ARC Review: Temptation & Twilight by Charlotte Featherstone

Temptation & Twilight

(Brethren Guardian #32)

by Charlotte Featherstone

3.5 Feathers

This is the last in the Brethren Guardian series and the one I have been looking forward to the most as it regards Elizabeth York and Iain Sinclair, Marquis Alynwick. We have watched the tension between these two from almost the beginning and I couldn't wait to see what happened, as well as the conclusion to who exactly the mysterious Orpheus is.

I found that I liked this book, but at the same time became very frustrated by it. I am very familiar with Charlotte Featherstone's style of writing, wordy, overwrought but beautiful, because of this it can take her a while to get to the point, she is good at building sensuality and tension between a couple. But with Temptaion & Twilight it was too long and it felt like we were just going over the same feeling over and over again making it unbearable repeatative, I just wanted the characters to stop being melodramatic and have wild dirty monkey sex, like they both obviously wanted to!

Apart from that I did enjoy Elizabeth and Iain's characters. I liked that although Elizabeth was blind she didn't let it hold her back, and Iain was a broody, sexy Scottish Laird, what isn't to love? They also have fantastic chemistry together, this book had a thread of eroticism in it even though the deed wasn't done until almost the end, it really managed to ramp up the tension.

The romance between Elizabeth and Iain did mostly take over this book and the mystery regarding the Brethren Guardians did take a back seat, but the conclusion was stil satisfying and very neatly tied up. I have enjoyed this series, it is a great historical series with a nice twist of magic and mystery to make it stand out from the rest of the genre.   

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Review: Lust by Charlotte Featherstone

Lust

by Charlotte Featherstone
(The Sins and the Virtues # 1)

Lust is the first installment of The Sins and The Virtue Series by Charlotte Featherstone but not my first read of Ms. Featherstone’s work. I have read her novella Forever Yours, which I loved and I must say the same for this book.

The series is called “The Sins and The Virtues”, true to the name, the plot revolves around the Sins and the Virtues who possess them (rather reminds me of the LOTU by Showalter who possess demons in their bodies) There is a battle between the Light and Dark Fae. Due to past circumstances, a curse was casted upon the Dark Fae. Their kingdom will not prosper but diminish until the men (who possess the sins) of the court are able to make the women (who possess the Virtues) come home with them, willingly. The worst part of the curse is that the women they bring home are no other than the Virtues, specifically opposite of their sins. Our heroes will have to work hard to find their HEA and for the sake of their kingdom.

The heroine for this book is Chastity Lennox, a lady of purity and the hero is Prince Thane, Unseelie Prince possessed with the sin of Lust. Let me tell you, their journey to HEA is nothing of Chasteness but loaded with Lust. Their loves scenes were extremely hot with a lot of s*xual tension in the beginning. This prince definitely has bragging rights to his name, Lusty indeed. I love their love story and the sub-plot of the two kingdom’s battle is just as interesting.

Few things to consider and here are my thoughts. 1. Because our Hero is LUST, there was too much of it. (I can’t believe I just said that). Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every bit of it but the romance or the “getting to know each other” was overcome with their explorations of each other, IMO. 2. There are some things that I’m not used to as far as the historical and Fae elements of the book. Please don’t laugh, this is my first Fey story. The Seelie vs. Unseelie, Dark vs. Light Fae is very confusing to me. I mean. Seelie is the light and Unseelie is the Dark. But the use of both words truly messed with my head. My poor friends Fran and Annie had yet again had to endure my million questions. 3. Other things to get use to are the customs, politics, words and clothing they used back then are foreign to me. Take note that I am fairly new to any Regency or any other Historical books. Thank God for my Dictionary app. I survived. However, my lack of knowledge will not deter me from the new world Ms. Featherstone created. I will be waiting and sure to read the next installment as soon as it is available.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a time peace with a big twist of PNR.

Purchase Links: Amazon

ARC Review: Pride & Passion by Charlotte Featherstone

Pride & Passion (Brethren Guardian #2)

by Charlotte Featherstone

Historical Romance

4.5 Feathers

First off, I absolutely LOVE the cover for this book! I adore the colours and the womans pose of complete abandon, it definitely caught my eye and has made me want to read this book more then I already did!

