Book Review: Falling Into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath

Title: Falling Into Bed with a Duke
Series: The Hellions of Havisham, Book 1
Author: Lorraine Heath
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: October 27, 2015 by Avon

After six unsuccessful Seasons, Miss Minerva Dodger chooses spinsterhood over fortune-hungry suitors. But thanks to the Nightingale Club, she can at least enjoy one night of pleasure. At that notorious establishment, ladies don masks before choosing a lover. The sinfully handsome Duke of Ashebury is more than willing to satisfy the secretive lady's desires—and draws Minerva into an exquisite, increasingly intimate affair.

A man of remarkable talents, Ashe soon deduces that his bedmate is the unconventional Miss Dodger. Intrigued by her wit and daring, he sets out to woo her in earnest. Yet Minerva refuses to trust him. How to court a woman he has already thoroughly seduced? And how to prove that the passion unleashed in darkness is only the beginning of a lifetime's pleasure?

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: The Shepherd and the Solicitor by Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee

Title: The Shepherd and the Solicitor
Author: Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: September 29, 2015 by Samhain Publishing

When a storm is brewing, taking shelter could be the most dangerous move of all.

One careless, public sign of affection cost Daniel Pierce’s lover his life at the hands of a hate-filled mob. Grief-stricken, Daniel retreated from society to a sheep farm in the wilds of the north. Years later, Gregory Tobin erupts into his solitary life.

Sent to confirm the existence—or the death—of the Pierce family’s lost heir, Tobin isn’t sure he’s found the right man. The gruff, shaggy hermit calling himself Jacob Bennet bears little resemblance to photographs of the younger Pierce. Tobin needs more time to study his quarry.

With lambing season in full swing, Daniel grudgingly admits he could use an extra hand. Through a long, exhausting night, they parry back and forth as Tobin probes closer and closer to the truth. And something beyond casual attraction simmers between them.

They come together in a crash of desire, but ultimately Daniel must overcome the terrors of the past to reconcile the man he was with the man he’s becoming—a man capable of loving again.

Warning: Many sexy encounters on a sheep farm—NO, not like THAT!—between two adult males with temperaments as different as night and day.

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Once An Heiress by Elizabeth Boyce

Title: Once An Heiress
Series: Once A…, Book 2
Author: Elizabeth Boyce
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: March 11, 2013 by Crimson Romance

Lily Bachman has the largest dowry the haut ton has seen in years. Her fortune is meant to secure her marriage to a titled gentleman, but instead it has sent every fortune hunter in London into a frenzy. Despite her father’s insistence that she choose a husband, Lily swears she won’t marry any of these “Leeches.” Instead, she focuses on her dreams of opening a charity school. She has everything well in hand – until a devilishly handsome rake sweeps her into a scandalous waltz.

Ethan Helling, Viscount Thorburn, never claimed to be a good man. A well-known rogue, he’s over his ears in gaming debts and is tempted by a friend’s demanding mistress. To continue indulging his appetites, he needs to marry a fortune. The lovely Miss Bachman just so happens to have one, and Ethan vows to win her dowry for himself.

When the seducer becomes the seduced, Lily and Ethan are forced into a hasty marriage. Now, to gain her fortune, Ethan must find a way to make his unwilling bride happy. As he fights to win her affection, Ethan finds himself falling in love with his spirited wife – despite her determination to keep her money, and her heart, out of his hands. With her dreams in ruins and her illusions shattered, can Lily afford to gamble on love?

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Reviewed by: Babs

Book Review: Once a Duchess by Elizabeth Boyce

Title: Once a Duchess
Series: Once A…, Book 1
Author: Elizabeth Boyce
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: January 1, 2013 by Crimson Romance

Isabelle Lockwood was a duchess, until her husband of only a few months wrongfully divorced her for adultery. Since then she's been a pariah, living in anonymous exile to escape the prying eyes and wagging tongues of the town. More than anything, Isabelle longs for a family of her own, and so has to marry again. But society is ruthlessly unforgiving. To clear her name, Isabelle must face down her past - and the man who broke her heart and ruined her completely.

Marshall Lockwood, Duke of Monthwaite, was blindsided by his young bride's infidelity. After the divorce Marshall licked his wounds, throwing himself into his botanical studies to forget his disastrous marriage. Now his former wife is back in Town, as beautiful and enticing as he remembers. As the Season throws them together again, Marshall can't shake the feeling that Isabelle might not be the adulteress he took her for.

