#CBR12 Book 5: "What I Did for a Duke" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages
Audio book length: 9 hrs 23 mins
Rating: 5 stars

I first read and reviewed this book back in 2011 (when it came out), during Cannonball III. My original review, which among other things contains a plot summary, can be found here.

If you do take a look at my previous review (or just check my rating of this book), you can see that the rather unlikely romance between Miss Genevieve Eversea Lord Alexander Moncrieffe, the Duke of Falconbridge is one of my absolute favourites. I loved it utterly when I first read it back in 2011 and when re-reading several times since then. While I used to be a bit unnerved by listening to romance in audio format, I have had a change of heart in recent years, and especially like owning books I particularly enjoy in audiobook as well, so I can listen to the book when I want a comfort re-read.

Sadly, this has not been possible with Julie Anne Long's popular historicals before now. For years, literally, I've been looking for and bemoaning the fact that Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green books were not available in audiobook. However, this changed towards the end of 2019, when once a month, another book in the series became available, and at the end of December, What I Did for a Duke was finally released (you had better believe I clicked that pre-order button the second the news was announced).

Checking Goodreads, I could see that when I started my current re-read, I hadn't really revisited this favourite for over five years. Many romances have been published since then, would it still retain its coveted position as one of my all-time favourites? Would Justine Eyre's narration add to or take away from my enjoyment?

I'm relieved to say that the book was just as good as I remembered it, if maybe a bit slow in the set-up (I mean, who really cares about dumb Ian Eversea?) and Ms. Eyre's narration is great. Considering how long I've been wanting an audio version of this book, it's good that I can have one that I can listen to repeatedly.

The quality of Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green books is variable. Some of them are merely ok, some are a delight, and a very few are absolute romance classics. This may be my favourite of the entire series (although I may have to revisit It Happened One Midnight and The Legend of Lyon Redmond when they come out as audiobooks too.

Judging a book by its cover: Goodreads didn't seem to have an image for the cover that accompanies my audiobook version (and is utterly dreadful), so I'll just comment on the original paperback cover for this instead. I don't even know where to begin with the WTF here. Not sure who these people on the cover are, but they seem very unlike the way Alex and Genevieve are actually described in the book. There is also no scene at any point where they make out in what appears to be a wind tunnel, with Gen wearing a sheet? A weirdly bunched up chemise?  Something else entirely? It's such a bad cover - so, so bad.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 104: "The Legend of Lyon Redmond" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars

Before I begin this review, I have to say that in a genre where where so many books have absolutely atrocious covers, where readers pick up and love the books despite the cover art, this book has one of my favourite covers in years. It fills me with joy and perfectly encapsulates the contents of the book. I wish more romances had covers this great. 

While many of Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green books can be read out of order or completely independently of each other, this book is the culmination of the 11-book series, and as such, will probably not have the same impact on the reader as if it's read without some previous knowledge of the series in general and Olivia and Lyon's tragic romance in particular. There are SO many good books in this series, and one absolute classic. Go read some of them, then come back for this review.

It is said in Pennyroyal Green in Sussex, that the Redmonds and the Everseas have been enemies since the Dark Ages, but that once every generation, a Redmond and an Eversea will fall disastrously in love with each other. This generation's doomed couple - Lyon Redmond and Olivia Eversea, who met at a small assembly and almost instantly fell incandescently in love, despite knowing that their parents would never approve. Meeting an hour here and there in secret, conducting their courtship as secretly as they could, completely oblivious to the fact that everyone around them could see that they were besotted. Then Lyon Redmond suddenly left England, never to return. Gossip said it was because Olivia Eversea broke his heart.

Five years and thousands of hothouse flowers delivered to her door, Olivia Eversea shocks everyone by accepting the proposal of Lord Landsdowne, a quiet and unprepossessing viscount. Their wedding is the social event of the season, and as most of her siblings have had quiet weddings, Mrs. Eversea is determined that Olivia will get married with pomp and occasion. Yet at every turn, there are reminders of her long-lost love. A popular ballad is created, sung on every street corner. Illustrated prints depicting the possible adventures of Lyon Redmond appear in shop windows. He is seen as the dashing hero, she as the withered Miss Havishamesque creature who jilted him.

