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Lords of Desire
by
Virginia Henley, Sally MacKenzie,
Victoria Dahl and Kristi Astor
Desirable
and Sensual Historical Anthology!
Just in time for
Valentine's Day, the search for an excellent historical romance read
for the occasion has been released with novellas written by four
talented authors in the Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian and Regency eras.
Virginia Henley's "Smuggler's Lair" is a Georgian/Victorian Time-Travel
tale where the beautiful violet eyed Victoria Caswell meets the dark
handsome new resident of Bodiam Castle, Sir Peregrine Palmer Fuller.
Victoria is confused over her emotional draw to the Castle, while Sir
Peregrine struggles with trying to understand his love at first site
for the lovely Victoria. It is when the Caswell family is invited to
dinner at the castle that Victoria suddenly disappears for a month,
only to be drawn back in time, meeting one of Sir Peregrine's
ancestors, the infamous smuggler Lord Falcon Hawkhurst. Victoria and
Falcon fall deeply and sensuously in love. When Falcon is mortally
wounded in a smuggler raid and dies, Victoria feels her life is over,
only to return to the present and realize that Sir Peregrine is
actually her lost Falcon. Will Sir Peregrine come to realize he is the
reincarnated Falcon in time to be reunited with his true mate, Victoria?
Fans of Sally MacKenzie's "Naked Series" will love this new Regency
short story "The Naked Lair." The decade long estranged Lord and Lady
Kilgorn are accidentally placed in the same bedroom during a house
party. Eleanor (Nell) and Ian married young and were madly in love,
only to become estranged after a misunderstanding after the early loss
of their first child. Even though ten years is a long time, can they
reach across the decade and find their love again? Or better yet, can
they come to realize, with a little help from some friends, that they
have never stopped loving each other? This sad story will grip your
heart, but also delight the reader, as only Sally MacKenzie with her
talent can do. It is a great prequel to her next in the "Naked Series,"
"The Naked Baron."
In the straight-laced Victorian era is a wife supposed to enjoy and
desire the full sensual pleasures of the marriage bed? Victoria Dahl
entertainingly addresses the strong desire and passion of a newly
wedded young couple in "Lessons in Pleasure." This delightful story
shows the struggles of Sarah and James Hood as they discover their
passionate natures during a time of sexual confusion and repression in
the Victorian era. Sarah reads and worries too much that she may be a
nymphomaniac and James wonders about his feelings and the possibility
that his passionate acts are being forced too soon on his young wife.
Will Sarah and James discover that intense desire and passion is not
something to be denied, but rejoiced over when true love is the basis
of this sensuality?
Kristi Astor contributes another highly entertaining Victorian era
romance in "Swept Away." This story emphasizes the class differences
during the Victorian era where the aristocracy is being invaded by the
industrialist class. The handsome mill owner Mr. James Leydon has been
attracted for years to the beautiful and highly born Christobel, sister
of his cousin's wife. When Edith and Jasper conduct their yearly house
party and Edith decides to play matchmaker, creating particular
marriage matches of her own choosing, she is shocked and surprised when
it is not the handsome Sir Edmond that the vivacious Christobel is
drawn to, but rather the brooding and handsome Mr. Leydon. When a house
party event of hide and seek turns into attraction, desire and passion
for Christobel and James will they and their friends and family
overlook the class difference to recognize that a true love match is
worth more than status ever could be? This is another delightful
addition to an anthology that will keep the reader glued to the pages
and wishing for more.
"Lords of Desire" is a highly entertaining combination of romances and
a keeper for those who just love to collect romance anthologies.
Publisher: Kensington (February 2009)
Reviewed
by Beverly,
Beverly Romance Books
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