This Was Not the Romnichal I Am Used To

(A note from Leah: Hi all, after a LONG hiatus, I will be posting many of my Goodreads reviews from 2019 to the present over the next few weeks/months. Sorry for the break folks!)

Normally after reading a book, I take a week, mull it over and then come back with a full review. Even less time if it is something that I just have to get out to the masses. However in July, I came across a book that pushed me to my emotional limits. A piece of literature that hurt me so badly in all of the best and worst ways that I had to take a month, let it marinate, rage, let it settle some more, and still stare in disbelief at my notes at the end of it. Naturally, I’m talking about Tamed By the Marquess, by Scarlett Osborne. This book pushed me to the point of actually wanting to throw my phone across the room from rage, and then giving a standing ovation at 6 am to no one but my hunny by the ending. 

The two leads had such amazing chemistry from the start, but it is all nearly ruined before the first thirty percent of the book is even over. The story follows the Marquess of Clydekill Christopher (or Christy as he is called through the entire book) and the young gypsy girl he befriends named Joanna. Their childhood friendship starts innocently enough in the beginning, but when they both hit early adulthood, they have to navigate the waters of hot and cold tension when they each realize that they are attracted to one another. When they finally get a clue, it was steaming right out out of my phone screen. Unfortunately, this is also the point in time where my eyes began to roll so hard that I thought that they would get stuck in the back of my head. Their plans to run off and get married get thwarted near instantly.

This early on occurrence comes in the form or Christy’s dad, with his boundless deception and racism. The old Duke is quite possibly one of the most deplorable men that I have ever seen put to paper. He hates that his son is a good hearted well meaning person, and he goes out of his way to make not only Christy suffer, but mostly Joanna. The Duke, and several others, not limited to one exceptionally petty Lady Jersey, just ooze evil for the sake of being evil. That is a part of why I struggled with this particular title. It’s as though many of them had nothing better to do but make life absolutely miserable for the hero and heroine as humanly possible. 

This is especially true of the father. His actions led to one of the most historically accurate, heart wrenching tales of a struggling single mother that almost broke me. Joanna endures every low point that one could imagine. As soon as you think that things cannot get worse for them, things manage to descend into the pits of hell. By the halfway mark I was shaking with rage and crying because I was just wanting the book to end. Either by Joanna’s death or some kind of happy resolution.

The two are eventually reunited, though not happily at first due to the lies and hurt caused by the people of Christy’s life, including but not limited to: His wife, his father, his sisters, the land steward, my salami leg, your salami leg, his salami leg, and Carl’s shoe. Well not quite all of those, but you get my point. There was angst seeping out of every page, to the point where when the three of them FINALLY got their happy ending, it felt well deserved. It felt like a reward after enduring all of life’s heartaches alongside Joanna and Christy over a ten year span. And it was absolutely SATISFYING.

When 6 am rolled around, I was mentally and physically exhausted by what I had read. Two months later, I am still shell shocked and in awe of the world that Scarlett Osborne built. She has become an author to wait on pins and needles for when her ARCs become available. I am willing to wait until the end of time for the next story in this line, as I am excited to see what comes next for the Australian and Hannah.

I'm Baaaaaaaack!

Hello my beautiful readers (whomever may be left). I just wanted to take this time to stop and say how wonderful it is to be back to doing what I love. I apologize for the 9 month hiatus, but life managed to stop me in my tracks and make me reevaluate every aspect of it. Through all of the stress and heartache, one of the things I missed the most was being able to come to this blog and lay all of my joys and annoyances of books out for all of the internet to see. Truthfully, I've barely been reading which has also added to this sorry state of affairs. But no more!

I'm back and I have several reviews of both old and new books and authors that I will be releasing very soon. I hope you all are looking forward to it as much as I am.

Deck the Halls With Canes and Floggers- Submitting For Christmas

Merry Christmas eve everyone!

Two weeks ago, I gave an obligatory Christmas story a read and came away pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. Sure, there was a happy ending, but it was an adorable read nonetheless. However I decided that I wanted to step into a new realm within the Regency sub-genre and give BDSM a fair read through. So in I went into the world of Em Brown’s Chateau Debauchery series, a set of e-books that are equal parts short stories and domination. Some of the stories left me wanting a bit more from them besides just scorching hot scenes of submission. Namely they left me wanting a more personal feeling towards some characters. The different heroines each have unique personalities and issues within themselves that push them to seek out Chateau Follet. Whether it be an unhappy marriage, the need to fulfill a bet, or sheer curiosity, each woman has a driving force that pushes them to submit to these men. And the heroes are determined to get full submission, but without the abusive melodrama of Fifty Shades. Yet only one of the couples had an initial story that I wanted to see go on beyond the walls of the Chateau. Technically two, but moving on.