I have been looking forward to reading Lucy, the heroines cousin from Seduction & Scandal, and the Duke of Sussex, Adrian's book since the end of the first book. In this book we see Adrian isn't quite the man he seems and certainly isn't the passionless and boring man that Lucy believes him to be. As well as the secrets of the Brethren Guardian he has many of him own secrets, one of which is that he has loved Lucy for a long time, longer then anyone could possibly know. He is now determined to make her his wife; however, Lucy is vehemently against the match seeing only the steely eyes Duke and not the man beneath.

I really enjoyed this book! There were aspects of it that I think were a little better then the first book Seduction & Scandal, such as the pacing of Adrian and Lucy's relationship, it unfurled at a good rate with out it coming out all at once, which stretched out the tension between them. And they definitely had tension and lots of chemistry between them, it made me want to shake Lucy and tell her to stop being such a ninny, how could she possibly think the man was boring!? That was my only real problem with the book, was that Lucy annoyed me at times as much as I could understand her frustration...it still bugged me.

What I also liked about this book was the continuation of the Brethren Guardian storyline, I really can't wait to see Orpheus and his mysterious lover is, I think I know who it might be, but I love that this book keeps me guessing!

What I found frustrating though was the ending, a cliffhanger *pulls hair out* so unfair, the next book isn't due out for ages and I want to know what happens now! I am also looking forwadr to it as I want to know more about Alynwick and Elizabeth you could see the sparks fly between them in this book and I only imagine it will be just as good in the next one.

This is a great book, exciting, romantic and erotic if you haven't started this series yet I highly recommend it!

*ebook supplied by netGalley.

Review: Seduction & Scandal by Charlotte Featherstone

Seduction & Scandal (The Brethren Guardians # 1)

by Charlotte Featherstone

Historical Romance

Find it on Goodreads!

Isabella Fairmont longs for a respectable and safe life and marriage and promises herself that she will never be like her scandalous mother who lived a hard and pitiful life because of her reckless passion. Instead she writes novels pouring her passionate nature into her words. However, the Earl of Black, who bears a remarkable resemblance to the hero of her nover, seems to provoke her in to wantoness and desire whenever he touches her. Black has loved and desired Isabella from a far for a long time and now he is finally taking action. However, he has deep dark secrets and a family legacy he must protect at all costs and his legacy may now be a direct threat to Isabella's life.

I really enjoyed this book, it was very atmospheric and had a very gothic feel to it that really made the book stand out. It was written in Charlotte Featherstones's flowery and poetic writing that makes the whole book seem stuffed full of emotion and is perfect for the dark and gothic vibe of them book.

Lord Black was a great hero, very sensuous and mysterious, yet still quite open in his need for Isabella. I am not sure how Isabella resisted him for as long as she did, despite her reasons for doing so. I liked Isabella as well, although I did start getting frustrated with her resistance to Black. Especially as we could see Black point of view and knew that although he planned to thoroughly ravish her, he also intended to marry her as well.

The love scenes in this were fantastic as well, they were both romantic and completely erotic. Charlotte Featherstone has a way of writing sex that is both hot and yet really beautiful.

What I also liked about this was the mystery and magical element to this, and the Brethren Guardians idea. I won't spoil the story by giving too much away, but Black and two of his friends are descendents of Templar Knights and they all have to protect certain relics for the sake of humanity. However, these items have been stolen and they need to get them back. The story doesn't resolve in this one, but continues to the next book in the series and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Although I really liked this book, for me it isn't quite 5 stars. I thought it was quite slow, I would have liked to see more action in it and also I think Black and Isabella waited too long to be together. It seemed one minute everything was going along at a plodding pace and then in the last few chapters everything happened at once.
In conclusion it was a great read and I am very much looking forward to the next book.

Favouriet Quote:

  
"...I will bear all my sins, all my secrets, when you come to me. It's all I can offer. You see, little love, I'm afriad too, but the difference between us is that I believe it's worth it to face that fear if it means that I'll have you."

Review: The Wedding of the Century Anthology by Mary Jo Putney, Kristin James & Charlotte Featherstone

The Wedding of the Century (Anthology)

by Mary Jo Putney, Kristin James and Charlottle Feathersone

Historical Romance

Find it on Goodreads!

This anthology is three stories on what happens after the wedding, when perhaps the hero and heroine didn't quite have the best start, but somehow end up walking the aisle anyways. Can these three couples fall in love despite the circumstances that brought them together?

