Dama por Acaso (Os Haverstocks, Livro 1)

House of Haverstock #1

by Dama por Acaso, Jo Maia (Translator)

Manipulados a se casarem por conveniência para provar que são patriotas, Anna e Charles, o Marquês de Haverstock, questionam a lealdade um do outro. No entanto, não há dúvidas de que o toque macio de Anna enfeitiçou o poderoso aristocrata que se tornou seu marido e que ela anseia por cada momento em seus braços.


Excerto:


Os olhos dela se arregalaram por uma fração de segundo, então se moveu até a borda da cama, assoprou a vela e começou a desabotoar a camisola.


– Eu quero a vela acesa, – disse com dureza. – Sou o seu marido e quero ver o que ganhei com o casamento.


Ele pegou a vela, levou até a lareira e a acendeu novamente no fogo. Caminhou devagar até a cama e a viu tirar o vestido pela cabeça, então, com o rosto em chamas, agarrou o cobertor para esconder os seios.


Pôs a vela no tampo de mármore da mesa de cabeceira e inclinou-se sobre ela, levantando-lhe o queixo com o dedo.


– Eu não posso acreditar que a Srta. de Mouchet enrubesce com a perspectiva de mostrar seu corpo encantador.


– É que… – Anna sussurrou. – Eu não sabia que este ato era feito… totalmente sem roupas.


A risada dele reverberou pelo quarto.


– Sim, minha querida, este ato é feito totalmente sem roupas. Lamento pelos seus antigos amantes, que foram negados o prazer de desfrutar de todo seu corpo. – A mão dele desceu do queixo até o colo onde afastou o cobertor e fechou a mão ao redor de um seio. Com o polegar tocou um mamilo rosa.


– Não existiram outros amantes, milorde. – Ela falou com a voz trêmula.


Ele retirou a mão e encontrou o olhar confuso dela.


– Você está querendo me dizer que é virgem?


Tudo o que ele viu foram os enormes olhos castanhos o olhando de volta como uma gazela amedrontada enquanto concordava com a cabeça.


– Se você diz. Existem maneiras de um homem descobrir se uma mulher ainda é virgem.


Ela erg

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Regency Romance, Historical Fiction, Amazon

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if our h Anna is to stupid to live or just very young. She is eighteen and has no social life at all. No siblings or friends. Her mother has been dead for several years. How a fabulously wealthy eighteen year old has been allowed to live on her own for the past five years without a guardian is never explained. Anyway she has still developed the skill of an advanced card shark and is duped into forcing a dimwit Marquess or whatever he was into marrying her. Then she does one stupid thing after another. But she was nice to poor people and only eighteen so I was willing to cut her some slack.

The H Charles is 32 and described as having a double chin and a receding hairline. Be still my heart. He is a big wig at the foreign office and is in charge of the whole french spy thing. Incredibly the English still eventually won the war. He is the king of misunderstanding. He constantly is in a sulk or pout or refusing to speak to her because he has misread the situation. Most issues could have been cleared up with an honest question. For example "So what did you do this afternoon" ? Instead when he sees his wife returning from doing charity work he assumes she is off having an affair. Seriously only an extremely lonely 18 year old would put up with this guy.

Charles does always stand up for her to his mother though I'll give him that. His mother hates Anna because her father was married to her (the mothers') sister and broke her heart by having the big affair with Anna's mother. The epilogue goes on to tell how she is really starting to like Anna after all. Not in this life time. If eye rolling gives you a headache you may want to skip this one

[Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little story

[Opal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started in a very interesting way. It was about Anna the bastard daughter of a French emigre and an English aristocrat. Her mother wants her to be brought up like other English misses. But Anna's father's family refuses and the mother-daughter stay as outcasts till the mothers death.