Submitting to the Marquess is the story of Alastair and Mildred, henceforth known as Millie, because no woman should be called Mildred in 2016 if she is younger than my grandmother. Millie has a deep secret that she has attempted to hide from everyone except her aunt by marriage. She’s a F-REAK. A sexual deviant of the whips and chains variety. She even goes so far as to try and hide that side of herself even from herself and attempts a true run at being respectable. Her cousin by marriage Alastair D’Aubigene has the keys to Millie’s dowry. A dowry that she just wants to disappear. She would love nothing more than to become a spinster and be able to freely live her life unattached and able to be as wicked as her heart desires. Through a series of coercive decisions made by his aunt, Alastair and Millie spend one passionate night together in the illustrious east wing of the mansion. With Millie having promised never to come back there. Their story left me wanting to see if they could overcome their class and economic differences and find happiness in each other's arms.

Boy, did I get my wish. Not only did I get a follow up to the initial story line, but I got a Christmas story that features heavily erotic situations during a time of yuletide joy. And this time it was almost a full length ebook and not a brief novella. We’ll come back to the length gripe later on though.

Several months after their one night of passion at the chateau, it is nearing Michaelmas and Alastair has doubled Millie’s dowry in order to get her married off much quicker. For those of us who don’t speak holidays outside of the US, Michaelmas is a celebration of the day of St. Michael the archangel. This occurs on Sept. 29th and is another holiday for families to get together before the weather begins to further cool. What better way for Millie to escape the horde of would be suitors than to spend Michaelmas with her favorite aunt. Unfortunately all of his family will be there as well as hers which offers little to no peace of mind.

Alastair, who hears of the intent of a certain randy Lord Devon from the original book towards our Millie, takes off with one of his drinking buddies promptly to ensure the lady in questions intentions. And to make her swear to never return to the Chateau. Upon arrival he surprises his aunt, sisters, and Millie with his appearance and takes to his usual cool nonchalance. At least until nightfall. For three nights he turns Millie into the deviant that she craves to be before having to do her duty and get married. It also causes them to lapse into their roles during the day, where Alastair realizes that she is an intelligent woman with opinions of her own. He tries to get her to obey his commands during the day and is met with a huge amount of resistance. This leads to some super nova hot scenes at night where she has to endure her punishment. However at the end of the three days, the two are in worse straits than they were previously because they realize that they care for one another somewhat. Or in Millie’s case, she realizes that she’s in love with a man who by societal standards is too good for her. A realization made even clearer by one of his judgmental, tactless sisters.

They part ways once again with no contact with one another for three months. She is unable to find but one man who she could see herself marrying, and her family objects to her even courting the man because he is not of the kind of bloodline they want her associated with. When Alastair learns who the man is, he pulls out all of the stops to try and discourage the union. Which if we all know our stubborn heroines in literature, just makes her want to marry the gent even more. He threatens to revoke her dowry, and of course Millie will not be swayed because she didn’t want the dowry, whether doubled or the original amount in the first place. When she plots to run off and elope with the man she hopes will wed her, money or not, and the only person who figures out her Christmas eve plot is Alastair. He tracks down the man he had previously threatened and then has to guess as to where she would go if she didn’t come back to her friends and family. Thus leading him to the place that their tangled web was weaved around. The Chateau. He punishes her for breaking her promise and returning to Chateau Debauchery and then proposes to her. Thus granting them their happy albeit slightly dysfunctional ending.

There is apparently an epilogue coming soon that is going to be sold versus just being attached to the original novel. Which spurs my one massive gripe with a lot of the Em Brown novels/novellas that I’ve  come across. Most of the ebooks are stories of couples that could be easily made into one book for one price. But some just don’t do that. The Red Chrysanthemum Inn series is largely  a giant collection of stories that occur in the inn. But one such story is about 20 parts long (Punishing Miss Primrose.) That doesn’t even include the Master/Mistress stories of the owners of the inn. It stresses me out to only get bits and pieces of one story that could all fit with ease into one or two books versus several smaller editions that will take up extra book slots on my kindle and cost anywhere from $0.99 on up to $3.99 per section. In the case of Alastair and Millie’s books, the first novella isn’t terribly long and left me wanting a full resolution for the two of them. A resolution that we did get as a full length book.

