Mary Blayney

I reviewed this for Romance Reader At Heart website.


RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:


COURTESAN'S KISS is a fourth installment of the Pennistan Family series. TRAITOR'S KISS/LOVER'S KISS and STRANGER'S KISS are the previous ones that I highly recommend you read first. As much as this book stands on its own, I was glad to have read the other stories first.

We meet Mia Castellano, our heroine in STRANGER'S KISS, and we just know that this beautiful and headstrong young lady will be more than a show more handful for our hero, David Pennistan.

From the first paragraph of this book, we know we're in for an entertaining ride:

"'No is the most valuable word in the English language.' Mia Castellano raised two fingers to her mouth and tried to think of someplace, anyplace on earth, where women were as powerful as men. `Indeed, no is the most valuable word in any language.'"

Naturally, those words come back to bite her. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the antics of this girl. Ms. Blayney has written the character of Mia so well that she jumped off the pages. I loved her enthusiasm, her quirky personality. From the beginning, we knew that her fiancée was no match for her, that she needed someone who would accept her as she is and not subdue her lively personality. I was relieved when she broke of her engagement and thrown in with David Pennistan. As the two embark on a journey to his family's home, where her guardian and his sister-in-law Elena resides, we're treated to an adventure our protagonists will never forget.

En route an illness strikes, and our hero is quarantined with Mia. Time spent together in closed quarters gives these two a closer look at each other and an opportunity to get much closer than either thought possible. However, the reality hits them both that without a chaperone, Mia's reputation is in tatters unless David marries her. Her fascination with David doesn't stop her for thinking him too domineering and too serious for her. Mia's worries aren't so much for her reputation, but for her freedom. This naïve girl thinks the life of a courtesan might suit her better than a wife to David.

Lord David Pennistan is not a happy man now that he's basically ordered to escort this naïve, spoiled, and impetuous girl. He has a lot on his mind, and he doesn't need any distractions. He's mind and his heart is on how to present his newest venture (a steam powered mill) to his brother, so that he can get the financing for it.

It's quite rare to read of a character in romance novels of Lord David Pennistan's caliber. He had big dreams for himself, and he wasn't going to let those dreams get away. This was the beginning of the industrial revolution, and David needed to be a part of it. Our hero was a serious individual who had serious things on his mind. Building a cotton factory, steam engines, offering jobs and housing to veterans and their families, are just a few of the ambitions that drove this man. He didn't need this slip of a girl and her antics. Ms. Blayney however, thought he did, so she gave him Mia, a vibrant and charming young woman that brought out the best in him. It was highly entertaining to watch Mia and David slowly warm up to each other and realize what we all knew from the beginning of their adventure.

With this unlikely pair and a well-rounded supporting cast, COURTESAN'S KISS is best described as an entertaining, witty, and heartwarming adventure. I highly recommend it.

Melanie show less

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One more Kiss by Mary Blayney is a Bantam publication with a tentative release date of April 2013. This is the fifth in a series, but you wouldn't know it was part of a series. It could easily be read as a stand alone novel. Jess Pennistan is "gamer" and arch enemy of Lord Crenshaw. After losing some land to Crenshaw while gambling, Jess has shown up at a house party hosted by a Countess, a good friend to Mr. Brent- a man in "trade", but wealthy enough and connected show more enough to try and get his daughters, Beatrice and Cecilia, a season in London. The party was given to introduce Beatrice and Cecilia to different elements of society and give them some "practice" at flirtation. All Jess and Viscount Bendabrook want is to spend their time gambling, hopefully giving Jess the chance to win back the land he lost to Crenshaw. Beatrice and Cecilia have been warned to steer clear of Jess due to his terrible reputation. But, Beatrice is instantly taken with him. Jess also finds himself curious about Beatrice. The Brent sisters couldn't be more different. Beatrice is content to focus on education, art and hopefully a career instead of marriage. Cecilia is overly cautious, takes few risk, always does as she is told. She is known for her beauty, but nothing deeper than that. A season in London is much more important to Cecilia than it is to Beatrice. But, Beatrice is determined to see her sister's dreams come true. Beatrice is curious about Jess. The details of his fall from grace are unknown to her and she is determined to find out what scandals he was guilty of. Much to her surprise she finds that some people consider Jess a hero and a very honorable man. This makes Beatrice even more curious and more attracted to Jess. Meanwhile, Viscount Bendabrook is smitten by Cecilia and each works to prove to the other that they see past looks and are looking for something deeper in a person. The courtship between the Viscount and Cecilia provides some laugh out loud moments.,When I first saw the reviews for this one on Goodreads, I noticed there were some rather lukewarm reactions. No, there is nothing groundbreaking here. It is a typical regency period historical romance. No, there isn't a lot of explicit sex scenes. In fact, on the steam level it would only rate a two. The story was drawn out a bit longer that it should have and could have been cut down just a bit. Having said that, I did enjoy the story. Beatrice being a free spirited girl, was open minded about Jess and didn't form a negative opinion about him until she had the facts straight. Her sister, Cecilia is more delicate, and more innocent and less confident, but learned to take risk and prove she had brains as well as beauty. The character of Jess and his efforts to help someone at a great cost to his personal reputation, shows us he is not the rogue that even he has convinced himself that he is. I was also impressed with the author's staying true to the ethics and language and behavior of the time period. The book is well written, the story is sweet, and has a HEA for all. Overall a B. Thanks to the publishers and Edelweiss for the ARC. show less

I reviewed this book for Romance Reader At Heart website:

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

COURTESAN'S KISS is a fourth installment of the Pennistan Family series. TRAITOR'S KISS/LOVER'S KISS and STRANGER'S KISS are the previous ones that I highly recommend you read first. As much as this book stands on its own, I was glad to have read the other stories first.

