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The Heiress in His Bed
In polite society, the rules forbid young ladies to pursue their own passions and pleasures. But some rules are made to be broken. . .
A Desperate Charade. . .
To escape an unwanted marriage, Lady Viola Gambol flees to London and poses as a maid in a boarding house. Little does she know that the -boarding house- is actually a brothel-until the owner auctions Viola off to the highest bidder! Viola vows to fight off the auction's winner, Julian Devize-but her immense attraction to the scoundrel is making that very hard to do. . .
A Seductive Encounter. . .
Julian was hired to find missing heiress Viola Gambol, but first he must rescue his brother from a house of ill repute. When Julian sees the alluring maid being sold like a slave, he impulsively makes a bid to protect her honor. Julian has no idea that the woman he saved is the one he's been hired to find. But his honorable intentions take a scandalous turn as temptation leads to unrelenting pleasure. . .
413 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
3 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 4, 2009
This book is retarded. The heroine is a ninny, the hero is dim, and I wont even go into the sex scenes. Bleh I say, bleh.
P.S. I may return to give a more artful review, but at the moment I'm too annoyed
P.P.S. My co-bloggger and the majority of Romance Review Land lurve this book. So perhaps you'll like it too? heck, stranger things have happened lol.
P.S. I may return to give a more artful review, but at the moment I'm too annoyed
P.P.S. My co-bloggger and the majority of Romance Review Land lurve this book. So perhaps you'll like it too? heck, stranger things have happened lol.
August 19, 2011
Sometimes stories of a naïve, spoiled, overly-confident in her beauty and intelligence country bumpkin that decides to travel to London to execute a half-cocked plan that would prevent her from marrying the man her father had betrothed her, only to end up in need of rescue immediately as she end up in a brothel thinks is a boarding house, work and sometimes they don’t. Only I don’t think there’s ever been a brothel slash boarding house involved.
This one didn’t work. At least not for me. I severely disliked Viola, though Ms. Lejeune probably wanted to endear her to me. She failed. I guess she wanted her portrayed as a character with depth and onion-like, but I just didn’t feel like seeing her like that. She’s shallow, flying high on her importance, spoiled, and bossy. The only redeeming quality was the fact she didn’t give a fart as to what people thought of her. She takes no prisoners and while that is an admirable trait sometimes, sometimes it isn’t. While she didn’t care what people think about her, she also didn’t particularly care what some people wanted or wished. She was always right. And that bugged me. No one is right all the time!
I acutely felt for the hero. Julian, that poor soul, had no idea what he’s gotten himself into by associating with such a shrew. She had it all planned out, his career, their honeymoon, everything. He only had to nod. If he didn’t, poor him. I admire strong women who know what they want, but she was much too pushy and bloated on confidence for my taste.
So the romance between them seemed off, bland, lackluster, and weak. I just didn’t see them as a couple. They were more like bickering siblings most of the time, or high-school sweethearts that were bound to go each their own way, but no, they were getting married. And I just didn’t see the reason why.
This was supposed to be a comedy, what with two idiotic leads, a menagerie of “funny” supporting cast, the misunderstandings ,the bickering, the arguments, the piling up of “comedic” incidents...And while it was funny at first, but it quickly turned so silly it wasn’t funny anymore. For a screwball comedy it screwed a little too many balls.
This one didn’t work. At least not for me. I severely disliked Viola, though Ms. Lejeune probably wanted to endear her to me. She failed. I guess she wanted her portrayed as a character with depth and onion-like, but I just didn’t feel like seeing her like that. She’s shallow, flying high on her importance, spoiled, and bossy. The only redeeming quality was the fact she didn’t give a fart as to what people thought of her. She takes no prisoners and while that is an admirable trait sometimes, sometimes it isn’t. While she didn’t care what people think about her, she also didn’t particularly care what some people wanted or wished. She was always right. And that bugged me. No one is right all the time!
I acutely felt for the hero. Julian, that poor soul, had no idea what he’s gotten himself into by associating with such a shrew. She had it all planned out, his career, their honeymoon, everything. He only had to nod. If he didn’t, poor him. I admire strong women who know what they want, but she was much too pushy and bloated on confidence for my taste.
