Blog Tour: A Match Made in Bed (Spinster Heiresses #2) by Cathy Maxwell (Review, Excerpt, Teaser, Tour Wide Giveaway)

Once upon a time there were three young ladies who, despite their fortunes, had been on the marriage mart a bit too long. They were known as “the Spinster Heiresses” . . .

Miss Cassandra Holwell is too tall, too bookish, and too smart—but she does have money and a father who wants a grand title for her. Cassandra hasn’t felt a desire to marry until she meets the sinfully handsome Duke of Camberly, who captures her imagination . . . until Soren York, Earl of Dewsberry and her family’s sworn enemy, steps in the way.

The Holwells ruined Soren’s family, and he’s lived on the knife’s edge trying to resurrect their fortunes . . . until he considers marrying the Holwell Heiress. Not only would her dowry give him the funds he needs, he has secretly had an eye on the independent-minded bluestocking since they both first realized the differences between men and women.

She likes to read; he has no patience for books. She knows little of sex; he is a man of the world and willing to school her. Her family destroyed his; his offer of marriage may be her only salvation.

Now Cassandra and Soren must learn to love each other for who they are, not what they are—and the lessons are becoming an exercise in absolute pleasure.

About the Book

A Match Made in Bed
by Cathy Maxwell
Series
The Spinster Heiresses Series
Genre
Adult Historical Romance
Publisher
Avon Books
Publication Date
April 17, 2018
Get Your Copy Today!Amazon | Avon Romance | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iBooks
 

Tour Wide Giveaway

To celebrate the release of A MATCH MADE IN BED by Cathy Maxwell, we’re giving away for two paperback copies of IF EVER I SHOULD LOVE YOU!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open to US shipping addresses only. Two winners will each receive a paperback copy of If Ever I Should Love You by Cathy Maxwell. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Avon Romance.  Giveaway ends 4/27/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Avon Romance will send the winning copies out to the winner directly. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address.  Duplicates will be deleted.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 

My Review

I really loved the first half of the this book but then, a little over halfway through, Soren and Cass both suddenly started irritating the heck out of me. All of a sudden he was being an inconsiderate, insensitive jerk, and she was being a spoiled, entitled, whiny brat. What. On. Earth. It was so bad I put the book down several times to read something else, then would pick it back up again and read a bit more before putting it down again, annoyed. Thankfully, I kept picking it back up because the last 30% of the book was even better than the first half. It's like they both clicked back from being annoying buttholes to characters I sympathized with and was rooting for. (Someone else who's read this, tell me if this little blip was just me and something to do with my mood, or if the book actually took a turn for the worse for a few chapters.)

The first half of this book is so fun to read as Cassandra and Soren spar. They're both such strong, independent characters, and I do love a witty nerd-girl. Some of the hijinks they get up to at the Duke of Camberly's house party are downright hilarious and had my laughing out loud. The mood shifts dramatically in the last third of the book, settling down and becoming very loving and homey. I love the developing relationships between Soren, Cass, and Logan, as well as Cass's ability to realize some hard truths about herself and find a new dream. Logan is adorable and I hope somewhere down the road Cathy Maxwell does a spin-off series with him as a male lead.

This is the second book in the Spinster Heiresses series, but can be read as a stand alone. I'm actually stalled out halfway through the first book, If Ever I Should Love You, and can assure you that A Match Made in Bed can be read with no spoilers for the first book, and without any pieces missing from the story of the second book. It does end with some hints and leads into the third book, which is about the third woman in their little spinster trio, Willa, titled The Duke That I Marry.   
      

Excerpt

He’s here. I know he is,” Cassandra whispered in the ear of her friend Willa, lest she be overheard by either Lady Bainhurst sitting on the settee with them or the very handsome, highly desirable Duke of Camberly. He stood by Lady Bainhurst but Cassandra felt he gave her and Willa most of his attention.

“Who? Dewsberry?” Willa managed around the smile spread across her face for the duke’s benefit. She was far more interested in him than Cassandra’s sudden premonition that Soren York was close at hand.

Willa was as petite as Cassandra was tall and perfectly formed in every way. Her hair was raven black, and the two were dear friends—well, except when it came to their competition to earn the attention of the Duke of Camberly.

