Review: A Marquis to Marry by Amelia Grey

When the Dowager Duchess of Blooming drops by to see Alexander Raceworth during his big party, he is seriously annoyed. He keeps her waiting for quite a while, what on earth could the old biddy want that justifies dropping by unannounced? Imagine his surprise to find that the dowager is far from elderly. She is, in fact, his own age, thirty, very beautiful, and a widow.

Alexander's Grandmother has recently died and left him a fantastic string of valuable pearls, called The Talbot Pearls. The necklace has five perfectly matched strands of pearls, each thirty two inches long. They are stunning. And locked up safely. There has been quite a bit of interest in them lately, since his inheritance was mentioned in the society column of the papers. Already, three different men have approached him offering to buy the pearls.

Susannah, the Dowager Duchess of Blooming, wants them too. But she doesn't want to buy them! She claims that they belong to her own grandmother and were stolen. She even has the paperwork to prove it. There's no way that Alexander is going to hand over his Grandmother's pearls, papers or no papers. He is instantly intrigued, though, with Susannah. She won't leave without that necklace, so she rents the house behind his, settling in and planning to convince him to at least take a fair look at her evidence.

Of course, romance blossoms between Susannah and Alexander. When the pearls are stolen from the safe they are kept in, their budding relationship is ripped apart. They both have the same goal, to get the pearls back from whoever has stolen them. Though they start out separately, the course of their investigations will throw them together and give them the opportunity to try to repair the damage.

This book reminded me a little of the great Georgette Heyer novels. The characters have a snappy and witty dialogue, it is such fun to see them spar with each other! It is a fast, fun read that sparkles with humor. The London scene is vivid and interesting. It is sure to please fans of Historical Romance!

A Marquis to Marry: The Rogues' Dynasty is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1402217609

Review and Giveaway: Bloody Good by Georgia Evans

September, 1940. The plucky citizens of rural England have adapted to wartime life. Everyone uses blackout curtains, rides bicycles to save gasoline and takes in children from the cities or families whose homes have been damaged by bombings. Alice Doyle, the local doctor in the town of Brytewood, in Southeast England, administers what aid she can to the residents of her area. After having been up all night delivering twins, she comes across an injured man in Fletcher's Woods. She doesn't hesitate to bring him home with her, so she can care for him at her clinic.

Too bad the man she helps isn't a man at all, but one of four vampires employed by the Nazis and dropped into the English countryside to attack from the inside. When the ambulance that she has called finally arrives, the man has inexplicably disappeared. Alice's sweet Grandmother, who she lives with, invites the ambulance drivers in for a cup of tea. One of them is a nice young man named Peter Watson. Or he seems nice enough, but when Alice finds out that he is a Conscientious Objector she loses all respect for him. A healthy young man like him should be out there fighting, like her brothers are.

The disappearing man was the first odd occurrence, but there are soon more. Alice and her nurse, Gloria, have their hands full and desperately need some assistance. Their prayers are answered when a first aid assistant is assigned to them. It turns out to be none other than Peter Watson. Alice will have to find a way to work with the man, despite her personal feelings.

The vampires have their plans, and soon they are putting them in action. Fortunately for the citizens of Brytewood, there is some truth to the old folklore tales that everyone has been raised on. Magic still exists in England, though it has long since been dressed in a veil of normalcy. Take Alice's Gran, for instance. She is Pixie, a centuries old magical race and Alice is, too, though her rational mind refuses to believe it. And the old Sergeant in the village is a dragon. He rarely uses his dragon shape now, but he is still in command of his powers and is ready and willing to use them in defence of his beloved country.

If the Nazis think they have a monopoly on the supernatural, they are sadly mistaken. The vampires they have recruited are far from the only creatures in this war and they will find that their task is much harder than they had anticipated. The humans have far more help than they ever realized, but they will need every bit of it to defeat the greatest evil that the world has ever known.

This book is a wonderful combination of historical fiction, romance, fantasy and paranormal. I was immediately interested in the World War II setting and I loved the imaginative use of the folklore of England. I really enjoyed this one and am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series, Bloody Awful and Bloody Right. The only complaint I have is that the book should have been proofread more carefully. I received a finished copy and found quite a few typos and context errors that would have been caught by a good proofreader. Otherwise a very entertaining, delightful book!

Bloody Good is published by Kensington. ISBN 978-0-7582-3481-0

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