Our romance reviews are a little late this month, beloved patrons, and for that, our apologies.  But here, at long last, is our genre experts’ review of their top picks from the last month.  So whether you’re looking to defy the chill of winter with a steamy read, or are thinking about expanding your literary horizons with a new genre, enjoy your time here at the romance garden…because every mind needs a little dirt in which to grow…

 

Bridget:

What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston

I’m always a little wary of historic romances that play on modern tropes, so I have to admit, my expectations for this play on The Hangover weren’t high.  What I found here, however, was a really charming, well thought-out, and wonderfully memorable romance that made me a confirmed fan of Jennifer McQuiston.

Lady Georgette Thorold, a widow of two years, has been shrewdly avoiding re-marriage, determined to experience freedom for the first time in her life.  So when her cousin Randolph brings her to Scotland, Georgette is on her guard–marriage laws in Scotland are notoriously lax…so when she wakes up the next day, in bed with a bearded, brawny Scotsman and a wedding ring on her finger, Georgette panics, brains the stranger with a chamber pot, and flees, desperate to remember what happened the night before, and whether she is, indeed, married to a total stranger.

James McKenzie, Esquire, can’t tell if he spent the night protecting an innocent lady or under the spell of a wily thief, but he isn’t about to forget the woman in his bed…and not only because she stole his purse before fleeing.  But as both James and Georgette try to piece together what really happened the night before, they both begin to realize that they may have as much to learn about themselves as they do about the person beside whom they woke up.

There are so many elements of this book that shouldn’t have worked, but did–mostly because McQuiston is such a talented writer, keeping the plot light, easy, and genuinely funny, pulling off a literary sleight-of-hand that was quite impressive.  She balances humor with character description and analysis really well, giving her book just enough depth, and providing this relationship with solid enough ground that I was really rooting for these two to find each other again.

What struck me most was the honesty that Georgette and James demand of each other.  The emphasis on this story is on trust instead of blind passion, and that made this vaguely ridiculous premise into something really unique and special.

Kelley:

The Viscount and the Vixen  by Lorraine Heath

When I read a really good series, I always expect that at least one of the books is bound to disappoint, but the third book in Heath’s Hellions of Havisham series is perhaps my favorite of them all. In addition to the Mad Marquess of Marsden, a sweet and seemingly addled old man who charmed me from the start, this is a romance that leaves a little room for magic and that creates not just a happy, but a beautiful, ending to the story.

Viscount Killian Locksley’s father went mad the day his mother died giving birth to him. As a result, the viscount grew up in a home where no one ever visited, the clocks were stopped at the time of his mother’s death, and he and his father’s three wards were allowed to run wild over the estate. Locksley knows that love is the thing that drove his father mad, and is determined never to suffer the same fate.

Portia Gadstone is a desperate woman who needs protection and money, so when she learns that the mad Marquess of Marsden is looking for a new wife she applies for and gets the “position.” Thanks to a carefully written contract and Locksley’s determination to protect his father from a title chaser, of course the mad marquess never marries Portia and the story that unfolds follows the unexpected marriage of Portia and Locksley.

Although intended to be a loveless union forged for the sole purpose of conceiving Locksley’s heir, Portia and Locksley are drawn to each other from the start. Both of them are characters who carefully guard their hearts, and the love they find together is a surprise to them both, but that same tenuous love will have to survive the revelation of Portia’s past in order for them to make a real future and family together.

Heath always impresses me with her ability to create page-turning romances that also have genuine emotional depth. The story of the broken-hearted Mad Marquess anchors the book in a tragedy from which only Portia can help the family heal. The story Heath tells in The Viscount and the Vixen is not just a story about romance; it’s a story about love in all of it’s forms.

Until next month, dear readers–we wish you warm hearts and good books!