Ashley March

Ashley March’s debut novel features a particular theme I really enjoy: second chances. When done right, it can be very satisfying to see two lovers come back to each other. I can say that Ashley March does it well.

Three years ago, Phillip’s best friend, Ethan, ran off with Phillip’s fiancée. In revenge, Phillip wooed and married Ethan’s younger sister, Charlotte. Phillip and Charlotte were friends before he set out for revenge and after one glorious night (their wedding night), show more Phillip told Charlotte that she was just a pawn and he used her for revenge. Since then, Charlotte has taken her revenge out on the oh-so-proper Phillip by dragging the Rutherford name through the mud with all her scandals. And now she wants a divorce. She can no longer stomach being married to Phillip. But she hasn’t noticed the changes in him, that he’s been trying to win her back. And even when he kidnaps her, she truly doesn’t believe his claims that he’s changed. Can Phillip win his wife’s affections back?

Phillip and Charlotte. Two very wounded people. Two very proud individuals that didn’t want the other to get the upper hand in their unfortunate marriage. I have to admit, I empathized the most with Charlotte. You see, she fell in love with her childhood friend and when she found out he didn’t love her, was only using her, it broke her heart. And it remained broken for three years. Even when Phillip changed the way he acted towards her, she knew better. She knew exactly how good he was at pretending and she had no way of judging if he had really changed or if this was another ruse on his part. So even though Charlotte still doesn’t trust Phillip for the majority of the book, it makes sense and I didn’t feel like she gave in too easily. In cases like this, the hero has to do some major groveling, and I was more than happy with Phillip and his actions.

And Phillip. Here’s a man who knew exactly how much he screwed up and was trying to make things right. Although he still had a ducal attitude about the whole thing, Charlotte more than gave him his comeuppance. And that’s why Seducing the Duchess really worked for me – Charlotte. She’s such a strong character!

I am giving this debut novel a 4 out of 5 and eagerly look forward to Ms. March’s next book. show less

The blurb does a wonderful job in teasing the brain and getting my ‘reader juices’ bubbling with a question about how do you get two people with so much baggage to accept the wrong done to them, grieve for the loss and fall in love within 302 pages?!

And the answer is to trust this young, new and upcoming author, Ashley March, who seems to know her characters and trust them to guide her hand in penning their story.

Leah George has always done the right and proper thing. She married a man show more chosen for her, and she did her best to make her parents and her husband proud of her, so after witnessing her husband’s infidelity, she yet again does what’s proper. She keeps a ‘stiff upper lip’, walls off her true feelings, and pretends a happy marriage. Until the day her husband dies.

After a year of private grief that infidelity of her husband brought to her, the loss of his life brought on a feeling of a relief. She is free. Free to say, do or be who she truly is and that is something she was never allowed to be.

Sebastian, Earl of Wriothesly, had a perfect marriage. He adored his wife and son; he lived a happy and contented life. His perfect world came crashing down with his beloved wife’s death and with the knowledge that she took his best friend for a lover and left him behind to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the carriage accident.

This is Ms. Ashley’s second book and in both she deals with an issue that is not much popular with either the authors or readers of romance genre. The big “I” word. Infidelity.

In the case of her first book “Seducing the Duchess” our hero was unfaithful to his heroine for six years, before he realized that he adored his wife, but was blinded by his pride and revenge to see it for what it is.

In this case, both hero and heroine were forced to deal with the betrayal of their spouses and Ms. March has done her characters proud in both cases. It would have been so easy to ‘paint’ Ian and Angela as uncaring, uncouth and lust crazy adulterers, yet she left that ‘painting’ to be in the ‘eye of the beholder’, in this case the reader. She has taken the issue seriously, making no judgements on a subject that is neither ‘black or white’. Now, that takes guts!

While Leah had a year to accept the betrayal, Sebastian’s acceptance was still fresh and the hurt was deep. What a treat this character driven story was! I was most intrigued by our hero and heroine and the way they went about accepting and dealing with their emotions towards not just their cheating spouses but with their emotions towards each other. After years of knowing each other, their attraction wasn’t instantaneous, yet the sparks between Sebastian and Leah kept igniting. Great care was given in developing and establishing a real relationship, albeit strenuous at times, between these two, so when their passion takes over we’re happy for them.

