Society shunned the base-born rogue. Matrons whispered behind their fans about his sensual exploits. Young ladies secretly dreamed of his intimate touch. No one expected Drake Wilder to force his way into the closed ranks of the nobility-by coercing a very proper lady to the altar.
To save her family from ruin, Lady Alicia Pemberton agrees to wed the scandalous owner of a gambling club. She insists upon a marriage in name only. But Drake has other plans for his lovely, high-born wife. First, he will use Alicia to exact revenge on the father he never knew. Then he will work his scoundrel's charm to seduce her into his bed. But Alicia isn't the meek, submissive wife. And Drake soon finds himself in peril of losing his heart...
From http://www.barbaradawsonsmith.com/bio... A member of Romance Writers of America since 1981, Barbara Dawson Smith sold her first historical romance two weeks after sending it to a publisher. Her books have won the Golden Heart Award from RWA, and Best Historical Romantic Suspense and Best Regency Historical from Romantic Times. She has been a finalist for the National Readers’ Choice Award, Romance of the Year by Affaire de Coeur magazine, the Golden Quill, and the Booksellers' Best Award. She has also been a five-time finalist for the prestigious RITA Award, and realized a lifetime dream in 2002 when she won the award for TEMPT ME TWICE. Barbara also writes romance as Olivia Drake.
Barbara lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and who knows how many neighbor children running up and down the stairs. When she's not finishing a chapter or teaching a seminar on writing, she enjoys browsing in her collection of over a thousand research books.
A very pleasant, well written, highly illogical read, but totally satisfying for the Historical Romance addict in me:) I just needed something light and Happily Ever After promising, and it delivered on all fronts:)
Well written story about an illegitimate son-Drake-out for revenge on his father the Marquess. Drake becomes a self made millionaire. He owns a gaming Hell. He plans to steal the h away from his father who wants to marry her.
"Society shunned the base-born rogue. Matrons whispered behind their fans about his sensual exploits. Young ladies secretly dreamed of his intimate touch. No one expected Drake Wilder to force his way into the closed ranks of the nobility-by coercing a very proper lady to the altar."
There's no part in the book that saya "ladies secretly dreamed of his intimate touch". Maybe just his wife.
Lady Alicia is forced to marry the owner of a gaming hell, Drake, in order to pay back her brother's debts. Drake has picked her for revenge against his father, who refuses to acknowledge him as his son.
This is one of my favorites. While Drake and Alicia spark at the beginning, they are a great match. The supporting characters are all fun and interesting as well.
DESAFÍO HISTÓRICO: S de Seducida por un canalla (2/6)
Continuando con mi reto de históricos, encontré esta novela que según un par de reseñas los protas eran muy cute together. Me animé y lo leí. No era cierto, lamentablemente.
Es una novela muy de antaño. Su relación se construye con bases en el engaño y la mentira y la desconfianza reina durante el matrimonio hasta que en realidad la paz entre ambos es un bien más bien escaso. No soy muy fan de esas historias, pobre de mí, me gusta más las relaciones donde la gente disfruta de conocerse no que sufran por conocer la verdad del otro.
Drake me gustó mucho. Lástima que tenga que ser tan despiadado a veces pero su preocupación por sus empleados me pareció muy genuina. Mientras que Alice por otro lado es demasiado aristocrática para mi gusto.
This was honestly an ok book! I think I'm in a place where I'm saturated with this genre, but also desperately in love with it and want to read better and better books?
The reviews on this seemed promising and I was expecting a new fav bc I've never read a Barbara Dawson Smith/Olivia Drake book and I was super excited. My disappointment ultimately meant less enjoyment and, again, my 3*s are good books that I enjoyed so I can't give this a 3 sadly.
I thought this started with a lot of potential. A forced marriage trope? Ok you had me. Drake is actually a great hero!! I dug his inner kindness and thought he was compelling. On the other hand, I really could not bring myself to believe in Alicia's character (I'm horrible, I forgot her name and had to go look it up on my Kindle and having to look up a mc's name never ends well for the book rating). Anyways, Alicia was kind of all over the place. She changes her mind often and very quickly and I can't even remember specific instances, but I found the book confounding at times.
This book, despite everything I said above, was actually a very readable, fun and easy, quick historical romance to read if you're in the mood. I think because I've read a lot in the genre, I will admit I rate more on comparison in that I now have read enough to know what my personal taste 5*s/4*s/3*s are and judge books on how they compare to previous books. Although now I'm like.....hahahah isn't this how all ratings go anyways? It's this like the definition of rating books or at the very least we always consciously or unconsciously rate books on how they compare to past books?
