What a Lady Needs for Christmas by Grace Burrowes

Lady Joan Flynn escapes from Edinburgh to avoid a scandal, but finds herself sad and alone at a train station after her maid suddenly becomes ill.  Seeing her distress, Dante Hartwell, his children and sister offer Lady Joan a ride on their private train car to her destination in the Scottish Highlands.  When they arrive at their destination, they discover they are all on the way to the same house party.  Dante is a mill owner that needs a wife with good connections to help him find investors, while Joan needs a husband before Christmas to avoid scandal.  The two realize that they just might solve each other’s problems, while also starting down a path towards love.

I enjoyed both Lady Joan and Dante as characters and I loved their story.  There were a lot of side characters from I’m assuming earlier books in this series that I was not as interested in.  They seemed to slow the story down for me.  I might have enjoyed their stories more if I had read those books, and I would have enjoyed this book more without them. It was a bit slow in the middle. A more interesting side story in this one involved Dante’s sister Margaret and I loved her story as well.

Overall, a very nice Christmas romance that will brighten your winter days.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Sourcebooks – Thanks!

Spotlight: Grace Burrowes author of What a Lady Needs for Christmas (and a Rafflecopter giveaway for an iPad mini)

I have made it no secret that I have a great love for Christmas romance novels.  One of my favorite authors for Christmas romance novels is Grace Burrowes.  I’ve read many of her wonderful regency Christmas romance novels in the past.  This year she is back with a brand new Victorian Highland Christmas romance novel, What a Lady Needs for Christmas.  I’ve just started it and it is wonderful, my review will follow. For an exclusive excerpt, book information, and how to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway, more details are given below.

Book Information

Book: What a Lady Needs For Christmas

Author: Grace Burrowes

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Genre: Historical Romance

Summary

Lady Joan Flynn needs a husband—any husband—if she’s not to find scandal and mischief under her Christmas tree; Scottish wool magnate Dante “Hard-hearted” Hartwell needs an aristocratic wife to gain access to the financing that will keep his wool mills secure. Can holiday magic spin an expedient match into true love, and wary differences into trust?

Excerpt

Dante and Joan’s wedding night has begun with a discussion of holiday gift-giving, though neither bride nor groom can stay focused on that topic for very long…

Joan stretched out her chilly foot, and encountered Dante’s calf. His bare, warm, hairy calf, because her husband slept without the benefit—or hindrance—of clothing.

He moved onto his side, facing Joan. “What shall I get you for Christmas, Mrs. Hartwell?”

“You’ve given me your very name. That’s gift enough.” Also his trust, his respect, his kisses…so many treasures.

He rolled to his back, suggesting Joan had provided the wrong answer.

“I don’t want your gratitude, madam. Loyalty, fidelity, and a good-faith effort to make something of this marriage will be a fine bargain on both of our parts. The marriage is as much opportunity for me as it is convenient for you.”

Joan did not want a fine bargain, but she did want the warmth her husband’s body gave off. She yielded to the craving and snuggled right up to his side. His arms came around her, as if they’d spent many nights visiting their way to shared sleep.

“I kept my nightgown on.”

“I know, lass. I’ll forgive you that modesty if you kiss me.”

She kissed him, and the contour of his lips told her he was smiling. “You should kiss me too, sir. My feet are cold.”

“You need your new husband to warm them up?”

Joan needed her new husband in so many ways. “Shall I take off my nightgown?” She didn’t want to, but Dante was naked, and the intimacies she’d tried hard not to dwell on were commencing.

“You feel safer with it on,” he said, shifting to blanket her with his body. “I’ll try not to tear it.”

Gracious. “I can stitch it back together if you do.”

He nuzzled her ear, sending a shivery feeling down Joan’s spine. “Kiss me some more, Mrs. Hartwell.”

Buy Links

Amazon: http://bit.ly/WhatALadyNeeds

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/BNWhatALadyNeeds

iTunes: http://bit.ly/AppleWhatALadyNeeds

Author Biography

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes' bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish and Lady Eve's Indiscretion. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.

Social Media Links

Website: http://graceburrowes.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Burrowes/115039058572197

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceBurrowes

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4152482.Grace_Burrowes

Rafflecopter Giveaway

For a chance to win an Ipad mini, leave a comment below describing your favorite Christmas romance novel, then go to this link, and click that you left a comment.  Giveaway ends at midnight on October 30, 2014.  Winners will be selected and contacted by Sourcebooks.

Lady Eve’s Indiscretion by Grace Burrowes

I love Grace Burrowes’s Windham family series. Percival Windham, the Duke of Moreland and his Duchess, Esther, together have had a brood of very fascinating children. They also share a love that has held together through the years and is inspiring to their children. I would LOVE to read a novel about the early years of the Duke and Duchess! The Windham family series chronicles the adventures and loves of each of their children. As one can tell from the title, this book deals with one of their younger daughters, Eve. Although part of a series, this book would hold up on its own.

Set in the regency period, Eve is the pretty and diminutive Windham sister. She flirts and gathers suitors at balls, but she keeps them at bay with a determination to marry no one. Eve has a past indiscretion that happened when she was only 15. Fearing this will be known to whoever marries her and also fearing the act itself after the terror at fifteen, Eve does not want to bring disgrace on her family.

Lucas Denning is the new Marquis of Deene. As a handsome titled man, he is terrorized by match-making mothers and daughters whenever he is out on the town. He does need to marry to secure the succession and who would be better than the lovely lady who lives next door, Eve Windham? Although Eve does not want to marry, she cannot deny her attraction.

I love that in Burrowes novels, the romance does not stop at marriage. Indeed marriage is often the midpoint of the novel. The rest of the novel shows how the couple is able to work through various problems to have a strong and loving union. I particularly loved how Eve was able to face her own demons and beat them down by the end.

Overall, Lady Eve’s Indiscretion was another winning romance from Grace Burrowes. It was a perfect light read to read in winter and February, the month of romance.

Source: A review copy from Sourcebooks – Thanks!

Winner of Grace Burrowes Prize Pack!

I still exist and I'm still reading!  Life this semester has been more than a little hectic trying to get everything together for my new classes and do my own homework for my certification class.  I will hopefully catch up soon (it's Spring Break next week, but I do have to work - lots of meetings!).

Sourcebooks graciously offered a prize pack of the two books—Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal and Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight (the two books that come before Lady Eve’s Indiscretion) for one lucky winner that posted a comment on Grace Burrowes guest blog.  Using the magic of random.org, Barbara E. was selected as the winner.  Barbara has been notified via email and has one week to send me her mailing address.  If I don't hear from her in a week, a new winner will be notified.

Thank-you Grace Burrowes for the wonderful guest blog, and for answering readers questions!  I finished Lady Eve's Indiscretion a couple of weeks ago and loved it .  . . I will hopefully be posting my review shortly.

Thank-you to Sourcebooks for allowing me to hold this giveaway and to all who entered.  Sad you didn't win?  I will have a new great guest blog and giveaway posted shortly . . .