Review: A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn MacNamara

Title:  A Most Scandalous Proposal
Author:  Ashlyn MacNamara
Genre:  Historical Romance
Pages:  352
Published:  February 2013
Publisher:  Ballantine
Source:  NetGalley

Synopsis:

In Ashlyn Macnamara’s stunning romance debut—perfect for fans of Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Sabrina Jeffries—two childhood friends in Regency England discover love with the most unlikely of partners: each other.

After watching her beloved sister Sophia pine over the ton’s Golden Boy for years, Miss Julia St. Claire has foresworn love and put herself firmly on the shelf. Unfortunately, her social-climbing mother and debt-ridden father have other ideas, and jump at the chance to marry Julia off to the newly-named Earl of Clivesden…the man of Sophia’s dreams.

Since resigning his Cavalry commission, Benedict Revelstoke has spent his time in London avoiding the marriage mart. But when he discovers that the Earl of Clivesden has set Julia in his sights, Benedict tries to protect his childhood best friend from the man’s advances—only to discover more than friendship driving his desire to defend her. He surprises them both with the force of his feelings, but when she refuses him and her father announces her betrothal, he fears he’s lost her forever—until Julia approaches him with a shocking scheme that will ruin her for all respectable society…

…and lead them into an exquisite world of forbidden pleasures.

Recently returned to town Benedict discovers that his childhood friend Julia is about to be engrossed in a scandal.  He finds out that Clivesden has placed a bet at White’s (the infamous betting book!) that he’ll marry Julia before the season is over.  Can he stop it and save Julia?

Finances aren’t the greatest for the St. Claire family and with a social climbing mother, only marriage to a peer is the answer to that problem.  With several proposals between Julia and Sophia all turned down, their mother is frantic and wants to married off – whether they are happy about it or not.

When a compromising situation has Sophia forced into an engagement and Julia is being pursued by the man her sister has been in love with for years.  Tensions at home begin to rise as Julia and Sophia are far from happy with the situation. 

I felt for the two sisters!  Neither wants to be forced into marriage without love, and neither is with who they wish.  Their Mother is pushing them to marry and isn’t fussy on who as long as they are titled and can financially help the family. 

Would I recommend this book?  It was a fun read.  We has the stories of both sisters intertwined together in one book, which I really liked.  The sisters are great characters, I adored them!  Would I read more by this author?  Most definitely!  I already have the next title coming up on my TBR list.  A great debut by Ashlyn!

Book Tour: Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

Tessa Dare a part-time librarian, full-time mommy, and swing-shift writer. She makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a dog.

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Any Duchess Will Do
Tessa Dare

On Sale Date: May 28, 2013

ISBN: 9780062240125
ISBN: 0062240129

Genre: Fiction / Romance
Publisher: Avon
384 pages

Amazon ~ Amazon Paperback

Today Pauline is just a serving girl in Spindle Cove but tomorrow... she'll be a Duchess?! It's a Spindle Cove Pygmalion story as only New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Dare can tell it.

What's a duke to do, when the girl who's perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can't live without?

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season-or any season-but his diabolical mother abducts him to "Spinster Cove" and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother's "duchess training"… and fail miserably.

But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure-a woman who ignites Griff's desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won't be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess-can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?

Excerpt:

Another girl’s prince has arrived.

That was Pauline’s first thought, when she stumbled in and spied the finely dressed man silhouetted in the door.

She watched it happen every few months in this village. These young ladies sought refuge in Spindle Cove for the oddest of reasons. Their harp-playing lacked grace, perhaps, or the color of their eyes was unfashionable at Court this season. And then—to the utter astonishment of everyone excerpt Pauline—some handsome earl or viscount or officer came along and married them.

None of them spared so much as a glance for the serving girl.

So which lady was this one after? Whoever she was, she’d be set for life. Everything about the man’s appearance—from ivory buttons to fitted leather gloves—blared his wealth in trumpet notes. And if his garments screamed “riches,” everything beneath them spoke of power. It would be easy for a gentleman to go soft and paunchy, but he hadn’t. The close cut of his dark green topcoat revealed broad shoulders and defined muscles in his upper arms.