All to say....this was a quick read and if you're craving something in the genre that is just a quick fun time. I think this would scratch that itch. I loved Drake and he's worth it. However it didn't really impress me and I was expecting a lot more. Ugh expectations always kill.
One of my favorite ever. Alicia is a penniless lady: her father lost all his money and her younger brother lost the rest in a gaming hell. She’s now destitute and asks The hero, the very rich owner of a gambling house, to pay her debt becoming his mistress. The hero asks her to marry him. The heroine despises him and refuses him at the beginning, but since her mother has Alzheimer she accepts. After their marriage she will find out that her husband even if he’s an illegitimate son is more honorable and noble than all the royalty she used to know. It’s a beautiful book. The heroine is a prejudiced woman, who thinks that people with a title are better than others. I hated her in the beginning, she was rude and snob to the hero when it was her father and her brother’s fault if she was destitute. Then she finds that all the people she used to know consider her an outsider both because of her father and because of her mother’s illness. Even the man she was about to marry is the villain of the story, and so her best friend who married years ago a gentleman she was in love with, had an awful marriage because he cheated on her and left her in the country all the time. So in the end she is not only in love with her husband but she has another POV of all her previous acquaintances. Moral of the story ( and lesson for the heroine): noble is who noble does.
Argumento: La sociedad rechaza a ese bastardo inmoral salido del arroyo. Las señoras, ocultas tras el aleteo de sus abanicos, cotillean sobre sus mas famosas conquistas. Las jovencitas sueñan en secreto con sus caricias. Pero nadie espera que Drake Wilder se abra camino hasta lo mas encumbrado de la nobleza, arrastrando al altar a una autentica dama.
Para salvar a su familia de la ruina, lady Alicia Pemberton acepta casarse con el escandaloso propietario de una casa de juego. Insiste en que sea un matrimonio puramente de conveniencia. Pero Drake tiene otros planes para su adorable esposa de alta cuna. Primero utilizara a Alicia para vengarse del padre al que nunca conoció. Después pondrá en juego todo su encanto de seductor para atraerla a su cama. Pero Alicia no es la esposa débil y sumisa que el había imaginado....y, repentinamente, Drake se encuentra en peligro de perder su corazón.
Who could expect the infamous Drake Wilder would be the real heir. I was deep into reading this and didn't expect that Alicia would go into putting herself in to a situation that her brother hates. What shocked me the most was when Alicia told Drake that she would have herself as Drake's mistress. And even telling him that she's untouched. What I do find quite astonishing was to know how Drake became the rightfully heir besides his crippled half brother.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all enthralling and the plot was amazing. Too bad the father had to die, but the likelyhood of him accepting Drake as his son without questions being asked of his character made it slightly acceptable. Drake and Alicia hit off amazingly and it went on to the end. I really see this as a must read.
ooohhh!! felt good reading this one..had depth in there and good real characters..although plot wasn't unique ,but still good! This is same as in by Olivia Drake.
Kasyno https://betinia3.pl/ to wspaniałe miejsce dla fanów gier rekreacyjnych i miłośników hazardu. Wyróżniają się tu świetną ofertą gier, w tym wieloma wariantami klasycznych gier kasynowych oraz nowoczesnymi slotami. Interfejs strony jest przejrzysty i intuicyjny, a obsługa klienta na najwyższym poziomie. W kasynie oferowane są liczne promocje i bonusy, co stanowi dodatkową zachętę do gry. Wysoki poziom bezpieczeństwa i szybkie wypłaty środków są gwarancją, że gracze mogą skupić się na grze i cieszyć się nią bez obaw. Betinia kasyno to miejsce, które polecam każdemu, kto chce spróbować swojego szczęścia i spędzić czas w przyjemny sposób.
I liked the book till about the half-way mark. I would have given it a 5 stars rating. After the half-way mark, it just became another mediocre HR book.
Very good writing,so wonderful to read,my only problem is the hero's father should have grovel to his death mother and to him how he behaved with them.
Starts with Insta-lust and about halfway through becomes very steamy, too steamy for me. Did not care for Drake and his arrogance. Certainly did not care for his father.
Estuvo bien. La verdad es que lo leí hace años y es divertido, se pasa volando, aunque tiene casi todos los clichés que existen. Creo que alcancé mi límite de libros de señora del mes.