Anna is then offered a chance to take revenge on her father's family. This - by cheating at cards and getting married into the family because she believes the hero to be traitor. What is the point of exposing someones activities - when he is her husband? A wife is not allowed to testify in court and after everything she would remain his wife! Thus tainting herself AND her future children. No logic...

Next Anna forces her husband - the Marquis of Haverstock - to consummate the marriage so that it cannot be annulled at a later date.

After all this deception and inherent suspicion, both the hero or heroine keep admiring and appreciating one another! The heroine abandons all attempts to seduce the truth of her husband's traitorous activities and coolly sets off with his sisters to buy them new clothes. Such behavior really challenges your credulity.

The prose is really poor with a lot of cliche'd phrases like "petal soft skin".
I marked this book as Read but I couldn't get beyond 50 pages or so and am not likely to continue.

[Suzan Lauder · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to four because this book was better than just okay, and its limitations weren't in story but in execution. This novel was an entertaining romp with high drama throughout, and tight in its plot. Too bad more attention wasn't paid to detail in terms of period "feel" using correct language and minimizing contractions, as well as technique related to viewpoint consistency and minimizing redundancy. Perhaps this author pumps out too many novels too quickly and gives them short shrift in regard to editing.

I write technical reviews, so there won't be a synopsis nor much of a subjective analysis. Instead, I'll concentrate on those issues that, if ignored by the author, niggle the reader into dropping stars, yet aren't well commented on by most reviewers.

- The plot was excellent in general. Some redundancy in content existed--trust that your readers know the material rather than repeating it! Some of the drama near the ending was low on detail, thus, difficult to follow. The ending was abrupt, and that disappointed, though. One does like to feel the HEA rather than have it truncated in favour of book-stuffing.
- Flow was good, with a consistent pace that kept the reader on their toes, although the redundancy mentioned above did make for some slow spots. The drama near the ending was too fast-paced, so it became difficult to follow at times.
- Dramatic tension was fairly intense throughout the book. This is not for angst weenies. I loved this aspect of the writing, though.
- Point of view appeared to be third person, multiple, with head-hopping and filter words. This means the author probably misused a hybrid with omniscient narrator in the narration portions of the novel while trying to make her POV deeper. She should read up and practice deep POV, the gold standard in romance these days.
- Narration was "telling" and not "showing." This is another modern writing technique for this author to embrace.
- Language was clearly intended to be Regency, with about double the average number of non-Regency words for a Regency romance (eleven), and an average number of non-British usages (four)--I don't count spellings. Three cases of incorrect words or phrases were found. 92+ contractions were used, including some which had not yet been invented by the time of the story. Each one pulls the reader out of the era, something the author should be loath to see happen in her book. Most Regency romances have less than ten, and Pride and Prejudice had only eight contractions. Austen only used them for lower class and silly people. Authors who leave them in their books tend to be either amateur or lazy.
- One punctuation error, a missing possessive, was noted.
- Regency correctness errors included use of a presentation dress for a regular gown--I'm told that presentation dresses had panniers and impossible trains. In the Regency, "drab" was a colour, not a descriptor. Brothers and sisters never, ever danced together. Since dancing was akin to the courtship process, they could not dance together due to the rules of consanguinity. This is alluded to in Jane Austen's "Emma."
- Characterization was consistent for the most part. Secondary characters were more likeable than the protagonists, whose mistrust of each other was so overplayed (the redundancy I mentioned) that it put them in a bad light. The protagonists' waffling almost made them into inconsistent characters--good one day, horrid/stupid the next.
- The author had some good visuals, particularly with regard to clothing and people. Scene-setting using all the senses was evident, and more of this would have enhanced the book.
- The romance in purest terms was harder to swallow. There was clearly healthy passion in a sexual sense; however, it was quite clear that this was lust not love. The animosity, particularly from the hero, made any development of love hard to believe. Little in the way of flirtation or banter or understanding between the two took place to initiate such feelings, and the male protagonist was indifferent to the joys of the family and the heroine just enough that it was difficult to accept him capable of being lovable or loving. But the three little words popped out because of the drama near the end, so it must be true. I found it to seem too convenient.
- I commend the author for getting all her titles and inheritances correct. With such a large cast, it was certainly a lot of balls in the air.
- The cover is clever due to the artwork with the cards, and I especially like that it's different than all those polyester-clad, shirtless, blow-dried covers we so often see in Regency romance. The balance of the title fonts seems just a bit off to me, as if they were forced to fit, but the scale is good for an Amazon thumbnail, which is important. The lady in the artwork isn't as pretty as I would have preferred given the heroine's descriptions in the book.