They’d even made a flirting game of it, attaching points for different actions of courtship—a point for an introduction, three points for each dance, five points if he called upon them. When a woman had been on the Marriage Mart as long as they had, she needed a bit of competition to sharpen her skills . . . not that either of them required the edge of a game when it came to Camberly.

He was young and amazingly handsome. He had broad shoulders, a lean jaw, and dark hair that emphasized the jewel blue of his eyes. What woman wouldn’t want to become his duchess?

Cassandra was actually ahead in the game by one point. She’d been wondering how many points being invited to this weekend would earn her when Willa had made her appearance in the reception room. They had not known the other was coming.

And now here was Camberly, ignoring his other guests and spending his time focusing on both of them.

Everyone knew he needed to marry money. She and Willa were the only two marriageable women invited to the dowager’s house party as far as Cassandra could see. Did this mean the duke intended to decide between the two of them? Perhaps even this very week?

The thought made her giddy. She wanted Camberly. He was “the one.” The very embodiment of all her romantic dreams. No other could match him. And she was not going to let Soren York ruin this country party and her one chance for marital happiness with his presence.

Willa proved what a good friend she was by momentarily turning her attention from hanging on to the duke’s every word to murmur, “I don’t see Dewsberry.”

“He’s here,” Cassandra insisted. She sat up straighter so that she could unobtrusively gain a better look around the room.

There had been someone lurking in the hall leading to the dining room. That was when she’d first experienced the suspicion that things weren’t completely right. However, she’d been so distracted with Willa’s presence and what it meant to her chances with the duke, she’d not been interested in concentrating on her inner sense.

Then again, the duke had come from that direction, making an appearance that had surprised everyone in the room by his lack of  fanfare. Still . . . Soren was here.

The tingling of the hairs at the nape of her neck had never failed her, especially since she’d been exercising it more than she wished for the past month. Soren seemed to be everywhere she went in spite of her best efforts to avoid him because she knew what he wanted—marriage.

Dewsberry might be an old and respected title but the earldom was done up. Ruined by generations of poor decisions and unwise gambling. Soren was hunting her because of the money she would inherit upon marriage and because her father’s lands abutted his. He was that obvious. However, she thought herself safe here. Why would Camberly, who also needed a rich wife, invite a competitor?

Unless the duke thought to hand off whichever heiress he didn’t want to Dewsberry?

The walls in the room seemed to close in around her.

She would not marry Dewsberry. She couldn’t. Her father would never  allow  it.  The Yorks were his enemies. They looked down on the Holwells, and neither she nor her father would subject themselves to their high-handed treatment.

But also, Soren had betrayed her. She could recall perfectly the pain of what he’d done to her. It had been close to eleven years ago, and the hurt, the disappointment was still surprisingly raw.
 

About Cathy Maxwell

CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question, “Why do people fall in love?” It remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness. Fans can contact Cathy at www.cathymaxwell.com; Twitter: @maxwellcathy

Author Links

    

This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.

Blog Tour: Counting on a Countess by Eva Leigh (Review, Teaser, Tour Wide Giveaway)

For a shameless libertine and a wily smuggler in the London Underground, marriage is more than convenience—it’s strategy . . .

Christopher “Kit” Ellingsworth, war veteran and newly minted Earl of Blakemere, buries his demons under every sort of pleasure and vice. His scandalous ways have all but emptied his coffers . . . until a wealthy mentor leaves him a sizeable fortune. The only stipulation? He must marry within one monthto inherit the money. Kit needs a bride and the bold, mysterious Miss Tamsyn Pearce seems perfect.

Husband hunting isn’t Tamsyn’s top priority—she’s in London to sell her new shipment of illicit goods—but she’s desperate for funds to keep her smuggling operation afloat. When a handsome earl offers to wed her and send her back to Cornwall with a hefty allowance, Tamsyn agrees. After all, her secrets could land her in prison and an attentive, love-struck spouse could destroy everything.

But when an unexpected proviso in the will grants Tamsyn control of the inheritance, their arrangement becomes anything but convenient. Now, Kit’s counting on his countess to make his wildest dreams a reality and he plans to convince her, one pleasurable seduction at a time.