Lyon Redmond has spent the years away from England making a fortune, proving with every action that loving Olivia Eversea is what he does best. Now she is marrying another, and it's time for a reckoning between them. The last time he asked her, she refused to leave her family and go with him. Now Lyon will confront Olivia one last time and they will see if their love story is in fact a curse, or a blessing.

In each and every Pennyroyal Green book, the reader has got little snippets of the story of Lyon and Olivia. How they met and fell in love is never revealed, but that something Olivia Eversea said or did, made Lyon Redmond leave England and his family for good, is clear. That Olivia was never the same after he left, throwing herself into her worthy charitable causes and fending off eager suitors, seeming indifferent, yet never cruel, to all of them. Rumours of Lyon's exploits on the continent, making money hand over fist, possibly engaging in piracy. Olivia becoming thinner and more brittle, until one day she decides to accept a proposal, after all.

In this final book, which features cameos from many of the previous couples in the series, the reader finally gets to see how Lyon and Olivia met, what led to their separation and estrangement. It's become clear in the previous books that Isaiah Redmond is a strict and unforgiving father, whose four children all went against his express wishes in choosing their life partner. Lyon's refusal to bow to his demands, choosing to abandon his homeland and his family instead, probably spurred his younger siblings to exert their wills and make their own unpopular choices.

Olivia and Lyon's romance is in part a tragic one. They were young when they met and because of the enmity of their families, their feelings for one another were not well received by their parents. When push comes to shove, Olivia can't handle it. She cannot follow Lyon into exile. Having not even experienced her first season, she is still young and innocent, and terrified of what the future might bring. She breaks his heart and her own with the choice she makes and has to live in shattered loneliness in the years that follow, constantly hounded by suitors, watching her siblings and friends fall in love and settle down.

It was always obvious that Lyon wasn't going to be happy with Olivia's decision to marry another. Yet he cannot be surprised that she's unwilling to pine forever for him, having heard nothing to encourage her for five years. Their reckoning is a necessary one, and there are hurt feelings on both sides, but oh such a passion as well.

Last week, I came to the realisation that The Legend of Lyon Redmond, a book I've been anticipating since I first heard it was being written, and pre-ordered months ago, would be released during my autumn break. With the stress of my work over the last few months, I have had much less time and energy to read, so the prospect of a whole day off when I could revel in this book was a gift from the fates. Like I suspect all long time readers of the series, I had very high expectations. Lyon and Olivia's story runs like a unifying thread throughout the other narratives and getting to read their story was almost too exciting to bear.

I adore What I Did for a Duke, the story of Olivia's younger sister and the Duke of Falconbridge. There are other books in the series that I am deeply fond of, but this is the only book in the series that I feel can rate as highly. Like in Genevieve's book, I got so caught up in the story that I literally shouted at the characters more than once. My husband seemed amused by my antics, assuring me that it would be a pretty unsatisfactory romance if the protagonists didn't end up happily together in the end. I nearly threw a cushion at him. Clearly both the Eversea sisters are determined to try my nerves by taking a really long time to realise what is best for them.

This is a wonderful book, but really does require the reader to have taken the journey through the series to fully appreciate the ending, not only to Olivia and Lyon's story, but to all the Pennyroyal Green books. I wasn't wild on the epilogue, where we are suddenly introduced to a current day descendant of the Redmonds and Everseas, and given insight into what happened to the children and grandchildren of all the heroes and heroines of the books in the centuries to come. I felt that was unnecessary, but it didn't ruin the perfection of the rest of the book. I will most likely skip it the many times I re-read this in future, though.

