play and a very dull girl. An old friend shows up at her local hotel and gives her an opportunity to show her co workers that she’s actually quite adventurous. Jake Rendel is a little miffed at first but then sees an opportunity to unwind Emma during his five weeks he plans to spend at the hotel. Jack’s a bit of a ne’er do well that made it good but unlike Emma knows how to balance the playing and the working.

Jack and Emma’s pretend flirtation turns real. Emma has to cope with jealousy and Jack has to cope with the idea that for the first time, the fling might end up badly. Jack begins to take over Emma’s life; pushing her to explore not just her sexual side. Emma, however, isn’t really ready for that. She thinks Jack is still playing a game and that she’s just one more piece to be manuevered about.

This is alot more steamy that normal HPs. I would say that it’s more on par with a Blaze although it does feature the millionaire and a virgin. There is alot going on in this short story and I never felt that any particular subject was getting sufficient attention. C+

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

The Greek Tycoon’s Baby Bargain by Sharon Kendrick. This is kind of a fascinating, stomach churning, can’t put the book down story. Rebecca is having an affair with Xandros. She is essentially at his beck and call. She recognizes this and despises herself for her weakness but whenever he calls, she can’t seem to resist. Her mood swings from longing to self loathing. She tries to force Xandros’ hand to either cut her off or begin a real relationship. He chooses, predictably, to cut her off.

This utterly crushes Rebecca until she finds out she is pregnant with Xandros’ twin babies. She goes to inform him of her discovery and then takes herself out of his reach. Xandros has mommy issues which prevent him from commitment. He rejects Rebecca the minute she shows any signs of needing permanency. He views her pregnancy as just a more clever ploy than most women came up with. With her pregnancy, Rebecca finds a backbone. She has little interest in Xandros and actually comes to fear his money and power and the idea that he might take her children from her.

Rebecca never really gains power in the relationship. She’s always under Xandros thumb yet the story, as reviling as it was to read at times, was hard to put down. The ending lacked the emotional punch of the beginning. The doormat to asshole ratio is huge here but I found myself really moved by Rebecca’s initial internal struggle. The story actually loses its power because Rebecca never fully realizes independence. C

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

His Mistress by Marriage by Lee Wilkinson. This is a familiar HP storyline (although there are very few unfamiliar HP storylines). Deborah fell in love with David but saw him in a compromising position with her best friend. She immediately breaks off the engagement with the excuse that she wants to pursue a career. Her brother ends up marrying David’s sister and so Deborah ends up estranging herself from her family in an effort to avoid David. She decides she is in love with her employer and they become engaged. A few weeks before her marriage, her brother Paul, however, is badly injured in a car accident and David comes to New York to fetch her home.

Deborah fights renewed feelings toward David. Her engagement with Gerald is fairly easily set aside but she lacks trust in David even after she discovers her earlier suspicions were incorrect. Deborah is a bit of a doormat and David is a boor. It evokes the right emotional response (high melodrama) yet I thought it was too obvious in its manipulations. C

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Related posts:

1. Harlequin Lightning Reviews
2. Harlequin Lightning Reviews
3. Harlequin Lightning Reviews