Wednesday 26 January 2011

Early Review: The Mistress' House - Leigh Michaels

Genre: Historical romance
Pages: 320
To be published: February 1st 2011 Sourcebooks Casablanca

When the handsome, rakish Earl of Hawthorne buys the charming house across the back garden from his town home, he never expects the lovely lady he installs there to ensnare him completely…

After Lady Anne Keighley marries the earl, it seems a shame to leave the house empty, so she offers it to her childhood friend Felicity Mercer, who discovers that the earl’s gorgeous cousin is precisely the man she’s been waiting for…
 
Finally, feisty Georgiana Baxter moves into the house to escape an arranged marriage, and encounters the earl’s friend Lord Julian Silsby late one night in the back garden. The handsome soldier is more than willing to give her the lessons she asks for…

Plot:
This is not just one story, they all connect, but it is actually three stories. In the first we meet Hawthorne who meets a mysterious woman, who wants a lover. But he ends up falling in love with his Lady Anne. In the next story Anne rents out their former love nest (that is just behind their own house) to a friend who meets the Earl's cousin. And then at last Hawthorne gets a ward who causes a bit of scandal of her own in the house.

My thoughts:
After my last book that I could not focus on I was happy to see that this was not the case with this one. It had me reading the three different stories quickly.

How to review it then, since there are three love stories...I must focus on one at a time. The first one is about Lady Anne who is a widow, and does not want a husband, but a lover might do the trick. I liked her, she was aware of things, but a bit broken too, and then there was Hawthorne, yes we do all love a rake. Since the story about the affair is 100 pages long things do happen quickly. And this is an affair so that works well. This was my fave story of the three, and we do see more of them in the two other stories.

The next one surprised me a bit, I thought Felicity was crazy at first, and so thought Colford. That made this story a bit different. There was a broken heart, and lies from the past. She owned a mill up north, he was of noble birth. And then there was something she wanted that I shall not mention. But again she knew what she wanted, and I liked that about her. And he, well he could not believe his luck. So I liked this one too.

To the third story, not so keen about this one. Georgiana was just too young, naive and innocent, and honestly silly. The other two women knew what they were doing but Georgie, no, and cos of that I just thought Julian should have shown a little more (ok a lot more restraint.) But there was one thing I liked about this one and that was the end. Good solid ending. I liked how Michaels kept surprising me.


Recommendation and final thoughts:
In the end, there was two good stories, and one where I was a bit annoyed at the couple. But I still read the story quickly. A nice romance, and lots of passion, because this is a book about mistresses and they have 100 pages to fill so they filled a lot of that time in bed. I was certainly in the mood for a historical romance. If you want some passion with your romance then this one might be for you.

Reason for reading:
Sounded interesting.

Cover:
Nice, but she looks like enjoys it more. He kind of stares at her back as if he has seen something there, lol.

33 comments:

  1. It does sound interesting - but too bad the third story wasn't as enjoyable as the first two. I'll look for this book.

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  2. I would still like to read this book.

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  3. It sounds enjoyable and I like how they each move into the house and then find their love.

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  4. I like when there are multiple stories in a book but some how they intertwine

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  5. I remember seeing this book mentioned on Babbling about Books in her WTF feature because the book blurb description seemed so convoluted. I was therefore interested in reading your review of it, though I still don't think it sounds like the book for me.

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  6. Sounds saucy! Might be good for a hot summer day!

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  7. LOL - they filled a lot of that time in bed - alas that's what mistresses do ;-D

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  8. I could use some smoldering passion - even if it is just literary!

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  9. Mary
    I guess they all can't be as good but that did not matter in the end.

    Mystica
    I did enjoy it and it was short, and I read it fast, all things I like.

    Carol
    It was a magical house, lol, ok not so much, one man said a bedroom looked like a bordello lol

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  10. Awesome review! I loved the first story the best too! I loved Hawthorne! I felt the same about the other two stories too! My review will be up soon!

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  11. Inked
    I liked that, it was different, because as one story ended another soon started. But we were still kind of where we left the old couple.

    Simcha
    Lol, yes I remember that. I do admit to being confused too, but I just had to read it a couple of times.

    Amused
    I could see it as a beach read :)

    Velvet
    Lol, so true so true

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  12. The cover is a bit hot! I am blushing.

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  13. 3 stories that interconnect? Sounds interesting. Oh, and all I can think of since you described the cover is that he is leaning over telling her she has something in her teeth! lol

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  14. Alyssa
    You can never go wrong with smoldering passion :=)

    Carrie
    Can't wait to read your review :D I felt kind of bad for him too, everyone still thinking he was a rake, poor fellow..but then he enjoyed it ;)

    Vivienne
    It sure is ;)

    Melissa
    Lol, you really should see his face close up, he is thinking about something and that is not passion

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  15. She has some cottage cheese between her teeth perhaps? Not persuaded by the plot but your review amused me (so no, you nasty she-devil, you won't tempt me this time, go away and remove this sulphur from my monitor! ;)).

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  16. I like the idea that theres 3 stories connected and it sounds good!

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  17. Three stories in one book? Wow that is a lot!

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  18. "they filled a lot of that time in bed" haha that cracked me up, but this certainly sounds hot!

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  19. Two out of three good stories isn't bad at all. They sound good.

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  20. Im so not into Historical =P but this sounds very nice =D thanks for the review! =D

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  21. Thats a juicy cover and I do enjoy this genre. Too bad the third story wasnt too good.

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  22. I have not heard of this one...thx for the review!

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  23. Chris
    *waves*

    Ana
    Oh you crack me up, I am so gonna make you read a completely fluffy romantic book one day, mouwahaha

    Elysium
    It was sure a nice idea, and it worked well too.

    DC
    But it works, so that was good, so they are more short stories

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  24. Melissa
    They do the title credit, lol

    Yvonne
    Perhaps you would like the third better, I am sure I would have liked it better too before :)

    Larissa
    They all say that, and then they all join in...I hope ;)

    Naida
    I do love the cover, as long as I do not stare to much at his eyes ;)

    Mandi
    I am glad you enjoyed it :)

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  25. Kinda like three for the price of one. And 2 out of 3 good stories is not bad at all =)

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  26. Mishel
    Nope not bad at all :=)

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  27. Two out of three isn't bad, there always seems to be one where it feels like they're reaching just a little bit.

    Excellent review B! I'll have to add a historical to my list.

    Dottie :)

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  28. Great review B! @/3 couples isn;t bad. Also like the new look and feel of the blog :)

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  29. Dottie
    They can't hit a homerum every time :) perhaps it is just me getting older *coughs* Ok I am not that old, I was only 9 years older than the last young heroine, lol

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  30. Jenny
    Thanks :) I am very happy with it. I do like my newish home

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  31. No wonder, I read the book summary and it didnt make sense until I found out that its 3 stories. Thanks for the review.

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  32. Jenny
    It was confusing for me first too, but then it all made sense :)

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