His face was strong, too. Boldly sloped nose, squared jaw, and a wide, confident mouth. There was nothing pretty about his features, but when taken together, they had an undeniable masculine appeal.

In short, he was no trial to look at. But even if he weren’t—Pauline couldn’t take her eyes off the man.

Because he wasn’t taking his eyes off her.

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Book Promo: Fish Out of Water by Ros Baxter & Giveaway

Ros writes fresh, funny, genre-busting fiction. She digs feisty heroines, good friends, quirky families, heroes to make you sigh and tingle, and a dash of fantasy from time to time.

Ros Baxter has been writing since she was eight and penned a whimsical series of short stories about a race of tiny people who lived on a rainbow. Since starting writing again in earnest three years ago, Ros has published Sister Pact (a romantic comedy co-written with her sister Ali, published by Harper Collins Australia) and Fish Out of Water (Escape Publishing), been a contributing author to the e-anthology URL Love, and self-published a short story collection The Seven Deadly Sins and a professional writing book: Clarity.

Ros lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband Blair, four small but very opinionated children, a neurotic dog and nine billion germs.

CONTACT LINKS:

• Website: http://www.rosbaxterink.com
• Twitter: @ RosBaxter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosBaxterInk

Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum meets Splash in a sexy, smart-talking debut about a mermaid in a desert, a city under water, and the secret that no one is supposed to uncover.

Dirtwater's straight-talking Deputy Sheriff Rania Aqualina has a lot on her plate: a nicotine addiction that's a serious liability for a mermaid, a soldier-of-fortune ex who's hooked on her Mum's brownies, a gorgeous, naked stranger in her shower, and a mysterious dead blonde with a fish tattoo on Main Street.

Heading home to Aegira for a family wedding, Rania has a sinking feeling that's got nothing to do with hydroporting seven miles under the sea and everything to do with the crazy situation. Now, if she can just steal a corpse, get a crazy Aegiran priest off her case, work out who the hell's trying to kill her, and stop sleeping with the fishes, she might be able to unravel the mysteries. And maybe even save her own ass while she's at it.

Fish out of Water is Stephanie Plum meets Splash, and the first book in a trilogy about Aegira, an underwater kingdom based on the historical Norse legend of Aegir.

Buy Link:  Amazon

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A Day in the Life of… Cathy Maxwell

Welcome to Stitch Read Cook's weekly feature!!

A Day in the Life of.....

This is where us bloggers & fans get a glimpse inside the days of our favorite authors!

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Bestselling novelist Cathy Maxwell, a storyteller since childhood, embraces her writing romance as a way to express her belief that "loving well is the greatest adventure of all," and to explore her fascination with the Regency period.

Born in Olathe, Kansas, Cathy's family roots go back to the Mayflower and the Revolutionary War. She has long called Virginia home, noting she is "a Virginian by choice, but a Kansan by nature." She worked in television news and spent six years in the Navy. She attended Air Force intelligence school, worked in the Pentagon and did a tour with Naval Intelligence.

Cathy began her writing career in 1991. Now, twenty years later, she is the author of sixteen national bestsellers and her novels appear regularly on The New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Her books include In the Highlander's Bed, Bedding the Heiress, In the Bed of a Duke, The Price of Indiscretion, Temptation of a Proper Governess, and The Seduction of an English Lady. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Washington Romance Writers, Virginia Romance Writers, and Novelists Inc., and she is a frequent speaker at writers' conferences, libraries and special events.

She lives in rural Powhatan County with her rescued dogs Rico and Maya and with her son during college breaks, and is just a few miles from her horses, Duncan and Dinero.

A Day in the Life of a Traveling Romance Writer

By Cathy Maxwell

Is a book tour glamorous? Judge for yourself. I’ve been traveling promoting THE DEVIL’S HEART in Texas, Virginia, and KY. Here is the final day of the tour --

3:30 a.m. Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.

3:35 a.m. Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.

3:37 a.m. Dog jumps on my back. I get up—and realize everything I have to do this morning. Why was I lazing in bed?

3: 37 – 4:30 Run around in circles being mildly productive. Finish packing overnight bag, feed dog, leave instructions for neighbor boy about pets, try to put on makeup to look as if I wouldn’t rather be back in bed.

