His Wicked Seduction by Lauren Smith

I just discovered Lauren Smith a few months ago and have already read a bunch of her books. His Wicked Seduction is my favorite so far. It's the second installment in her League of Rogues series.

The League is a group of friends who met in school. They consider themselves a bit wild and reckless, but they are now growing and maturing. Each will be swept away by love, much to their dismay.

In this story Lucien has feelings for his best friend's sister Horatia and has been avoiding her for years because of it. 

Horatia has been in love with Lucien since she was a young girl, but now she intends to get her man by any means necessary. 

Stopping them is a League rule about "no sisters", as well as Lucien's own negative feelings about himself. He thinks he is sexually perverted just because he enjoys a bit of bondage. 

One of my favorite romantic storylines is the brother's best friend. This did not disappoint. Lauren Smith writes with so much humor and affection for all her characters. I look forward to watching the other "rogues" fall in love.

Dark Angel & Lord Carew's Bride by Mary Balogh

I have started a mission to read something by every author on the Historical Romance Retreat guest list. There are many I had never read before!

The second author on the list is Mary Balogh and I picked up a compilation of Dark Angel and Lord Carew's Bride.

Dark Angel is the story of Jennifer, a young woman who has been waiting five years to marry Lionel, a handsome man who turns out to be an ugly villain. In the meantime our hero Gabriel is setting out to destroy said villain for impregnating and deserting his stepmother. Gossips think Gabriel was the villain in that melodrama. He attempts to break up the betrothal and humiliate Lionel, but the tables are turned when Gabriel finds himself the one now betrothed to Jennifer.

Lord Carew's Bride follows Jennifer's cousin Samantha, who had secretly been in love with Lionel the villain. He had been merely toying with a young girl's affections. It's five years later and she has vowed never to love because it only brings heartache. When she meets the landscape gardener at her cousin's neighboring estate, she strikes up a friendship, unaware that he is actually the owner. Hartley Wade, Lord Carew falls instantly in love with Samantha, but hides his identity, wanting to know if her feelings are for him, rather than his title. Due to his physical disabilities, he dubs himself the beast to her beauty. I adore beauty and the beast themed stories.

Both of these books came out in 1995.

Three Weeks with Lady X by Eloisa James

Here is my first book review (since I have nothing of my own to share... YET). This book came out in 2014, just in case you think it's something new.

FYI, I will only post about books I like and want to recommend.

Three Weeks with Lady X is a continuation of the Desperate Duchesses series. This is book 7. The main character, Tobias Dautry (aka Thorn), is the illegitimate son of The Duke of Villiers (my favorite character from the entire series!). In order to make himself appear more respectable towards his intended bride's family, he hires Lady Xenobia India St. Clair to renovate his country estate.

Lady X, or India to her friends, is an independent career woman who has decided to quit and find a husband. This is to be her final project, but she has her hands full trying to turn a rundown estate into a palace fit for a princess. She works hard to make Thorn the perfect husband for another woman, while he intends to set her up with his best friend. Both realize the error of their ways, when it becomes obvious they are perfect for each other.