Overall, this is a high-angst story well told, with excellent twists and turns that only enhance that dramatic tension. The background familial tale is entertaining as well. I believe this book would be stunning with removal of redundancies, use of deep point of view, POV changes by section clearly marked, and no contractions. A bit of reading on these gold standard practices, plus a good editor could help. The author's brilliant voice would still be front and centre.

[Romanticamente Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Il marchese congedò il suo maggiordomo e chiuse con attenzione le porte della biblioteca lui stesso, prima di fare cenno al suo amico di sedersi sulla comoda poltrona Club vicino al caminetto e di versare due bicchieri di porto. Si sedette su una larga sedia davanti al fuoco, dove l’odore del carbone che bruciava era più forte.
“Non potrei dover sottolineare di più il fatto che sia necessaria un’estrema segretezza” disse Haverstock con voce più bassa del suo normale tono di comando. “Devo essere particolarmente cauto, in questa casa piena di maledette femmine.”
Ralph “Morgie” Morgan prese un bel sorso di porto. “Non so come fate a tollerarlo, amico mio. Cinque sorelle.” Morgie rabbrividì come se il porto fosse stato avvelenato.
“Ce ne sono rimaste solo quattro, ora che ho fatto sposare Mary.”
“Oh, fantastico. Solo quattro” disse Morgie generoso.
Fu il turno del marchese di rabbrividire. Se avesse distribuito altre quattro doti, non sarebbe stato in grado di sposarsi lui. Non che volesse farlo, ma comunque malediceva suo padre per averlo lasciato con fondi così limitati.
Come se leggesse il pensiero dell’amico, Morgie disse: “Non siete davvero costretto a dare delle doti sostanziose alle ragazze. Dovete pur lasciare qualcosa per voi stesso.
“Allora non sarei migliore di mio padre.”
.
Anna de Mouchet è figlia di un duca e di una nobile francese sfuggita alla rivoluzione, ma non appartiene al ton. I suoi genitori si sono amati fino alla morte del padre, ma non erano sposati, il padre infatti era già sposato con la cognata del Marchese di Haverstock. Alla sua morte, dato che la moglie legittima non gli aveva dato nessun erede, è Anna ad ereditare tutto ciò che non è legato al titolo, e questo il Marchese non lo ha mai perdonato all’amante del cognato. Gli anni successivi li ha passati facendo in modo che Anna non potesse frequentare le scuole più in voga per le fanciulle del tempo e non venisse accettata in società, nonostante la sua grande fortuna.

Ora che Haverstock è morto, il figlio Charles si trova non solo in ristrettezze economiche ma anche nella necessità di riportare onore alla casata, che il padre ha infangato con il suo comportamento indegno. Per questo con grande fervore, e in segreto, lavora per la Corona. Anna invece è diventata una giovane donna di grande bellezza, dedita alle opere di carità e piena di spirito patriottico verso l’Inghilterra, che lei considera la sua sola e unica patria. Ed è proprio su questo che conta l’uomo che le propone di spiare Charles, convincendola che sia una spia. Attuando un piano, arriverà a diventare la Marchesa di Haverstock per poterlo controllare e vendicarsi così dei torti che questa casata ha fatto alla madre, morta da qualche anno. Eppure nonostante abbia sposato Charles per vendetta, ben presto la giovane donna si scopre innamorata di suo marito. La passione fisica che è esplosa fra loro è intensa, ma i sospetti di entrambi non permettono a nessuno dei due di esternare i loro sentimenti. E passerà molto tempo prima che ogni dubbio venga fugato.

