Mrs Lily Mereworth’s List of Bold New Life Resolutions. To be completed by Christmas Eve, 1814. – Burn Miss Pikesworth’s Guide to Etiquette – Achieved. – Visit a gaming hell and win lots of money – Achieved. – Imbibe new-fangled absinthe – Preparations underway. – Seduce a rogue – ?Attending a Christmastide gathering is surely the best way for the most … Christmastide gathering is surely the best way for the most proper widow Mrs Lily Mereworth to complete her list and banish her past. After all, there will be more than a few suitable gentlemen present.
If only a shrewd, hazel-eyed viscount didn’t keep disrupting her plans…
Newly ennobled Viscount Asher Rainham has no schedule for seduction, Christmas or dallying with women. He is merely attending for the good company, intelligent card playing and excellent brandy. But as snow swathes the land, a certain Mrs Mereworth confounds his expectations and assaults his methodical senses.
Asher, spymaster, a man who never takes risks, finds himself in need of some Rules of the Rogue…
Ghost stories on a windy night, swordplay down the Great Portrait Gallery, snapdragon in the dark – a lady and a gentleman with no thought to love… Merry Christmas.
A sensual Regency romance with warmth and wit. These books can be read stand-alone or as part of the Rules of the Rogue Series.
1 – An Earl in Wolf’s Clothing
2 – Merry Christmas, my Viscount
3 – Let Sleeping Dukes Lie
4 – Marquess to a Flame
These books contain sensual scenes.
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Widowed Mrs. Lily Mereworth made a list of things to do. All things her husband would have forbidden. She wants to rediscover herself. There are only two things left on her list, and she only has this Christmas celebration week at her friend’s house to accomplish them. She is a highly intelligent woman who has had hide what she is capable of for too long.
Viscount Asher Rainham only recently gained his title because of his services to the Crown. He is a spy master and the commander of some of the men at the house party. He is a man who likes to calculate the odds of success of everything he does. Everything must be orderly , and the pretty minx is confusing him.
I want to go to a house party like this. It was obviously so much more fun than the type we have nowadays. I loved all the entertainments they thought up. There are lots of fascinating characters whose stories I’m dying to read. I loved it.
A triumphant seasonal story
This is a brilliantly written seasonal story, that has a beautiful plot of intriguing characters. The characters are wonderfully portrayed, with the determination to achieve their goals. This is a great book that will suit anybody who loves steamy historical romances.
A widow trying to rediscover herself after an eleven year marriage to a man who subjugated her, has a bold list of new life resolutions. One of the outstanding ones as her year of official mourning comes to a close, is to seduce a rogue. Loved the characters and the Christmassy plot. The statistical viscount was a hoot, with passages such as ‘he could have remained there forever, but at least six people a month died from falling down stairs in London’.
I won this ebook in a Facebook competition. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I read this after reading books 1-3, wherein Viscount Rainham is plays a small supporting role, so this is a nice addition to the series.
“To seduce a rogue” is still on Lily’s bold-things-to-do list when she arrives at a Christmas house party. With matchmaking help from her friend Rosalind, rake Jack and even the stable hands, she cannot fail. Delightful story with humor much to my taste.
This was a very sweet Christmas novella that is tied into the Rules of the Rogue series, but could easily be a stand alone title.
Spymaster and newly minted viscount, Asher Rainham is attending a holiday house party being hosted by his friend and former spy Lucas. Asher is a very sweet man who happens to be perceived as a bit odd by most people, he has a keen ability to read people, calculate odds and it a bit socially awkward. The book opens with Asher being perplexed by Mrs. Lily Mereworth, for the first time in too long to remember, Asher cannot read someone and it fascinates him.
Lily Mereworth is a distant cousin and dear friend of Rosalind, Lucas’ wife. She is a widow who is trying to find herself again after years of an unhappy marriage. She has concocted a list of things to accomplish before Christmas Eve, things that will help her reclaim her former joy and happiness. And she has managed to complete all but two things on her list – Drinking Absinthe and seducing a rogue – both of which she hopes to do at this house party.
Lily and Asher do not start out on the best of terms, she beats him at cards and he unintentionally insults her. But neither can really deny the growing attraction. Lily tries to ignore the feelings Asher invokes, because she doesn’t want to remarry and she is pretty sure Asher is not a man who would dally with a woman.
Asher wants Lily, but treads carefully, he knows he wants more than Lily is ready to give, but he is determined to win her in the end.
The story is well written, flows nicely, has a lot of amusing scenes, a few steamy-ish scenes, a great cast of secondary characters and a very well earned HEA. One of the things I liked best about this story is that Asher and Lily are not your stereotypical hero and heroine – they are both older, he is not a rake and she is not a dewy eyed virgin, it was a nice change of pace from the atypical historical romance and much appreciated by this reader.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me*
I had been looking for a historical romance with a Christmas theme to read this holiday season. So when Emily Windsor requested to do a guest spot at Romancing the Book, I knew I had finally found the read I was looking for. Ms. Windsor is a new to me author, so it was doubly exciting to start reading. This is the second book in a series, and having not read the first one, I wasn’t at all lost. It stands well on its own.
Lily is recently widowed and, with the help of one of her friends, has created a bucket list of things to accomplish before the end of the year. The goal was to break free of all of the restrictions that her late husband had placed on her. As she attends a house party for Christmas, she has 2 remaining goals and there are two gentlemen at this house party who can help with the final goal.
Enter Asher. He’s a spymaster and recently titled viscount. He’s at the house party as a favor to a friend and is feeling out of place. He’s not sure what to make of these feelings that Lily stirs in him and it bothers him that he can’t find a logical explanation.
Asher is my kind of hero. A little quirky, awkward, while still an alpha male. He’s confident in his job and in life in general, but Lily just throws him for a loop. And speaking of Lily, she also the kind of heroine I enjoy reading about. She’s not a young miss out husband hunting. She’s trying to find herself after her lackluster marriage comes to an end. She’s unsure, but also wanting to take risks and explore her new freedom.
These two together was interesting. They brought out the best in each other while accepting each other’s flaws. The Christmas house party made their romance all the more fun. I could feel the chemistry, enjoyed the flirtation and understood their insecurities.
The story was well rounded and well written. It was just what I was looking for and now I need to go add Ms Windsor’s other books to my ever growing TBR pile. If you’re looking for a fun historical romance, this might be the one for you.
My review originally posted at Romancing the Book.
I love Asher and Lily’s love at first sight. She wasn’t looking for love after her disaster of a marriage and Asher thought he would never find anyone to love him. A Christmas miracle happens to both when they meet. Lily has to finish #8 on her list of things to accomplish before the year ends and Asher seems perfect for the job! I love how their friends were conspiring to put them together!