Clean Romance

Review of Married by Scandal by Tessonja Odette

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Synopsis:
She’ll marry a prince if she must.
But fall in love?
Never.

The first time Amelie Fairfield fell in love, she started a war. Now, the part-human, part-fae fashion designer has sworn off romance to focus on her career. But when her name makes headlines in the worst possible way, there’s only one thing she can do to escape scandal—marry a human prince and make everyone forget about the career-killing rumors.

To solidify peace between the humans and fae, Prince Albert must take a fae bride. As sister to the fae queen, Amelie is the perfect candidate. If only she could say the same for the rakish prince she’ll have to marry. At least his devilish charm and good looks keep society fixated on him and not her.

But scandal becomes the least of Amelie’s worries when she embarks upon an engagement tour. She’ll need to convince the aristocracy that her arranged marriage is a true love match…without falling in love. Just when she thinks she has it all under control, the prince reveals a secret that suggests he might not be the man she thought. In fact, he might not be a prince at all…

Can Amelie juggle a world of fashion, unexpected espionage, and dating her not-so-fake fiancé? Or will her closed-off heart prove to be her biggest hurdle yet?

Married by Scandal is the third book in the Arranged Marriages of the Fae series, a multi-author collaboration of romantic fantasy stand-alone novellas, designed to be read independently. Together, they feature arranged marriages in fae fantasy and offer complete romances while also allowing the reader to enjoy a variety of tones and approaches. Perfect for romantic fantasy readers with busy lives who love swoony romance.

Married by Scandal is set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy and the Entangled with Fae series. Journey back to Faerwyvae or start your adventure here for the first time!

Review:
The tension! The heat! This is certainly my favourite Amelie book! I wasn’t sure I’d like it as she isn’t my favourite character in The Fair Isle Trilogy by far but this surprised me. We got a deeper look at her and she got more than she had bargained for. This book… oh my goodness. Having Amelie face her trauma and learn to move past it, trust herself, let herself feel… it was just perfect. Loved how Amelie continued to be more than a pretty face, and it was refreshing to understand WHY she wanted to be accepted so badly by humans, and of course… her not-so-fake fiance- definitely made this a must read! I absolutely love all of the fancy events that Amelie attends to show off her outfits, and how obviously based on human things they are, especially the conversation between she and her “prince” at the races! Absolutely adored this one!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of The Vintage Medium by Melanie Karsak

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Synopsis:

People think being haunted is a bad thing.

That’s because they’ve never visited The Curiosity Curio.

The spirits who linger in my store dance the jitterbug, look after the plants, and gossip about long-dead relatives. Even though no one believes me about my mediumistic gifts, it’s my job to aid these lost souls. I can help them, even if I gave up hoping to find someone who understood me long ago. Call me a vintage-items peddler, but it’s my duty to match ghosts—and the objects to which they are attached—with the people who need them.

That’s where James comes in. James Herringbone, the high-end antique dealer who looks like he just stepped out of an expensive cologne ad, possesses a pocket watch I desperately need. Until I get it back, the spirit of a flapper girl who haunts my shop will let me have no rest. Talking to James isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I mean, he is perfection in glasses and a tweed jacket, even if he looks down on junk-item antiquarians like me.

But when I try to bargain with James for the pocket watch, things get…complicated.

Of course they do.

Because this is Chancellor, where magic lives on every corner.

Review:
This was a very sweet book. It was very very short, a very quick read, but incredibly sweet. I loved and truly connected with James and his connection to his grandfather. Ness and James are very cute together and it seems as if they fit together quite well. There wasn’t a lot of rising action or potential reasons for them not to work, which is nice sometimes. The ending was understandable and definitely fitting, however, I’d expected a different ending; perhaps in the future a certain small child will get a certain rocking horse. I do love James and Ness’ connection and their story is very sweet, but this isn’t a very deep read and is very heart on your sleeve. If you’re looking for something light and sweet, this is definitely up your alley! And of course it was great getting to return to the world of Chancellor.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of Mr. Malcolm’s List by Suzanne Allain

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Synopsis:
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an arrogant bachelor insistent on a wife who meets the strictest of requirements—deserves his comeuppance.

The Honourable Mr. Jeremy Malcolm is searching for a wife, but not just any wife. As the target of matchmaking mothers and desperate debutantes, he’s determined to avoid the fortune hunters and find a near-perfect woman, one who will meet the qualifications on his well-crafted list. But after years of searching, he’s beginning to despair of ever finding this paragon. Until Selina Dalton arrives in town.

Selina, a vicar’s daughter of limited means and a stranger to high society, is thrilled when her friend Julia Thistlewaite invites her to London, until she learns it’s all part of a plot to exact revenge on Mr. Malcolm. Selina is reluctant to participate in Julia’s scheme, especially after meeting the irresistible Mr. Malcolm, who appears to be very different from the arrogant scoundrel of Julia’s description.

