Not for nothing is Gabriel Sinclair known as the King of Hearts. His wit beguiles, his charm seduces, and he’s never met a woman he couldn’t captivate. He’s at home on the sea but nowhere else. As for family? He has seen enough madness in his own to last a lifetime. He shuns hopeless causes, deeper emotions, and any whiff of permanence. Widowed Louisa Peabody tolerates no man’s touch. Her past … Her past has shown her men are seducers and abusers. Accordingly, she devotes herself to aiding abused women. After she accidentally saves Gabriel’s life, he agrees to help her stage a daring rescue. But it’s a devil’s bargain: Can she protect herself from that wild, reckless fire in his eyes?
Maitland’s Rogues: Andrew Maitland’s group of daring English rogues risk all for their country. Hardened and deadly, they have no use for love—until it ensnares them…
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4.5 stars.
After a drunken bet goes horribly wrong, Gabriel Sinclair finds himself with a noose around his neck and in his last moments contemplates his life and wishes for a second chance. His second chance comes in the form of Louisa Peabody…
Louisa Peabody is a woman who has been grossly wronged by the men in her life and has made it her mission to save other women from the injustices heaped on them by men. Scarred inside by the events leading up to and her incredibly brief marriage, Louisa believes that love is not for her and turns all her passion into helping other women. When her latest rescue mission goes wrong and she ends up with Gabriel instead of the woman she planned to save from the gallows, Louisa reluctantly takes Gabriel back to her home and nurses him back to health.
Once Gabriel recovers and is ready to leave, Louisa makes him an offer, help her break the woman she originally meant to save out of prison and she will pay him a small fortune for his help. Tempted by the money and the lovely repressed woman making the offer, Gabriel agrees to her mad scheme.
Gabriel and Louisa are wonderful leads that have both had more than their fair share of pain and heartache. Gabriel finds himself drawn to Louisa and fights his reaction to her – he will leave and forget he ever met her – he really will! And Louisa needs no man in her life, she will be happy to see the last of Gabriel – she really will! Ah the lies we tell ourselves 🙂
This is a truly lovely story of second chances and the healing power of love. I thought it was really well written and paced well. The dialogue is both amusing and heartfelt. The secondary characters aka The Flowers are a wonderful addition to the story and add several additional storylines to this book without pulling the focus from Louisa and Gabriel. The love scenes are warm and well placed, there are some tender moments, some tense moments and moments of joy. Happily, the villains get their comeuppance and everyone gets a HEA.
I really enjoyed this book and would be happy to recommend it.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*
This historical romance is set in England and is the first time I have read anything by this author. I liked her writing style and thought the plot was interesting. Both of the main characters have a history that had resulted in pain and emotional withdrawal. This is a slow burn romance but one that is worth waiting for.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this historical romance. The characters are interesting and are attracted to each other despite how they feel about relationships. The storyline is a good one with humour, heartbreak, tragedy, and romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Two wounded people from life’s experience end up together by an act of fate. Yes, I would have to say fate because Louisa Peabody and her friend David attempted to save a woman from hanging. Instead they ended up with Gabriel Sinclair.
To say the beginning grabbed me is an understatement!! A drunken foray into a nunnery to clip a length of hair ( oh yes you will have to read that one!) put Gabriel under the noose and that is when he ended up being resued by Louisa and her hulking side kick David. He ends up in her home where she rescues and takes care of abused women which is her mission. You see, men are the devil to her and she has no use for them.
That is until she finds a use for Gabriel to help save the woman that she had thought she saved and was now in a prison barge.
Gabriel, known as the King of Hearts because is seemed no woman could resist him. But underneath that devil may care exterior is a very wounded soul who needs rescuing himself.
This is a new author to me and I truly enjoyed this well written story. Great characters and a slow build to a romance. I really loved Gabriel and Louisa and could only hope their journey to happiness would be within the cards!! Cannot wait to read more..
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The first book in the League of Rogues series and I know I want to read the next book this is a well-written story that I enjoyed reading. I did not know that about submarines. I enjoyed reading.
Starts fast and ends great!
This story starts with a rather depressing event occurring but as luck would have it a miracle happen. There is a great deal that happens in the book. I liked when Louisa was watching Sinclair and thinking she was a bit nuts or when Louisa saw the underwater boat. I also respect an author who will look into history and portray it so well. This amazing story completely captured me. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
I had a hard time getting into this book. It starts off from the hero’s perspective, and I just didn’t like him. That didn’t really improve much through the entire book. I really enjoy historical romances, and one of the keys for me is to like the hero or else the book, to me, doesn’t have much point. The heroine was noble in her passion for her cause, but she never quite became a relatable character for me. This is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but I absolutely hate that the use of the word “chit” to describe a young woman in historical novels as it seems like a way of trivializing women. Every time I read it, it just rankles me. That word was used a lot in this book, so that might have been part of my problem with it.
