TLC Book Tours Book Review: Sinful Scottish Laird

About Sinful Scottish Laird

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HQN Books (February 28, 2017)

A young widow puts her sexy suitors to the test in New York Times bestselling author Julia London’s scintillating return to the idyllic Scottish Highlands. 

Widowed and forced to remarry in three years’ time or forfeit her son’s inheritance, Daisy Bristol, Lady Chatwick, has plenty of suitors vying for her hand…and her fortune. But a letter from a long-lost love sends Daisy and her young son to her Scottish Highland estate to buy time for his return. Along the way she encounters the powerful Cailean Mackenzie, laird of Arrandale and a notorious smuggler, and she is utterly—though unwillingly—bewitched.

Cailean has no use for any Sassenach in his glen. But Daisy’s brazen, flirtatious nature and alluring beauty intrigue him. When her first love appears unexpectedly at her estate, Cailean knows that a passionate woman like Daisy cannot marry this man. And to prevent the union, Cailean must put his own life at risk to win her heart.

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Review: Finally a historical romance that has romance in it. I should have known that Julia London wouldn't disappoint.

Cailean and Daisy are a fabulous duo. He had a bad relationship with an English woman and Daisy is a widow, whose husband left a will that states that she had to marry within three years of his death or forfeit her son's inheritance.

That was the main reason I wanted to read this book. What husband is going to tell his wife to remarry STAT after his death or else their would be nothing for their child? I wish there would have been some explanation as to why Chadwick would have cut off his heir, if his wife didn't remarry. That was the only thing that struck me as odd.

Before I go into the review, I have to say that early on in the book there were two things that appealed to my tv geek. When Daisy was asking Belinda about Cailean's allure..I went all "Miranda" geeky, as Stevie, who was Miranda's bff was always going on about allure.

Then there was a mention of "Your Auntie Grizelda."  That's one of the silliest songs by The Monkees.

I can't believe how much I liked this book. It is everything I like in a historical romance. Granted, it suffers from the one issue I have with most books in this genre these days. Its a little too long. I'm a lover of the regency romance that was only about 200 pages long. (I grew up on these). Even the standard historical novels weren't as long. They got their point across, they had hot sex and the HEA.

I was oddly surprised that Cailean and Daisy didn't really have sex until the book was nearly half through. The chemistry between these two was amazing, even as Cailean fought against it. I also loved how he really took to Daisy's son Ellis. It was so easy to see that these two belonged together no matter what.

From the get go, I knew that there was something not right with Robert, Daisy's love from before her marriage. I wish he wouldn't have turned out to be such a fink, from the time he appeared in Scotland, I knew he wasn't all she was hoping he would be.

But I'm not complaining, because this book was such fun.  If you like historical romance, don't miss this book!

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: The Scoundrel & the Debutante

Author: Julia London
Title: The Scoundrel & the Debutante
Publisher: HQN
Publish Date: April 28, 2014
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: 

The dust of the Cabot sisters' shocking plans to rescue their family from certain ruin may have settled, but Prudence Cabot is left standing in the rubble of scandal. Now regarded as an unsuitable bride, she's tainted among the ton. Yet this unwilling wallflower is ripe for her own adventure. And when an irresistibly sexy American stranger on a desperate mission enlists her help, she simply can't deny the temptation.

The fate of Roan Matheson's family depends on how quickly he can find his runaway sister and persuade her to return to her betrothed. Scouring the rustic English countryside with the sensually wicked Prudence at his side—and in his bed—he's out of his element. But once Roan has a taste of the sizzling passion that can lead to forever, he must choose between his heart's obligations and its forbidden desires.

Review: The Scoundrel and the Debutante is the third book in the Cabot sisters series. This one focuses on Prudence. I read The Trouble With Honor, and really enjoyed it. I missed the second book, but after reading this one, I definitely will be going back to read that one.

I loved Prudence. She really wanted marriage and was frustrated with her lack of offers because of her sisters and the way they managed to walk down the aisle.

Roan is wonderful too. I loved that he's an American and more than a little bit of a fish out of water. His accent and understanding sending him on wild goose chase to find his baby sister.

Somehow these two end up on a coach together and that's when things really get to be fun. Prudence gets her adventure and her HEA. This is a romance, remember and even though both have things they need to sort out before things can go smoothly.

There are a lot of bumps along the way, especially with the carriage they are traveling on. That is what really ends them in a rather compromising situation. Then from there it becomes a matter of whether Pru should do as she ought or follow where her heart leads her.

This is a romance, so we know what she does even though it has consequences.

I loved that Aurora really led Roan on a merry chase, but I wish I would have liked her more. She was really flighty and didn't think of the consequences of her actions. I had almost hoped she would have been headstrong and someone Pru could have been friends with. Instead she drives a wedge between Roan and Pru.

ARGH!

That was some last minute conflict that I could have done without, but it did bring Pru to America

All in all, this was a wonderful, sexy and fun read. I look forward to reading Grace's story.