But when Mr. Malcolm begins judging Selina against his unattainable standards, Selina decides that she has some qualifications of her own. And if he is to meet them he must reveal the real man behind…Mr. Malcolm’s List.

Review:
This book sucked me in from the very first page. It was beautiful and the characters well described and quite brilliant. I loved the sibling-esque relationship between Cassie and Julia, and Julia is just perfectly set up for you to hate her. Overall it is a brilliant piece of clean historical romance that instantly pulls you into the life of the characters, hoping they can manage to work out what is clearly meant to be between all of them. Very much gives the same feelings as an Austen romance (both Emma and Pride and Prejudice come to mind), and just as much trouble that must be sorted! A hint of passion, but a completely clean romance. Read in one day, pleasant to spend long periods of time falling into.

Highly recommend!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of A Cinderella for the Duke by Abby Ayles

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Synopsis (from Amazon):
…It’s time to act based on her heart…

Lady Louisa Frasier is in a sad situation. With her brother, the Earl of Gilchrist, gone to America with his wife, and her best friend, the Duchess of Wintercrest, taking care of her own young children far up north, Louisa seems to have no friends to keep her company.

It is when her mother, the dowager countess, suggests a visit to her aunt in the lake district that prospects seem to look up for Lady Louisa. The Dowager Countess and her sister have not been on the best of terms, and Lady Louisa’s single goal is to mend the broken bond.

Arriving in their quaint country town, Lady Louisa soon learns that her aunt, Lady Hendrickson, has no desire to regain any family connection and instead seizes the opportunity to use Lady Louisa until she can take no more.

Henry Vaughan, the Duke of Rowland, has reluctantly returned to his country seat. Upon his Uncle’s most insistent request he is to acquire a wife before he may return to the life he has enjoyed.

Undoubtedly this will be an easy task as he has no preference as to whom the woman shall be, and plenty of distant country ladies will happily flock at the opportunity to be a Duchess.

The Duke’s indifference changes in an instant when a chance meeting with a masked mystery woman at his own private masquerade fills his every waking moment. Who was that enchantress? Why has she hidden herself despite his desperate attempts to find her?

Lady Louisa has no intention of telling the Duke that she was the one he met that fateful night. Her aunt is wholly set on snagging the Duke for her oldest daughter. Despite her growing attraction to the Duke of Rowland and the fact that this could quite possibly be her only chance at finding true love, she must keep her promise to make peace with her aunt’s family.

Will the Duke ever find his mystery lady in green?

Will Lady Louisa find her own strength to stand up for herself and find her own path to walk in life?

Review:
Louisa is a kind, considerate woman who wants nothing more than to help. She isn’t looking to find a match, or do anything more than mend the relationship between her mother and her aunt. Unfortunately, her aunt takes advantage of her, and still, Louisa goes on to make a friend of one of her cousins, learns about plants, and helps the community.

When told that she cannot attend a masquerade, she decides then and there that she shall go and enjoy herself. While she does meet and truly start to care for the Duke, she knows she cannot do anything about it for fear of what her aunt might do to make not only she, but the cousin she is friends with miserable. She is self sacrificing, and it is her kindness, but also her intelligence, that make her an enjoyable protagonist to read and explore life with.

Star Rating: 

Review of The Duke’s Defiant Debutante by Gemma Blackwood

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Synopsis (from Amazon):
The reclusive Duke of Redhaven is not somebody to be trifled with.

Fortunately, neither is Miss Angelica Stirling.

Lively, clever, and rather too outspoken, Angelica does not have high hopes for her first London Season… not that she particularly cares. Who needs a husband when you have a good book?

When she receives a surprise proposal from Edward Thorne, Duke of Redhaven, it seems too good to be true. And it is.

The Duke is handsome, mysterious, and brooding – and everything Angelica doesn’t want in a husband. Is one of the biggest fortunes in England really worth the trouble?

Edward returns to London after a decade’s self-imposed exile in need of one thing: a bride. But his strategy of proposing to the first agreeable-looking girl he meets backfires spectacularly. Angelica is anything but the docile debutante he took her for.

Before long, Edward is facing a predicament he never imagined. Angelica has run away from London – and she’s taken his heart with her.

Review:
I absolutely adored Angelica as a protagonist. She’s spirited, opinionated, and not exactly willing to do what society deems acceptable just because that’s what is considered proper. Angelica’s biggest issue is trusting those she shouldn’t, which blows up spectacularly.

While I enjoyed the story, I did think that the melodrama could have been easily avoided had Angelica talked to Edward instead of taking flight, especially believing the word of someone that so far she had no reason to trust and didn’t actually know, except that there was something between he and her betrothed.