So the romance between them seemed off, bland, lackluster, and weak. I just didn’t see them as a couple. They were more like bickering siblings most of the time, or high-school sweethearts that were bound to go each their own way, but no, they were getting married. And I just didn’t see the reason why.
This was supposed to be a comedy, what with two idiotic leads, a menagerie of “funny” supporting cast, the misunderstandings ,the bickering, the arguments, the piling up of “comedic” incidents...And while it was funny at first, but it quickly turned so silly it wasn’t funny anymore. For a screwball comedy it screwed a little too many balls.
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October 3, 2013
I'm surprised by how many people did not like this book. Over all I found it to be very funny and witty with plenty of side stories and drama to add to the fun. I started reading at 11PM and meant to just read a few chapters before going to sleep, I ended up staying up until 4AM... Oops :/
Lady Viola has lived her life happily with out having ever stepped foot in London or coming out, seemingly by choice. She is the younger sister to a Duke and had certainly received more than her portions of brains and whit. That being said she is also a bit spoiled, more than a little stubborn and having never been out in society and their games a bit naive. Aside from that Viola has taken charge over all the estates affairs. She chooses the Vicars, the MP's for Parliament; She writes speeches for them and sends her advice in the end you get the distinct feeling that she is very much like Mycroft Holmes only on a slightly Smaller level.
Julian Devize is the second son of a Barron who has been disowned and become a walking scandal. After selling out of the Army he refuses to follow his fathers wishes to go into the Church and instead looses all his money to a (now called) Stockbroker. This event however sparks his interest in the stock market, which in turn lead him to breaking the Childe bank. The result most of London society hates him and the government watches him as a potential traitor.
Upon learning of her engagement on her twenty first birthday Lady Viola decides that she will do anything to escape her Vows. Anything leads her to London Posing as Mary Andrews, the daughter of the recently deceased Yorkshire Vicar. Upon her arrival Viola is taken in by Mary's aunt, who thinks that she is Mary, and taken to a boarding house that her aunt runs. It is not until over a week later that she discovers that her 'Aunt' is auctioning her off to be some rich mans mistress and that the 'boarding house' is really a house of ill-repute.
Julian, meets 'Mary' when he is fetching his brother from her aunts whore house. Almost instantly he relies that Mary is a gently raised lady who has no idea that she is to be auctioned off in two days time. Entering the auction himself under the pretense of representing Viola's brother he saves her from the auction block, Julian takes her home with him. A home that is over a Pawnshop!
From here Hilarity ensures Viola is still going by Mary's name yet acting as she normally would. Viola sends society on edge with her outrageous actions and sense of style. Emotions and misunderstanding abound as plots are hatched to break her engagement to Julian from all directions by both those who know her as Viola and wish her to marry others, and those who think her to be Mary, a girl with no money or social connections.
I think that this book is somewhere around 500 pages (I read the E book so I'm not certain) so to be able to write down everything would be near impossible or at the very least exceedingly long. I will say for as silly and naive as Viola is, she really is very smart and quick witted. Some of the humor in this book is smart humor, some is stupid humor, and a good portion is sarcastic or dry humor that you have to think about. Every part that is written is important and adds to the story in someway so to skip a few pages would be disorienting. The sex scenes aren't much to talk about but then again they are just a drop in the rest of the story. I highly recommend this as a book to read and would give it a higher rating that 5 stars if I could.
Lady Viola has lived her life happily with out having ever stepped foot in London or coming out, seemingly by choice. She is the younger sister to a Duke and had certainly received more than her portions of brains and whit. That being said she is also a bit spoiled, more than a little stubborn and having never been out in society and their games a bit naive. Aside from that Viola has taken charge over all the estates affairs. She chooses the Vicars, the MP's for Parliament; She writes speeches for them and sends her advice in the end you get the distinct feeling that she is very much like Mycroft Holmes only on a slightly Smaller level.
