Tag: Romance

Ten Rules for Marrying a Duke by Michelle McLean

4 Stars

Fun Story

Ten Rules introduces us to Arabella and Silas, she is a quiet woman who doesn’t care to be amongst the Ton, while Silas is considered a Rake who only wants to have fun.  Set in Regency England, it helps if you know a little of how Society worked.  Arabella’s oldest sister Alice has created a scandal which is now affecting their youngest sister Anne’s chances of marrying successfully.  Arabella decides that to give Anne the best chance of finding her happiness, Arabella will have to find someone who is so high up the social ladder that they will be able to counteract the damage done by Alice.  This man needs to be at least a Duke, and Arabella settles on convincing Silas, the Duke of Whittsley, to be the solution. The rest of the book deals with the interactions between Arabella and Silas, who come up with the Ten Rules near the beginning of the book.  As in most romances, the road to the finish isn’t always easy, and their journey isn’t easy.  My only “complaint” is that the book seemed to take a long time to get to the ending.  It is well written, with interesting characters.  I enjoyed Michelle McLean’s Hitched to a Gunslinger and this book is equal to that one.  If Regency romances are something you enjoy, then this book will make you happy.   I received this ARC from Entangled Publishing through NetGallery, and this is my honest opinion.

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan

5 Stars

What a great story!

This is the first book I’ve read by Sophie Sullivan, but it won’t be the last.  How to Love Your Neighbor is book 2 in the series.  Grace Travis has inherited a house from her grandmother.  But she hasn’t been able to move into it due to attending school for interior design, and everything else in her life.  Noah Jansen is her next-door neighbor, whom she hasn’t met.  He wants to purchase the empty house so he can expand his property.  Grace and Noah meet before they realize they are neighbors, and both have an instant attraction, but don’t plan on pursuing it.  When Grace finally moves in, and Noah offers to purchase her new home, the differences in their lives become apparent.

  This well written book takes us on the journey of these two people, who could have an instant friendship; that actually starts out adversarial, and then becomes a working relationship for both.  This book made me feel good-that the main characters were people whom I like and were hoping that they could move past the expectations that they had to become more…better people, better friends, and truly connected.  The story is complete, and if you don’t read the first book, that won’t matter.  But now having read book 1, this second book is even better. 

  I received and ARC of the book through NetGallery from St. Martin’s Press.  This is my honest opinion.