About the Book

Counting on a Countess
by Eva Leigh
Series
The London Underground #2
Genre
Adult
Historical Romance
Publisher
Avon Books
Publication Date
March 27, 2018
Amazon  |  Avon Romance  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Google Play  |  iBooks

My Review

The main plotline is supposed to be on the marriage of convenience between Tamsyn, a lady smuggler from Cornwall, and her rakehell but law-abiding war veteran husband Kit. Probably an equal amount of time and effort is dedicated to their relationship as it relates to his status as a very experienced rake and hers as a virgin. As a reader of Regency romances, most books of this genre I read involve a virgin leading lady and so I never both with the "virgin heroine" tag in my reviews. Her virgin status was made such a big deal out of in this book that I almost feel like I need to tag it as a "virgin heroine" romance because of it. It's definitely a large focus for at least a third of the book, I assume partially to introduce the reader to the Orchid Club, which one presumes will feature heavily in the third book in this series. I also appreciated the heavy focus on consent in this book, which is something you don't see much in historical romance (but does seem to be becoming more prevalent in the genre).

I do love a romance where the leads are married for the sake of convenience, and fall madly in love despite fighting it tooth and nail. Kit and Tamsyn both have ulterior motives for entering into their whirlwind marriage, so when they begin to develop genuine affection for each other those ulterior motives (which they were both so forthright about having even though they didn't really reveal precisely what said motives really were) of course come back to haunt them. And bit them in their rear ends. HA! Tamsyn is bold and fiery, and I love her country spirit, and that Kit doesn't try to change that about her. Kit is a bit of an enigma to me, being a war veteran who cares very much about the law, which would make you think he'd be a straight-laced stick in the mud but you would be wrong, because he's the veriest rakehell trying to drown out his demons by chasing pleasure. Both leading characters have their flaws and foibles, which just makes them that much more genuine and lovable (both to each other and to the reader). I really loved their witty banter, and look forward to hopefully seeing more of them in the next book in this series.

This is the second book in The London Underground series, but it can (as in most Regency romance series) be read as a stand alone. There is interaction with the couple from the first book, From Duke Till Dawn but no real spoilers for the first book. The author does sort of assume a familiarity with these side characters, who are Kit's friends, so I felt like I should know more about them than I did and was a bit lost as to some of their conversation. That being said, while this can be read as a stand alone, if you want the full experience it may be better to read From Duke Till Dawn first.

Tour Wide Giveaway

To celebrate the release of COUNTING ON A COUNTESS, we’re giving away three paperback copies of FROM DUKE TILL DAWN by Eva Leigh!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open to US shipping addresses only. Three winners will each receive a paperback copy of From Duke Till Dawn by Eva Leigh.  This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Avon Romance.  Giveaway ends 4/6/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Avon Romance will send the winning copies out to the winner directly. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address.  Duplicates will be deleted.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

About Eva Leigh

EVA LEIGH is the pen name of a RITA® Award-nominated romance author who writes novels chock-full of smart women and sexy men. She enjoys baking, Tweeting about boots, and listening to music from the ‘80s. Eva and her husband live in Central California.

Author Links

    

This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.

Book Review: The Laird Takes a Bride (Penhallow Dynasty #2) by Lisa Berne

The Laird Takes a Bride

Series: Penhallow Dynasty, book 2

Author: Lisa Berne

Publisher: Avon

Publication date: August 29th 2017

Mass Market Paperback, 350 pages

Rating: 5 Stars

★★★★★

Links
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

Summary: Alasdair Penhallow, laird of his clan and master of Castle Tadgh, is forced to end his carefree bachelorhood, thanks to an ancient decree that requires him to marry. But Alasdair’s search for a biddable wife comes to a screeching halt when Fate serves up Fiona Douglass. Prickly as a thistle, Fiona challenges him at every turn, rendering herself surprisingly irresistible. Her love would be a prize indeed . . . if Alasdair could accept it.

Fiona gave her heart once, and doesn’t plan to repeat that folly. Yet she finds herself drawn to Alasdair’s intelligence and strength, and the passion he incites goes well beyond her expectations for what’s only a marriage of expedience. Despite herself, she’s falling in love with her husband.

