Review - The Lady Most Likely...

Title: The Lady Most Likely...
Author: Anthology: Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway
Publishing Date: 2010
Genre: Historical
Rating: B
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased a new copy.

Lady Finchley, the sister to Hugh Dunne, the Earl of Briarly, decides to throw a party at her country house inviting the most eligible young ladies. Hugh has decided that it is high time to get married after recently being close to death. He has asked Carolyn to help him find a suitable wife. Carolyn not only plans to match make for her brother but for her best friend Georgina too, who was widowed young. Not two, but three couples find love at this country party.

I don't usually read anthologies but this one caught my eye with the great list of authors participating. I really liked that all three stories were related by taking place at the country party and involved all the same characters. There are three distinct couples who find love at this party. I am not going to go into specifics because part of the fun of reading the book is discovering who ends up with who.

I felt that the stories flowed seamlessly together to where I would not have been able to identify the different authors if not for the labeling at the top of the page. I did however feel that the character Hugh's personality went from mildly appealing to greatly appealing by the end of the story. I like the direction the author's took his character and I enjoyed his romance the best. I thought all three stories were fun to read, but not overtly exceptional. This anthology is just a nice way to pass the time and I enjoyed the three sweet stories.

As You Desire

Title: As You Desire
Author: Connie Brockway
Publishing Date: 1997
Genre: Historical
Rating: A
Sensuality: Warm

Desdemona Carlisle lives in Egypt with her Grandfather. She manages to get herself kidnapped by a young boy who belongs to a tribe of men. Her long time friend Harry Braxton comes to her rescue and brings her safely back home. Desdemona and Harry have had feelings for one another for years now that they have kept hidden from each other. When Harry’s cousin, Blake Ravenscroft comes to Egypt, he sets in motion a series of events which force Harry and Desdemona to face their true feelings for each other.

As You Desire is a wonderful book. It has everything I have come to love in a romance, plenty of adventure, a passionate and noble hero, and a good mixture of laughs and tension. Desdemona seems to find herself in little scrapes here and there and Harry is always looking out for her. Her grandfather who really should be the one to protect Dizzy (as Harry likes to call her) is like the absentminded professor. He is too busy cataloging his ancient relics to be bothered by Dizzy’s misadventures. Therefore Dizzy gets away with a lot of behaviors in Egypt that she wouldn’t normally if she lived in England.

A strength and point in favor to this book is that many of the characters were multifaceted. Just when you expect them to act a certain way, they surprise you and show you that there is more to them than just what is shown on the surface. Also, there are some beautifully written passages in this book that read more like poetry than a normal work of fiction. There is a scene where Harry waxes poetic about Desdemona’s attributes and it truly is a work of art. I also thought the addition of Dizzy’s thoughts as passages out of a gothic novel was a cute touch. This was a very well written and very enjoyable book.

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