Da qualche tempo a questa parte sto scoprendo molte brave autrici grazie a Babelcube. Questo libro è il primo di una serie che racconta le vicende dei fratelli Haverstock. Charles si è preso il compito di riportare onore al nome della sua casata, per questo grazie alla sua intelligenza lavora in segreto per vincere la guerra contro i francesi. Ed è proprio mentre si accinge a partire per una missione di grande importanza, che si vede costretto a cedere al ricatto di una donna, che considera poco più di una prostituta. Durante tutta la sua giovinezza, infatti, ha sentito ogni giorno sua madre maledire l’amante del cognato, dandole la colpa per l’infelicità, e la sterilità della sorella, e doversi piegare ai suoi piani lo umilia profondamente. Eppure non appena se la trova fra le braccia, per consumare e rendere valido il matrimonio, si rende conto che Anna pur con tutto il suo fascino è ancora innocente, e non può resistere alla passione che scaturisce fra di loro quando si toccano. Non può fare a meno di desiderarla e scopre con piacere che è una compagna deliziosa e incredibilmente intelligente, ma non si fida e tutto precipita quando con sgomento si rende conto che potrebbe aver sposato una nemica dell’Inghilterra.

Anche Anna è divorata dai dubbi, sposa Charles per patriottismo, convinta che sia come il padre, un uomo senza onore. Eppure quando vede come ama la sua famiglia, e come intenda comportarsi in modo amabile, anche con lei, che lo ha ricattato per farsi sposare, si rende conto di essersi sbagliata. Ma essendo all’oscuro del suo vero lavoro, le persone che frequenta le fanno credere che davvero possa essere una spia. C’è passione fra loro ed anche una strana piacevole intimità, ma entrambi non posso fidarsi e questo giocherà a favore di chi li sta manovrando.

Sono tutti personaggi molto ben caratterizzati i fratelli Haverstock, e mentre osserviamo maturare il legame fra i protagonisti, vediamo anche nascere l’amore fra Lydia e Morgie, l’amico di Charles, ed assistiamo hai maneggi di Kate per mettere le mani sul nipote di un vecchio Duca senza eredi legittimi. È un libro che si legge in modo piacevole, con una buona traduzione ed una trama ben articolata, sto già leggendo il secondo capitolo “Duchessa per sbaglio” che vede come protagonista Elizabeth, una delle sorelle, e il Duca di Aldridge. L’unica pecca ed anche il motivo per cui non raggiunge un punteggio migliore è la troppa semplicità con cui Anna riesce a farsi sposare, un piano un po’ troppo semplice e un Morgie un po’ troppo credulone, difficile da digerire, ma questo non toglie che mi sia comunque goduta questa lettura leggera e piacevole.
.
Lucia63 - per RFS

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read! I liked all the characters. Anna is sweet, loveable, and a little naive. I can't stand when female characters are so stupidly misled, but even so it did not distract from the book. Got for free. Goid book pd for or not.

[BJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was rather a comedy of errors that become silly very quickly. She's illegitimate, beautiful and in the midst of the Franco war, perhaps a spy. No wait, the H is the spy, if so he would have to be the most stupid spy of all time. He's a brute too, hitting a long term member of his staff. He was a an awful H, she was an awful h and the whole thing was OTT. Too many sisters, too much silliness.

[Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what to say about this one. It just fell flat. Way too many back and forth misunderstandings. It was like a yo-yo. As soon as one misunderstanding would be “fixed” another would pop up in its place.

Towards the end of the book, I just got bored and skimmed.

[Edwina " I LoveBooks" "Deb" · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anna Was a Traitor to the British Crown!!!