But there’s a high wall between them—and Fiona’s not sure it can ever be torn down.
(from Goodreads)

Review:
I really appreciated a heroine who is very thin. I feel like there are more and more plus-sized heroines, which as a plus-sized gal myself I really love and appreciate. I don't see many books featuring a heroine at the opposite end of the spectrum, so I loved that Fiona is almost painfully thin despite having a very healthy appetite. As someone who struggled with depression, I also really connected with Fiona and her own struggles with what I interpreted as depression and possibly OCD. What a fantastically multi-layered and non-traditional heroine!!

The house party/competition aspect of the plot was great, and reminded me a bit of Lenora Bell's How the Duke Was Won. Again I found myself loving Fiona, with her vast practical knowledge and rather dry wit. The other "competitors" were more caricatures than real characters, but that sure made for fun reading! I love that Fiona and Alisdair don't have the insta-love or even insta-lust that you see in so many romance novels, but instead have a slow warming toward each other, with several set-backs due to understandings and insecurities. The last quarter or third of this book had tears just streaming down my cheeks and my heart aching in my chest, which I love in a romance novel (as long as there's a HEA at the end!). I love the vulnerabilities of both main characters, their journies and their growth. And then there is this:

"But fear, I know, isn't always a rational thing." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "If you wish, I'll teach you. If you trip, I'll catch you. And if you prefer not to, I won't persist."

Well swoon, Alisdair.

This is the second book in The Penhallow Dynasty series, but it can be read as a stand alone. The first book is about a distant cousin of Alisdair's and has only a very brief passing mention in this book. There are no spoilers for the first book, You May Kiss the Bride, in this book, so you're also totally safe to go back and read book 1 spoiler-free.



Book Review: The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke #1) by Tessa Dare

Rating: 5 Stars

 

Published August 22nd 2017 by Avon
Summary: When girl meets Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules…

Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury’s to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne’er-do-wells by night. Now there’s a new item on the list. He needs an heir—which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter turned seamstress, appears in his library wearing a wedding gown, he decides on the spot that she’ll do.

His terms are simple:
- They will be husband and wife by night only.
- No lights, no kissing.
- No questions about his battle scars.
- Last, and most importantly… Once she’s pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again.

But Emma is no pushover. She has a few rules of her own:
- They will have dinner together every evening.
- With conversation.
- And unlimited teasing.
- Last, and most importantly… Once she’s seen the man beneath the scars, he can’t stop her from falling in love...
(from Goodreads)

Review: Today I have a *special treat* for y'all - Ariel is joining me for a guest review of the first book in Tessa Dare's new Girl Meets Duke series, The Duchess Deal. This is my first ever joint review, so we'll see how that goes, haha. I'll try to be a tad more organized than I normally am in my reviews.

For starters, let’s talk world building, tone, style, and all that jazz.

Elley: The setting is Mayfair in London during the Regency period. I love the backstories for both Emma and Ash, and Tessa Dare always right such delightful, witty, fun romances. Once I got going with this book I had a really hard time putting it down.
Ariel: Tessa Dare did a great job in this one of creating a wonderful atmosphere, both in Ash’s residence, and the way she held to the distinction of different class systems without making any of the characters snobbish or jerks about anything. I always do appreciate a sassy butler too, which Ash certainly had. Someone give that butler his own book! Make him a recurring character

OK, now for the good stuff: let's talk main characters and their love story!

Elley: I love me a damaged man with a heart of gold. While other girls were dreaming of Prince Charming and pretending to be Cinderella, I was watching The Hunchback of Notre Dame and swooning over Quasimodo. I also preferred the Beast over his transformation into Prince Adam. So obviously I fell immediately head over heels for Ash.
Ariel: When I initially read the description, I was concerned that Ash would be kind of a brooding alpha-hole, or that he would be so bogged down in his personal woes that he wouldn’t have any other personality. But it turns out I LOVED his personality! He maintained a great rapport with Emma, had the right amount of brood without getting over the top. I appreciated Emma’s spunk, and her ability to stand up for herself.
Elley: Oh my gosh, I loved Emma! I like that she’s so sexually free in a time when women were supposed to just lie there and let their husband do his thing. Yeah, baby! And yeah, she’s definitely got gumption. Can you imagine striding into the residence of a duke wearing a dress that looks like a unicorn vomited on it and demanding to be paid? You go girl.
Ariel: I feel like in Regency romance there is a fine line between delicate flower and wanton lady, and Emma manages to walk that line very nicely.