In the end, Submitting For Christmas is a really good read. The BDSM is believable for the time period, as are their class differences and how they treat each other. I am looking forward to the epilogue no matter how miffed I feel at the fact that it exists as a different entity than as the end to a story as it normally would be. And I am resigned to come along for Em’s wild ride for the visitors of Madame Follet’s chateau. My only question is can we PLEASE get a full length book for Leopold and Trudie (Submitting to the Baron)? An honest to goodness full length book explaining exactly how they got to be so far apart despite being married without being constrained to only 43 pages? A full resolution to their problems or a more in depth look at her side of the story? Please?

A Short Review For A Cute Novella- Miss Kane's Christmas

It’s the beginning of December and you all know what time it is! Yes, you guessed it. It’s time for me to sift through countless Christmas romances and see which one catches my fancy enough to give everyone that holly jolly feeling. The problem with that is that I am a retail cog and refuse to feel Christmas-y anytime past Black Friday. Even more of a problem for me is the fact that most Christmas novels are saccharine sweet stories with almost no conflict and such happy endings that I come precariously close to swearing off of the things like cookies on New Year’s Eve.

“But Leah,” you might be thinking while blasting Christmas music in your background at obnoxiously high levels. “How can you hate Christmas novels? They always end in a happily ever after and are so festive! Why do you sound like the grinch?” Well, isn’t the answer obvious, dear reader? It’s the fact that by the time I locate a book, I am already on overload. From decorations that start being sold during the first week of September to the sickening mad rush of people that flood retail stores on Black Friday. This time of year has nearly turned me into Ebenezer Scrooge in regards to all things holiday related. Naturally, when I found a short novella about Santa’s daughter who has to bring the spirit of the holidays to a single father and his children, I strode into this novella with a layer of “bah humbug” so cold and thick that it could actually simulate a real winter here in the south (not like the south knows what winter even is considering our high of 80 degrees this past week.) It’s Miss Kane’s Christmas by Caroline Mickelson.

Santa has given his baby girl, Carol a mission. She must make a firm non-believer of Santa into a

believer. To say that Ben is a non-believer is putting it quite mildly, as it’s actually worse than that.  Ben is writing a novel entitled Beyond Bah Humbug: Why Lying to Your Children about Santa Claus Is a Bad Idea. As a single father, Ben would rather his children live with the lowered expectations of the holidays than for them to risk getting hurt learning that Santa is a myth and that this should be applied to many aspects of raising kids. Add in the fact that his wife passed away right after trying to leave him and the kids, and you get a broken man who wants to do right by his kids but doesn’t know how to be happy anymore. Patrick and Hillary write a letter to Santa, asking for one and only one thing for Christmas. Their father’s happiness. So, in comes Carol, under the guise of an au pair, to bring the joys of the holiday into this family’s life.

Ben is beyond reluctant to even attempt to let Carol into their lives. But due to several unfortunate yet funny events, he ends up standing by as Carol sneaks holiday cheer into the household. The book is refreshingly funny in the fact that she has no actual experience with children, and how she and Ben interact when he’s not ready to remove her bodily from the house. Their failed trip to see the actual Santa in the local mall ends in a hoard of crying children and parents ready to end Ben in front of security left me in laughter tears from picturing this event happening in our little mall. Even the appearance of Santa’s little helpers in a normal setting is done quite well with a good layer of humor. It is when Santa summons Carol home on December 23rd that the story takes a turn.

After all of his dislike of the lies and good will he associates with Christmas, Ben has learned one thing. When spent with the ones you love, Christmas is whatever you make of it. During the house party, he resolves that he is going to tell Carol that he loves her despite her crazy obsession with the holiday but freaks out when he finds his children outside with “the mall elves” and a sleigh on the roof. He is promptly knocked out and he and the children are flown to the North Pole. Despite her heartbreaking from having the man and children who she loves dearly in her home, she sends them away and helps to prepare Santa for his biggest night of the year. In the end, Ben and the kids make one last ditch effort to get Carol back in their lives forever and succeed. And the family gets their HEA.

While I do have Scrooge-like tendencies sometimes, even my heart can melt a little for a well-written comedy. Carol is both naive when it comes to children, yet methodical in her handling of implementing holiday cheer around the house. Ben is equal parts brooding angst and bleeding heart for his kids. And the children are thoughtful of their father's needs yet still filled with childlike wonder for the little things in life. The novella is well fleshed out and funny with just enough heartbreak to almost make me think that they wouldn’t get a happily ever after. It’s was a nice short read that snapped me briefly into the holiday spirit.