With this, I complete the Pennyroyal Green series and my double Cannonball.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 43: "It Started with a Scandal" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

Miss Elise Fountain used to be a teacher at the school for wayward girls in Pennyroyal Green, but was fired after she spoke inappropriately to one of the patrons. Now she's managed to get a recommendation from the powerful Redmond family and is desperate to secure a position as housekeeper to the formidable Lord Philippe Lavay, an exiled Bourbon prince recovering from a near-fatal robbery in the village. He gives her a two week trial, expecting she will be gone before one has passed.

Elise, who was estranged from her parents when she foolishly got pregnant, hides her six year old son in the attic and sets out to get the prince's household in order. The remaining servants seem to range from the lazy to the downright sinister, but a combination of threats and flattery, Elise soon have most of them doing exactly what she wants them to. Soon the house is actually habitable and comfortable again, and she sets out to discover why Lord Lavay is acting more like a lion with a thorn in his paw than an honourable gentleman. Discovering the extent to his injuries, she's compelled to help him heal and with every passing day, the housekeeper and the nobleman grow closer and closer.

Janine, one of the reviewers for Dear Author, had this marked down as a DNF (Did Not Finish). She had a long list of reasons why she just couldn't enjoy the book, and I can see her point, even though I did enjoy this quite a bit. So many of the Pennyroyal Green books require a huge amount of suspension of disbelief, and there is absolutely all sorts of anachronisms in them. There are many questions about the plot that should bother me - how did Elise, with a child out of wedlock, get a teaching position at a school for wayward girls? How did she secure a recommendation from a family she's never worked for? How is she, the daughter of a gentleman, who has previously only worked as a teacher, quite such a naturally gifted housekeeper? Why do none of the servants, who all start out wanting Elise removed from her position, tell their employer that Elise has a bastard child? How is it that Lord Lavay, an exiled French aristocrat, has no misgivings about Elise's character, even after he discovers that Elise's illegitimate son is living under his roof?

And you know what - I'm not all that bothered. Julie Anne Long writes wonderful smoulder and always has great interactions between her romantic protagonists. Is it in any way plausible that an exiled French prince trying to recapture his fortunes gives up all his dreams for the future because of his infatuation with a disgraced single mother? Probably not. But I don't really read romance for the realism, but for the entertainment and escapism it offers me. So if the things I've mentioned will bother you, you'd be better off skipping this one. If you just want a diverting read that takes your mind off other things for a few hours, you could do worse. Of course, you could read one of Long's really great novels instead, like What I Did for a Duke. I won't judge.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 28: "Between the Devil and Ian Eversea" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Miss Titania "Tansy" Danforth is all alone in the world. Her beloved brother was a soldier who died in the war of 1812, and her parents died in a carriage accident. Now she's had to leave the home she knew in New York to travel back to England, where she hasn't lived since she was a little girl. Her father's will states that she'll not have her fortune released until she marries a man approved by her new guardian, her father's cousin, the fearsome Duke of Falconbridge. Preferably someone rich in his own right and suitably titled. Tansy knows she's very beautiful and wields her charm like a weapon. She's determined that every man in Sussex will fall at her feet, but the one man who truly takes her own breath away, seems to be completely unmoved by her.

Ian Eversea has never really been able to settle down after the war. He's plagued by nightmares and restlessness and hopes that maybe exploring the world will solve some of his worries. He has about a month left until he leaves for his great journey when Tansy Danforth arrives in Pennyroyal Green, as his brother-in-law, Falconbridge's ward. A woman Falconbridge sees fit to warn Ian to stay specifically away from, or there may be dire consequences. Well aware of his checkered past where Falconbridge is concerned (see What I Did for a Duke, number 15 in my top romances of all time), Ian promises to leave the girl alone. It's not like she needs any more male attention, with most of the single, and quite a few of the married, men of the region making complete fools of themselves for a flattering glance and a kind word from the girl. Is Ian the only one who notices how rehearsed and forced Tansy's charm and flattery is? What is the woman really up to?

