Hello, and welcome back! I've been looking forward, very much, to my extra days off. I just wish we were going away for the duration of my four days off. We'll manage a day trip or two, but there's too much to do here to go anywhere for too long. Plus it's still horribly hot and humid, and, unless we were going to the beach, everywhere in driving distance is just as miserable as we are, sadly. So I'll stay in the air conditioning and read and write and perhaps finish off a few household things that have been waiting for me to have time.
This time out, I have the anthology Improper Gentlemen
(Brava, received from publisher), with stories by Diane Whiteside, Maggie Robinson, and Mia Marlowe. Whiteside's 'Talbot's Ace' leads things off with gambler Charlotte 'Ace' Morland in need of some protection from two dangerous men, and her flight takes her directly into Justin Talbot's embrace. Justin is a dangerous man in his own way, but he'll be happy to keep Charlotte safe from his old partner, who wants to use her for his own gain. 'To Match a Thief' from Robinson has Sir Simon Keith taking on a mistress, but he has no idea that the woman he's just bought is the one woman he loved and believed dead. Lucy Dellamar hasn't really been the mistress of Lord Percy, but she's well aware of what will be expected of her when Percy arranges for her to have a new 'protector', but the sight of her Simon has her reeling. And refusing to do what they both want, very much. Marlowe's 'A Knack for Trouble' has Lord Aidan Stonemere, former convicted murderer, back in England, and he's set his sights on Rosalinde Burke. Aidan and Rosalinde shared one steamy night on an exotic island, and Aidan wants more. But Rosalinde is about to become engaged to another man. I'm not a big fan of any of this trio, but I did enjoy all three of these stories. The Whiteside story actually surprised me by how much I liked it, as I normally do not like her work. Charlotte and Justin are sexy together. Robinson's Simon and Lucy were fun, too, though not my favorite couple here. Aidan and Rosalinde share some serious chemistry, and they have the added bonus of trying to figure out who actually is guilty of the murder for which Aidan took responsibility. I'm borrowing three and a half of Cupid's five arrows for this anthology.
Until next time, happy reading!
Romance Novels Forum