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: The Trouble With Honor

Author: Julia London
Title: The Trouble With Honor
Publisher: HQN
Publish Date: Feb 25, 2014
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: 

Passion and scandal collide in New York Times bestselling author Julia London's brand-new series about four sisters determined to rescue themselves from ruin…

Desperate times call for daring measures as Honor Cabot, the eldest stepdaughter of the wealthy Earl of Beckington, awaits her family's ruin. Upon the earl's death she and her sisters stand to lose the luxury of their grand home—and their place on the pedestal of society—to their stepbrother and his social-climbing fiancée. Forced to act quickly, Honor makes a devil's bargain with the only rogue in London who can seduce her stepbrother's fiancée out of the Cabots' lives for good.

An illegitimate son of a duke, George Easton was born of scandal and grows his fortune through dangerous risks. But now he and Honor are dabbling in a perilous dance of seduction that puts her reputation and his jaded heart on the line. And as unexpected desire threatens to change the rules of their secret game, the stakes may become too high even for a notorious gambler and a determined, free-spirited debutante to handle.

Review: I really wanted to love this book, and for the most part, I liked Julia's writing, but Honor, OMG, I think the only heroine that I disliked as much as her is Bella Swan.

Yeah, that's how much I didn't like Honor Cabot. She's selfish, spoiled and just really unlikable. She is all about "Me" and though some of her actions are understandable, lie wanting to protect her mother, who either has a brain injury from an accident awhile back or some form of dementia.

I've read books about asylums in this period, and I can totally feel for her, about wanting her mother's health to remain private.

Then there's George. I liked him, but I couldn't grasp why a man that was obviously relatively intelligent would fall for her scheme? It just didn't make any good sense.

The only character I really liked was Monica, and she was supposed to be the villain, though you learn fairly early on, it isn't really her that is the nasty one.

Monica is pretty level headed, which is nice to see in contrast to Honor. I couldn't form an opinion on any of the other Cabot girls, because they pretty much faded into the background, obviously to await their own story.

I liked that the heat level of this book was low. Yes, there were some spicy scenes, but they didn't sit well with me. I wished Julia could have kept with the old fashioned writing style of regency romance, which is little to no sex. Plus, Honor didn't seem to grasp that once she had sex with George that she was ruined. That didn't make sense. But then again, Honor really didn't seem to understand that there could be consequences to her actions.

This was a pleasant read, but not a great one, but I will stay check out Grace's story when it comes out.

Rating: 3 flowers

Book Review: A Courtesan's Scandal

Author: Julia London
Title:A Courtesan's Scandal
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publish Date: October 2009
Rating: 4 Stars
Book Blurb: Kate Bergeron is the beautiful and mysterious former mistress of a cloth merchant...and the latest beauty to capture the interest of the Prince of Wales. Mired in a disastrous divorce, the Prince attempts to distract attention from his next amorous pursuit by ordering Grayson Christopher, the eligible Duke of Darlington, to pretend to London society that he is having an affair with Kate. When Grayson reluctantly agrees to his Prince's demand, he finds the lady no more willing than he is. Kate will grudgingly act the part in public, but her favors are not for sale to any man. As Grayson and Kate mimic ardor for the world to see, they find what started as a deception becoming all too real. And when passion flames into love, their predicament becomes extreme. For while marriage between a duke and a courtesan could never happen, Kate knows in her heart that she is willing to accept nothing less....
Review: I had never read a book by Julia London before, but if this book is any indication of her writing style, I'm definitely going to be joining the ranks of her fans.

This book was really well written and fun and it didn't over sex the story, which could have been a pitfall, since the heroine is a courtesan. London kept the balance of good girl/sex goddess pretty nicely. Kate Bergeron wasn't a novice at her profession but she also wanted to be something more, a baker! Kate is always working in the kitchen creating some pastry or another. It is almost impossible not to crave sweets while reading this book.

Grayson was everything anyone would think a duke should be, including a hopeless stuffed shirt, until he really started to get to know Kate, then he started to change, to care about things other than what was expected of the Duke Of Darlington. It was really quite fun to watch how he slowly started to fall for Kate, even though he didn't want to. The fact of the matter is, Grayson was a bit of a hypocrite. He fought against liking or being seen with Kate, even when it was a favor for the Prince Of Wales, but it was perfectly acceptable for him to bed another man's wife, and when he finished with that woman (Diana) he ended it so abruptly it was no wonder she sought revenge! Who wouldn't?

The cast of characters in the story really makes it more enjoyable, from Kate's staff to Darlington's family. I really loved how Grayson acted towards his nephews. Most regency romances don't have the hero cast as a family man, but that wasn't the case with Grayson, which really made it difficult at times to believe he wasn't ready for marriage.

But all of the little plot holes didn't hurt this story, and yes, there were several including a whopper at the end involving Kate's long lost brother. (You'll have to read to understand) This was truly a great regency read, I can't wait to devour another one of Julia's books.

~ If you like this author, please share another title that I might enjoy.