Book Review - Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn is the story of Thomas Cavendish, the Duke of Wyndham and Lady Amelia Willoughby. Thomas and Amelia have been engaged for nearly all of their lives. As children their eventual marriage was arranged by their parents and neither had a say in the matter.
Amelia is growing weary - and irritated, truth be told - with the Duke’s seeming refusal to set a date for their wedding. Sure, he knows exactly who she is and that they are to be wed but he treats Amelia as a duty and nothing more. He certainly doesn’t act as if he truly means to get to know her and this is quite unacceptable to Amelia. She decided that she is done responding with gentility to the pitifully small amount of attention he pays her - in the name of duty only, of course.
Thomas, although tired of his constant duty and lack of privacy as the Duke of Wyndham, is quite irritated when he is shunned at the local dance hall - by his fiancée, of all people. Intent on giving Lady Amelia a piece of his mind and a lesson on her duties as the future Duchess, he finally sees her for the woman she has become and his interest is captured.
Naturally, their courtship is far from smooth. Just as Thomas realizes he is quite attracted to his future wife, and as Amelia decides not to appear so docile; they learn that they may not be allowed to wed at all. It is brought to light that Thomas may not be the true heir of Wyndham. Now that Amelia and Thomas are discovering - and even accepting - their feelings for one another - will they hold firm in the face of scandal and perhaps a loss of every thing they had thought was rightfully theirs?

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is Julia Quinn’s follow up novel to The Lost Duke of Wyndham. It is immediately apparent that Ms. Quinn is following the same time line in this story as she did the previous. While at first I thought I would like that - I didn’t. It grew a bit annoying reading scene after scene that I’d already read in the first book. And while Amelia and Thomas’ relationship does develop in this book - I felt Amelia deserved better. It seemed to me that Thomas only wanted once he thought he was ‘entitled’ to her. As much as I love and adore Julia Quinn’s writing (and am in fact about to read her latest novel) this was not one of my favorites.

Book Review - The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn

Jack Audley is the very charming lead male character of Julia Quinn's The Lost Duke of Wyndham.  The man who was once a soldier for Britain is now a highwayman.  And in the tradition of Robin Hood - he is robbing from the outrageously snooty rich and giving to those less fortunate.  One night, as he endeavors to rob the coach of yet another aristocratic family - his life changes in ways he had never anticipated.  It turns out, he's the heir to one of the very wealthy families he normally disdains.  Oh, and he may very well be losing his heart to the companion of the nasty-tempered Dowager Duchess of Wyndham.

Grace Eversleigh is the companion of the Dowager - a trying job on the best of days.  The job takes a toll on Grace's spirit on the worst of days.  And one of those worst moments actually turns out to be one of the best of her life.  She is surprised by the attraction she feels for the highwayman robbing them and even more surprised when he kisses her.  Then she is struck speechless to learn that the Dowager is convinced - on sight - that this charming rogue is the never-known son of her long-dead son.

Julia Quinn outdid herself with this book.  It is full of her trademark humor and tender feelings of developing love.  Jack is not keen on becoming the Duke but he is quite keen on Grace.  While Grace finds herself falling in love with Jack - she is very sad by this development.  because she knows that if he is indeed to be the Duke - there is no hope of a future for them.  There is quite a bit below the surface of these characters and all is revealed in a really heartening and appropriate manner.  I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to those who haven't yet read it.

Book Review - The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne by Madeline Hunter

A year ago, I had not read a book by Madeline Hunter.  Now, I love her and have realized that she will be an automatic read for me when she has a new book.  This was the case with her new book, The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne.  At the end of February I found myself wondering if Ms. Hunter had a new book coming out and went to look at her website.  I was delighted to discover that there was a new book and it came out on March 6th.

Emma Fairbourne is the daughter of an auction house owner, Maurice Fairbourne, who has recently passed away.  With her father dead and her brother presumed dead - something Emma refuses to accept - she is left to run the family business.  Of course, she lives in a world where a woman running a business would be quite frowned upon.  So she devises a plan with one trusted friend and an equally trusted, but reluctant, colleague to run the auction house herself.  Naturally her plan is almost immediately put the test.

The test appears in the form of Darius, the Earl of Southwaite.  Emma learns that he and her father were in actuality, business partners.  With her father's untimely death, the Earl of Southwaite wishes to sell the auction house.  This is completely unwelcome news to Emma and she does her best to outwit Darius and his unwanted plan.

At first Emma and Darius barely tolerate one another.  Before long though, there are sparks of attraction flying between them.  Now they are faced with not only what to do about the auction house but what to do about one another.  This is a wonderful book and I adore Emma and Darius as a couple.  There are also secondary characters in the book who I assume will be featured in the coming installments of The Fairbourne Quartet.  I believe most who enjoy a historical romance will enjoy The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne.

Book Review - My Wicked Little Lies by Victoria Alexander

My Wicked Little Lies is the second book in Victoria Alexander's Sinful Family Secret's series.  Evelyn Hadley-Attwater appears to 'have it all'; the loving husband, wealth, ball gowns and ever-so-elegant parties.  This wasn't always the case, though.  Eve was once a spy for the crown of England and she wants desperately to keep that secret from her husband.

Adrian Hadley-Attwater has secrets of his own that he is doing his best to keep from his wife.  The main one being that he was also a spy; and in fact, he was Eve's anonymous boss during their spy days.

This is a very funny book filled with adventure, a bit of spying and a fair amount of misunderstanding between the married couple.  As Eve and Adrian find the clues to answer the mystery surrounding them - they realize just how much they mean to one another.  They also come to understand that full disclosure is probably a necessity for their marriage to continue in a trust-worthy fashion.

I quite enjoyed Ms. Alexander's novel and liked that the couple was married.  My only complaint, and it's a small one, is that all of Victoria Alexander's characters (in this book and previous ones that I've read) 'choose their words with care'.  It's a phrase that she over uses to the point of being farcical; fortunately, it doesn't detract from her story telling.

Book Review - An Affair Without End by Candace Camp

An Affair Without End by Candace Camp is the first book I've read this year for the 2012 Historical Romance Challenge.  While I can say that I did like this book - it's not a stand-out book for me.  In fact, when I sat down to write this review - my mind went blank and I had to look up the synopsis on Good Reads.

Lady Vivian Carlyle has known Oliver, the Earl of Stewkesbury for nearly all of her life.  While they have a certain reputation for bickering endlessly with one another - they do also seem to like one another's company.  While in London for the Season and the coming-out of his newly discovered relatives - Vivian and Oliver are thrown into each other's company more than normal and they find that they are quite attracted to one another.

There are a series of jewel thefts occurring in London and Vivian takes it upon herself to start asking questions of her jeweler - much to Oliver's annoyance.  Feeling that he must 'protect' Vivian, he ensues to help her learn more about the thefts.

There were elements to this book that I liked but I also felt that the story had been told before.  Vivian and Oliver were likeable but mildly annoying at the same time.  I can't even remember how many times through the book one of them would mention or think about how unsuitable to marriage they were for one another.  While Ms. Camp tied up the mystery nicely and Vivian and Oliver received their happy ending - I was just relieved to be done with the book.

2012 Historical Romance Challenge

I had so much fun participating in Danielle's (Romance Book Junkies) 2011 Historical Romance Challenge that I am going to do it again for 2012.  It's fun, it's easy and it's a genre I read anyway.  So, the details are the same, read at least one historical romance per month, review it here and link up to the Romance Book Junkies blog.  Like I said, easy and fun - all the way around.

Thanks for doing the challenge again, Danielle.  I am really looking forward to it.  The new button will be in my side bar once 2012 begins.