There are so many moments that touched my heart but the first one that brought tears to my eyes was on page 8, in which Sebastian’s mind is numb as he reads the note of his wife’s accident, and in it he finds out that Ian was with her. There are so many things running through his mind, and then the last thought: “She hadn’t been lonely, after all.” I mean, just two pages earlier, he was so anxious to go see her, be with her, love her, and then-BOOM! She really didn’t need him, after all. WOW! That must have hurt…

I’m very impressed with this new author and her writing is clear, crisp and fresh. She infused her characters with depth and intelligence, yet still gave them flaws so that they felt real to me. Her ability to convey human emotion is very well written and the pace of the story just right. Not too fast and not so slow that you’d be bored by it. The story was engaging from the beginning, and kept my interest ‘till the last page. For that I give credit to the author that created the characters who were well-rounded and believable. After reading “Romancing the Countess” I loved it so much I bought “Seducing the Duchess” and “Romancing Lady Cecily” which I read and highly recommend as well.

So, in the end all I have to say is: Watch out Romance World! Ashley March has arrived! show less

Seducing the Duchess (The Bridal Pleasures) by Ashley March
Historical Romance - Oct. 5th, 2010
5 stars

I often rate how much I enjoy a book by how emotionally involved I was with the 2 main characters. I was dazzled by this author’s story about a Duke who is determined to woo his Duchess even if she fights him at every opportunity! This fresh story was a fun and moving book that readers will love.

Charlotte, Duchess of Rutherford was young and naïve when she was seduced by her husband, show more Phillip who used his young and beautiful innocent bride in a cold game of revenge against her beloved brother. Charlotte had fallen in love with the man she thought was Phillip. But she that was before he callously left her after their wedding night and scorned her love. Broken hearted but audacious, Charlotte is a strong woman and soon vows to free herself and get her own revenge. She creates scandal after outrageous scandal hoping the unfeeling and dutiful Duke will divorce her and finally let her go.

It is years later and Phillip has come to the appalling realization that he loves his wife. But he knows Charlotte hates him. He longs for her company and is no longer willing to let her escapades go unnoticed. Desperate and starving for her attention, he kidnaps her in public and makes her an shocking proposition. If she will help him find another wife and teach him how to be a good husband, he will grant her a divorce. Phillip plays a deadly gamble and one he is determined to win but his wife isn’t about to lose and she will not let Phillip break her heart again.

I loved this story. At first I wondered if I would like Philip. His past behaviors were reprehensible. But as the author reveals Phillip’s desperate love for Charlotte and his sheer ruthlessness as he pursues her, you can’t help but admire his tenacity and understand why Charlotte cared about him in the past. And slowly I, too, began to care for him. The author also eloquently explains Phillip’s cold upbringing and what formed his character. He was raised to be a proper Duke by his unfeeling grandfather who coldly and brutally shaped him into a carbon copy of himself. Philip begins to realize he doesn’t want to be his grandfather. He wants love and laughter with Charlotte even if that means changing himself. His metamorphosis was enthralling to read. Another thing that makes this book so deliciously wonderful is the feisty and endearing heroine. She doesn’t make life easy for Philip and I adored her fighting spirit as she often out smarts him but also makes him see what is really important in life. Charlotte has such a caring heart and I wanted her to guard her heart from Phillip but as Charlotte learned to love Philip, I couldn't help but care for him too!

This was a sensational read! I became so emotionally involved in the 2 main characters. They were perfect for each other and I will definitely be reading any future books by this fabulously talented new author!! If you are looking for an absorbing story about 2 characters that you really can care about and their adventures along the way, then you will adore this book as much as I did.

Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club show less

I liked this one because it was different from the usual HR books that I read. And that first chapter where she is kidnapped by her husband was just great. But their love story is a messy one, and a sad one.

Why is then their story such a mess? Well Phillip whispered words of love and got her to marry her. Everything was perfect, their wedding night was perfect, until next morning when he told he he had only used her for revenge and he packed up and left her to go to his mistress. Poor show more Charlotte was left with a broken heart and during the years that followed she has tried everything to get the cold Duke to divorce her.

What saves Phillip for me is how he is presented from now on. We meet a man who knows what he did was wrong, he knows that he ruined her life, and during these horrible years he has started to fall for her. They used to be friends when they were smaller, and that is what he remembers. If we would have met the coldhearted bastard that took her innocence and spit upon it, then yes I would not have forgiven him.

Charlotte is the talk of London, she is rumored to have bed half the ton (and more), and she is quite the scandal. She just wants out, she is hurting and her family is not talking to her since she married him. Since I knew how much it must have hurt I did approve of her petty remarks, because she is changing too. That is what this whole book is about. Does she dare to trust him again? Because she does love him, and hate him.

Phillip tries to win her back, and he has a long way to go. And there will be misunderstandings, but come one, this is a HR, you know it will end with happy tears instead of sad ones. I am just saying that the road there is long. And sometimes you do forgive and forget.

Conclusion:
After having finished this book I did want to read more of her books. The writing was good and I liked the story of these two broken souls. show less