Tansy is achingly lonely, and knows that her chief asset is her stunning looks. She's deeply vulnerable and insecure, and in making the men around her fawn over her charm and beauty, she at least gets to be the centre of attention at social gatherings. She's an orphan, not even allowed to choose her own husband, lest she risk losing her fortune if she picks the wrong man. Her childhood home in Sussex is for sale, she's had to leave the only home she knows in America. Her new guardian is terrifying and has a scary reputation, yet is clearly disgustingly happy with his own young wife. When the Everseas, who have so kindly taken her in, all clam up about the rascal brother Ian, she becomes desperately curious, and when they finally meet, he makes her go clumsy, tongue-tied and flustered, pretty much the way the majority of men act around her, in fact. As he displays so little interest in her, she's all the more determined to find a way to charm him.

Ian is a rogue and a ladies' man, quite happy to stay unattached. He never makes women promises or feels the need to secure their affection with gifts. The war scarred him, both physically and emotionally and he's just biding his time until he can set off on his round the world journey. Accidentally assigned the room next to Tansy's, he's able to observe her, without her seeing him, on her balcony at night, and he sees a very different woman from the one most of the world is witness to. He's quite happy to respect Falconbridge's wishes and stay away from the flirt, until her ruthless charm offencive threatens to hurt his beloved sister. He calls Tansy on her recklessness and her studied flirtations, only to discover that she sees right through his defencive behaviour too.

Julie Anne Long is quite happy to let the reader believe, as Ian and several others around him do, that Tansy is a vain and shallow flirt with nothing on her mind but turning men's heads. She only gradually reveals Tansy's loneliness, the suffering she's gone through, and her knowledge that her parents always preferred her brother to her. For more than half of the book, I really wasn't sure what I though of her, or if she had much of a personality at all. It seemed that Tansy's main character trait was that she was stunningly gorgeous, which in the grand scheme of things didn't seem all that impressive. Yet at the reader, along with Ian, gets to know Tansy, it's clear that she is, as I've mentioned, lonely, quite insecure, adrift in a new country and desperately looking for love, security and a home she can call her own.

Another thing I loved in this book was the return of the Duke of Falconbridge, and his young wife Genevieve, from What I Did for a Duke. Despite there being a nearly twenty year age difference between the two, they are among my favourite couples in romance, and seeing them again, some time after their HEA has been established was great fun. I loved that although happily married, the duke is still seen as stern, scary and generally, as Mrs. Julien put it, "magnificently disagreeable". Only after several nerve wracking interviews with him does Tansy discover that the man may in fact have a wicked sense of humour and that there are good reasons why he and her father were so close.

I don't really want to spoil anything regarding Ian's history with Falconbridge, and you certainly don't need to have read any of Long's earlier romances to enjoy this one. However, it is an absolutely amazing book, so you may want to consider reading it before picking up this one, just because it will give you a complete picture of the complicated family relationships here, and show just how far Ian has developed as a character over time.

There is also a minor subplot involving Ian's sister, Olivia Eversea, which keeps running throughout Long's Pennyroyal Green books. One part in a star-crossed romance with Lyon Redmond (the other prominent family in the little village), the last few books seem to suggest that she may be moving on with her life. As Long herself has said that Olivia and Lyon's story will be the last one she tells, I'm going to be interested in seeing how far this develops before that book comes out.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR5 Book 68. "It Happened One Midnight" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

Jonathan Redmond is the youngest of the Redmond sons. His eldest brother is missing, off doing God knows what (but rumours suggest it may be piracy). His brother Miles is a famous explorer, disowned by their father because he married someone the powerful Isaiah Redmond didn't approve of. Miles wants to be an investor, and would like his father's help to invest in a printing business specialising prints. His father coldly dismisses his ideas, and reveals that he sees his son as little more than a pretty face and an irresponsible rake. He claims Jonathan needs to settle down with a wife in the next six months, or he's going to cut off his allowance.