Star Rating: 

Review of Engaging Mr. Darcy by Rachel John

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Synopsis (from Amazon):
“Angry people are not always wise.” – Jane Austen

After a standoff in the pizza parlor, Elsie Bennet has decided Fitzwilliam “I-Throw-Fitz” Darcy is the worst customer she’s ever encountered. Also the best looking, but that’s beside the point. She’s horrified to discover Will is not just passing through her small town, he’s her new neighbor.

Will Darcy has all the money and time he could ask for, and yet life never seems to meet his expectations. When his best friend, Charlie, starts dating Jane Bennet, Will becomes their unhappy third-wheel. The solution? Bring along Jane’s sister, Elsie, a girl who challenges him, makes him laugh, plagues his thoughts, and unfortunately, hates his guts.

Will might control a lot of things, but he won’t control her. Elsie’s already been warned away by her new friend, Jeff Wickham, who found out the hard way that Will is not someone to be crossed. Things would be so much simpler if she was attracted to Jeff. But she’s not. She’s attracted to Will, and the tug-o-war between her mind and her heart is going to drive her mad.

A modern day take on Pride and Prejudice with all the characters you know and love.

Review:
This is probably one of my favourite modern day versions of Pride and Prejudice, after The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. This is an original take in which Jane and Elsie actually work and help support their parents. Jane is as kind and practical as ever, and Elsie is, as our Elizabeth/Lizzy always is– feisty, hot tempered, and perfect.

The twist on what Jeff did to Will’s sister was definitely not something I’d anticipated, but I found that it really added an extra layer and depth to the story. Like every version of the story, I hated Caroline. I also really liked how Charlie seemed intelligent about business, but completely hopeless about romance. While Darcy is ever a snob, it was neat to see him trying to give Charlie the right idea of what to do to not be a massive jerk.

The whole Jeff/Darcy thing was really well done, and what Jeff did to Lydia was quite genius too. It never would have occurred to me to put together the events that Rachel John did, and I think that altogether, this book is definitely on my top Pride and Prejudice retellings list. I highly recommend!

Star Rating: 

Review of #Starstruck by Sariah Wilson

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Synopsis (from Amazon):
“You’ve done better.”

With one uncharacteristically sassy tweet to her longtime celebrity crush, Zoe Miller’s life turns upside down. Ultrahot A-lister Chase Covington doesn’t just respond to Zoe’s tweet, he does the unthinkable: he messages Zoe directly. Now she must decide between walking away or meeting her crush in person.

Chase knows better than to trust anyone from the Internet, but Zoe’s saucy challenge has totally caught his interest—and her girl-next-door personality is keeping it. He’s been burned enough to know he needs to keep his heart close. But his feelings for Zoe might be a lot more than just an online flirtation. He just has to convince her…

When the press gets wind of Zoe and Chase’s secret relationship, their romance turns into tabloid headlines. Will they be able to hold on to their Hollywood love story?

Review:
There are parts of this story I absolutely loved, and others I found predictable. Chase has a troubled past, and after letting Zoe in, he finds he doesn’t trust her (despite saying he does). Zoe, on the other hand, lets Chase into her life completely, meeting her family and seeing how he gets along with her much younger siblings. Zoe doesn’t want anything from Chase except to spend time with him, get to see and know the real him, but between Chase’s fame and his trust issues, while reading it is really up in the air whether or not they can reconcile their very different walks of life.

Star Rating: 

Review of Marry Your Billionaire: A Modern Cinderella by C. J. Anaya

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Star Rating: 

Genre: Romance

Number of Pages: 413

Date Started: March 11, 2016
Date Finished: March 13, 2016

Synopsis:(From Amazon)Marry-Your-Billionaire-2
Six years ago, Midge Knightly walked away from her trust fund, her Hollywood producer father, and the expectation that she would join the family business. Avoiding handsome playboys with hidden agendas was just an added bonus. Now one semester shy of graduation, she is shocked to discover her scholarship has lost its funding.

Her estranged father is having problems of his own. A contestant on his latest reality TV series has cancelled a week before shooting.

His solution?

Midge gets her trust fund back if she stands in as a potential marriage candidate for the dating series Marry Your Billionaire. Twenty women competing for one arrogant guy. Not Midge’s cup of tea. Agreeing to this proposition sucks her back into the world she happily broke ties from, but no trust fund equals no college degree.

Brody Prescott, CEO and owner of an online dating company, has recently been pegged a heartless playboy–among other things–by a disgruntled female after a disappointing date. In order to save his company and his reputation as an honest businessman, the billionaire must prove to everyone that he isn’t the naughty, bad boy they believe him to be.