Beauty Is Truly Skin Deep- "Fugly" Review

Normally, during the month of October, I am sifting through the book club’s paranormal options and trying to decide which book actually makes me want to give another paranormal regency story a shot. We all know how successful this turned out to be when you stop to consider the fact that my review for “Bewitching” never got published even though it is mostly completed and has been for well over a year. This month, however, my cozy little state got the scare of a decade when hurricane Matthew set his sights on Charleston and the Carolina coast as a whole. It was during this time that the magical Facebook ad generator decided to make my wish come true and tell me that a book that I had been wanting to read finally went on sale for $0.99. Really, what better way to spend 48 hours without power than to spend it reading the book you’ve wanted for months (while snuggled up with wine)?

Oh Lily.

The book in question that I have been pining away for since the beginning of spring is Mimi Pamfiloff’s “Fugly”. It grated against every grain that I, as a reader have felt in quite a while. The supposed “Hero” was contrary to even modern day standards of what I would look for in a man. Let’s face it, just from the blurb alone, he seems like the kind of person who goes against every general standard of normal human decency ever known. A man who is physically repulsed by the sight of a woman and a woman who still gives him the time of day in exchange for the career she’s always dreamed of creates a premise that seems almost morally reprehensible to me and naturally, I gravitated to it like a moth to a flame.

Our heroine is one who’s tragically named Lily Snow. I must ask that if we are going to continue the billionaire/plain jane tropes, can we please get better names for our plain women? (I’m talking to you Ana Steele.) Is it truly too much to ask for a name that requires more than just one or two syllables to pronounce? Moving on, Lily is not like other characters that proclaim being hideous due to lowered self-esteem. Unlike Frankie from last month’s review who was described as very “Princess Jasmine looking”, Lily is truly ugly. She over compensates for it in every aspect of her life. From being very well toned and fit, to being an academic overachiever and all the way down to working for one of the top cosmetics companies in the nation to gain the experience that she needed to work at the prestigious Cole Cosmetics. It just so happens that this prestigious company is also owned by Maxwell Cole, giant jerk extraordinaire.

Maxwell is a shining example of a man who would be genuinely punched in the face within five minutes of being initially met by any normal woman. He is rude to Lily and dismisses her nearly immediately during her interview for a position that she was well over qualified for. He looks physically pained to even be in the same room with her because of her looks. You see, Max has a deep secret that he has been hiding. Due to his judgmental and abusive mother, Max has a physical reaction and aversion to ugliness called cacophobia, which is documented by his therapist. Not only does this guy cringe at the sight of her, but he is blatantly crude and overall terrible towards her.

They come up with an idea that is not the greatest by any means. To get the position that she is qualified for and to help with his disorder, Lily agrees to trade her virginity for the dream job and the promise of possible plastic surgery in the future. While I wasn’t exactly open to this idea, I did grow to open up and love the characters as they grew closer to one another. Along the way, they do learn how to deal with each other’s issues. He becomes attracted to Lily for her personality and compassion, and she learns to see Max as more than an egomaniac and they fall head over heels for each other.

Naturally, as they settle into a happy routine and a semi-happy life, they self-sabotage the relationship

before they could truly get it to begin. The problem is that Lily isn’t the first ugly woman that he has

Why would you lie about it?!

tried to use for his self-therapy of dealing with ugliness. He apparently had gone through a series of women, though with no romantic involvement, and one of the women killed herself over him. The woman’s sister, a vengeful character if you’ve ever seen one, has written a tell-all book about Max Cole and how the empire he created is a sham. The man who was idolized by many women was a shallow man, who was afraid of ugly people. Max, of course, neglected to tell Lily about the expose piece. As a result, when she is cornered by the dead woman’s sister it pushes Lily and her insecurity to her breaking point. That and the blackmail photos that Max’s mother leaked to the paparazzi shatters Lily’s confidence. She spills the beans and blabs about Max’s disorder to the woman and it spurs a larger media firestorm.

Lily almost ends up dying after a major car accident that happened while fleeing the pap’s and has to have full facial reconstructive surgery. Max, of course, being in love with her, pays for it all and worries even while she is being cared for and rehabilitated by her family. After the truth about his disorder came out, he dissolved his company and decided to start over again. Lily does try to come back and apologize for all of the problems that she has caused, but Max just leaves them broken up. The changes in her life sends her fleeing back to California to the arms of her waiting family and she ends up opening a clothing store and starting her life over, leaving the carnage and heartache of Max behind.

