His Bride for the Taking: A Regency Romcom novella

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I know I’ve watched you cradle a sparrow hatchling in your hand and feed it from a tincture dropper.” I loved a lot about this. The fact that Mary is two years older. The fact that it doesn't feel like instalove because they've both been secretly in love with the other one for YEARS. And the fact that their first fight as a married couple is about how to assemble the frame and slats on a Swedish bed frame without instructions (*cough* IKEA *cough*).

I’m a huge fan of Tessa Dare, so obviously Rogues Rush In interested me. I’ve never read anything by Christi Caldwell, but as some of her books found their way onto my ‘to-read’ list some time ago, this book was a great opportunity to finally familiar myself with her writing. He refused to take up that argument. “You’ll be a lady. A wealthy one. I’ve always known I’d need a wife eventually.” What's better than a great story by one of my favorite authors? A book containing great stories by 2 of my favorite authors. Tessa Dare and Christi Caldwell write a winning combination of lost love found again. Both stories are delightful, delicious tidbits of romance. Definitively a must-read if only for the range of emotions it offered me and the so sweet epilogue. Well, I don’t know how you propose to complete this bed without joining pieces together. Did you find a leaflet in the attic with instructions? In Swedish?"Although I enjoyed this duet - it is Tessa Dare and Christi Caldwell, after all - petty is as petty does and I have to complain about the cover. Both heroines have reddish (described as auburn and crimson) hair. Yet I spy...a blonde?

Justine Eyre is one of my favorite narrators for HR books. There is just something very dated about her performance that makes me feel like I’m in that time with the characters. She did another great performance in Rogues Rush In and added to my enjoyment of the stories. I listened to this at my usual 1.5x speed. Once upon a time, two sworn enemies—the bookish daughter of a scholar and the devilish heir to a duke—made a pact: If they were both still single in ten years, they would marry each other. Well, he’d done more than notice Mary. She’d captured his attention from the very first, and all because she was older. She was more worldly and interesting than the girls his own age. Not to mention, her womanly figure had been a source of both temptation and torment. He put off the wedding once, she corrected. The other time I was in mourning. That wasn’t his fault.

eBook Details

Sebastian Ives, Lord Byrne, had never been one for following rules. But promises? He took those seriously indeed. His friendship with Henry Clayton had been the anchor in his turbulent youth, too valuable to risk. So he’d made a vow to himself, and he’d steadfastly held to it—as best he could, anyhow—for years. It was the first rule of friendship among gentlemen: Never, ever lay a hand on your best friend’s sister. I’m nearly twenty-eight years old. I should think by now I’m responsible for myself. And I may have been jilted, but I’m not heartbroken. Giles and I held each other in esteem, but it wasn’t a love match. I’ll survive. You’ll be ruined. You don’t have the money or connections to overcome even a hint of scandal. If you don’t marry Perry today, you might never wed anyone at all.

Christi has been my favourite (read ‘obsessive’ favourite) for the longest I can recall. My love for historical romance doubled manifold with her stories. While Tessa Dare has been a recent recommendation, that I have also lapped up, because her books just make me laugh. It is her witty prose that took me by surprise and had me hooked. So no surprise there either when I read book 1 in this anthology, His Bride for the Taking, I simply just fell in love with Mary Clayton. She was a perfect heroine in all ways. She wanted something and she went about it systematically to get it. A love story that had an embarrassed hero and a spunky heroine, is a refreshing change and the twist at the end turned out to be the icing on the cake. Made a perfect story even more perfect. I liked this one. It was very sweet. Sebastian has been in love with his best friend's sister forever and she who was older never noticed him. And then when she is left at the altar he marries her instead to save her reputation. I mean what a wonderful guy! Also what horrible times when it means being left at the altar ruins her rep cos people will think they did things before.I finally had a Eureka! moment when I was home on maternity leave and tried my hand at writing a novel. Imagine the joy of discovering that writing was almost as much fun as reading. After years of not knowing what I wanted to do ‘when I grew up’ I suddenly knew. Mary silently cursed herself. She never should have mentioned it. You must stop blaming yourself. It was war; men die. You weren’t responsible for Henry’s decision to enlist. His Bride for the Taking did all of the above. It features a marriage of rescue convenience between a man and his best friend's older (YES!) sister. There is a twist to keep readers on their toes, but it is an otherwise simple, easy and utterly lovely story. I wasn't going to actually admit to reading it, but it pleasantly surprised me enough that I feel it deserves some recognition. (At least, if I mark the really lousy pseudo-Regency Kindle freebies I read, I should mark the semi-decent ones too, right?)