I felt like Anna was a traitor to the Crown and should have been take to the Tower of London. How could any one be that dumb? She makes this loving caring Marquess Lord Haverstock marry her to get revenge on his deceased father. Because of her hatred for Charles Lord Haverstocks father. She believes Sir Henry that Charles is a spy for the French. So she made him marry her by cheating at cards and causing Charles best friend Morgie who is a wonderful character in the story to lose the moneythey need to pay a real French Spy to help them win the war against Napoleon. Anna gives vital information to Sir Henry the real French Spy traitor to England that cause a very important French Operative and friend of England and the Crown get killed. Sir Henry murders the poor man after Anna tells where he lives and what he looks like. Anna Spies on her husband to get information to help Sir Henry/ Anna never displays any real remorse of Pierre Chassney's murder. It does cause the dumb girl to wonder if maybe she is wrong about her husband being a Spy for the French. She later tries to redeem herself by trying to stop her relationship with Sir Henry. and tells him to leave England I still think she should have been taken to The Tower and Hanged.

So why 2 stars instead of 1? I really liked all the other wonderful characters in the story. Even Anna was very kind an generous to everyone, BUT!!! A Traitor is a Traitor!! Had not Charles loved her so much, he would have had her hanged.

[Lady Wesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very nice run-of-the-mill marriage of convenience story with touches of espionage thrown in.

[dakotapie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anna was an idiot.

Also, the scene where they consummated their sham marriage? So confusing.

[Sharonb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated the main charecters. Why don't these people talk to each other?? It really gets on my nerves when there are so many misunderstandings!

[Chiara 🍂 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️
Devo ammettere che appena iniziato il libro sono stata catturata, erano 5 stelle piene perché non riuscivo a staccarmi e loro avevano una chimica pazzesca che mi aveva totalmente catturata.
Più verso il 45% qualcosa si è spezzato, sarà che la comunicazione tra i due sposi era tipo assente, che non hanno mai davvero lavorato sul loro rapporto, che forse lui geloso era anche interessante ma se poi per ogni cosa si arrabbia e non me parla e si chiude in lui rende il tutto noioso e ripetitivo ?
Lei non è senza colpe, nemmeno lei parla poi così tanto con suo marito.
Non so, avevano avuto un inizio perfetto, è stato magico poi all’improvviso non lo è stato più. Che spreco. Se ci avessero fatto vedere più momenti insieme, più chiacchiere, più dialoghi fra loro per conoscersi e amarsi.
Per non parlare della strana famiglia di lui. Come faccio ad aver voglia di leggere di personaggi che i protagonisti stessi definiscono sciocchi e noiosi ?
È stato strano leggere di Kate e di come viene punita dalla sua famiglia per la sua ambizione (si è antipatica ma davvero dobbiamo condannarla se vuole
Il massimo in una situazione del cavolo in un tempo in cui una donna non poteva ispirare a molto altro) perché lasciarla sposare è stato cattivo nonostante se la fosse cercata!
L e M sono una bella copia ma non mi ha fatto impazzire come si sia svolta la loro storia. Avrei preferito meno storie secondarie e una concentrazione maggiore sui protagonisti, sviluppando un rapporto più realistico e profondo :/
Alla fine si amano ma perché? Perché si piacciono fisicamente ? Sicuramente passare delle belle notti insieme può dare modo ai sentimenti di nascere ma può bastare solo questo ?
Per non parlare di quanto sia sciocca la trama dello spionaggio ma quello lo perdono perché non mi aspettavo nient’altro !
Terminando è stata una lettura a carina iniziata facendomi balzare il cuore però poi diventare un po’ noiosetta è deludente proprie o per l’inizio fantastico della storia.
Non lo sconsiglio, anzi! Probabilmente presto leggerò il secondo per sapere ancora si loro.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 10... maybe it was me... maybe ill try it next time

[Julie]

It started out as such an interesting plot, but it was so hard to like the hero after a while. He leaps to conclusions and is so sulky and rude to the heroine time and again that it just was a head-shaker why she was so desperate for his company. The secondary romance of Lydia was nice to see, however, and the book did end happily despite the not-so-likeable Marquess.