Jonathan doesn't really feel that his rakish reputation is deserved. Young eligible women keep throwing themselves at him, because of his looks, family name and connections. They keep misinterpreting things he says while dancing with them as promises, and suffer broken hearts when he doesn't court them. Determined to prove his father wrong, Jonathan needs to find fellow investors elsewhere. He finds an unlikely one in Thomasina de Ballesteros, a beautiful young woman driving the young men of London to distraction. Her mother was a famous courtesan, and now she charms gentlemen at exclusive salons. No one knows that in the evenings, she risks her life rescuing children from ruthless employers and finding them new and better homes. In return for supplying Jonathan with funds to start up the coloured printing business, Tommy (yes, I hate the nickname, but got used to it as the book went on) ropes Jonathan into helping her on a couple of rescue missions.

While both acknowledging the other person's attractiveness, neither Jonathan nor Tommy are initially in any way romantically interested in the other. Tommy is fending off young gentlemen by the dozens, not really wanting to become some man's mistress, and Jonathan needs to find himself a high-born and suitable wife, or risk being ostracised and cut off by his father, just like his brother Miles. As they spend more time together, of course their friendship develops into more. It wouldn't be a historical romance otherwise.

Gripes I had with this book: I hate the shade of green of (presumably) Tommy's dress on the cover. It's a virulent, toxic green. I'm glad I own the book as an e-copy, so I don't have to actually look at it.

- I don't like that the heroine is, in effect, called Tommy. I think male nicknames for female characters are dumb. It annoyed me less the further into the book I got, though, I think my brain just started substituting it with Tammy, or something.

Things I really enjoyed: Pretty much everything else. When Julie Anne Long isn't on form, she still writes a pretty decent romance. In this case, she wrote a tremendously entertaining and very good one. It may have helped that I had very low expectations to the book, as Jonathan has been such a non-entity in previous books, even as a supporting character. Hence I underestimated him, just like his father, and most of the world, clearly does in this book. Jonathan is not just handsome, he's brave, and loyal, and incredibly smart, and clearly a very shrewd investor and businessman. He sets out to prove his father wrong, and succeeds brilliantly.

Tommy was an interesting character too. While her quest to rescue disadvantaged servant children may seem a bit futile (after all, if they got one child from the work house and tricked them into years of horrible servitude or factory work, won't they just get another one when the first kid is taken away?), it's still better than doing nothing, and the fact that she's frequently risking her life to get them out shows a bravery that not many romance heroines possess. She also desperately wants to connect with her father, a man she's only heard about from her mother's stories.

I liked that Jonathan and Tommy became genuine friends first, before their feelings developed into romantic love. I liked Jonathan's relationship with his sister, Violet, and his determination to make a name and fortune for himself, not just to live off the funds from his family. While What I Did for a Duke is still my favourite of Long's novels, this may well be my second favourite. Well worth a read.

CBR4 Book 97: "A Notorious Countess Confesses" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: October 30th, 2012
Date finished: October 30th, 2012

The Countess of Wareham has inherited a small estate in Pennyroyal Green upon the sudden death of her husband, and moves there in the hopes of getting away from all the gossip and scandalous stories surrounding her in London. Born Evie Duggan from Ireland, the former Covent Garden dancer and courtesan married the Count of Wareham after he won the right to court her in a card game. After his  unfortunate demise, malicious rumours call Evie "the Black Widow" and insinuate that she may have killed him.

Adam Sylvaine is the vicar of Pennyroyal Green, and he takes his office seriously. Just as handsome as his wealthy Eversea cousins, he's perfectly aware of the reason why most of the women of the village show up in church every Sunday, and he's extremely careful that he not be seen to show any one woman anything but the utmost courtesy. So when the striking young widow who just arrived falls asleep during one of his sermons, rather than hang raptly on his every word, he's surprised. Not one to listen to gossip, he doesn't realise her identity until his more notorious cousin Colin fills him in, and he realises that he should probably stay far away from her.