I won’t deny that I did have some reservations after the initial few chapters. I knew from the original blurb that Max would be a rough character to grow to care about, but just the nastiness that he displays to Lily in the beginning really disturbed me. However, the book is steaming hot with the romance between the two of them. Despite how he feels about her appearance initially, the very visceral reaction he has to her after the fashion show is nothing less than electric. The aspect that most held me was the just pure heartbreak by the end of the book. I have come to expect just sugary, happy endings that I have grown used to with years of historical romance novels and a lot of the contemporary novels that I have covered recently. However, to have a book end on a somewhat bittersweet note of her just leaving Chicago and starting over after her entire life falling apart is something that is very rarely seen.

It's a doozy!

I did read the sequel, “It’s A Fugly Life” shortly after the completion of this book. However, that book has a much stronger issue that I didn’t want to go into in this particular review. All in all, if you want a book that will in equal parts thrill you and infuriate you, “Fugly” does not disappoint. Honestly, it was one of my favorite books that I have read this year. It’s funny, it’s sexy, it’s maddening. It was the great read to get me through two days of power loss.

Welsh slang is awesome!- A Broken Hearts Series (Partial) Review

You know, I have a bone to pick with you Booksy, Bookbub and Reading Deals.  You are the reason

Yeah, I'm looking at you Booksy!

why my TBR pile stretches all the way to Texas. Every day I log into my emails and say “I will not download the free books. I will NOT download the free books. Dammit, I downloaded the free books.” Every day I lose this battle with myself and it becomes increasingly infuriating.

Why? Oh I’ll tell you why, because you never have me download a book that is a stand alone or a one off. I’ll see a book and think “Ooh it's the only book! I won’t fall into the hole of an extended book series! Saints be praised!” And each and every time I get sucked into a world that is full of amazing side characters and find myself wondering if they would get their own time to shine if the author got their own way. Then POOF! By the end of the book I am reading the beginnings of the next book in a brand new series. Just take my money! And take all of my free slots in my kindle unlimited as well, why don’t you?!

With that being said one book that that tricked me was Broken Heart Syndrome by Susie Tate. It’s a contemporary novel set in Wales and combines near flawlessly two of my favorite things on this planet. Romance and Grey’s Anatomy style antics and story line. It’s the story of Frankie and Lou and Dylan too, three med school friends who are doing what I can only equate here in the US to their residency. Tate, being a doctor turned author was able to keep me intrigued not only through clever dialogue and amazing story telling, but also with great emphasis on how the medical system works abroad. I will only be covering two books out of this series because the last two, while in the same series and continuity, follow along a much different path and delight me in a different way.

Poor missish Frankie

Frankie is quite possibly one of the shyest characters that I have come across in all of my years of reading. Having been bullied through her formative years by classmates, and dealt with a verbally and emotionally abusive boyfriend, she is noticeably a doormat for others. Her self esteem is completely shot, yet she has a heart of pure gold. Frankie does however pine away for one man and one man only. Thomas G. Longley. He is an Adonis in her eyes, and to her the rugby player can do no wrong. During a drunken night out and about with Lou at the college pub, her living breathing dream takes her in his arms and makes out with her in front of the entire bar. When she realizes that he is absolutely hammered (see “steaming” in British urban dictionary) she pushes him away and is then declared to be something along the lines of “Frigid Frankie” by the rugby team. Fast forward ten years and Frankie, Lou and Dylan are in the last leg of the race to becoming doctors.

When Frankie and Dylan end up being at the same hospital where Lou is a consultant (that would be like an attending for us here stateside,) the problem is that not only is Lou a consultant there, but so is Tom Longley. Frankie spends the first third of the book completely clueless as to why Tom seems so on edge and angry with her at every waking moment. Which in turn makes her cross and angry with him. Frankie spends a good chunk of the book under the misguided notion that he doesn’t remember her or the encounter at the bar. Both assumptions are totally wrong. Tom has loved her since she was a first year in medical school and tries to get her to be as open and happy around him as she is with everyone else in the hospital. The other issue that he has, is that he cannot figure out why she isn’t putting her entire being towards cardiology, and why she just sits and draws on notebooks and hospital charts all day. It turns out she wanted nothing to do with cardiology, but instead wanted to focus in palliative care. Or hospice care for us here across the water. Any way, our beautiful Frankie both falls for Tom once again when he finally gets her to realize that he cares for her, and then within the span of a month or two shoves him away again due to a misunderstanding. Wait, I have explain this “our beautiful Frankie” line and why it grates me to type this line and also a little on why I thought Tom was the scourge of the Earth for a little while.

