Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

Ok, so I cried at least twice, which is actually pretty low for me. I almost want to assign this book alongside Sue Johnson's "Hold Me Tight," as it's an excellent example of how the people we find to form long-lasting bonds with have the greatest capacity to hurt (and heal) us.

I definitely enjoyed this one more than Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake! I absolutely loved Isabel as a character. I thought she was so strong and independent, and her story was just so heart wrenching. Her character arc of learning to trust and love someone was so lovely to read. Isabel's creation and running of Minerva House was also fascinating to see of women coming together to help others. I love how even though she didn't have much, she had enough to help out others and did.

Nicholas's story line was okay. Most of what we know about his childhood and mom we learned in the first book with his brother. There was the added trauma of the woman who betrayed him that landed him in a Turkish prison. I appreciated that there was show more this extra added layer, as I was hesitant to read it thinking Nicholas's story might be too similar to Gabriel's.

The two of them together was just way too adorable! I love the back and forth and them trying to figure out how to actually be together with all their past traumas. Also, Isabel's little brother was too adorable, especially the scenes between him and Nicholas. I don't want kids but man that was still too precious for words.

One aspect that annoyed me in the first book was the lack of formatting or pacing with Callie's rules. I kept forgetting about each rule Callie wanted to break and what they even were. In this one, a popular ladies magazine has epigraphs at the beginning of some chapters that list and explain each way to land a lord. It was a better way to keep the number idea (rules/ways) in the forefront of the reader's mind.

I did love the ending, well except for Simon Pearson who can go choke after he says he has no sister. I'm definitely interested to see how Juliana and Simon's story plays out with him not being in my good books at the end of this one. show less

Boy, everything about this book seemed to put my teeth on edge, from the overbearing hero, to the weirdly lacking in confidence heroine, to the token best friend person of color. Mostly, it was the hero. I pretty much can't deal with his arrogant refusal to listen to anything that Isabel says or respect her boundaries; his level of seduction without really considering marriage; and the the incessant whining about her lack of trust in him. Get out of town, mate, she doesn't trust you? Quel surprise. Anyway, yes, I know that I am putting modern sensibilities on a historical situation, but it's not a particularly believable one to begin with, so I just wish it was appealing.

When the ladies' magazine "Pearls and Pelisses" names Lord Nicholas St. John as one of London's most eligible bachelors - he is none too happy. So when the Duke of Leighton asks Nick for help in finding his sister who has run away from home he quickly gets on the first horse out of London.

Lady Isabel is the daughter of a titled wastrel. She has too many responsibilities and very little money. Now that her father has passed she feels it is her duty to make sure that her ten year old brother grows to be the Earl that her father never was.

While Nick is in search of a certain Duke's sister he bumps into (and I mean that in the literal sense) Lady Isabel. Since Lady Isabel is in need of money and looking to sell her beloved marbles and Nick show more dealing in antiquities, they strike a deal. He'll appraise her marbles all without her knowing that he's secretly searching for the Duke's sister. But when their feelings start to escalate Nick knows Isabel is the one for him... now he'll just have to convince her that he's the man for her.

Once again I was swept away by Ms. MacLean's storytelling. I loved Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and I was worried that Ten Ways... would not be able to compete. But I'm happy to report that Ten Ways was just as good as Nine Rules... if not better.

I loved the chemistry between Isabel and Nick. Right from their first meeting where he saves her from a runaway coach and she absolutely denies that she was in need of saving I knew that their romance would be one to treasure. Isabel had everything that I look for in a heroine. She's brave, smart, loyal, independent and had the perfect amount of spunk. Nick was charming, seductive, sexy... sigh-worthy. I loved their dialogue and witty banter - they irritated each other most of the time, yet came together perfectly. Both had trust issues and were afraid of love - so their pairing did not come easily - but was so entertaining nonetheless.

Aside from the great leading characters, I also fell in love with some of the secondary cast. Isabel's young brother James was just adorable. He stood up for his sister and his relationship with Nick was so sweet. The ladies who inhabit Minerva House are also worth mentioning. Although you don't get too much one-on-one time with them, you do get some of their back stories and the fact that Isabel had a house full of women (from the stableboy to the butler) was plain funny to me.

What more can I say other than that I loved this book. I loved its intriguing plot, the witty dialogue, and the many laugh out loud moments. Sarah MacLean has become one of my favorite historical romance authors. Definite auto-buy material. I cannot wait for the next in the series... Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart (April 2011). And what about those titles? I love them! Highly recommended. show less

You know the feeling of being incredibly thirsty, and that thirst being quenched with an ice cold glass of water? Or the feeling of being broke and finding five dollars in your pocket? Well that is how I felt reading Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord, utter and total fulfillment.

