Just Finished:

Synopsis: Penrose, Cornwall ~ September 20th ~ To Do
~ invite the dowager duchess and the other ladies in the club to stay
~ prepare for Quinn’s arrival
~ pretend you haven’t loved him . . . forever

He had once been her cherished childhood companion, and then the man she had lusted after in secret, but Georgiana Wilde hasn’t seen the recently widowed Quinn Fortesque since the day he married another woman and shattered her heart. Then fate intervenes and brings the man she dreams about each night back to her . . .

Returning to the estate on family business, Quinn would like nothing more than to turn the land over to Georgiana and leave the memories of his former life behind. But then the brooding marquis finds himself under the spell of the hidden beauty he once left behind. With her barely concealed passions, Georgiana melts his coolly guarded heart. Suddenly his well-ordered world is in danger of crashing down. And it all begins with just one kiss. . .

My Thoughts: This is the second book in The Widows Club series.

I’m a sucker for unrequited love or lost love stories. This is why I bought this one, and also its predecessor, A Dangerous Beauty. Not being one to read series books out of order, I quickly read Book 1 in the series and enjoyed it immensely, so I had great hopes for The Kiss.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS ~ READ AT YOUR OWN RISK***
The Kiss, however, started off slowly for me and it took me quite awhile to warm up to it. I liked Georgiana. She had a spunk and energy that I really appreciate in a heroine. She also had wounds that she hid away from everyone and managed her life quite well in spite of them.

I enjoyed Quinn very much. It seemed he not only came home to claim the Marquis title but also to make sure there were not doubts that Georgiana should be considered the legal Marchioness, due to her ill-fated marriage to his cousin, Anthony. Even when he found out through the usual means that he marriage had never truly been consummated.

As with the prior book, there did seem to be a lot of misunderstandings and assumptions in abundance in the tale as well. Quinn assumed Georgiana loved Anthony; Georgiana assumed Quinn could never love her; Quinn accused Georgiana of wrong-doing; and Georgiana just let him assume incorrectly about her. Those things always seem to drive me crazy, but I can be forgiving up to a point if the story is good enough. This story was good, but not so good that I didn’t tire of these misgivings in the end.
****END SPOILERS****

Again, a host of wonderful side characters added to the depth of this book and also lay the groundwork for several more Widows Club books to come. I was also glad to see much of Luc and Rosemunde (from A Dangerous Beauty), Ata, and Grace. Added to the mix is Farleigh, Quinn’s precocious 9-year-old daughter who was a delight in every page she was in.

Verdict: This was Good. It took me a bit of time to warm up to Quinn and Georgiana, but after I did I enjoyed it. It’s going to be a long wait until February 29 when Grace’s book Love with a Perfect Scoundrel is released.

Labels: Avon, Good, Sophia Nash, Widows Club Series

Just Finished:
Synopsis: A Courageous Outcast . . .
Rosamunde Baird has lost everything and has no choice but to accept an invitation to spend a season with a dowager duchess and her clandestine ladies club. Determined to stay in the shadows and live quietly, she has sworn never again to come face to face with adventure and temptation, two things that brought her ruin years ago. But then the Duke of Helston dangles before her the very things she craves most...

Lord Fire & Ice . . .
Mysterious Luc St. Aubyn is well known for exuding blistering passion at night and frost the morning after. But dark mystery swirls around this audacious war hero. A tragic past has driven the Duke of Helston to hide the twin secrets of the dowager’s Widows Club and his own infamous writing talent. When he’s blindsided by his reactions to a virtuous siren, he has no choice but to reveal all during a scandal that will doom them …or save them, if only they dare to believe in love.

My Thoughts: This was my first book by Sophia Nash and I was not disappointed. She did a great job of storytelling and world building with this one. I was hooked from the first sentence to the last.

****SPOILERS****
In the beginning, I enjoyed Rosamunde’s youthful spirit. She loved sports, such as racing horses. She was carefree, and most importantly, she was her father’s favorite child. I loved reading about her crush on young Henry who was to be the next Duke of Helston and how after she won a race with him she tentatively asked him for a kiss as her reward. I thought it was all so sweet. But then it took a turn. Henry told her he loved somebody else. And although the kiss between Henry and Rosamunde was very innocent, it was reported to be much worse than it really was. So, rather than be forced into a marriage with a man she knew didn’t love her, she ran and married a man she thought was kind, and who she thought she would able to have at least a convenient marriage/friendship with because her reputation was ruined. She was wrong.

Eight years later, she’s widowed and the Dowager Duchess of Helston has invited her to stay at her estate to be part of her Widow’s Club. And it is there where she meets Luc, the younger brother of boy she’d kissed so many years ago. Luc and Rosamunde form a fast friendship which I enjoyed. I enjoyed learning more about his family through his point of view. It was wonderful watching the closeness that formed between the two characters and seeing them share secrets with each other that they had never shared with anyone else.
****END SPOILERS****

There are also a host of wonderful side characters in this book, but the two I’ll mention are Ata and Sylvia. First and foremost is the Dowager Duchess, Ata, a very spirited woman who heads up the Widows Club. She is short in stature but believes she makes up for it by wearing dresses that flow just a few inches too long. Of course, because he dresses are too long, she is always tripping over them. Also, there is Rosamunde’s sister Sylvia, who has remained faithfully by Rosa’s side since she left the family home eight years ago. However, Sylvia’s got secrets of her own that she’s trying to hide.

Verdict: This was Very Good. I enjoyed Luc and Rosamunde immensely and am looking forward to reading the follow up: The Kiss.

Labels: Avon, Historical Romance, Sophia Nash, Very Good

Can't talk now. I'm reading.

Labels: Sophia Nash