We as the reader spend almost the entirety of the books inside of Frankie’s head, so we get a telling of Tom from her eyes. Tom seems genuinely like a jerk. I’m serious when I say that I spent the entire first third of the book angry and wondering how any modern woman would pine away for some callous jerk the way that she does. I even almost took into account the fact that her self esteem is just about near zero and that she didn’t think that she could land a guy quite that hot. However, it is revealed much later in this book that Frankie is a damn bombshell. At one point Tom’s nephew describes her as looking like Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. I had to seriously set my kindle down at that point!

Seriously?

As a fluffy woman myself with my own self esteem issues that occasionally rear their ugly heads, I had to stop and wonder why this character could possibly feel ugly. Then I got to the section of the book where the bullying is explained. I had to remember that kids are cruel little jerks that sometimes grow up and out of that mean tiny little shell that they start out in. But that bullying never truly goes away for some and scars them for many years afterwards.

The other thing that I had to take into account is the fact that with the story being so focused on the inner workings of Frankie’s mind, when Tate switches the perspective over to Tom in third person it is shocking. She could have honestly told his side from the first person and I wouldn’t have been as jarred. Tom turns out just to be a confused former dude bro who has pined away for a woman he thought that he would never have. The man could have been less brooding and mopey and told her from the outset that he remembered not only her, but also what happened. He wouldn’t have had to go through half of the heartache that he himself endured in this book.

Eventually the two fix their issues and get back together. It is during the epilogue that we get a glimpse into another issue that was boiling over during the course of the story. Lou and Dylan has been having a lover’s quarrel as well throughout the whole story. However it is played out so subtly that I almost missed it a few times because of how sarcastic and amazingly funny the two are towards each other. Well funny until they have to dance that line of sarcastic joking and hurtful honesty. This was actually the hint that I was walking directly into a second book. And I was not wrong.

Sticks and Stones is the follow up to Broken Heart Syndrome and follows the secondary duo from the first book. I kid you not, the book opens immediately up to Dylan having drunken flashbacks of a night spent in the arms of a beautiful woman. Only to wake up to none other than the exceptionally gorgeous Lou. When he asks her if they actually did bone down, she jokingly denies it and tells him that he was drunk and that he should go home. This scene is partially played out in the first book and it is snuck in covertly and it doesn’t draw any questions because it is explained that he always is at their house after a night of drinking. However as you can probably guess, our Lou is very much head over heels for Dylan and would much rather deny that the drunken night didn’t happen. Why? Because Dylan is for lack of a better words, a womanizer. He always just sees Lou as nothing more than his best friend. In fact, Dylan spent the first years of their friendship in love with Frankie. Lou, to his mind wasn’t even remotely his type even though the three of them were virtually inseparable. In fact, it is partially his fault that Frankie and Tom didn’t get together during their early med school years.

The differences in Frankie and Lou are astounding. Lou is outspoken and abrasive, curses like a sailor, and is devastatingly glamorous. Her confidence is her weapon and she wears her beauty like a suit of armor. Honestly, she is a woman after my own heart. She refuses to put up with anyone’s crap and doesn’t let the small things get to her. The other thing that I could see in the character that I see within myself is the fact that she lets the large things build until it boils over into a spectacular messy explosion. Lou is a great friend to Dylan and Frankie, but doesn’t really ask them or allow them to go to the same lengths for her that she does for them. And when Dylan jeopardizes both of their careers, she takes the brunt of the punishment without ever telling him. He sees it as she is just trying to torture him and that she is being manipulative. He even goes so far as to cause a huge scene at the hospital and embarrass her in front of all of their colleagues. Yet she still loves him.  Their “friendship” becomes so contentious that when her life and career begins to completely collapse around her, all she can do to keep herself mentally healthy is to flee from all of her problems to Africa.

This is yet another one of those ways where I could see myself in Lou. I do not deal well with massive

Friends and family when I melt down

stress and confrontation. I do not handle rejection well. Heck, I barely manage to deal with stress in a healthy manner. When it all comes tumbling down, I run away as fast as possible. Be it to another state for a few mental health days, or a complete shutting out of any and everyone who knows me. It gives me time to focus on hobbies and rebuild myself from the ground up. Is it healthy? NO! So when Lou runs away to Africa and basically rebuilds a hospital as a means to feel like she is doing something worthwhile, while simultaneously avoiding Dylan and the train wreck that her life had become, I nodded and felt her heart break. Sometimes the strongest people are the most fragile.

