Showing posts with label Maya Rodale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maya Rodale. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Some Like It Scandalous by Maya Rodale

Some Like It Scandalous by Maya RodaleDaisy Swann has hated Theodore Prescott the Third since he named her Ugly Duck Daisy. She knows she's plain. She's known it since they were kids. She doesn't need people quacking at her as she walks into ballrooms to remind her. Especially since Teddy is an annoying example of male perfection.
But Teddy's life isn't all grand. He's finally landed himself in a scandal large enough for his father to finally cut him off. And Teddy knows that, other than being charming and handsome, he doesn't have a lot going for him. He's not especially good at anything except coming up with rude names for young girls.
It's too bad that their parents would like Daisy and Teddy to be married. Neither is happy about that idea but it is Daisy who suggests that they go along with it... for awhile. Hopefully she can get her cosmetics company started up to make money before her father's bankruptcy is discovered.
This is a romance, so of course their plans will go awry. But it is a lovely journey seeing how Daisy and Teddy learn to understand each other and learn to work with each other to face the world. And I really liked the author's note for this book. Rodale's explanation for how and why she developed the characters that are showing up in this series brought the characters even more to life.

Four stars
This book comes out on June 18th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Monday, December 19, 2016

Lady Claire Is All That by Maya Rodale

Lady Claire Is All That by Maya RodaleLady Claire Cavendish is all that is unfashionable, the glasses, the intellect, the gall to be an American. That is why Lord Mowbray chooses her in a bet with Lord Fox to be the woman that Fox can transform her. 
Fox has just suffered a Set Down. He was involved with the most popular woman in the ton, Arabella Vaughn, who jilted him for an actor. An actor. So he decides to salvage his Male Pride (annoyingly in all caps, mentioned frequently) by accepting a bet to make Claire the most popular woman in the ton. But as he gets to know Claire, he stops thinking about Arabella and starts concentrating on what he's learning about this bluestocking. Mainly what he's learning is that he'd very much like to get to know her more.
I mostly enjoyed this book. The Male Pride thing, as I mentioned earlier, was a bit annoying and there was just a teeny bit too much going on so that parts didn't get quite as developed as one might hope. But I'm still looking forward to the story of James and (I hope) Meredith Green, the girls' chaperone.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out December 27

Sunday, July 14, 2013

At the Duke's Wedding-multiple authors

At the Duke's Wedding (A romance anthology)The first three stories were... okay. The last did not interest me at all. I rounded up from the two and a half stars that I would have given it if Goodreads did halves. I saw this listed on the Kobo site and was intrigued by the blurb. I had a little extra time and money and went for it.
I've read novellas around one event before and have enjoyed them. This one wasn't as well done.
The first story is "That Rogue Jack" by Maya Rodale. Henrietta Black is resigned to being a spinster companion for an irascible old lady. But right now she needs to get the Duke's ancestral ring from Jack, Lord Willoughby but he's not only a rake. He's something of a wastrel.
It was a hate-to-love story that felt rushed. I realize that this is a novella but it was still awfully fast.
"P.S. I Love You" by Miranda Neville came next. I like Neville but this one was... not her best. It's a Cyrano story where the man behind the letters takes a lot of liberties with the supposed woman he loves. Luckily, she figures it out pretty fast so that part held up but... meh.
"When I Met my Duchess" by Caroline Linden rounded out the trio that I was able to read. The Duke from the title figures out that he wants to marry his intended's vivacious sister. But he sort of blackmails her into it. Blergh.
I was already falling out of this book when I hit "How Angela Got Her Rogue Back" by Katharine Ashe. It's  a time-travel story. Don't love those to begin with and this one just stretched my suspension of disbelief too far. This was a DNF.

You know, looking back, this really was just a two star book. Novellas tend to be underdeveloped just because of their length but these were especially not good.