The sad truth is that I read this book three times – before it was published. It’s not as if I’m desperate for reading material, either. I have the novels for my Barnes & Noble column to read, and then all those novels that I might put in the column, but realize half way through that they won’t fit the topic (naturally, I keep reading), not to mention novels by authors whose books I never miss (see my Authors I Adore page!). I don’t have time to re-read books by debut authors, let alone a third go-around. But somehow every time I picked up Promise Me Tonight, I started over again, enchanted by the sweetness of the story, the humor and wit of the dialogue and the fierce emotions of the two main characters, Isabella Weston and James Sheffield.

To put it bluntly, I was sucked in like a dieter offered a flourless cake (surely it’s got less calories without flour, right?). I just couldn’t stop myself. Promise Me Tonight is the story of a forced marriage, and I always love a marriage that erupts with fury (except in reality). Plus, the characters are Julia Quinn-like. I always think of Julia’s characters rather longingly, as if they were friends I’d known in the past and somehow lost track of. I felt the same about Isabella and James.

The two of them have grown up together, and Isabella decided early on that James was just the man for her. So when she finally makes her debut, she summons him home for a dance (which he promised her years ago). He almost falls over when he sees the gorgeous young lady who drifts down the stairs at the ball. But…there’s a problem. James has a number of good reasons, quite good reasons, for deciding that he does not intend to marry, ever. And if he did marry, it wouldn’t be Isabella (there’s a good reason for that, too). But Isabella is a stubborn, passionate wench. When any sensible woman would be weeping into a glass of brandy, she skinnies out the window, jumps on the horse, rides over to his house in the middle of the night, finds his bedchamber, and…

Let’s just say that there are lots of reasons why this marriage looks as if it’s bound for the rocks. She tricks him, plain and simple. And then she extracts a promise from him that he won’t join the army – so he joins the navy instead. He basically lies to her.

All I can say is… it’s all good. Don’t miss this one. I think we’re seeing the beginning of a really terrific career.

~buy this book~

Do you know what makes getting the flu acceptable? (And no, it wasn’t the swine flu…been there, coughed that, have the antibodies). It was the regular, uninteresting flu, and the only good thing about it was that I had five – FIVE – Elizabeth Hoyt novels waiting for me on my tbr shelf. So I read them. All of them. This is not acceptable behavior when you have a fever, because as mom always said, you’re supposed to sleep, not stay up at night reading. But I did it anyway.

Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Raven Prince is one of the most interesting, sexy historicals I’ve read in ages; it was definitely worth the feverish hours of sleeplessness. For one thing, the hero is not your average Prince of Darkness. The Earl of Swartingham is tough, big and ill-tempered, all good heroic attributes. But he’s also covered with smallpox scars, and morbidly self-conscious about them, a feeling exacerbated by survivor’s guilt (the rest of his family died of the small pox), and his dead wife’s disgust. But he has to get married. Not to beat a drum that every romance reader knows too well, but he needs an heir. Luckily, he thinks he’s nabbed a young lady who claims that her stomach is not turned by his disfigurement.

Meanwhile, he also needs a secretary, because he keeps throwing things and howling, and his secretaries fly right out the back door. He ends up with a young widow, Anna Wren, who has more than enough backbone to stand up to him. This is where the novel becomes truly interesting. Edward and Anna become friends. Real friends. She doesn’t even see his scars: she sees the man inside. He doesn’t see a drab widow, but a sensual, strong woman whose adulterous husband was an idiot. Edward is dying to sleep with her…but he can’t.

She’s a lady, so she would never be his mistress. But she’s from a different class, so he couldn’t marry her. Plus, he’s practically engaged. To cap it off, she was married for three years without a child…and he needs an heir. So he can’t even contemplate marrying beneath himself.

Dying of sexual frustration, he heads off to a brothel… and she follows him, in disguise. After that, things become even more complicated. They have a couple of truly hot nights—but when he finds out, he’s absolutely livid. Did she compromise him? Does he have to marry her now, because she’s a lady? If he marries her, what about the children he’ll never have? Will that stand between them?

This is a great novel, worth staying up all night for. If you haven’t read it – get it now. It’s that good.

~buy this book~

Mary Jo Putney is a brilliant, original writer. She doesn’t stick to the beaten track, rehashing the clichéd plots that we’ve all heard a millions times before. Instead, she tackles the hard stuff of life – alcoholism, spousal abuse, prejudice – all those things that ignorant readers of Literature think you can’t find in a romance novel. When I encounter one of those skeptics, the ones who think that romances are nothing more than bedroom farces, I hand them Mary Jo’s The Rake or The Spiral Path.

I was so delighted to find she was writing a new historical series! Loving a Lost Lord is absolutely wonderful. It is the first in a series about English lords who all grew up at the same boarding house due to their reckless, unconventional ways. Perfect! I love them already.

But while the premise is terrific, this book goes far beyond the promise of a rakish hero. Adam, Duke of Ashton, was torn away from India as a child, and brought to England to train for his position as duke. Now, years later, he’s become the perfect duke – until he loses his memory in an accident and wakes up in a strange house.

That house belongs to Miss Mariah Clarke, a young lady in desperate need of a husband. So when Adam wakes up, she promptly tells him that they’re married. The rest of the novel is enchanting and incredibly romantic. Adam is torn between his first culture, that of India, and his second, that of England. Never truly at home anywhere, it isn’t until Mariah begins unfolding the complexities of his personality that he is able to find peace in himself.

But once his memory is recovered it turns out he’s engaged to a proper young lady. And Mariah takes a look at the grand ducal mansion and realizes that she’s not duchess material.

They have to fight, not only to be together, but to bring Adam’s worlds into balance – and they win when Adam realizes that “he felt as if he had come home for the first time in his life.”

This novel will leave you with a lump in your throat and a smile on your face. It’s utterly wonderful and not to be missed!

~buy this book~