We meet Mia Castellano, our heroine in STRANGER'S KISS, and we just know that this beautiful and headstrong young lady will be more than show more a handful for our hero, David Pennistan.

From the first paragraph of this book, we know we’re in for an entertaining ride:

“’No is the most valuable word in the English language.’ Mia Castellano raised two fingers to her mouth and tried to think of someplace, anyplace on earth, where women were as powerful as men. ‘Indeed, no is the most valuable word in any language.’”

Naturally, those words come back to bite her. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the antics of this girl. Ms. Blayney has written the character of Mia so well that she jumped off the pages. I loved her enthusiasm, her quirky personality. From the beginning, we knew that her fiancée was no match for her, that she needed someone who would accept her as she is and not subdue her lively personality. I was relieved when she broke of her engagement and thrown in with David Pennistan. As the two embark on a journey to his family’s home, where her guardian and his sister-in-law Elena resides, we’re treated to an adventure our protagonists will never forget.

En route an illness strikes, and our hero is quarantined with Mia. Time spent together in closed quarters gives these two a closer look at each other and an opportunity to get much closer than either thought possible. However, the reality hits them both that without a chaperone, Mia’s reputation is in tatters unless David marries her. Her fascination with David doesn’t stop her for thinking him too domineering and too serious for her. Mia’s worries aren’t so much for her reputation, but for her freedom. This naïve girl thinks the life of a courtesan might suit her better than a wife to David.

Lord David Pennistan is not a happy man now that he’s basically ordered to escort this naïve, spoiled, and impetuous girl. He has a lot on his mind, and he doesn’t need any distractions. He's mind and his heart is on how to present his newest venture (a steam powered mill) to his brother, so that he can get the financing for it.

It’s quite rare to read of a character in romance novels of Lord David Pennistan’s caliber. He had big dreams for himself, and he wasn’t going to let those dreams get away. This was the beginning of the industrial revolution, and David needed to be a part of it. Our hero was a serious individual who had serious things on his mind. Building a cotton factory, steam engines, offering jobs and housing to veterans and their families, are just a few of the ambitions that drove this man. He didn’t need this slip of a girl and her antics. Ms. Blayney however, thought he did, so she gave him Mia, a vibrant and charming young woman that brought out the best in him. It was highly entertaining to watch Mia and David slowly warm up to each other and realize what we all knew from the beginning of their adventure.

With this unlikely pair and a well-rounded supporting cast, COURTESAN'S KISS is best described as an entertaining, witty, and heartwarming adventure. I highly recommend it.

Melanie show less

# ****½ "Eternity in Death" by J. D. Robb. Futuristic mystery.

This is part of the In Death series, #29 or thereabouts. A young woman is killed by exsanguination (I love that word!), and Eve Dallas is on the case. I was irritated by Roarke's credulity about vampires--I could buy him believing in witches and magic in Ceremony, but not vampires. Peabody's belief, on the other hand, seemed more on the order of someone who likes scary movies--that is, not as serious.

My other problem was that Eve show more "just knew" who the killer was. I realize that might be partly because it's a novella and length is a problem, but in the past, Eve has gone out of her way to confirm or disprove what her instincts tell her, so I don't buy that she'd go strictly on instinct in this case.

Regardless, though, it was a strong story, and I particularly appreciated the depiction of the bartender's character.
# **** "Amy and the Earl's Amazing Adventure" by Mary Blayney. Time travel romance.

Amy is on vacation in England and when touring an earl's historical home, she's given a magic coin. Bartender Simon, brother of the current earl, recognizes it and demands an explanation.

Amy and Simon are whisked to the past where she's the earl's sister's companion and he's the earl, and they have to return the coin and figure out how to get back to their own time.

The premise was a little convoluted, as you can tell from my messy attempt at a synopsis, and all the activity didn't really give Amy and Simon enough time to convincingly fall in love, but I did enjoy the dual time travel, with both of them working together, and I thought their reactions to the different time period were believable. What was most fun was that Amy was better prepared for the time period because she'd read historical romances.
# **½ "Timeless" by Ruth Ryan Langan. Time travel romance.

Laurel is touring a Scottish castle when she lifts a tapestry and finds herself in the past... and everyone believes she's the laird's wife who's been missing for some time.

This one was really hard to swallow. Laurel never comes up with an explanation for why she's dressed oddly or why she doesn't remember anyone including her own child. Worse yet, she's barely taken aback by the time travel. She never tried to convince anyone she's not the laird's wife, never tried to explain who she is. And then she spent way too much time angsting over her attraction to the laird because she's not his real wife, and it would be wrong.

Topping it off, it has my very least favorite time travel romance ending.
# ***½ "On the Fringe" by Mary Kay McComas. Time travel romance.

Bonnie's husband Joe has separated from her because she's "too distant." She's miserable, but she's waiting for him to take the first step toward reconciliation. Then her grandmother is injured and insists that Bonnie find the carpet in her attic.

It's a magic carpet, and it takes Bonnie on a voyage of what might-have-been.

I absolutely loved the magic carpet stuff. Once that showed up, the story became interesting. Too bad it took so long to show up though, because I heartily disliked the characters by the time it did.

I find it hard to believe a man asking for a separation because his wife is distant. Having an affair because of that, yes. Separating, no. It's probably sexist of me, but that seems more like a female action.

Then the ending with the grandmother contradicted what we'd been told about the magic carpet's rules. And I was not remotely happy that it turns out the whole thing came about because Joe was being paternalistic. Gah.

Read just the middle of this story--it's fabulous. show less