Evie, however, needs to enlist Adam's help, as he knows all the respectable women in the village, and she wants nothing more than to put her past behind her, be helpful and make friends. She quickly discovers that none of her flirtatious tricks that normally charm men to do her bidding helps with Adam, instead, he wants her to be herself, something she hasn't been able to for a long time. He agrees to aid her in charming the matrons and respectable young misses of Pennyroyal Green, and watches in admiration as she faces every challenge they throw at her with aplomb. Can there be any future for a notorious former courtesan and a country vicar? And what happens when a figure from Evie's past appears in Pennyroyal Green?

I've enjoyed every single Pennyroyal Green book I've read so far, but thought the most recent one before this, was less engaging than some of her earlier ones in the series. The books seem to alternate between focusing on Everseas and Redmonds, the two leading families in the little village of Pennyroyal Green. Adam Sylvaine, the handsome vicar cousin of the Everseas, has been mentioned in a few of the previous novels, and as non-rake heroes are few and far between in Regency romance these days, I was  hoping that his story would prove one of the better ones.

Adam is a good man, through and through, but just because he's a vicar, doesn't mean he doesn't experience temptation, just like everyone else. He just works all the harder not to succumb to it, and while he's very aware of the debt of gratitude he owes to his aunt and uncle for the living he's been given, his primary motivation is to take care of his parishioners. He knows that the majority of the young ladies of the town have crushes on him, and he's constantly sent donations of preserves, jams, pillows with Bible verses embroidered on them, and he's determined not to hurt or lead anyone on. Every instinct he has warns him to stay away from Evie, but once he sees how vulnerable and scared she is, deep inside, he can't help but be drawn to her.

Evie didn't love her late husband, but she was fond of him, and hates the rumours that married him for his money and killed him for the inheritance. She worries constantly about her wastrel brother, her sister with a good for nothing husband and a huge brood of kids to feed, and sends them as much money as she can possibly spare - so it's not like she's living a life of luxury. Hoping to escape the scandal surrounding her, she quickly discovers that gossip travels fast. She refuses to apologise for her past, and is very forthright about parts of her former life being very lucrative and enjoyable, but she genuinely longs for a quieter life, and true friends. She's fully aware that many women might see her as a threat, so tries to make herself as helpful to them as she can, hoping they might come to accept her in time.

One of the things I like the most about Long's books is the banter, the sparkling dialogue and clever wit of the characters. I'd also, honest to God, got halfway through the book before I realised that the couple is Adam and Eve (yeah, see what she did there - also I must be some sort of dimwit). The development of the romance is slow, and anyone hoping for lots of passionate sexy times will be disappointed. The sexual tension between two people trying to stay away from each other, but constantly being drawn towards one another is exquisite, though, and because of the careful buildup, it's all the more scorching when they finally give in to their attraction.

My main niggle with this book is that the end is rather hurried, and all the conflicts are resolved a little bit too fast and too easily. Not to say that the resolution scene didn't also make me a bit misty-eyed, even as I had to suspend my disbelief to a frankly ridiculous degree. A fun, quick read, but still not as awesome as What I Did for a Duke.

CBR4 Book 6: "How the Marquess Was Won" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Date begun: January 17th, 2012
Date finished: January 18th, 2012

Miss Phoebe Vale works as a school teacher at a school for recalcitrant girls. She entertains herself by reading the society gossip in the broadsheets, and dreams of going to Africa. When she agrees to spend a few days as a paid companion to a former pupil, Miss Lisbeth Redmond, she has no idea that her life is going to take a turn for the unexpected.

Julian Spenser, the Marquess Dryden, is known in the scandal sheets as Lord Ice. Most of his adult life he's spent rebuilding his family's reputation and fortunes after his father did his best to squander them. By making a match with Lisbeth Redmond, he would be able to restore the last piece of land his father lost, as part of her generous dowry. Yet he can't get Miss Vale out of his mind. While she may be physically more unremarkable than her friend, her intelligence and wit, not to mention the fact that she seems to be the only person who attempts to see him as a man, not just as Lord Ice.