Widow Louisa Peabody wants nothing to do any man as they are all rogues and abusers but she needs help in the form of Gabrial Sinclair. She may need his help but she sure doesn’t need to lose her heart to the man that is known is a “The King of Hearts”.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was my first book by Eileen Pultman and I LOVED it. Her story is well crafted , word usage and character development pulled me into the story and I couldn’t stop until finished. It’s the story of Gabrial and Lousia and how they come together first fighting their attraction and then pulled together by their need for each other. There’s action, romance and intrigue mixed with history and humor. There’s a great assortment of character’s especially the flowers that you will not be disappointed! Its a HEA that in the end the villains get theirs. A must read if you like whimsical wonderful steamy characters than this is the book for you!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Being the first book that I read written by this author, I wasn’t sure what to expect but was nicely surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. Such a wacky assortment of characters make up this story and I got a kick out of each one of them….especially the nuns! lol
Gabriel Sinclair’s past has made him what he is and there is definitely no room for love or a relationship in his life. Louisa Peabody doesn’t trust men and doesn’t like to be touched by them, thanks to her late husband who raped her. She prefers to spend her time rescuing women who have been imprisoned or facing the gallows for trivial reasons. When Gabriel and Louisa meet in a most unconventional way, he fights her all the way but soon finds out she has the heart of a warrior and doesn’t give up easily, especially on him!
I was also quite fascinated with the submarine prototype that Gabriel’s father and then himself worked on….I didn’t realize that they were already being invented back then!
I was given an ARC of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Full review appeared on Reader’s Edyn on 11/03/17
Louisa Peabody has had a bit of a rough go – essentially sold to her husband for the cost of her father’s debts and a wicked experience with sex, she has sworn off men. Following his … errrr … untimely death, she has gone on to create a refuge for mistreated women and, in doing so, created a little family for herself. But she fancies herself a champion of the downtrodden. After accidentally freeing Sinclair, she enlists his aid in completing the rescue mission she had been on when she mistakenly saved him from the noose. She believes the worst of Sinclair, but as they spend more time together, her resolve against men begins to crumble and the life she never wanted suddenly seems tangible.
Gabriel Sinclair has a lot of skeletons. Haunted by his childhood and tragedy and a possible legacy of madness, he’s run from his past. When an offer comes in for the sale of his island, he is drug back to the memories he has tried to escape. He didn’t bargain on the spitfire, Louisa crashing into his life, but the money she offers for his assistance isn’t something he can turn away from. Problem is, before too long, he doesn’t want to turn away from the maddening woman either. They both want different things and finding a middle ground might be impossible. Or they could both go mad trying.
The first couple of chapters of this book really threw me. So much happened and I wasn’t familiar with the characters, so I spent a bit of time trying to wrap my head around everything. But I have to tell you how thrilled I am that I did so! Ms. Putman and Heather Snow demonstrate very similar writing styles. As Ms. Snow is a favorite of mine, Ms. Putman has now also joined my list of favorites. I very much enjoy historical with strong leads, wit, banter, sexual tension, and a bit of history lesson when intertwining a piece of fact within the fiction. In this case, the history of the development of the submarine is infused throughout the story and I absolutely loved how Ms. Putman used this snippet of history in her plot. Of course, HR is nothing without the brooding, tortured male lead, and this too was executed flawlessly with Gabriel’s character. Louisa was possibly a bit ahead of her time, but no less enjoyable in her quest to make the world a bit more equal for women. Entertaining was the instance and realization that not everyone needed or appreciated her aid.
The secondary characters all held a special place within this book and with the absence of even one, it would not have been the same. I enjoyed getting to know them and their personal stories as well. While Ms. Putman wrapped the story up pretty nicely, I am sure there are other characters that would break out as leads in a subsequent story spectacularly. Probably the most interesting would be Drew Maitland. If I am not mistaken, I seem to remember reading him being involved in the next book. One thing is for sure – Ms. Putman has something special going on within this series and I will definitely be back for any following books. Lovers of HR are sure to become engrossed in this book in no time. I found myself laughing out loud several times and then looking around to see if anyone was looking at me like I was crazy. Anytime I do such a thing, I know I’ve found a gem that will always remain holding a coveted place on my shelf.
Kindle version provided by Pump Up Your Book/Author in exchange for an honest review.