A Reckless Promise by Kasey Michaels

Another romance where someone (Darby Travers, Viscount Nailbourne) makes a battlefield promise to become his friend's guardian if something happens to the friend. But, while a lot of romances have the guardian falling in love with his new ward, Michaels instead has Darby falling into a convenient marriage with his ward's aunt. At first, Darby is bemused to find that seven-year-old Marley comes with a fearsome protector, Sadie Grace Boxer, but then he finds that it may be easiest just to marry her. He's a viscount of a certain age and the mamas of some young ladies are looking at him with a certain gleam in their eye. Sadie is fairly good-looking and seems reasonably intelligent, so Darby decides to go for it.
Some of the story lines are a bit thin but regular Michaels fans will be thrilled.

Four stars
This book comes out July 26
Follows A Scandalous Proposal

A Scandalous Proposal by Kasey Michaels

In the first book, An Improper Arrangement, we met Cooper Townsend who was recently given the title of Baron for work he did at a battle outside Quatre Bras. According to the pamphlets currently flooding London, Cooper is a hero who saved a pack of children who had wandered onto the field of battle. A blonde-headed, green-eyed hero. Too bad that's not quite the truth. And too bad he's being blackmailed.
Three Stars

Also being blackmailed? Miss Daniella "Dany" (what's with that spelling? SO distracting) Foster's sister, a countess. Who's going to help them? Well, a bona fide hero of course.
I did NOT like the initial description of Dany. It made her sound like she was twelve years old. She's twenty-one but good God, she sound like a child. Which makes the romance in this just super ooky.

Three stars
This book came out today
Followed by A Reckless Promise

An Improper Arrangement by Kasey Michaels

This book starts off with a Big Secret... which could lead to a Big Misunderstanding and I was a bit trepidatious, but this was Kasey Michaels so I trusted her. And I was so glad I did. She not only had the hero talk to the heroine about the Secret, she gave the heroine a Big Secret of her own and they talked about it. It was so lovely to read.
Okay, so the Big Secret is actually introduced after the prologue wherein our hero and his three friends entrust some instructions for a large battle to a young man who, instead, runs to safety. And then his father bought a medal for him. So Gabriel Sinclair is pissed. Well, not as pissed as he used to be since it's over a year later. Instead, he's more concerned that his uncle, the duke, has retired to his bed. It seems the last five dukes have all died close to their sixtieth birthdays and he is rapidly approaching that age. Meanwhile, Gabe's aunt has just returned from the United States and is bringing a surprise.
Dorothea, "Thea" Neville is twenty-two and this trip seems to be her last chance for marriage. She's not particularly interested in Gabe, even though he's the ducal heir. But there's something about his wit (he feels the same about hers), and their mutual attraction that seems to be pulling them together.
A fast and fun read. I also enjoyed the B plot of Thea's maid, Clarice, being elevated to companion and getting engaged to Gabe's friend Rigby (the requisite "silly" one of the group.)
Next up, is Cooper Townsend, recently given the title of Baron, who also had several pamphlets written about him. He needs to get married so women will stop chasing him. I do love those stories.
Book comes out December 29, 2015.

Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Kasey MIchaels

(So... the bare bones of this review was up on Goodreads for almost a year but I had to update after I woke up last night and couldn't go back to sleep. I pulled up an old book thinking it would lull me back into slumber. Two hours later, I was shutting down  my Nook with a happy sigh. Oops. Thank goodness I don't work today.)
So... much.. fun. This book has been in my TBR pile for so long I almost forgot it was there but I am so glad I pulled it out. (And on re-read, it's still fantastic).
Architect Douglas Llewellyn has been named Philadelphia's most eligible bachelor four times. At first, he thought it was fun. But now, at forty, he's starting to see his partner settling down and he's realizing that a different woman every night is starting to wear him down. 
He's off to watch his cousin's young daughter get married. The same cousin who tries to set him up with every desperate woman she knows. Also, the same cousin who's been stepping out on her husband with boys half her age. He's not looking forward to it.
But when he gets to the party, he's attacked by a woman he's never met, someone who's calling him darling. He's game and plays along. It turns out that Rosie Kilgannon is trying to escape her own setup. They decide to band together and escape Bettie's (the cousin) machinations. 
Rosie, at thirty-two, is older than the average age of the women Douglas dates by almost a decade. However, there's something about her that he just can't escape. For her part, Rosie's a love'em-and-leave 'em sort of gal but something about Doug makes her start thinking about settling down. It's a horrifying thought. But the sex is spectacular and she really needs his help to figure out why the groom (the man marrying a dear friend of hers) seems so... hinky.
The main characters are relateable, the secondary characters are adorable but not intrusive.
Loved. It.
(Why only four stars for such a glowing review? There was not only no outright mention of using condoms, when Doug and Rosie are having sex not near them, she offers up the old chestnut, "I'm on the pill." Like that protects you from STDs. Really Kasey Michaels?)

Four stars

This book came out September 1, 2006

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Much Ado about Rogues by Kasey MIchaels

Black Jack is the last of the Blackthorn brothers to find his perfect mate. Except, that's not exactly true. He found someone once, bt than lost her when her father blamed Jack for her brother's death. But now Lady Tess Fonteneau is back in his life because her father, it seems, is once again up to no good. The government chooses Jack, as a former protege, to track him down. Tess loves her father. She knows that he isn't perfect but he's been there for her and he really seems to have bonded with her son. (This comes in the first part of the book, so it's not a spoiler to mention it here.) Yes, Jack has a secret son. And he's not a complete asshat about the whole thing! He's a little disappointed that she couldn't trust him, but he knows the familial history (Would have given the book three stars except that this bit of actual heroics in a hero pushed me over.) Part of that history is another protege of Tess' father who seems to be trying to kill not only her father, but Tess and Jack as well.
I mostly liked this story. It drew me in and kept me reading. If you like Kasey Michaels, You'll really enjoy this book.
Read-alikes: Amanda Quick, Mary Balogh

The Return of the Prodigal by Kasey Michaels

Picture from Amazon

Assumed dead by his family, Rian Beckett is actually somewhat less than whole (he lost an arm), but definitely alive. He is been kept alive, but drugged by his family's enemy, Edmund Beales. More specifically, he has been receiving personal attention (both figuratively and literally) from Beale's daughter, Lisette. Beales wants her to help Rian escape so that he can then track the two of them back to the Becket stronghold. Can the connection between Lisette and Rian overcome the ties she feels to her father?