This is the first Pennyroyal Green novel that doesn't actually feature the romance of a Redmond or an Eversea. It's perfectly enjoyable, but suffers in comparison to the previous two Long novels, I Kissed and Earl and What I Did for a Duke, which were both excellent. Phoebe is a very admirable heroine, but Julian is just a bit dull, especially in comparison to the heroes in the books I just mentioned. I was by no means bored, but I hope the next novel is about a proper family member, and also more in the vein of her best ones.

CBR3 Book 68: "Since the Surrender" by Julie Anne Long

Publisher: Avon
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Date begun: August 13th, 2011
Date finished: August 14th, 2011

Captain Chase Eversea is an acclaimed war hero, but feels restless and without purpose since returning home after Waterloo. When he is sent to London to acquire a new vicar for Pennyroyal Green, his paths cross with the woman he's never been able to forget, Mrs. Rosalind March. While she was married to his commanding officer during the war, Chase and Rosalind let passion take precedence over honour and shared one searing kiss.

Now Rosalind is a widow, and her sister has gone missing after being arrested for petty theft. Rosalind turns to the most capable man she knows to get help in finding her. Chase is ashamed of his past indiscretion, but still finds Rosalind enchanting, and can't resist her pleas for assistance for long. He plans to sail to India to join the East India Company in two weeks, but offers her whatever help and protection he can in the meantime.

While Rosalind and Chase were both engaging characters, their romance just didn't interest or hold my attention in the same way as most of Long's other couples have. Add to that the fact that the plot in many ways reminded me of the far more entertaining story of Chase's younger brother Colin (The Perils of Pleasure), yet had a much less satisfying conclusion - the reveal of what has happened to Rosalind's sister just falls a bit flat for me. Still, I didn't actively dislike it or anything, and one less great book in a series of so far five books is not bad.

67. "Like No Other Lover" by Julie Anne Long

Publisher: Avon
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: August 8th, 2011
Date finished: August 9th, 2011

When Miles Redmond first set eyes on Miss Cynthia Brightly, he was instantly smitten, yet his attraction waned when he overheard her tell a friend that she would never set her sights on a mere second son. Two years later, Miles is the heir to the huge Redmond fortune, thanks to his brother Lyon's disappearance. Cynthia is attending a houseparty at their home, and needs to find a rich husband quickly, before word gets out about the scandalous way in which her betrothal to the heir of a Duke was dissolved.

Miles tries to tell himself that he feels nothing for the stunning and opportunistic Cynthia, and wants to get his own back at her for the slight he suffered years earlier. He offers to give Cynthia useful information about the various eligible men at the party so she can make a match in two weeks, in return for one kiss.

Of course Cynthia is a lot less shallow and materialistic than Miles first believes, and of course one kiss is not enough. During the course of the two weeks, it becomes more and more difficult for Miles to help Cynthia find a husband, as he wants her for his own. But as the heir to the Redmond fortune, Miles can't make a match with a penniless woman with a scandalous reputation, even when she takes his breath away.

Yet another very fast and entertaining read. I've been reading a lot of romance over the last month, since my mind is bombarded with so much misery on the news, and Long's books are a wonderful escape from reality. She always writes engaging protagonists and brilliant dialogue. While this book didn't make me make the Good Romance Novel Noise (TM Sarah Wendell at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books) in the way Long's two latest did, it was very good, and I can see why she's so popular.

CBR3 Book 66: "The Perils of Pleasure" by Julie Anne Long

Publisher: Avon
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: August 9th, 2011
Date finished: August 12th, 2011

Julie Anne Long has written five books in her Pennyroyal Green series so far, and I obviously started at the wrong end, with book 4, I Kissed an Earl, and book 5, What I Did for a Duke. Not that you in any way need to read these books in order, they are all self contained, but it was fun to get minor background details on characters I'd already read about and had seen get their happy endings.