Julian Devize is the second son of a Barron who has been disowned and become a walking scandal. After selling out of the Army he refuses to follow his fathers wishes to go into the Church and instead looses all his money to a (now called) Stockbroker. This event however sparks his interest in the stock market, which in turn lead him to breaking the Childe bank. The result most of London society hates him and the government watches him as a potential traitor.
Upon learning of her engagement on her twenty first birthday Lady Viola decides that she will do anything to escape her Vows. Anything leads her to London Posing as Mary Andrews, the daughter of the recently deceased Yorkshire Vicar. Upon her arrival Viola is taken in by Mary's aunt, who thinks that she is Mary, and taken to a boarding house that her aunt runs. It is not until over a week later that she discovers that her 'Aunt' is auctioning her off to be some rich mans mistress and that the 'boarding house' is really a house of ill-repute.
Julian, meets 'Mary' when he is fetching his brother from her aunts whore house. Almost instantly he relies that Mary is a gently raised lady who has no idea that she is to be auctioned off in two days time. Entering the auction himself under the pretense of representing Viola's brother he saves her from the auction block, Julian takes her home with him. A home that is over a Pawnshop!
From here Hilarity ensures Viola is still going by Mary's name yet acting as she normally would. Viola sends society on edge with her outrageous actions and sense of style. Emotions and misunderstanding abound as plots are hatched to break her engagement to Julian from all directions by both those who know her as Viola and wish her to marry others, and those who think her to be Mary, a girl with no money or social connections.
I think that this book is somewhere around 500 pages (I read the E book so I'm not certain) so to be able to write down everything would be near impossible or at the very least exceedingly long. I will say for as silly and naive as Viola is, she really is very smart and quick witted. Some of the humor in this book is smart humor, some is stupid humor, and a good portion is sarcastic or dry humor that you have to think about. Every part that is written is important and adds to the story in someway so to skip a few pages would be disorienting. The sex scenes aren't much to talk about but then again they are just a drop in the rest of the story. I highly recommend this as a book to read and would give it a higher rating that 5 stars if I could.
August 27, 2012
It was ok. It was pretty funny, in fact.
But this is not like many historical romances… it's more like one particular historical play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not word for word or something, but the tone & the personalities of the characters, straight from Shakespeare. It was well done, but it was also too redundant for me. At first, before I put everything together and realized what it was exactly that I was reading, I thought "can this be a parody?" and that was kind of annoying, since I love historical romance. This is probably just because of my state of mind at the time of reading, though… so that's just a personal sidenote I guess.
I didn't like the snottiness of the heroine one bit. It was hard to enjoy her brattiness. It was hard to see past her entitled attitude. Lucy was a drab little character, but I think I'd have enjoyed it more if the story revolved around her and Alex.
I think if I knew what I was reading before I began to read it, it'd be a five-starred review from me.
But this is not like many historical romances… it's more like one particular historical play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not word for word or something, but the tone & the personalities of the characters, straight from Shakespeare. It was well done, but it was also too redundant for me. At first, before I put everything together and realized what it was exactly that I was reading, I thought "can this be a parody?" and that was kind of annoying, since I love historical romance. This is probably just because of my state of mind at the time of reading, though… so that's just a personal sidenote I guess.
I didn't like the snottiness of the heroine one bit. It was hard to enjoy her brattiness. It was hard to see past her entitled attitude. Lucy was a drab little character, but I think I'd have enjoyed it more if the story revolved around her and Alex.
I think if I knew what I was reading before I began to read it, it'd be a five-starred review from me.
March 9, 2010
Boy buys girl (literally). Boy bangs girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Boy and girl get engaged. Boy and girl break up and act like immature brats. Girl runs away to country to screw up everyone else's life. Boy finds girl, steals her dog and girl agrees to marry him. The very worst of all romantic genre stereotypes in a 410 page nightmare.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2014
Much too long - atleast 10 chapters could've happily been thrown out, with ENTIRELY unlikeable characters and a mishmash of plots which are hard to follow and altogether unnecessary.
Stupid, stupid story.
Stupid, stupid story.
