Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 304- The Lady Travelers Guide to Deception with an Unlikely Earl by Victoria Alexander, Street Freaks by Terry Brooks

The Lady Travelers Guide to Deception with an Unlikely Earl by Victoria Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sidney Honeywell did not set out to deceive. She was just telling about adventures her grandmother had in Egypt and at the same time making money for herself. Who knew people would think she was the one having the adventures. Of course some one is threatening to expose her as a fraud and that just cannot happen. Enter the trip to prove she is o is not a fraud and the man she must deceive. A fun romp with many, many laugh out loud moments as Sidney rises to the occasion and finds much more than she expected. Great addition to the Lady Travelers Society series.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

 Street Freaks by Terry Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has a bit of everything. Told from the viewpoint of Ash Collins the story starts with Ash on the run and not knowing why. Along the way he meets a very different group of young people. They are the throwaways of life and they take him in. I loved the interweaving of danger and tension along with the normal problems of youth. Each character had qualities that were easy to identify with. This was a roller coaster of action and mystery as Ash tried to find out why people were trying to find him and discover the secrets they were sure his father had shared. A nice ending with Ash off on a quest. Is that a set up for the start of a new series?

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

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The Importance of Being Wicked by Victoria Alexander

Historical Romance

Goodreads Summary:

"In this dazzling new novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander welcomes you to Millworth Manor, a delightful English country estate where love is always perfectly at home…

For Winfield Elliott, Viscount Stillwell, finding a prospective bride always seemed easy. Perhaps too easy. With three broken engagements to his name, Win is the subject of endless gossip. Yet his current mission is quite noble: to hire a company to repair his family’s fire-damaged country house. Nothing disreputable in that—until the firm’s representative turns out to be a very desirable widow.
Lady Miranda Garrett expected a man of Win’s reputation to be flirtatious, even charming. But the awkward truth is that she finds him thoroughly irresistible. While Miranda resides at Millworth to oversee the work, Win occupies her days, her dreams…and soon, her bed. For the first time, the wicked Win has fallen in love. And what began as a scandalous proposition may yet become a very different proposal."

The Importance of Being Wicked is another wonderful story from Victoria Alexander.  Since Winfield Elliott’s three previous engagements play a big part in the story reading the novella Lord Stillwell’s Excellent Engagements (see my review) will add to your enjoyment of the story.

Winfield Elliott is a really great character.  He was a bit wild in his youth but he has changed into a very responsible man but because of his three broken engagements his reputation does not match the man he is today. He is very conservative and feels that a womans place is in the home.

Miranda Garrett started working and doing architectural drawing when her husband was alive.  She was the better architect of the two and when he died she continued his work keeping his architectural firm alive.  The fact that she is doing most of the work is a secret.  Usually she does not oversee a job but the job for Winfield requires her to oversee.  They start out as less than friends.

I loved the way Win and Miranda gradually became friends and then more than friends.  Miranda’s secrets and Win’s broken engagements are a big part of the tension in the story.  Seeing how each responded to the secrets was very satisfying.  As anyone who reads a romance knows at the end there will be a HEA.  It is the journey to that ending that makes the difference between a good or a not so good story.  The Importance of Being Wicked has a great journey making it a very good story.

Zebra published The Importance of Being Wicked by Victoria Alexander in 2013.

I received an ARC of The Importance of Being Wicked from Netgalley.

Lord Stillwell’s Excellent Engagements by Victoria Alexander

Historical Romance

As I found out at the end of this novella Lord Stillwell decided he was more than a secondary character in Victoria Alexander’s novels.  He showed up in her study demanding a book of his own.  To quote the author “I knew the man wasn’t going to leave me alone until I gave him what he wanted.  But I will make him earn that happy ending.  It won’t be easy for either of us.”

Lord Stillwell’s Excellent Engagements is a prequel in novella form to “The Importance of Being Wicked”  It tells the story of Lord Stillwell’s three previous engagements and why they failed.  Part of the tale we learn from letters written to Stillwell’s cousin Grey in America and part in story form.  This is a great background for what is to come.  The story drops off at the end of the last engagement and before the start of the full length book Lord Stillwell demanded from the author.  After reading the novella I am anxious for the book.

With that enough is said.

Kensington Books published Lord Stillwell’s Excellent Engagements by Victoria Alexander in 2012.

I recieved an ARC of Lord Stillwell's Excellent Engagements from NetGalley.

Goodreads Summary:.

In an enchanting novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander, eligible viscount Winfield Elliott searches for a bride and discovers that love may be lovelier the second—or even third—time around…

ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN…

Some say I do not take my engagements seriously. Nonsense. What man with no interest in marriage would find himself proposing not once, but three times? And each time, I’ve felt certain that this, at last, is the absolutely, positively, perfect woman.

Miss Felicia Whitingdon, for instance, has youth, beauty, style, grace—and a handsome fortune. Lady Lucille Eustice is a widow of impeccable social standing, and a balm to my soul. Then there is Miss Caroline Hibbit, sweet and charming in every way. Any one of these intoxicating treasures could make a man happy. Any one of them could be an ideal wife. But which—if any of them—will it be?