The Wedding of the Century by Mary Jo Putney

This is a my first Mary Jo Putney book and although it didn't set my world a light it was quite nice. I think what stopped me from enjoying it so much was that the whole story was based around misunderstandings and miscommunications. These kind of stories bug me, I spend the whole book just wanting to bang the protaginists heads together and tell them to sit down and have a proper discussion like rational adults instead of agonizing in silence. This book was no exception it bugged me. But not enough to spoil the whole thing, I did like the main characters of Sunny and Justin, Sunny was as the name implies has a cheerful dispostion, but when her mother forces her to marry Justin she fears that she will never love or be loved when he seems so distant and cold. But little does he know that Justin has loved her since he first saw her and although it may be a marriage of convinience he longs for it to be more.

In conclusion I did enjoy this story, it had likable characters and a hot moment or two, and I will keep a look out for any Mary Jo Putney books that interest me.

Jesse's Wife by Kristin James

I have a weakness to western romances, so I think I was predisposed to like this story before I even started! But I did genuinely like this, it was a sweet story about a young newly wed couple, who had been forced in to the marriage by unfortunate circumstances. However, Jesse doesn't think the marriage unfoturnate at all as he has been in love with Amy for years, but she was above his station as he is him employers daughter, so they were just close friends.

Like the MJP book this book was based around a misunderstanding, but it didn't annoy me as much in this book, mainly I think because there wasn't as much silent anguish (just a huge case of blue balls!) I thought the whole story was rather cute, watching them both come to terms with their newly married state and watching Jesse trying to keep his hands off Amy, due to the erroneous assumption that she would not welcome him.

This was an enjoyable and light read that left me with a smile on my face.

Seduced by Starlight by Charlotte Featherstone

I am a huge fan of Charlotte Featherstone, and this story was the reason I wanted to read this anthology. It is about the Jase and Blossom the children of the couples in "Addicted" and "Sinful"

This book was more to do with Jase's seduction of Blossom and his efforts to convince her that he was genuine in his courtship and really wished to marry her, but it does have a chapter of them on their honeymoon having a wicked time with some strawberries and clotted cream!

Although I did not think this was as good as "Addicted" and "Sinful" I really liked this story, it was sensual and sweet, definately a lot naughtier then the previous two novellas. Jase was seductive and charming and I am really not sure how Blossom managed to resist him for so long! I would have been a puddle at his feet from the first moment. But Blossom was strong willed and spirited and I found myself liking her immensly and understanding that she was trying to protect herself.

What also delighted me about this book was that you got to see some famliar characters, I love to see couples after they have had their HEA, so it was a treat to see the Anais and Lindsey and Jane and Matthew a couple of decades later and still very much in love.

Review: Addicted by Charlotte Featherstone

This is a beautiful friend’s to lover’s tale between the characters of Anais Darnby and Lindsay Markham. Friends since childhood Lindsay has finally decided to take the next step and see if Anais feels the same way. However, over the years he has picked up an opium habit that is getting harder to deny, and when a disastrous betrayal and the consequences ensue, Lindsay plunges deeper into his addiction to numb his pain, and eventually leading him the difficult choice of the love of his life or his dark habit.

What I first liked about this book was the cover, it is really striking and beautiful, and I am pleased to say that the enclosed story was also just as striking and beautiful. Although this book proclaims itself to be an “Erotic Novel” I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as such, although it is explicit and raunchy, more so then most normal historical romances, this isn’t a book describing a series of sexual encounters. It is to me first and foremost a love story. I think this line describes it perfectly:

...I am forever loving, forever waiting, forever yearning...forever yours.”
“Oh God,” she whispered, smothering her tears. “You hurt me when you talk of love, for your love is all I ever wanted, and now that I have it, I cannot accept it. It kills me to know I might have had your love. Oh, Lindsay, opium might have been your weakness, but you, you have always been mine.”

These lines immediately grabbed my attention as is was reading it as I think they describe the tone of the story perfectly

Both the main characters are very empathetic, they are both flawed human beings who have made mistakes and have to live with the consequences of their decisions, with heartbreaking effect. They are outstanding characters, Lindsay is not your typical hero, he is too flawed and romantic and very human and Anais is definitely not you normal young blushing virgin either. This story also introduces Lindsays friend Wallingford, who is the main character of the next story and I cannot wait to read the love story and meet the heroine who will inspire such a jaded character.

This was a brilliant book that I would recommend to anyone who likes romance; it shows the ill effects of drug taking without preaching and has a beautiful love story between two characters that seem to walk off the page.