November 17, 2011
This book was not the best. However, towards the end I kept reading for the sheer ridiculousness of the plot. Some of the twists were pointless and unnecessary, in my opinion (the governess, for example) I did have a problem with the main character. For the most part, spoiled heiresses can be good heroines-(Emma, for instance, is one of my favorites) however, the author did nothing to make me emotionally involved with viola. There was a moment that I felt I could maybe care, but then she'd say or do something completely idiotic.
That being said, there were enough good points to the book, that made me keep reading. Also, its still probably better than anything I could ever write.
That being said, there were enough good points to the book, that made me keep reading. Also, its still probably better than anything I could ever write.
December 1, 2019
I hate *not* finishing a book. I always wonder to myself, what exactly did I miss??? .
I love reading. I love romance novels. But I am *no* martyr. And I just couldn't finish this one.
Guess how many times I find it cute for a partner to coerce their significant other into having sex which is AND I QUOTE "painful"?
The answer is zero. The first time, I pushed through, assuming it was necessary for the storyline and added something to character development. The second time, I said, nah, I'm good. The other reviews spoke of how annoying the heroine was. No one mentioned her slightly r*pey SO. After getting about 61% through the book, I decided my eyes and iPad battery life deserved better.
Writing is crap, too.
I love reading. I love romance novels. But I am *no* martyr. And I just couldn't finish this one.
Guess how many times I find it cute for a partner to coerce their significant other into having sex which is AND I QUOTE "painful"?
The answer is zero. The first time, I pushed through, assuming it was necessary for the storyline and added something to character development. The second time, I said, nah, I'm good. The other reviews spoke of how annoying the heroine was. No one mentioned her slightly r*pey SO. After getting about 61% through the book, I decided my eyes and iPad battery life deserved better.
Writing is crap, too.
November 27, 2014
I read this book specifically because I loved Tamara's Surrender to Sin. Surrender was light and fun and absolutely hilarious. I read Rules of Being a Mistress and even though it was not as funny as Surrender is was entertaining. But I had to force myself though this book. I absolutely hated the main character Viola. And the constant confusion was more annoying than humorous. I'm really disappointed in the book. I gave it two stars because there were a few entertaining parts but not enough that will make me want to read the book again unlike Surrender which I've read at least half a dozen times.
June 11, 2012
This was a love/hate book. Viola was a very frustrating character at times. But I have to admit that her silliness was a little funny too. Julian was really cute hero.
August 4, 2010
This was a very fun read. Once I got used to Ms. Lejeune's style of writing, I was able to fall right into Lady Viola's madcap life. She was spoiled, demanding and a lot of fun. She liked everything and everybody just so and didn't mind giving them directions...err orders one bit. Especially those PMs. Her and Dev's romance was fun and chock full of absurdities. So if you want to have a good laugh with your romance, this might be the book for you.
August 4, 2010
While quite funny in parts, that was not enough to redeem the arrogant, snotty, obnoxious, and spoiled heroine in my eyes. Too many characters (referred to by their names and their titles) forced me to pause frequently and try to remember who was who. I did like that the hero was poor and the heroine was quite rich. That, at least, is a nice change of pace.
July 1, 2012
Others have given good breakdowns of this book's plot. I think this was supposed to be a screwball comedy. However, there were just too many twists and turns to the plot and too many supporting characters. Instead of being funny, the storyline became confusing and boring.
This isn't a book I will read again.
This isn't a book I will read again.
July 24, 2015
I have to say this book made my head hurt...but in a good way. This book was well written and very funny in a confusing way. I can't wait to read more by this author and I'd love for her to continue this and made it a series. I'd love to know what happens to all the character and also to learn more about the Duke...hmmmm what's his story.
April 19, 2014
To me the book did not flow smoothly. At first I thought maybe it was because I didn't have a long span of time to get into it. That wasn't the case, because about half way I devoted an hour to it. Still the story seemed choppy. I didn't care for the characters much either.
April 2, 2016
A highly enjoyable farce/comedy of errors. Don't read it for the characters or the romance; read it for the sheer ridiculousness of the plot.
May 24, 2012
Some fun moments, but absolutely ridiculous and absurd overall
June 15, 2012
It felt like a grossly exaggerated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream with all the hijinks and complications.
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