Lady Celeste Reads Romance

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Cover Reveal---Shana Galen's A Duke A Dozen

Coming September 3, 2019!

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They call him the Doomed Duke.
Phineas Duncombe, ninth Duke of Mayne, should not be the duke. After all, he had four—count them—four older brothers! Phin never wanted the dukedom, and the suspicious circumstances of the eighth duke’s death lead Phin to question the Countess of Longstowe. The beautiful widow isn’t at all what Phin expected. He’s intrigued by her and determined to seduce her. The countess is not interested in Phin romantically, but when she comes to him with another request, he can’t deny it. A few days in the country with Lady Longstowe reveal two truths to the new duke. One, he cares for the countess much more than any other woman he’s ever known. Two, Phin either has very bad luck or someone is trying to kill him.
They call her the Wanton Widow.
Annabel was barely eighteen when she was married to the elderly Earl of Longstowe. A harsh, sadistic man, the earl’s death was not something Annabel mourned. Now in her mid-forties, Annabel enjoys her widowhood and has no desire to ever be under a man’s thumb again. Not even a handsome duke like Mayne, who is far too young for her anyway. Annabel’s one desire is to find the daughter who was taken away from her. For that she needs a man with power and status. She needs the Duke of Mayne. When the two are thrust together, Annabel struggles to fight her attraction to the charming Phin. She’s losing the battle. But can she ever trust another man, especially with the one part of herself she’s never given away—her heart?

Shana Galen is three-time Rita award nominee and the bestselling author of fast-paced, witty, and adventurous Regency romances. Kirkus says of her books, "The road to happily-ever-after is intense, conflicted, suspenseful and fun," and RT Bookreviews calls her books " lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet touching." She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston's inner city. Now she writes full time. She's happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making.

If you'd like exclusive content, book news, and a chance to win early copies of Shana's books, sign up for monthly emails: http://bit.ly/ShanaGalenNews You'll get a free short story just for signing up!

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Thursday, June 27, 2019

Susan's Review of Rogue Most Wanted by Janna MacGregor

There’s one creed all Cavensham men subscribe to: they fall in love completely and decidedly. But what happens when the woman you fall in love with swears she'll only marry you as a last resort? Rogue Most Wanted is the next book in the sparkling, romantic Cavensham Heiress series by Janna MacGregor.

SHE NEEDS TO MARRY SOMEONE

Lady Theodora Worth needs to marry fast in order to keep her estate. It’s been her heart and home for years, and she’ll not lose it to anyone. There’s just one problem—as a woman who was raised in isolation by her grandfather, she’s completely incapable of pouring a cup of tea, never mind wooing a man. She’ll need a little matchmaking help from her sprightly next-door neighbor in order to find a convenient husband…

IT’S JUST NOT GOING TO BE HIM

Lord William Cavensham’s heart was broken years ago, and since that day he vowed to never love again. But his spirited Great Aunt Stella is determined he’ll marry or not inherit a single penny from her. And she’s got just the woman in mind—her beautiful and completely hapless next-door neighbor, Thea…

Thea and Will agree there’s no sense in marrying each other. Will wholeheartedly believes he’s incapable of love, and Thea refuses to marry the first man she’s practically met. But Will may be the rogue Thea wants the most after all…

Lord William Cavensham receives a cryptic message from his great Aunt Stella asking him to come to her estate immediately. Will is a workaholic; he manages several ducal properties and oversees the family’s financial matters. He adores his Aunt Stella and drops everything to travel to Payne Manor. Imagine his surprise when he realizes that Stella and her friend Lady Edith Manton want him to marry a complete stranger?

Stella and Edith’s matchmaking scheme immediately drew me into Rogue Most Wanted. Loved that they were planning the wedding by special license and the couple had never met! Pairing the workaholic, once jilted Will with the independent, sweet Thea appealed to me. I couldn’t picture Will with a debutante or Thea marrying for convenience. Rogue Most Wanted is a fast paced friends to lovers novel filled with captivating characters, love and friendship.

Janna MacGregor has a gift for creating one of a kind characters and putting them in impossible situations. I love that each of her characters has a backstory- an event that has shaped their personality and thoughts. Thea has led a very sheltered life. She has spent the last seven years taking care of her grandfather. She’s overseen the estate and knows each tenant personally. She never made her debut in Society and is in dire need of an etiquette class or two or three! Thea needs to prove that she’s the Countess of Eanruig to the members of the House of Lords. She must overcome her fears, self-doubts and travel to London. Will decided to focus on work after he was jilted 10 years ago. His priories are his estate books and his family. I enjoyed reading how Will and Thea’s friendship evolved. Each character needed to step out of their comfort zone, learn to trust each other and fight for their love. This part of the storyline—the give and take between both characters- was perfectly paced and made the romance believable.

Loved, loved Lady Stella and Lady Edith—they added lots of fun and perspective to the storyline. I hope they return in another of Ms MacGregor’s novels! The author did a fabulous job integrating the Cavensham family into the storyline. Loved the Duke of Langham’s note to Thea about heart’s desires and orange cream; it was the perfect touch. The conclusion had several twists and turns and held my interest until the very last page. I liked the hidden charter thread throughout the novel as it added a bit of suspense to the story. I enjoyed visiting with the Cavensham clan and was thrilled that Aunt Stella captured Will’s persona perfectly in her engagement present to the couple!

I highly recommend Rogue Most Wanted! A pair of matchmaking aunts, well-meaning family members and fairy tale romance between two people who had given up on love—make this book the perfect summer read!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from the publisher and am voluntarily reviewing it.

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

One For The Money by Janet Evanovich - Audio Version

One For The Money

by Janet Evanovich

Audio version

☆☆☆☆☆

The Stephanie Plum books have been recommended

to me long ago. But I never got around to them.

Til now.

This is also my first Janet Evanovich read.

I enjoyed every minute of it.

Stephanie and her neighborhood make for

great story telling! So funny. And you can

just picture it all in your head.

It appears there are more than one

audio edition. The one I got from my local

library was narrated by Lori Petty.

She did a fantastic job! Lori was the

Stephanie Plum character, inside and out.

I loved it. And I will go on to the next one.

Review by Lisa Hutson

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