4: 30 a.m. Car picks me up to take me to the airport. (This is one of the perks over a publisher sponsored book tour or doing one myself.)

5:30 – 6 Check through the airport, go through security, reach my gate. Coffee? I need coffee. Find coffee. Find a chair. Wait for Lorraine Heath and Elizabeth Boyle, my two buddies on this book tour, to show. Ah, I see them—in the line for coffee. The flight is uneventful except Lorraine has the verbose seatmate who complains about people putting their seats back and then promptly places his seat back almost into my lap. Elizabeth’s seatmate seems to have some serious bug. We are all cringing in our seats trying to avoid his germs.

9:00 a.m. Toni Blake, who will be participating in the Joseph-Beth Booksellers signing this evening, meets us at the airport and delivers us to the hotel. Rooms not ready. Was I planning on snatching a few hours of work? No room means off to breakfast which turned into a laugh fest. The image of back stabbing romance writers is as far off the mark as you can get. We genuinely like each other. My fellow writers are creative and fun. Rooms are not ready until noon and we don’t notice.

Noon In room, ready to work. Uh-oh, several emails from publisher with questions needing my attention—sales figures, plans for future events, this and that stuff. Plus, I need to tweet about the book signing etc. (I must do FB!) Then there is a blog I owe someone on what I do with my day and this pesky thing called a book I need to write , but after an hour and a half of internet stuff and two paragraphs of actual writing, I take a nap. The last thing I need is to appear at a signing looking haggard. (“Oh, poor Cathy, she’s gone to seed . . . “ Worse is, “She looks so old!”)

4:15 p.m. Toni Blake picks us up and gives us the silver dollar tour of Cincinnati and I have my assumptions about US geography adjusted in a big way. Who knew the Cincinnati Airport was in Kentucky? Not I. Of course, after a week of in and out of bookstores and airports, I’ve lost all track of where I was or am—which is always a bit sketchy anyway.

We had a fun dinner at the Mt. Adams Bar & Grill and hit Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Many of Toni’s friends, including one from elementary school, came to see us. Elizabeth Boyle had a true fan show up, a lovely young woman who was in awe of her favorite writer. Lorraine and I basically rode Toni and Elizabeth’s coat tails. Oh, yeah, we’ll do that. You betcha.

Then, after the signing, we shop. I don’t get out much. When I visit family and friends or do a book signing, that’s my time I replenish supplies.

I hit Katy Budget Books for Christmas gifts. Yes, I start this early. I purchased a signed BUDDIST BOOT CAMP by Timber Hawkeye (great name) and two other books, one on weapons and the other about an Indian detective, from Fountain Bookstore. I was looking for steampunk at Jo-Beth. Oh, yes, and I purchased a Vera Bradley laptop case at 40% off. Score! (By the way, later learned I left the Hawkeye book in airplane seat pocket by mistake. It is now out into the world. How is zen is that?)

9:30 p.m. Back to the hotel. Hugs all around. I won’t see Toni, Lorraine, or Elizabeth again until mid-July. No, we don’t stay up all night in the bar. We are WORKING writers and lucky to have the work to do. I catch up on the internet and hit the sack. From here on out, I’m working toward a deadline. Nose to the keyboard.

Life will become boring . . . but is still oh, so good.

New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell continues her popular historical romance series, the Chattan Curse, with The Devil’s Heart.

Lady Margret Chattan, one of the most desirable women in all of England, has no interest whatsoever in marriage. When her brother’s lives are put in danger, she travels to the Scottish Highlands, intent on saving them. There she meets Heath Macnachtan, who is trying to find out who murdered his own brother. Together, they team up to investigate the powerful curse that is behind the deaths, but instead find themselves falling in love.

Exceptionally entertaining and charming, The Devil’s Heart mixes a well-crafted love story with complex characters and pulse-pounding adventure.

GIVEAWAY

One lucky commenter is going to win a copy of THE DEVIL’S HEART

Winner’s choice of format!

Open Internationally!

To enter, leave a meaningful comment for Cathy.
Don’t forget your email address – example:  emailaddress (at) gmail (dot) com

Giveaway ends on May 28th, 2013