BLOG TOUR STOP! LADY WINDERMERE'S LOVER BY MIRANDA NEVILLE
(@TastyBookTours, @avonaddicts)
Damian, Earl of Windermere, rues the day he drunkenly gambled away his family's estate and was forced into marriage to reclaim it. Now, after hiding out from his new bride for a year, Damian is finally called home, only to discover that his modest bride has become an alluring beauty—and rumor has it that she's taken a lover. Damian vows to keep his wife from straying again, but to do so he must seduce her—and protect his heart from falling for the wife he never knew he wanted.
Cynthia never aspired to be the subject of scandal. But with her husband off gallivanting across Persia, what was a lady to do? Flirting shamelessly with his former best friend seemed like the perfect revenge . . . except no matter how little Damian deserves her loyalty, Cynthia can't bring herself to be unfaithful. But now that the scoundrel has returned home, Cynthia isn't about to forgive his absence so easily—even if his presence stirs something in her she'd long thought dead and buried. He might win her heart . . . if he can earn her forgiveness!
This was a good read. I like historicals but have moved away from them in the past year or so. It was nice to get back to one of my favorite genres with an author I enjoy. This story is about a young woman named Cynthia who is married to a man named Damian. The marriage is not a conventional one though. Damian loses a piece of property during a drunken bit of revelry. In order to reclaim the property, he weds Cynthia and promptly takes off.
Cynthia is not a scandalous person but you can't always stop the gossips from running their mouths and it doesn't take long for rumors to fly that she has taken a lover. Damian comes back after a year and wants to reclaim his wife. I was not a fan of Damian. It takes a lot to redeem a character in my eyes when they just dump their spouse and go on with their life. Ms. Neville did try to change my opinion on Damian. I think a man needs to work hard to prove that they are wanting to be with you for the right reasons and not just because it's convenient.
This story is good but I have to admit that I felt like there could have been more depth to the characters. Damian's character seemed like he could have been more. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. This is a book that you could curl up with and you would finish it and be fine with it. It was not a spicy read so those who are looking for something tame, this is your speed.
This was an interesting read, but it was hard to warm up to the hero! Damien mistreated Cynthia far too much for me to see the HEA in the beginning. The fact that the story starts off with him gambling something so precious was an immediate red flag. He continued to grind my nerves with selfish acts and only shows kindness when it suits him. However, I’m a sucker for drama, so I had to see how it played out.
Of course, the story turned out to be a success! There’s gossip, a sinful plot, a kidnapping, and a very regretful husband trying to make amends. I admit that it takes Cynthia’s ability to hold on to “the little things” in order to keep her love alive, but that’s what makes her such a good heroine. I’m glad I stuck with it, as the author wraps everything up in a sweet manner!
Miranda Neville grew up in England. During her misspent youth she devoured the works of Georgette Heyer, Jean Plaidy, and any other historical novels she could lay hands on. As a result she attended the University of Oxford to study history, ignoring all hints that economics might be a more practical subject. She spent several years writing catalogs of rare books and original letters and manuscripts for Sotheby’s auction house in London and New York. Much of her time in this job was spent reading the personal correspondence of the famous. This confirmed her suspicion that the most interesting thing about history is people.
Since moving to Vermont, she has worked in Special Collections at Dartmouth College and as an editor and journalist on Behind the Times, a small, idiosyncratic (and now defunct) monthly newspaper. She is the owner and editor of a weekly advertiser in the Upper Valley, a job that leaves her enough time to write fiction.
Her first book, Never Resist Temptation. was published by Avon in 2009. The first two books in the Burgundy Club series will be published in 2010.
She lives with her daugher, Becca, a college student and confirmed drama queen, and two cats who are never on the right side of any door.
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