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Book Review: Captured at the Castle by Alexandra Ainsworth

Title: Captured at the Castle
Series: Scandal in Sussex, Book 2
Author: Alexandra Ainsworth
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by author
Published: August 17, 2015 by Sanguinity Press

Geoffrey Hammerstead always dreamed of protecting others. Geoffrey is delighted when he moves to Ashbury Castle to take on the duties of magistrate. But when his uncle, Sir Ambrose, goes missing and is accused of running a long smuggling network, Geoffrey finds himself under suspicion.

Former thief Etienne Rivaud is furious after being wrongfully thrown into prison. But Etienne is more furious when the new magistrate is assigned to protect him.

Geoffrey and Etienne are both confident they abhor each other, but somehow they cannot stop thinking about each other. Can they ever attempt to forge a future together in a world where sodomy is illegal, and Geoffrey's job requires him to enforce that?

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Viscount’s Wager by Ava March

Title: Viscount’s Wager
Series: Gambling on Love, Book 3
Author: Ava March
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 10, 2015 by Carina Press

Anthony, Viscount Rawling, knows exactly what he wants in life and he isn't above having a look about London for it. When he spots recently widowed Gabriel Tilden at a ton function, he thinks he might have found love…again.

Gabriel is as gorgeous and reserved as he was when he broke Anthony's heart seven years ago. But they were only adolescents then…surely Anthony won't hold the incident against him. And especially not when the attraction between them is stronger than ever.

Gabriel came to London in search of distraction, and a teasing Anthony is impossible to resist. As Anthony introduces Gabriel to the pleasures that can be found in the city—and in his bedchamber—their bond deepens into something more. Yet both men are hiding secrets that could pull them apart forever

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

Title: When a Scot Ties the Knot
Series: Castles Ever After, Book 3
Author: Tessa Dare
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: August 25, 2015 by Avon

On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart.

A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.

Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

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Reviewed by: Sara

Book Review: Bound with Honor by Megan Mulry

Title: Bound with Honor
Author: Megan Mulry
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance, F/F Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: August 15, 2015 by Riptide Publishing

Lord Archibald Cambury, Marquess of Camburton, has never wanted for anything . . . except normalcy. Although he adores both of his loving mothers, and his vivacious twin sister with her two husbands, he wants a wife. One wife. Full stop. Is that so much to ask?

Miss Selina Ashby appears to be everything Archie has always wanted in a marchioness: demure, soft-spoken, and pretty, with a quick mind and delectable humor. Yes, she is a bit forward, but he chalks that up to youth. Yes, she has a very particular friend in Beatrix Farnsworth, but he chalks that up to loyalty. He is a lord; she is a lady; they are in love. And so they marry. That should be the end of it.

But when Archie discovers that his wife is as passionate with her particular friend Beatrix as he is with his particular friend Christopher, his world is shattered. He must decide if Selina’s love is big enough for both of them—and whether normalcy is truly more important than the love he feels for both the man and the woman who have become so dear to him.

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: The Daughter of an Earl by Victoria Morgan

Title: The Daughter of an Earl
Author: Victoria Morgan
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: July 7, 2015 by Berkley

An American businessman in England, Brett Curtis has little use for the haughty ton beyond seeing his sisters happily entertained in London. But when his cousin mysteriously disappears after inheriting the title of Duke, he sets out to locate him and drag him home.

Lady Emily Chandler plunged into deep despair when her fiancé died in India, and now she is determined to prove that he was murdered. The brash American Brett Curtis’s reputation may be less than sterling, but he’s just the man to help Emily on her quest—if she can convince him to accept her dangerous proposition.

While their alliance uncovers a web of scandalous secrets, their undeniable attraction threatens to reveal something even more dangerous: true love.

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Reviewed by: Sara

Book Review & Giveaway: Scandalous Series by Caroline Linden

  

Title: Love and Other Scandals; It Takes a Scandal; Love in the Time of Scandal
Series: Scandalous, Books 1-3
Author: Caroline Linden
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual-Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: July 30, 2013; April 29, 2014; May 26, 2015 by Avon

Book Review: Put Up Your Duke by Megan Frampton

Title: Put Up Your Duke
Series: Dukes Behaving Badly, Book 2
Author: Megan Frampton
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: June 30, 2015 by Avon

He was once happily bedding and boxing, but in the newest Duke's Behaving Badly novel, Nicholas Smithfield has inherited a title and a bride . . .

To keep his estate afloat, the new Duke of Gage must honor an agreement to marry Lady Isabella Sawford. Stunningly beautiful, utterly tempting, she's also a bag of wedding night nerves, so Nicholas decides to wait to do his duty—even if it means heading to the boxing saloon every day to punch away his frustration.

