My Scandalous Bride [Mass Market Paperback]

The heroine, Laura Haver, in Christina Dodd's The Lady and the Tiger is out to avenge the death of her brother. She sets out on her own investigative mission and enters into a fabricated marriage to get to her target. What she does not anticipate is the unbridled passion that develops between them.

In Melting Ice by Stephanie Laurens, childhood sweethearts Dyan St. Laurent and Lady Fiona have found each other and the love they lost in a most uncommon place, an orgy! Despite their odd meeting they clear up all misconceptions that have kept them separated for years and rekindle the fire between them.

Alfred Knight, in Celeste Bradley's Wedding Knight, has lived his entire life trying to avoid scandal. Little does he know he will marry directly into it when he chooses his bride to be. She is nothing she appears to be, but everything he needs.

Julia Hamilton, a recent widow, is now engaged to be married in three days, but a secret love has returned and intends to seduce her and make her his wife. Leslie LaFoy's The Proposition keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering who will Julia choose.

Not one for romance, I found myself enjoying the four tales of love, lust and deceit. These ladies know their craft and have converted me into a fan of romantic fiction.

Reviewed by Aiesha Flowers

of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

"The Lady and the Tiger' by Christina Dodd. In 1813, Laura Haver obsesses over who killed her brother, first secretary to Lord Keith Leighton. Clues take her to a smuggler's cove where she poses as Keith's wife not knowing that her "husband" is there seeking the identity of who murdered his employee.

"Melting Ice" by Stephanie Laurens. After a decade in India, Dyan St. Laurent Dare comes home when his brother died making him a duke and quickly wants Lady Fiona Winston-Ryder as his wife because he loves her. A debauched gala gives him the opportunity to serve as her gallant rescuer and hopefully forever lover.

"Wedding Knight" by Celeste Bradley. In 1813 Alfred Knight avoids scandal so no one can point the finger that he is just like his mother, which leads to his agreeing to wed Betina Trapp who wants nothing to do with him. Betina persuades her twin Kitty to take her place temporarily as Alfred's fiancée. Kitty falls in love but she fears he will drop her once the subsequent scandal erupts that the switch will cause.

"Proposition" by Leslie LaFoy. In 1877 Lord Rennick St. James knows that the clock is ticking against him as the woman he always loved Julia Hamilton is engaged to someone else. Just back in England, he has four days to seduce the widow into marrying him or face cold self imposed exile again.

These four nineteenth century historical romances are fine novellas that fans will appreciate because the lead couple in each case seems genuine as they star in a scandalous fun frolic.

Harriet Klausner

As the editorial states, this is a star studded line-up. I rated this book five stars, but that's because I only read the last two stories, and they were both worth five stars. I don't normally read either Christina Dodd or Stephanie Laurens, and I didn't read those stories here, so I can't comment on them.

Celeste Bradley is one of my favorite authors, (she's why I actually picked up this book, truthfully), and true to form, this story was excellent - and exactly what you would come to expect from Celeste Bradley - a *really* strong and unusual heroine, lots of twists and turns to the storyline, and most of all, lots of fun. I absolutely *adore* strong heroines, so this story had my votes from the start. It does suffer a little bit because of the length, this IS a short story, so it resolves quite quickly, but all in all, good enough for five stars.

This was about two twin sisters, Kitty and Bitty, Bitty is getting married, and Kitty is left out of the fun. Until... Bitty gets cold feet at the last moment, and Kitty decides to try to save the day by pretending that she is Bitty... just for a *very* short time. Truthfully, this plot has been done before, but this one was just done *so very well*, Kitty and Bitty are both truly hilarious (each in their own way). If I had a complaint to make I would perhaps say that Kitty is a bit *too* strong in a heroine - but that's not possible (a heroine can't be too strong) so I won't say it. When I mean a strong heroine, I mean it, I don't mean strong-until-the-man-comes-in-to-save-the-day. Like I said before, this story suffers from the length, I would have liked to see more of a reconciliation at the end.

This was the first I've read of Leslie Lafoy, and I have to admit that I was quite impressed. The writing was excellent, really, really unusually good, and there was a good storyline, plus character development, there as well. This one also suffered because of the length - the dilemma the heroine finds herself is a hard one, and was resolved much too easily. But even so, this was still a five star read. I will definitely be searching out more books by this author!

I do enjoy these short story anthologies, because as a general rule I like short stories better than long ones (due to my time crunch - I hate waiting a few days to find out the ending of a story) and as a bonus, you get to find some excellent new authors. And although some anthologies, are, to be blunt, somewhat stupid, this one was, IMO, definitely worth reading.