Season for Surrender (Holiday Pleasures, #2) in Fans of Eloisa James & Julia Quinn

Dec 23, 2016 (Nat) Reading Romances rated it really liked it

Fact or fiction?

Season for Surrender plays with the reader and adds facts to its fiction in a clever manner, containing several events.

I didn’t particularly liked some of the characters and found them a bit irritating, but the interaction between the couple was really good. I didn’t read the first book in the series, and I don’t believe I found the background stories lacking any important element. The only thing that left me wondering is how they ended up having so many scenes alone without ...more

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Dec 24, 2014 Charlene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: follow-this-series, rated-not-reviewed, public-library, romance, reviewed, regency, holidays

One of the best recent books I've read in this genre. The hero and heroine first appeared in the previous (first) book in the series and you should definitely read it first to get a fuller appreciation for the players in this story.

Especially the heroine and hero are layered and/or hidden in plain sight. How does one manage to live with expectations of others? Can one be true to oneself? What does it take to peel off those layers, to trust another enough to do so?

I now must read the next two boo ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Phoenix77 rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-romance

As I’ve stated before on this website, whenever I read a book with a love triangle theme I always seem to find myself routing for the third party in the relationship. When I read Theresa Romain’s debut book last year I had more compassion for the character of Louisa Oliver than I did for either the hero or heroine. I wanted her to have the same chance for happiness and find a person who would care for her as she is rather than because she was convenient. With this year’s release Season for Surre As I’ve stated before on this website, whenever I read a book with a love triangle theme I always seem to find myself routing for the third party in the relationship. When I read Theresa Romain’s debut book last year I had more compassion for the character of Louisa Oliver than I did for either the hero or heroine. I wanted her to have the same chance for happiness and find a person who would care for her as she is rather than because she was convenient. With this year’s release Season for Surrender, Louisa finally has her chance at love.

Season for Surrender picks up Louisa’s story roughly a year after her engagement to Viscount Matheson ended when he fell in love with her step-sister. Louisa had never claimed to love her former fiancé, yet she was still hurt by the idea that she wasn’t enough for him and that her sister was. She has also been stuck living under the same roof as the now married couple, seeing their happiness on a daily basis and yearning for something similar. Within that years’ time, Louisa has been trying to understand the woman that she is and figure out exactly what she wants out of her life. An unexpected invitation to a Christmas party held on the estate of the infamous Lord Xavier seems like the perfect chance to escape her normally quiet existence and have some of the experiences she has denied herself.

Unfortunately, Lord Xavier’s invitation isn’t necessarily for the pleasure of Louisa’s company but more his capitalizing on her reputation as a demure bluestocking in order to win a bet against his equally scandalous cousin. Lord Xavier has long been the toast of the demi-monde in London, with an outrageous reputation of wagers and women filling his every night. Xavier uses his reputation to keep himself relevant within his social circles, accepting any new rumor about his exploits as just another part of his whole. Yet underneath all the pretense of Lord Xavier is a quiet and intelligent man named Alexander Edgeware; a man who would also love to meet someone who can look past the social mask he has perfected to see him as just himself.

I enjoyed how much Louisa and Alex complimented one another; as his attention allows Louisa to feel desired for herself, while her patience and awareness lets Alex take the first tentative steps away from the persona he has been hiding behind for too long. There were a few times where I felt Louisa was guarding herself too much against falling for Alex, not trusting that his feelings for her were real and fearing her own emotional response. I wanted Louisa to keep pushing him towards his better self, but often when he is making the attempt at being genuine she would keep her own emotional distance and he would retreat back behind the mask. By their last encounter it felt more like she was using him and his reputation just so that she could have a new experience, yet she wasn’t giving him back any of herself.

I do think Ms. Romain did a good job of showing Alex’s insecurities about just being himself and his fear of becoming irrelevant to his peers. So much of his life in London was wrapped up in the stories people told of him that even he wasn’t sure where Alex ended and Lord Xavier began. It did get a bit ridiculous having Alex create the perfect facial response to every situation, even numbering and naming them for use later. I understood that those “looks” were just physical masks that he wore around those he didn’t want getting close to the real him, however they just got over-used as the story progressed. I also had a hard time believing that a man who made it his purpose in life to present a false front wouldn’t be perceptive enough to see that same trait in others. The false camaraderie Alex’s cousin shows towards him was evident enough, and for a man who needed to be needed I’m sure Alex could have found a better sycophant within any club in London.

I liked Season for Surrender as a quick and light read. The problems that come up between Louisa and Alex are quickly resolved and the misunderstandings aren’t drawn out over long periods. There is just the right touch of whimsy in the story with touches of the holiday traditions of the times. The secondary characters played their parts well, as both comic relief and as sounding boards for the main character’s thoughts along the way. Altogether, I enjoyed this story and look forward to Ms. Romain’s next book. ...more

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Dec 21, 2013 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads, holiday-romance

Another sweet holiday romance from Theresa Romain. This story centers around Louisa, Julia's sister who found herself unfortunately engaged to the man who really belonged with Julia, and Lord Xavier, the man who supposedly spread a story that created a huge scandal involving Julia and James. After weathering the storm of scandal that came about with her broken engagement and her fiance's subsequent marriage to her sister, Louisa decides she is in the mood for a change, and the perfect opportunit Another sweet holiday romance from Theresa Romain. This story centers around Louisa, Julia's sister who found herself unfortunately engaged to the man who really belonged with Julia, and Lord Xavier, the man who supposedly spread a story that created a huge scandal involving Julia and James. After weathering the storm of scandal that came about with her broken engagement and her fiance's subsequent marriage to her sister, Louisa decides she is in the mood for a change, and the perfect opportunity arises when she receives an invitation to attend Lord Xavier's famously depraved holiday house party ... an invitation only issued because of a bet Xavier made to keep her there for the entire two weeks. The house party begins and Louisa finds that Xavier is not quite the rogue he leads others to believe him to be, and Xavier finds that Louisa is not the quiet, reserved bluestocking society has labeled. In fact they find that they have a lot in common. Lord Xavier, or Alex, finds that he no longer has the desire to win his bet as he does all that he can to protect Louisa, even at the expense of his own reputation.

What follows is a story that is a perfect read for a cold winter day. I liked the characters of Louisa and Alex. I do think that perhaps there might not have been enough explanation to show exactly why the super quiet and reserved girl of the first book in this series suddenly becomes so bold and daring. Sure, she says that she needs a change, but this change seemed to be almost too easy for her. It is hard to believe that I am reading the same character. Maybe that is the whole point. I don't know. It is only a small issue, but it is something that concerned me a bit as I read.

I LOVED that these two bonded over classic literature. I loved that theirs was a love that blossomed because of a true meeting of the minds. I also enjoyed how observant Louisa was, and how that ultimately helps Alex to accept who he truly is. This does seem like the sort of relationship that could have a solid fictional future in store. The ending was a bit rushed. I would have loved to have it a bit more drawn out, but still it was satisfying and enjoyable. I was pleased with the ultimate Happily Ever After. I do recommend this for fans of historical romances who want a quick and sweet holiday themed read. Four stars! ...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Tahyun rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-romance, genre-romance-historical, genre-romance-christmas

I thought this book was really good. It was the first I've read by this author, although I see that she has one before it. I would say the character development was extremely good (and that's my favorite so naturally, my rating reflects that). The plot was interesting enough, although I found the "villain" a bit contrived and at times bombastic. Also, the supposed main plot felt a little bit like a pale backdrop at times, so that affected the pacing of the novel, in my opinion.

However, I found ...more

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