Colin Eversea is about to be executed for killing a man in a bar. Always the scoundrel of his family, with many notorious exploits to his name, he nonetheless did not commit the crime he's accused of, and the only witness to the event has disappeared without a trace. In five days' time, his older brother Marcus is set to marry the girl Colin has loved most of his life. So when he cheats death thanks to a daring rescue operation, he is determined to clear his name and travel back to Pennyroyal Green in time to stop the wedding.

Madeline Greenway is a beautiful widow who makes her money planning and carrying out difficult operations for anyone willing to pay the price.  Snatching Colin Eversea from the gallows is her proudest achievement so far. Shortly after the rescue, however, instead of the payment she's expecting, someone tries to shoot her. Colin saves her life. Having bought a farm in America, ready for a new life, Madeline needs the last payment for the rescue to fund her passage across the Atlantic. She reluctantly agrees to help Colin clear his name as he promises his family can pay her more than her missing fee.

Together Madeline and Colin travel through London, always one step ahead of the authorities hunting him. With the reward for Colin's recapture set at a hundred pounds, there are many who would want to get their hands on the charming and handsome Mr. Eversea. During the course of the story there are duchesses, footmen, grave robbers, shifty fences, and obviously blossoming romance between the couple.   A very entertaining read, highly recommended for anyone wanting a quick, frivolous adventure/romance.

CBR3 Book 14: "What I Did For a Duke" by Julie Anne Long

Publisher: Avon
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Date begun: February 26th, 2011
Date finished: February 26th, 2011

When Alexander Moncrieffe, the infamous Duke of Falconbridge (it's rumoured that he poisoned his first wife), finds Ian Eversea in bed with his fiancee, he wows revenge, and plans to seduce, then abandon Ian's innocent younger sister Genevieve, breaking her heart. However, Genevieve has already had her heart broken, by her best friend Harry Osborne, who confides in her that he intends to propose to her cousin (also their good friend) at some point during her father's upcoming house party. Quiet and reserved Genevieve has loved Harry for the past three years and feels like her world is falling apart, but the only one who appears to notice that anything at all is amiss with her, is the Duke.

Although she is young, Alex discovers very quickly that Genevieve is no silly child, and that there is a lot more to her than meets the eye. She is clearly fiercely intelligent and has quite a temper, but keeps it well controlled and appears meek and kind and well meaning to everyone around her. Like him, she is a keen observer of those around her, and quickly notices that her brother Ian goes pale and jittery every time he's in the same room as the Duke. She deduces that the two have a history, and Alex' plans to seduce her are made a lot more difficult when she figures out how he intended to use her for revenge. Instead, when he ferrets out the truth of her heartbreak, he proposes to help her make Lord Osborne jealous, as against all his expectations, he enjoys spending time with her, and Ian gets nervous every time he sees them together.

While Alex and Genevieve have an age difference of nearly twenty years, they were great as a couple, and obviously challenged and complimented each other. Alex is a great hero, as he is an experienced and intelligent man, and he clearly enjoys the wicked reputation and the fear he instills in people. Yet he is also obviously lonely, and longs for someone he can spend his life with. Genevieve is innocent in some ways, and quite worldly in others. She has a very strong sense of duty, and suppresses her own wishes and emotions for the good of her family and friends. Yet when being good and kind leads only to heartbreak, she is forced to reevaluate her life, and what she wants for her future. Lord Osborne is very handsome and nice, but he's not really very interesting, whilst the Duke has experience, intelligence and complexity. Every scene between the couple is enjoyable, and the tension towards the end had me actually shouting out loud at the book. I wanted to reach in and shake both characters vigorously, and the end was all the more satisfying because of it. I will absolutely be adding Julie Anne Long to my ever increasing TBR list.