His solution?

Become the first bachelor on Marry Your Billionaire and hope that one of the contestants holds some potential. So what is he supposed to do when the woman who intrigues him the most wants to be eliminated?

Review:
It’s easy to become embroiled in the lives of Madelyn and Brody, but there were several things that tend to pull you from the general story.  Some of these things are legitimately annoying, and others might just be ones that bothered me, personally.  Madelyn doesn’t swear, which I understand, but choosing to exclaim “Good gravy!” and “Cheese and crackers!” became jarring, as I’ve never known anyone to ever exclaim these things.

It is constantly mentioned that Madelyn is working hard to become a romance novelist, yet her schooling only ever mentions her studying English.  There is a vast different between the requirements and skill sets of a degree in English and a degree in Creative Writing, which is also a major option in both undergraduate and graduate levels of education.

There were obvious faux pas in the realm of how a reality show would work and how the contestants would function, although they can mostly be forgiven, for the main story’s sake.  What isn’t forgivable is the obvious lack of knowledge that the producer/director seemed to have of the characters, as a large part of their work would involve needing intimate knowledge of each contestant.  Though there were also multiple grammar snafus, which while a bit irritating, did not take over from the overall enjoyment of the book.

That being said, this is a unique and very cute clean romance, that I’d definitely recommend.  It becomes hard to put down as we see both Madelyn and Brody putting themselves out there, and trying to figure out if the other one is sincere.  There are many twists and turns along the way, and at some point you wonder whether or not there will be a happily ever after or a happily never after.

CJAuthor Bio: (From Amazon)
I began writing short stories for family and friends when I was thirteen years old. My vivid imagination and love of mysteries and romances eventually led me to following my own dreams of becoming a published author. I’m a huge fan of The Mindy Project, Hugh Jackman, and binge eating any and all things chocolate. Who isn’t, am I right?

As a mother of four awesome kids I’m usually playing beauty salon with my daughters (my four-year-old shaved my arm one time while I was helping another daughter with her homework. Yep. That happened) getting my fanny kicked in Mario Kart by my snarky little son, and making out with my deliciously handsome looking Latin lover, aka, my hubby.

Come visit me on my website where you can grab two romances for free. http://authorcjanaya.com

Review of Risky Seeds, Risky Hearts by Cindy A. Christiansen

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By Cindy A. Christiansen

Star Rating: 

Genre: Clean Romance
Number of Pages: 81

Date Started:December 3, 2015
Date Finished: December 4, 2015

Synopsis:(From Amazon)81YZUnjbf4L
Laid-back Sadie Jean Dixon had a calm summer planned working for the Utah Forest Service, but a deliberately set fire sends her racing on horseback up the mountainside with her Border Collie, Gypsy, in tow and flames on their tail.

Practical Colton Masterson has given up the ranch lifestyle for a college degree in accounting. When his little brother breaks his arm and can’t help run the ranch, Colton returns home to lend a hand. He takes on a part-time job at Samson Seed Company handling their taxes but soon learns the books aren’t in order.

As Colton and Sadie work together to find out the real outlaws, will they realize you have to lose a fly to catch a trout?

Review:
Short, sweet, and to the point.  The characters were excellent, the story made sense and played on general issues in a small town such as wanting to trust those you work with.  There weren’t many twists or turns, but it was a great, sweet, quick read that still had left you wondering at the end… wondering who that musician in the picture with Sadie was.  I absolutely loved the portrayal of Gyspy, the border collie.  I also adored Dusty, and the descriptions of how Sadie looks over both her horse and her dog throughout.  A great light, sweet clean romance that will entertain you for an hour!

Authchristiansenor Bio: (from Amazon)
Bestselling author, Cindy A Christiansen, has combined her love of dogs with her joy of writing to create an award winning combination. Her novels always include canine characters both in the pages and on the cover, an extension of the credit she gives to her extraordinary rescue dogs for their part in helping her overcome numerous challenges. In a reciprocal gesture for their love and devotion, a portion of the proceeds from her books are donated to assist abandoned and abused dogs.

She lives in Utah with her loving husband, two creative children with autism, and a pack of rambunctious dogs.

Fly into a good book!

Here’s what her books give you:
* A clean read with no bedroom scenes or offensive language.
* A tantalizing, fast-paced plot.
* A story without a lot of boring description.
* Down-to-earth heroes and heroines with everyday jobs.
* A rollercoaster ride of emotions you face right along with the characters.
* A special dog to steal your heart.
* A few added facts, a good message, and that important happily-ever-after ending.

Fly into a good book at: http://www.dragonflyromance.com

If you like this review, and the writing style of this quirky reviewer, please consider visiting and liking my Facebook author page: Lizzy March.

Thank you!