Friday Featured Spotlight ~ Entangled Scandalous ~ 3 Historical Romance Reviews

Scandalous is a historical category romance imprint of Entangled Publishing priced at $2.99 and sold digitally. Historical doesn’t mean antiquated! Passion and romance are exciting in any era. And torrid love affairs are even more illicit when social mores forbid the entanglement. These stories are bold, sexy, and heartfelt, and can be funny, action-packed, mysterious, dramatic, but above all…scandalous.

*Books source ~ Many thanks to Entangled Publishing for providing me with review copies in exchange for honest reviews.

Title ~ Her Wicked Sin

Series ~ Sins of Salem, #1

Author ~ Sarah Ballance

Publisher ~ Entangled Scandalous

Published ~ 9 September 2013

Genre ~ Historical/Romance

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

Lydia Colson is a physician/midwife in the town of Salem. One dark night after delivering a baby and she is on her way home she comes across a man thrown from his horse. Getting him to her home and examining him shows several injuries, but none severe. However, in the process of her examination a neighbor bursts in to request her services and sees Lydia in a compromising position with a half-naked strange man. In order to save Lydia from a charge of adultery, Henry Dunham declares himself her traveling husband. As no one has seen Lydia’s husband (since he’s actually dead) the story is plausible. However, malicious people are accusing neighbors of witchcraft and Lydia ends up in their sights. Will Henry be able to save Lydia before she is convicted of being a witch?

A fan of historical romance this is the very first book I’ve read detailing the time of the Salem Witch Trials. I have to say I was fascinated by the way the Puritans lived and completely disgusted by their (some of them anyway) hypocrisy. The mob mentality and the fear of those who want to help the accused but can’t risk being accused themselves…rock meet hard place. I only had a passing lesson in the history of the time and that was a long long time ago. This story put me there, to experience what it was like to be accused and be helpless to disprove the allegation. If History in school could be parceled out in fascinating stories like this one then I might have been more interested in the subject during my school years. LOL

Henry and Lydia are very likeable characters. I wanted them to succeed and I wanted the shitty people in Salem to get their just desserts. Ah, well…one out of two isn’t bad. The mystery surrounding Henry’s brother was a little too neat, but overall this is a wonderfully told story of a time in our history that has not much for us to be proud of.

Title ~ Tempting Bella

Series ~ Accidental Peers, #2

Author ~ Diana Quincy

Publisher ~ Entangled Scandalous

Published ~ 9 September 2013

Genre ~ Historical/Romance

My Rating ~ 5 bites out of 5

Mirabella Wentworth is the daughter of a Duke and when she’s 13 he marries her off to the 3^rd son of Cyrus Stanhope, 19-yr-old Sebastian in payment for a gambling debt. After the wedding Sebastian goes back to school and it’s six years before he and Bella meet again. Can this gloomy unlikely start of a marriage become something great? Or was it doomed from the beginning?

I have to say that this book is delightful from beginning to end. The characters come to life and the writing is fantastic. The plot is a bit more unique than I’ve ever seen in an historical romance, but it works wonderfully. During the entire reading I was empathetic with Sebastian and Bella. Even when they did something that was a bit stupid I understood why they were screwing up. It was because they are so well-written I could tell why they were acting they way they were. It was torture to sit there and go ‘Oh, no. That’s a really bad idea. Don’t do that!’ and know I had to let it play out in order for the relationship between Sebastian and Bella to advance. Torture, I tell you! Wonderful torture. All-in-all this is an awesome historical romance that will make you laugh, sympathize and fan yourself over the shared chemistry. This one is a definite keeper.

Title ~ Romancing His English Rose

Series ~ Lady Lancaster Garden Society, #2

Author ~ Catherine Hemmerling

Publisher ~ Entangled Scandalous

Published ~ 9 September 2013

Genre ~ Historical/Romance

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

Ever since Rose Warren could talk she called Simon ‘Mine.’ At age 10 Simon thinks five-year-old Rose is an irritant, but when he finds out she’s actually correct in her statement that he is hers because of a marriage contract signed by their parents he changes from an intelligent biddable boy to someone else entirely. He doesn’t want to be forced to marry Rose and when Simon makes her cry she decides he is no longer worthy of her. Years later, when Simon and Rose are thrown together to solve a case involving his cousin and a poisoning they come to the conclusion that their parents may have been correct in pairing them up for marriage because the sparks are definitely flying. Can they explore this new relationship and still solve the case?

While this story is definitely well-written, entertaining and even smokin’ hot without being explicit I had a problem with it being book 2 in the series. Since I didn’t read book 1 I felt I was missing a big chunk of the story involving William and Hannah and Simon’s cousin. And I hate missing out. It drives me insane. Reading this story without reading book 1 will probably not bother a majority of the population. However, if you’re like me, then I suggest picking up book 1, Taming Her Forbidden Earl, first before immersing yourself in Rose and Simon’s story. So that’s why I give it a 4.5 instead of a 5. All-in-all a wonderful historical romance with a mystery to solve added in for extra spice.