All week I have been book hopping, unable to find a story that captured me. The real issue was I read Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and craved more of Sarah MacLean's writing style. On top of that I had already purchased Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord and it was sitting on my bookshelf calling out my name "Danielle! Come read me, you know you want to". Never one to turn down temptation, I gave in and now I have to fight the urge show more to run out and purchase the next book in this series.

This novel started off a little slow, but I think it might be because I had just read Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and I was comparing the two. Nine Rules is incredibly fast and the story starts off right away. With Ten ways to be Adored the novel has more back story about the characters that needs to be explained, so it slowed down the story slightly. Once the two characters meet the story takes off and did not disappoint me.

The Heroine in this story Isabel is strong, beautiful, and guarded. Isabel has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she is beginning to crack under the pressure of it all. Our leading man in this story is Nicholas, he is a Lord, dashingly hansom, and wounded from heartbreak. Nicholas and Isabel's worlds collide for an incredible love story that I could not stop reading. Sarah MacLean does an amazing job of making you as the reader want to jump into the leading ladies skin and live out her love story. I am a sucker for an over the top, fall head over heels love story, I can’t help myself.

If I had doubts about the beginning of this story the ending sold me completely! This novel has just the right amount of conflict between characters that leaves you riffling through pages to find out what is going to happen. The ending to the story had me tearing up; I had tears falling from my eyes, real ones. I won't tell you if they were happy tears or not you will have to find that out for yourself.

I highly recommend this novel for adult readers only. Once you have read it please come back here, and make me feel better by admitting you cried too. Friends never let friends cry alone! show less

Lady Isabel Townsend has always lived in relative isolation in Yorkshire as the daughter of the "Wastrearl" but has used the isolation to her advantage, taking in women in need of shelter. When the sister of a Duke arrives on her doorstep, Isabel knows it won't be long until someone comes looking but she takes her in anyway. When said Duke hires Lord Nicholas St. John to track down his sister Nicholas jumps at the chance to escape London society where he has recently been dubbed one of the most eligible lords to land. Of course sparks fly when Nicholas and Isabel meet but can their budding romance survive the secrets their both keeping?

I think my enjoyment of this one suffered from my reading being spread out over too long a period. The show more plot moves at a fine clip but because I was reading it so slowly it correspondingly felt like the plot was dragging. The romance is adequate and it is noteworthy that there's an interracial romance happening between secondary characters in this one, which is nice to see in an historical romance. Probably a solid romance but my opinion of it is coloured by my own slowness at getting through it. show less

This second outing from MacLean in the Ralston Siblings books is about Gabriel's younger twin brother Nicholas finding that life after being named one of London's most eligible bachelors is not all its cracked up to be. His 'plight' is further made frustrating by the fact his best friend and companion 'Rock' and his brother seem to find the entire situation hilarious.

Well so do I come to think of it.

As for Isabel, her entire house is made up of women she has saved from one sort of hell or other, but its threatening to crumble after the death of her degenerate, gambling, wastrel of a father dies. Not that anyone is terribly sad by this, least of all Isabel, but that means there's no money and no way to keep the lenders at bay. Because of show more happenstance she is saved by Nicholas. Because of the weather she's stuck with him for a few days. And because of a bunch of meddling, cupid wannabes a romance blossoms.

Like both of MacLean's other books, there is a high volume of entertaining banter, hijinks and feisty women. Even Georgianna, who begins the book timid and afraid, blooms into a force to reckon with by the end of novel. The story felt more fast-paced however, with the bulk of the action taking place over the course of a few days and the resolution happening some weeks later. Though I didn't doubt Isabel and Nicholas' feelings for each other, there wasn't as strong a sense of development between them as there had been between Callie and Gabriel.

There was also the matter of the situation at Minerva House. Though it didn't take Nicholas and Rock long to find the place, it seemed to take a pair of thugs even less time and they didn't even have the benefit of stumbling upon the mistress of the house! The whole set up itself was more than a little ridiculous, I can't believe that in six years not a single person said something about Minerva House when they shouldn't. If Isabel managed to keep such a thing hidden for that long she should have looked into a career with the Home Office.

Gabriel made an appearance at the start of the story, and makes another later on. As does Callie, and Julianna, but both of them are minor roles overall. I was a little sad to see Julianna wasn't as big a part of this book, but it made sense since most of the action happened far far away from where she was.

And I have a feeling that in book 3 is about Julianna (Gabriel and Nick's half-Italian sister) and Leighton, in fact I'll bet the farm on it. show less