I do not like that we were not allowed to actually read Dylan’s growth over that year. It was disappointing to see that he was just magically a better person a year later versus actually getting to see him resolve those issues over the course of a couple of chapters. True in real life when you aren't around to see a person grow, the changes can come as a shock, but in a book there should be that level of exposition. But I digress. In the end, there is a huge danger aspect that comes into play after her return within the last third of the book and it is best not spoiled. She recovers, they resolve things, and they live happily ever after.

I loved this series. From the Welsh settings, to the inside look into the healthcare system of the UK, and even all of the different kinds of slang! I seriously had to google what some of the terms that weren’t explained with little asterisks (*) meant. If you are willing to give a modern, chic series a try but are willing to forgo steamy sex scenes, then this will be a nice little treat. Just be prepared to rearrange some US English words around in your mind as they mean different things in the UK.

THM's One Year Anniversary Review!!- The Ryland Brothers Series

The Haughty Miss turned 1 year old as of  Sept. 25th! As a celebration of a year of sharing my love of books with all of you, here is my review of a series that I have loved for well over 10 years! Thank you for a year of suggestions and fun! Happy Reading!

It’s that time of year where I review a book or series that I have previously read during my teenage years to see if it withstands the test of time. This time I have chosen a series that has stayed with me well over the course of the past ten or so year by an author that I have never come across again, even after crawling through several different bookstores. It is the Ryland Brothers series by Kathryn Smith that has left a great impact on my love for regency romances. The five book series spans several different viewpoints of life on top of five very emotional topics of love. Each brother and respective spouse has a major issue, flaw or heartache that drives their stories. Yet each motive and insecurity is instantly understandable to me.

The first book is more of a prequel than anything and sets up the female lead of the first actual Ryland book. It is the story of Miles, a bow street runner slash gentleman whose former mistress was brutally strangled by a former lover. And Varya, an incomparable pianist who is the best friend of the murdered mistress. The book opens to Varya holding Miles hostage and interrogating him for the murder of her friend. He swears that he didn’t do it, and also vows to get revenge against whoever hurt the woman. Varya however has a much more harrowing tale from a lot of other heroines in that she is a self exiled Russian royal. She is on the run from an abusive murderous fiance’, and lives a life well below her station in almost relative obscurity.

The two actually make quite a passionate couple, and once the truth of Varya’s lineage comes to the forefront, the story takes on both a warm and fuzzy tone and an air of danger simultaneously. The killer of the best friend finds out who Varya is as well, and figures out that the duo is getting closer to unmasking him. Naturally that means that his sights are now set on her and Miles must do anything and everything to save her. In the end they get their happily ever after. During the course of this story, we meet the young and very tall Blythe Christian, Miles’ baby sister. She is a headstrong redheaded bombshell who happens to be very wise. With a predilection for wearing men’s trousers naturally and a head over heels love for her brothers best friend Carnover. Throughout the story, she encourages Varya and Mile’s relationship, and sees the very best in her. Even when all the rest of the ton sees in Varya is a mistress.

I note Blythe’s involvement and eccentricity because Blythe is the heroine of the first Ryland book.

The gorgeous amazon draws the attention of the handsome yet very quiet brother Devlin. Dev was a sniper during the Napoleonic War, and is frustrated and traumatized by his time served. He is a brooding solemn character with a surprising sense of humor. And naturally, he is the third best friend of Miles and Carny (Carnover), having saved both men’s lives. Blythe is still a trouser wearing, lower class helping, hard working woman. A woman who is scorned by the fact that Carny married a beautiful Spanish woman and has a family with said woman. She also has a very big dream of being independent and buying the neighboring property that she has pined over for years.

Miles of course knows of her plans, and instead of just talking to her, takes the low road and talks Devlin into moving into the property. Through the course of the story, she not only has to emotionally deal with the budding emotions and love that she feels toward Devlin, but she must also adjust to the fact that her dream home has been sold to a man that she truly respects. Eventually their mutual love binds them together in marriage, and they move to the new house. Devlin must also make some changes to his life, and learn how to turn to his wife with his issues and emotions instead of his rifle. Through all of this, Carny must learn to deal with the fact that Blythe no longer worships the ground he walks on before it ruins his relationship with his wife, and his friendship with Blythe and Miles. Everyone goes forth after some unfortunate mishaps and misunderstandings to lead happy lives. With Devlin’s entrance into the fray, we are introduced to his brothers. And my how different each brother is.