[Nickie Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fun! A little frustrating at times what with the lack of communication between the hero and heroine, but I really enjoyed the story. Anna and Charles were great characters, as were Lydia and Morgie. The side stories were entertaining and well-resolved in the end. I truly enjoy Ms. Bolen's work and look forward to reading more!

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you like romance novels? Kidnapping? Deceptive marriages? Secrets? Jealousy? Hidden love? London? Country manors? All those formula plot devices? Well I guess I do. This book satisfied. If that's not your cup of tea, don't even pick this up!

[Space Cowgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

💰Money For Nothing💔

The idea of this ADULT Regency Romance was a good one with a young patriot woman trying to out a spy by getting close to him. But the execution of the book was poorly thought out at best. I was 😞disappointed.

[Grace Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Read it in few days, that's how much i wanted to know more. Very romantic and sensual and loved the story line.

[Donyae Coles · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 28%

Despite all the trickery involved in their marriage everyone seems to just forget that completely. No one appears invested in the side story at all. It's just not engaging.

[Linda J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy most of the story line, but the character's didn't live up to what we are told.

The h is told this man is a traitor. I thought her feelings would convey this, but it didn't. She falls madly in love with the H and barely a thought about his being a spy against her beloved England. Then we have the H acting like a jealous teenager, goes from wanting to bed his wife over and over to sulking.

A reviewer wrote this is fiction and I agree, but a story should be plausible to the reader. The h knows her husband has a brother fighting for England. But, she never questions, why he would be working for France.

I usually enjoy this writer's works now. I realize this was written almost a decade ago, so her writing has improved a lot.

Lovemaking, within marriage, described mildly - heat level 3.5 out of 5. Little on romance, because they are both keeping secrets and have mistrust. The secondary character's were engaging. I found the best friend of the H was ridiculous in not sharing vital info that would have saved trouble near the end.

No cheating, no cliffhanger, HEA and some spice. (ljb)

[Isalum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anna de Mouchet es una joven que vive al margen de la aristocracia ya que su madre era la amante francesa de un noble inglés. Ella heredó gran parte de su fortuna pero era despreciada por los pares ingleses.
El marqués de Haverstock trabaja para el Foreign Office en la lucha contra Napoleón. Su contacto francés es de gran ayuda para la guerra en la península.
A raíz de una situación algo rocambolesca Haverstock acaba casándose con Anna. Cuando vuelve de un viaje a Francia la trasladará a la residencia del marquesado y convivirá con las hermanas y la madre de Charles.
Quizá me ha llamado más la atención la hermana del marqués y su mejor amigo...
LA novela está bien escrita pero hay partes del argumento que no se sostienen. ¿Cómo se explica que una joven se quede huérfana a los catorce o quince y no haya ningún tutor? Haverstock trabajará como espía (bueno, casi) pero no hace más que caer una y otra vez en equívocos con Anna. Es un poco cansado que la situación se repite más de una vez.
La novela podría haber estado mejor pero la autora escribe bien y se agradece.

[Sue Gosland]

As the first book in this series, this sets up the rest of the series.