Groomed her whole life to become the perfect duchess, Isabella longs for independence, a dream that is gone forever. As her husband, Nicholas can do whatever he likes—but, to Isabella's surprise, the notorious rake instead begins a gentle seduction that is melting every inch of her reserve, night by night . . .

To his utter shock, Nicholas discovers that no previous exploits were half as pleasurable as wooing his own wife. But has the realm's most disreputable duke found the one woman who can bring him to his knees— and leave him there?

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Reviewed by: J9 and Monica

Book Review: Closed Eyes by Jerry Bomhan

Title: Closed Eyes
Author: Jerry Bomhan
Genre: Historical Romance, F/F Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: March 18, 2015 by Less Than Three Press

Ryo was once a soldier, a hardened warrior who put her life on the line without hesitation or regret. Then she met Kei and found someone worth living for.

Now Kei has vanished, and Ryo must once again don the garb of a warrior. However, a life of peaceful labor has dulled her previously sharpened edges, and the mission to save the love of her life may be her final in more ways than one.

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Grave Phantoms by Jenn Bennett

Title: Grave Phantoms
Series: Roaring Twenties, Book 3
Author: Jenn Bennett
Genre: Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: bought
Published: May 5, 2015 by Berkley Sensation

Feisty flapper Astrid Magnusson is home from college and yearning for the one thing that’s always been off limits: Bo Yeung, her notorious bootlegging brother’s second-in-command. Unfortunately her dream of an easy reunion proves difficult after a violent storm sends a mysterious yacht crashing into the Magnussons’ docks. What’s worse, the boat disappeared a year ago, and the survivors are acting strangely…

Bo has worked with the Magnusson family for years, doing whatever is needed, including keeping his boss’s younger sister out of trouble—and his hands to himself. Of course, that isn’t so easy after Astrid has a haunting vision about the yacht’s disappearance, plunging them into an underground world of old money and dark magic. Danger will drive them closer together, but surviving their own forbidden feelings could be the bigger risk.

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Reviewed by: Lesley

Book Review: Grow Wild by K.M. Penemue

Title: Grow Wild
Author: K.M Penemue
Genre: Historical Romance, F/F Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: March 18, 2015 by Less Than Three Press

Josie has been drifting from town to town for years, surviving on whatever work she can find. When she rolls into Rio Plato, however, it's not work she's hunting, but an old enemy.

Dahlia Wheeler owns the Sentimental Lady saloon and brothel, where Josie stays. But though Josie feels the pull between her and Dahlia, she refuses to get involved and risk dragging Dahlia into her plans for revenge and the aimless life she leads—assuming she doesn't wind up with a noose around her neck.

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Ace’s Wild by Sarah McCarty

Title: Ace’s Wild
Series: Hell’s Eight, Book 7
Author: Sarah McCarty
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: January 27, 2015 by HQN Books

When you gamble with desire, be prepared to risk everything…...

Unlike the rest of the Hell's Eight brotherhood, Ace Parker's home isn't on the range. This restless cowboy craves the hustle of Simple, Texas, a lawless town where he can sate his darker appetites without guilt. At least he did, until Petunia Wayfield arrived. The prickly new teacher is insisting that Ace help her rid the town of drunkenness and card playing. For that kind of miracle, Ace demands a reward the spinster schoolmarm will surely never give.

But Petunia isn't backing down. Not when the intense passion Ace offers shatters her to the core. As soon as she can afford a ticket home back east, she'll leave Simple behind for good. Until then, she'll match his sensual challenge with her own, daring him to give up his fiercely guarded self-control. And then real danger claims Petunia, forcing Ace to reveal the man he really is—even if it drives her away forever.

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: A Minor Inconvenience by Sarah Granger

Title: A Minor Inconvenience
Author: Sarah Granger
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: January 14, 2014 by Samhain Publishing

Duty, honor, propriety…all fall in the face of love.

Captain Hugh Fanshawe returned from the Peninsular War with a leg that no longer works properly, thanks to a French musket ball. Now his fight against Napoleon is reduced to quiet, lonely days compiling paperwork at Horse Guards headquarters.

His evenings are spent dutifully escorting his mother and sister to stifling social engagements, where his lameness renders him an object of pity and distaste. But his orderly, restricted life is thrown into sudden disarray with the arrival of Colonel Theo Lindsay.

Theo is everything Hugh is not—a man of physical perfection and easy yet distinguished address. Surprisingly to Hugh, Theo appears to be interested in making his acquaintance. Lindsay turns out to be a most convivial companion, and Hugh finds great pleasure in his company. Their friendship deepens when they become lovers.

