The lovely widow at Number Ten Dudley Crescent hopes to lead a merry life without any husband to replace the elderly one she recently buried. Yet Lady Ranford finds herself in a pickle. Her new butler, Finnley, is not only the most obstinate man she’s ever met, but also an enigma. She’s never been lured to naughtiness with a man. Heaven knows, she certainly shouldn’t fantasize about the tall, … tall, dark, scowling creature who runs her household like his finely tuned pocket watch. But she can’t help herself. She needs to taste him–or dismiss him.Finnley, poor fellow, has a few risqué dreams of his own about how he’d like to handle the delectable widow. Alone in his rooms, he tries to deny how her humor riddles his mind and how her beauty steals his breath away. None of his solutions are proper. All of his desires are quite…dear me…scandalous. But what’s a butler to do when the very life of his beloved employer is at stake? And he cannot control his need to protect her and…ahem…bed her?
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A Lady In Love With Her Butler
Go ahead and add Finnley to the list of the most drool worthy, swoon worthy heroes. An excellent read that moves quickly with a man on a mission to find a murderer and claim the woman he loves.
In the first book of the Delightful Doings in Dudley Crescent series, Lady Alicia Ranford finds herself admiring more than her butler, Wallace Finnley’s, work ethics. Alicia lost her husband over a year ago and a lot of suspicious circumstances were surrounding his death. Soon after Lord Ranford’s demise, the valet disappeared and the previous family butler reported odd things going on in the home and was later found dead. Working undercover, Finnley is trying to find out who is trying to harm Lady Ranford. Accidents are happening too often and they are not just coincidental. The big flaw in his investigation is the beautiful Lady Ranford. During the war, Finnley was friends with her brother, Jerome. He feels that he owes it to his friend to protect Lady Ranford from further harm. Lady Ranford insists that Finnley travel with her to the funeral of her old Governess but she also insists that he shares her bed for one night. What is Finnley going to do, to not only protect Alicia from harm, but protect his heart as well? Will Alicia be able to forgive Finnley when she discovers his true identity or will she choose to forget the one man that showed her what love and intimacy is all about? I absolutely loved this book! It is filled with mystery and romance! I cannot wait to read the second book in this series! Author Cerise DeLand continues to mesmerize me with her wonderful talent!
4.25 STARS
I enjoyed the who done it and you didn’t know exactly who the murder(s) were which kept the story moving.
At times I really didn’t care for the h, she wanted the H and made it difficult for him. The H was loyal and smart and played the Butler to perfection. I wanted the h to discover who she was related too, but that wasn’t brought up to her.
There is lovemaking outside of marriage, heat level 5 out of 5. There is some romance but it was more lust filled than romantic passion.
Some suspense, no cheating, no cliffhanger, HEA and bedroom door wide opened. (ljb)
Lady Ranford the lovely widow at No. 10 Dudley Crescent is now coming out of mourning & hopes to lead a merry life without an elderly husband. Her new butler, Finnley, is not only the most obstinate man she’s ever met, but he’s a virile enigma who tempts her.
Finnley, poor fellow, has a job to do not only is he a butler or is he? But he has to protect Alicia as there have been two suspicious deaths in the household.
A well written engrossing read with very well portrayed characters. I loved both Finn & Alicia whilst their attraction sizzled it was the verbal banter that raised this book above the norm. Finn isn’t just the efficient butler & I loved how we were drip fed his backstory & who he really was. A lovely romance which also had the added element of crime & mystery. I read it in two sittings & didn’t want to put it down. The author always writes an engrossing read & this is the start to what looks to be another brilliant series
Oh, the goings on in No 10 Dudley Crescent…
Seriously, if you don’t make a point of reading this book then you will be missing out on a delightfully witty, amorous story that is also a cleverly written murder-mystery. It really is well worth reading!
I loved the way that lady Ranford sets her cap for her Butler, Finnley and then tries every trick in the book to seduce him. Mind you, he really doesn’t need to much encouragement in this department as he is totally smitten with her too.
Cerise DeLand has a wonderful gift in her story telling and as I thoroughly enjoyed it, I am very happy to recommend this book.