What about those side characters?

Elley: OK, I *loved* Ash's little sidekick, what did he call himself again?
Ariel: I don’t remember but he definitely should get his own book. Or at least keep showing up and being adorable. I couldn’t totally place his age. Is he old enough to end up with one of the friends? I am 100% here for that.
Elley: I felt like he was more like 11 or 12 or something. But he definitely needs to come back around in future books! I also really liked Ash's servants. I feel like you can tell a lot about a person from how they treat "the help." Today that might look like how they treat their waiter or speak to a cashier, and if someone talks to people in the service industry like they're trash they're most likely not a keeper. I think the way Ash's servants interact with him (especially his butler!!) says a lot about his hidden heart of gold.
Ariel: The only thing that bugged me was the “the servants are conspiring to hook us up” plotline, and the weird maid whose only function was to act like an awkward matchmaker. That seemed a bit forced. But I absolutely loved the butler, and how he was Captain Sass all the time at Ash. I would love to hear more about him.
Elley: It’s cute how much they care about their master and want him to be happy and fall in love! OK, yeah, a lot of the matchmaking plotline was weird and out of place. But that BUTLER! I also really loved Emma’s circle of strange friends, and I imagine the rest of the books in the series will be about them. Talk about some quirky leading ladies!!
Ariel: I am 100% here for every single quirky book about this friend group, and I hope our favorite masked bandit makes an appearance in all of them.

Overall rating/thoughts?

Elley: I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down once I got started reading it. I give it 5 stars, and can’t wait to read the next books in the series!
Ariel: I gave it 5 stars for the same reason. It didn’t get bogged down in gloom, the characters were wonderful, and as always, Tessa Dare’s writing was top notch. More books now please!

Book Review: Roomies by Christina Lauren

Book Review: Roomies by Christina Lauren

Rating: 4 Stars

 

 

Expected publication: December 5th 2017 by Gallery Books
Summary: Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient.

Rescued by Calvin McLoughlin from a would-be subway attacker, Holland Bakker pays the brilliant musician back by pulling some of her errand-girl strings and getting him an audition with a big-time musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until he admits his student visa has expired and he’s in the country illegally.

Holland impulsively offers to wed the Irishman to keep him in New York, her growing infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves from awkward roommates to besotted lovers, Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway. In the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting, what will it take for Holland and Calvin to realise that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?
(from Goodreads)

Review: This book had a few rough spots, but overall I really liked it. The book is written in the first person present tense from Holland's point of view, which works. Usually I like my romances to give the point of view of both leads, but due to the nature of Holland and Calvin's relationship the single viewpoint works and is the best way to tell the story. I could probably have done without some of Lulu's more crass stories, but I suppose Holland and Calvin felt the same so maybe it's good they were in there.

Holland is a total spaz (and thus I identify with her on some level). I also get what it's like to struggle to find your own identity and feel special when you're surrounded by highly talented, exceptional people. I love her passion for music (and for Calvin), her love of her uncles, and the fact that she was so driven to complete her MFA in creative writing (and I did have to go Google what an MFA is - Master in Fine Arts, for the uninitiated) and then struggled to find her passion/muse/whatever you want to call it once she was out of school and suddenly faced with turning her passion into a career. Holland's relationship with her uncles is also great (love love love Robert and Jeff!) and I appreciated her interactions with her brother Davis as well (who reminds me a little of my own bearded bro).

I love Calvin. He's a hot musician so what's not to love? (haha!) All joking aside, Calvin has a sensitive heart (which he needs to be such a great musician), a sexy Irish accent (which I can hear in my head) and a wonderfully silly way he phrases things sometimes. He does his fair share of stupid boy things, and sometimes does better than other at understanding why Holland is upset about things.

Throughout the book Holland is forced to examine her life, her relationship with (and dependency upon) her uncles, and her relationship with herself. The book is a love story between Holland and Calvin, but it's also a story about Holland discovering who she is and learning to love herself. That element of self-discovery is what makes this an excellent New Adult (NA) novel, and the hunka-hunka-burnin'-love makes it a great contemporary romance.

*I received a free copy of this book from BookishFirst and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.