Braham is the newly sober Viscount Creed, who has made some very large mistakes in his past. As the oldest brother, he takes his status seriously as a way to show his love for his brothers (except for Wynthrope.) North is the middle-ish brother, born of their father’s indiscretion with a famous actress. The difference being that North’s mother was actually loved by the late Viscount. Finally we have Wynthrope, a cynical jerk who is at minimum casually jovial with most of his brothers. He and North are the same age, and they are best friends. He is also the reason why North gave up his position with the Bow Street runners and started being a private investigator.

In a surprise twist North was the next brother to get a book. Commonly addressed as North Sheffield, he is well known as the illegitimate child and a very successful former runner. He grew up in a household full of love and was raised with his best friend Octavia Marsh. Octavia who now has a very nouveau riche last name of Vaux-Daventry is the daughter of a very prominent actress/mistress and the youngest son of an Earl. Having grown up in Seven Dials, she promised her grandfather when he came for her, that she would become a lady and marry as he instructed her to. When Octavia’s beau calls on North to investigate some strange letters she has been receiving, it begins the opening strains of a whirlwind romance that even time wasn’t even able to stop.

Unfortunately, an evil man who North has been trying to capture takes note of who Octavia is to North, and begins making threats against her. Octavia, torn between the “lady” she is supposed to embody, and the much common simpler girl she used to be, takes matters into her own hands and gets the drop on Harker for the abuse of one of her friends from her old life. This goes against the directives of North for her to stay out of the mess, but ends up going somewhat well. In the end, Harker is dispatched by Braham of all people and Vie and North are free to be together come hell or high water. It is during this story that we glean a little more insight into why North left the runners. Turns out it has everything to do with Wynthrope, and boy is it a doozy.

Wynthrope is for all intents and purposes a prick. He is snide, he is judgemental, he is everything that I would avoid in a man in real life. He carries this air of total indifference that almost all of the ton falls for. Except for one woman. Moira Tyndale is a widow who seems to be able to look through  Wyn’s soul and see the broken not as jaded man that he pretends to be. Which becomes his undoing. Wynthrope was once one of the most notorious jewel/art thieves in London and did so under the misguided notion that he was working for the government. Hence why North gave up his career. He was the only other person who knew. Moira’s secret is a little more risque as we find out that her marriage to her late husband was well beyond that of convenience. It was one that ensured that she got away from her awful mother, and one that allowed her husband to be with the one he loved the most. *SPOILER: It wasn’t Moira* In the end, the couple work through all of the issues that Wynthrope has caused (also by the aid of his brothers) and they are able to finally get married and be truly happy.

The brother who’s story I loved the most and felt the most emotion for was Brahm. As I mentioned early on he became the new Viscount Creed because his father and him shared a passionate love of booze. Booze of all kinds at all times. Which led to the carriage accident and simultaneously Brahm being almost crippled and newly titled. Through the course of the other books you see Brahm is a responsible level headed if not witty and sarcastic older brother who just wants the best for his siblings. But his past as a drunk libertine, and womanizer does not leave him. It was while he was drunk that he actually shagged his bride to be’s sister. He had no idea that it wasn’t his lady, and definitely didn’t know that Eleanor had witnessed everything.

When her father concocts a reason to throw a house party and reunite the long feuding exes things go pear shaped for them. They rekindle their friendship and their romance, they get to know each other better than they had before and things seem almost wonderful. Until they have yet another falling out and it drives Brahm back to the bottle. The book goes through the stages of withdrawal and recovery from relapse in great detail to the point where it is almost uncomfortable. And that is what is remarkable about this story. Eleanor was able to see Brahm through his worst and stick by him even if he didn’t want her there. His brothers are able to forgive her just due to her sheer willpower to see him get better. And the wives are able to see just how much she loves him and lend their support. They get their happy ending and I am still left in awe of the series.

Smith gave a nuanced view into some complex issues that were very rarely broached in historical literature before that time. From the effects of war on the human psyche and the need for independence, to eating disorders, and the need for independence. All the way down to how alcoholism not only physically harms the drinker, but the emotional toll that it puts on surrounding family and friends. It is a shockingly human series. Yes it features all of the tropes and staples of historical romances that we have all come to know and love, but it also casts a light on how love from not only one's spouse, but from family and friends could be the difference in how life in the aristocracy could have been lived.

Does it hold up to the test of time with me? Actually yes, even more so. As a teenager I couldn’t have appreciated some of the issues put forth in these books because I had never experienced them. Having gone through so much more in a 10-15 year span since my initial read through, the characters are so much more memorable than they previously were. I highly recommend the series to anyone who wants a different kind of viewpoint on the ever changing romance genre.