In spite of himself, Hugh falls desperately in love. But when a French spy is suspected at Horse Guards, Hugh discovers nothing is as it seems…and the paper he shuffles from day to day could be the instrument of his lover’s death.

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Never a Gentleman by Heather Boyd

Title: Never a Gentleman
Series: The Hunt Club, Book 5
Author: Heather Boyd
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: December 2, 2014 by LLD Press

Victor Knight has never been able to juggle his work and love life to anyone’s satisfaction. A hardworking investment banker in London, he’s obsessed with maintaining his clients’ privacy and profits, and cannot understand why those same clients are withdrawing funds when he’s making them a good profit. When a dull evening supper at the Hunt Club ends in a blunt invitation to have sex with the Earl of Beecroft, he welcomes the distraction on the proviso they never discuss his business affairs.

Daniel Wellham, the Earl of Beecroft, has long admired Victor Knight. He even understands and admires the banker’s preoccupation with work. Their night together is everything he hoped it would be and while he longs for permanence, his secret life as a spy means he can never reveal too much of his own history. Unfortunately, when he realizes that all is not right in Victor’s life, those promises he made to keep his nose out of the banker’s business means he cannot offer to help or explain that his latest mission might take him away forever. How can love and trust be possible when duty and responsibility prevent total honesty?

Reviewed By: J9

Book Review: Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean

Title: Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover
Series: The Rules of Scoundrels, Book 4
Author: Sarah MacLean
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via Edelweiss
Published: November 25, 2014 by Avon

She is the most powerful woman in Britain,
A queen of the London Underworld ...
But no one can ever know.

He is the only man smart enough to uncover the truth,
Putting all she has at risk . . .
Including her heart.

The fourth book in New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean’s incredible Rule of Scoundrels/Fallen Angels series. These four dark heroes will steal the hearts of their heroines and the readers alike! This is the last in the Rules of Scoundrels series—Chase’s story

By day, she is Lady Georgiana, sister to a Duke, ruined before her first season in the worst kind of scandal. But the truth is far more shocking—in London’s darkest corners, she is Chase, the mysterious, unknown founder of the city’s most legendary gaming hell. For years, her double identity has gone undiscovered . . . until now.

Brilliant, driven, handsome-as-sin Duncan West is intrigued by the beautiful, ruined woman who is somehow connected to a world of darkness and sin. He knows she is more than she seems and he vows to uncover all of Georgiana’s secrets, laying bare her past, threatening her present, and risking all she holds dear . . . including her heart.

Book Review: Simply Pleasure by Kate Pearce

Title: Simply Pleasure
Series: House of Pleasure, Book 0.5
Author: Kate Pearce
Genre: Historical Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: November 25, 2014 by Kensington Books

Experience the illicit passions of Regency England in Kate Pearce’s House of Pleasure series…

MASTER OF SEDUCTION

Ten years as a sex slave in a Turkish brothel have left Val Sokorvsky a master in the art of erotic seduction. But even as he offered his body, he never offered his heart. Now that he is returning home he wonders what kind of welcome he will find. Only one person understands his pain and Val is helpless to resist the passion he feels for Peter Howard, his English lover…

MASTER OF SUBMISSION

Peter learned to survive his years as a sex slave by coaxing and teasing his lovers to the heights of sexual ecstasy. But there is only one man he’s ever loved, one man he can never take as his own. Returning to England may save him from captivity but it may also take away Val, the one man to whom he’d willingly give his body and soul

Reviewed By: J9

Book Review: Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Beyond the Highland Mist
Series: Highlander, Book 1
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Genre: Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance, Time Travel Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: personal shelf
Published: March 9, 1999 by Dell

He would sell his warrior soul to possess her. . . .

An alluring laird...

He was known throughout the kingdom as Hawk, legendary predator of the battlefield and the boudoir. No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart—until a vengeful fairy tumbled Adrienne de Simone out of modern-day Seattle and into medieval Scotland. Captive in a century not her own, entirely too bold, too outspoken, she was an irresistible challenge to the sixteenth-century rogue. Coerced into a marriage with Hawk, Adrienne vowed to keep him at arm's length—but his sweet seduction played havoc with her resolve.

A prisoner in time...

She had a perfect "no" on her perfect lips for the notorious laird, but Hawk swore she would whisper his name with desire, begging for the passion he longed to ignite within her. Not even the barriers of time and space would keep him from winning her love. Despite her uncertainty about following the promptings of her own passionate heart, Adrienne's reservations were no match for Hawk's determination to keep her by his side. . .

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Reviewed By: Laura