Anna De Mouchet is a beautiful young woman, raised by a single woman who never married her father. Her mother was French, her father an English nobleman who was married to the sister of the wife of the old Marquess of Haverstock. The new Marquess is a spy for the English Foreign Office, and needs money from his friend Morgan to pay for information from a French Official. Small problem, Sir Henry Vinson sets a plan in motion to gain access to that money and that information. He convinces Anna that the current Marquess is a traitor giving the money to the French for the war effort, not to help the British. He convinces her to win the money from Mr. Morgan and convince the Marquess to marry her to get it back. While his plan works for a while, he doesn't plan on the two of them falling in love. Oops. I loved this story.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. My first thought was that this book is going to be about sex and I even thought about not reading it. I'm glad I didn't because it ended up being a great story that I couldn't put down. It was about a girl named Anna who was manipulated by an evil man into marrying Charles. The evil man said that Charles was a spy for France. She was supposed to find out who his contact was. Once she did that the first time she realized the evil man had manipulated her. The man she was supposed to marry was Charles, the Marquess of Haverstock. Charles was a good man who was angry at Anna most of the time. He was suspicious of the way she manipulated him into marrying her. He suspected Anna was a spy or he thought she was cheating on him. So there was confusion between them about their relationship. I enjoyed Anna trying to get Charles' sisters to marry good men. She also enjoyed charity work. The book has a great ending.

[Ann Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

This book was hard to put down. The characters were all very well-written. The plot was interesting. The pages flowed smoothly. Charles was a devoted Englishman, son, friend, brother, and husband. Unfortunately, he gets deceived into marrying Anna. Anna was a young, naive ninny. But Anna loved her husband and England. Should she has believed the villain? No, but that is what makes the story so I don't understand why other reviewers give bad reviews because of it. I think this was a good book. I recommend it and all others from Cheryl Bolen. I've never been disappointed by any of her books.

[Deb Diem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady By Chance by Cheryl Bolen is an outstanding historical romance. Ms. Bolen has provided readers with a well-written book and a cast of characters that are phenomenal. Believing he is a spy, Anna cheats in a card game to force Charles to marry her so she can pass on information to her mother's friend that works in the Home Office. Charles and Anna's story is loaded with drama, humor, sexy bits, action and suspense. I enjoyed this book from cover to cover and look forward to reading more from Cheryl Bolen soon. Lady By Chance is book 1 of the House of Haverstock Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine Regency

She is the illegitimate daughter of a Duke and his French mistress. He is the son of a Marques who, when alive, was married to the sister of the Duke’s wife. She is convinced that he is a French spy and he is convinced she is the daughter of a ..., well those of you who read chick lit know the rest of this story. She cheats his best friend out of a lot of money and he, in an attempt to regain the money, agrees to marry her. Lots of twists and turns and even more jealousy based on misinformation. Easy and fast reading. Thanks to the author and publisher for an e-galley for an honest review.

[PAMpublish · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who enjoy a Regency espionage novel during the war with Napoleon. Anna, who had a French mother and father who was an uncle of Marques of Haverstock, Charles. Because she was considered illegitimate, although beautiful and rich, she was ousted from London society which hurt her mother immensely before passing away. In a somewhat complicated strategic revenge, she is persuaded to trick Charles, through gambling to marry her, unknowingly becoming a dual spy. Until she learns the truth she is caught in the mix, causing many issues for her and her new husband. Entertaining spy romance for those who prefer this genre.

[Julia B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so, I ACTUALLY REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK. I HONESTLY WANT TO READ MORE BOOKS FROM THE AUTHOR I LOVED THE WRITING STYLE and the characters oh they were all so good! I think I would have liked to eventually know more about the brother because it made me a little sad it was like at the end there Lydia FINALLY falls for Morgie and than the brother comes in out of nowhere and I'm like, excuse me? TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE BROTHER!! Lol no aggressiveness intended in all seriousness, I really enjoyed the book.

[Sarah Ingerson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started with promise. The intro was a bit muddled, but the characters showed an intense chemistry and rapport early on. Unfortunately, the best scenes were in those first 50 pages. From there, the book devolved into underdeveloped melodrama. The characters became frustratingly obtuse and the conflicts became increasingly far-fetched. This book had an interesting premise but suffered from a subpar execution. When I was 70% finished, I seriously considered just putting it down. The second half is just poorly executed.