I am not a fan of the virgin acts like experienced courtesan trope, so I did not enjoy Good Groom Hunting. It took me so long to slog through this book, that I've forgotten some of the things I disliked about it. One thing that irritated, were the sex scenes that went on for pages, that did not add to the story. It's too bad, because I liked the premise and the close cousin characters, but not the execution. 2/5 stars ( )

The unflappable Josephine Hale has decided never to marry. She wants nothing to do with husbands who would try to limit her freedom. Instead Josie wants to have adventures - like discovering the treasure buried by her pirate grandfather. But the Josie only has half of the treasure map. The second must be with the Earl of Westman, descendant of Hale's partner and sworn enemy to the Hale family, and Josie is prepared to do anything to get it from him - especially if it means taking her first lover.

Stephen Doubleday's gambling and rakish ways lost him the love of his family and the family fortune, so when he inherits the title, he feels honor-bound to restore the family finances - and a pirate treasure certainly couldn't hurt matters even if he does believe it's no more than a fairy tale. Stephen enters into an arrangement with Josie - strictly business, of course - but the irritating girl insists on being treated as an equal and on winning his heart.

A very quick read, the novel was fun and full of adventure. Little shilly-shallying about at balls for Miss Hale. Not when there's a treasure to be found. I was amused by Josie (though she was a touch young for my taste), and I thought she and Stephen were an excellent match, both fighting and making love. Both of which happened often. The fighting, however, wasn't full of misunderstandings and heartbreak (mostly), and the sex was definitely nice.

At times the dialogue and word choice jarred me out of the time period, but it was good fluffy fun. Not emotionally deep, perhaps even a bit shallow, but decent in bed and worth a re-read. ( )