Today I am helping celebrate the release of
HIS HAND-ME-DOWN COUNTESS,
the first book in the Lustful Lords series by Sorcha Mowbray. This book is a historical romance title from Jack's House Publishing. Check out the links for the book below.
Author: Sorcha Mowbray
Publication Date: 20 September 2017
Publisher: Jack's House Publishing
Series: The Lustful Lords, book 1
Genre: Historical Romance, BDSM
Age Recommendation: 18 and up
Rating: 5 Stars
~ I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~
Book Description:
His brother's untimely death leaves him with an Earldom and a fiancée. Too bad he wants neither of them...
Theodora Lawton has no need of a husband. As an independent woman, she wants to own property, make investments and be the master of her destiny. Unfortunately, her father signed her life away in a marriage contract to the future Earl of Stonemere. But then the cad upped and died, leaving her fate in the hands of his brother, one of the renowned Lustful Lords.
Achilles Denton, the Earl of Stonemere, is far more prepared to be a soldier than a peer. Deeply scarred by his last tour of duty, he knows he will never be a proper, upstanding pillar of the empire. Balanced on the edge of madness, he finds respite by keeping a tight rein on his life, both in and out of the bedroom. His brother’s death has left him with responsibilities he never wanted and isn’t prepared to handle in the respectable manner expected of a peer.
Further complicating his new life is an unwanted fiancée who comes with his equally unwanted title. Saddled with a hand-me-down countess, he soon discovers the woman is a force unto herself. As he grapples with the burden of his new responsibilities, he discovers someone wants him dead. The question is, can he stay alive long enough to figure out who’s trying to kill him while he tries to tame his headstrong wife?
My Review:
This is not your mother's historical romance. His Hand-Me-Down Countess has all the things you love about historical romances, history, the ton, London, gowns, etiquette so fastidious you want to throttle people over it, Lords and Ladies, intrigue, burning romances, moody alphas, determined heroines, but this one has something a little hotter...a bit of BDSM thrown in the mix.
I fell in love with this series basically right from the first page, I will admit going into it I didn't realize it would be a little hotter than the normal historical romance I picked up but darned if I was not happy to get that little bit of extra, this book is steamy and it's interesting to see how the Lords make this side of their personalities work for them, more importantly their ladies.
I will say that I had not read anything by Sorcha before and apparently this series is a spin-off from another series, The Market and while you won't be lost if you pick this one up having never read the other I found a few times I was wondering about somethings that (particularly relationships) that must have occurred in the Market series.
That aside I fell for this book and fell hard. I felt an immediate kinship with Theo and Stonemere had my heart swooning every other page. I loved the intrigue and mystery, though I will say that it is fairly evident early on who is at fault for all the misdeeds, of course I am not sure the author was completely trying to hide it. I loved how the characters themselves discovered the treachery and how they handled it. I loved that the steamy scenes blended so well into the story so as not to truly take away from what was going on around the couple, which is a heck of a lot! I loved the way Theo works the system to not only make London a better place but also to fulfill herself. I loved the banter and he friendships. I loved the secondary characters and the character development, especially when it came to Stonemere and him working through what we of course now know is PTSD. My hear broke for him over and over but I loved that together with Theo he was able to find peace.
All in all I was completely lost in this book, it is a book that you won't want to put down making it a fairly quick read. I can't wait for the next book in the Lustful Lords series and you can bet I am going back to start The Market series now.
~ HAPPY READING ~
EXCERPT:
London, May 1860
Stone heard the butler intone his name and title loudly enough for all of London to hear, let alone the population of the Devonses’ ballroom. Had anyone suggested three years ago he would bear the family title, Earl of Stonemere, never mind be contemplating his future nuptials, he would certainly have laughed. True, he never actually laughed anymore, but he certainly would have found such a claim incredulous.
It was no longer an amusing matter.
Having survived the receiving line, he eased through the crowded ballroom. Every few feet, he stopped to speak with one acquaintance or another. Not so long ago, these same people would have been running for the hills and hiding their daughters. But fate, a fickle mistress to say the least, had other plans.
Moving with a quickness born of desperation, he barely acknowledged the next three men as the heat from the crowd paired with the stench of perfumes and body odor to choke him. After his service in India, crowded entertainments such as a ball had grown difficult to endure. The press of bodies and the loud murmur of conversation punctuated by the occasional shrill laugh smothered him, too similar to the roar of battle and the cries of the dying.
Moving past a swarm of silk skirts, he spotted a dark, hidden alcove, an oasis from the overwhelming onslaught, both real and imagined. If he could shut it down quickly enough, he wouldn’t embarrass himself. If he failed, all of London would learn just how broken he was.
He was an earl. Not a soldier. Never again a soldier.
Once the cool darkness enveloped him, he opened his mouth and drew a breath. His pounding pulse eased as the vise around his chest released and his damp skin dried. After another quarter hour spent tucked away, he believed he could manage the crowd long enough to find his betrothed.
As any good officer would, he had a strategy. Find her, claim his dances, and then await each one either on the balcony or on the dance floor, if required. Even the cardrooms at these soirees bordered on disabling.
He reached for the drapes to his hideaway, but hesitated as two women tittered in the immediate vicinity.
“Why, Gladys, I heard his name announced earlier. I’m certain Matilda invited Stonemere despite all the gossip.”
“I simply cannot imagine what she was thinking,” the one called Gladys said.
“Can’t you? Having one of the Lustful Lords in attendance at your ball? I daresay everyone who is anyone will wish to be able to say they were here. It’s all so deliciously scandalous and yet possible now the unmitigated rake is off the market.” Gladys’s friend sighed with a bit more drama than anyone in their right mind or otherwise would deem necessary.
“Well, one should hope that man can contain himself what with all these poor young virgins parading around. It would serve Matilda right if he debauched each and every one of them while here under her auspices.”
“Oh, do be sensible, Gladys. He could perhaps ruin four or five in one night, but all of them?”
Past ready to find his fiancée and escape his hidey-hole, he stepped out next to the ladies in question, turned to them, and bowed over each of their hands. The shock on their faces far outweighed any notion of good manners on his part. “Why, ladies, you both give me far more credit than I deserve. Even in my heyday of debauchery, I could only service three ladies in a single evening.”
As the two ladies sputtered, he departed their corner. The temptation to turn and wink at the gossipers won out, which caused another round of tittering and sputtering from behind him. Of course, he was well aware of what proper Society called himself and his friends. But the Marquess of Flintshire, Earl of Brougham, Baron Lincolnshire, and Viscount Wolfington—as well as himself—held little regard for polite society. Each of them had learned the hard way that they had no place amongst their peers.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Sorcha Mowbray is a mild mannered office worker by day…okay, so she is actually a mouthy, opinionated, take charge kind of gal who bosses everyone around; but she definitely works in an office. At night she writes romance so hot she sets the sheets on fire! Just ask her slightly singed husband.
She is a longtime lover of historical romance, having grown up reading Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught. Then she discovered Thea Devine and Susan Johnson. Holy cow! Heroes and heroines could do THAT? From there, things devolved into trying her hand at writing a little smexy. Needless to say, she liked it and she hopes you do too!
AUTHOR LINKS:
By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies—usually wine—and writes books.
Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love.
She likes to be busy—unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.
