Review: Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long

BOOK TITLE & AUTHOR

Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long

ISBN 9780062867469

Avon Books; $7.99

BOOK ON-SALE DATE

2/26/19

Blurb:

A mistress. A mountain of debt. A mysterious wreck of a building.
Delilah Swanpoole, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring,” is a lot more interesting—and perfidious—dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man.
But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue’s Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice.
They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts. Now a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his own code of honor…or choose a love that might be the truest thing he’s ever known?

Review:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

If you had told me that I would like the mistress of anyone's husband and I would want to read their book, I would probably laugh in your face. As it turns out though, I loved the women working at The Grand Palace on the Thames and each one of them deserves a happy ending. Delilah and Angelique formed a beautiful friendship and partnership

I loved Tristan's move to win Delilah back! I was wishing he would do it, but I wasn't sure if it was possible. It turns out that it was and I got a big smile on my face because of that. That was grooving and winning your woman done right! If Delilah hadn't accepted him back, I would have stolen him. 

To be completely honest, the book wasn't anything special. Ask me in a week something about the book and I will only remember Tristan's move to win Delilah back. I have no idea if the book is set in the early or late 1800's, but I got the impression that women were too free to do the stuff they were doing. We also got the "you are a man, don't tell me (aka a woman) what to do" which was inspired straight out of the last 50 years. When I read HR I don't mind the not so feministic plotlines because we are talking about a period when women had practically no rights. Of course, the heroes are open-minded, they don't suffocate the heroines with BS and they help them achieve their goals if they have. 

The characters were interesting as was the smuggling plot. I liked these two elements of the story. Tristan won me over as a hero and Delilah had potential, but I wasn't a big fan of hers. I found her mostly ok. At least she went after what she wanted and that's always something good in my book. With some hesitation, I would recommend the book.

EXCERPT

She’d taken two steps when he said, his voice raised only a little, “Lady Derring . . . something
puzzles me.”

She halted.

Closed her eyes.

Took a shuddering breath for courage.

Turned back to him. From the relatively safe distance of three feet, she said, “Surely not. We’ve established you know everything.”

His smile was small and patient. “You seem to excel at so very much here at The Grand Palace on the Thames. Yet you can’t seem to disguise how much you want me.”

AUTHOR BIO

USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up (and she has the guitars and fringed clothing stuffed in the back of her closet to prove it), but writing was always her first love. Since hanging up her guitar for the computer keyboard, her books frequently top reader and critic polls and have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Rita, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and The Quills, and reviewers have been known to use words like “dazzling,” “brilliant,” and “impossible to put down” when describing them. Julie lives in Northern California.

AUTHOR SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES julieannelong.com/ www.facebook.com/AuthorJulieAnneLong twitter.com/JulieAnneLong