The Viscount's Daring Miss by Lotte R. James - #bookreview #blogtour

 

If Lady Rothwakes had been here to witness her eavesdropping, Bobby would've had to write a lengthy and thorough dissertation on the importance of good manners. Only, Her Ladyship was not here to witness such vulgar, ill-mannered behaviour. She had been gone a long time now, so this, like so much else Bobby did that the lady might've objected to, would go unpunished.

Not that it felt that way to Bobby. Twelve years since the best woman in the world had died, and still, it felt as if she was there, waiting around a corner to call her to tea, or reprimand her for things like eavesdropping. Feeling her presence contantly, particularly in the house, was something which was both reassuring, and painful...

***

May the best Viscount or Miss…

…win!

When her best friend and employer is injured, groom Roberta ‘Bobby’ Kingsley feels compelled to help him. She agrees to step into the saddle and compete in an endurance horse race to help secure his ancestral home. Yet the minute Bobby comes face to face with her opponent—arrogant yet infuriatingly charismatic Lawrence, Viscount Hayes—it’s clear that it won’t just be the competition that has her heart racing!

***

I am new to both this author and publisher imprint and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a wonderful bit of escapism and was perfect yesterday when the weather dictated that I curl up on the sofa with a good book.

The main character, Bobby, is feisty, determined and self assured. She is not the average 19th century woman and some of her values were very twenty-first century. 

Speaking as a history graduate, its paucity of correct period attitude would usually have bothered me. However, with Bobby I did not care. I was rooting for her all the way. She is the daughter of a blacksmith who was raised as the ward of Lord and Lady Rothwakes. She struggles with her place in the world and prefers to spend her nights sleeping on a bed of hay with the horses.

It is the story of a horse race and a budding romance, and I very much wanted her to succeed on both counts.

The chemistry between Bobby and Lawrence was unmistakable, and the author did a good job in bringing this to life. The book is rather racy at times and if you are a reader who prefers the more intimate scenes in a book to conclude with the closing of the bedroom door, this may not be the book for you. However, it is not gratuitous in its descriptions of the intimate side of their relationship but served to highlight the significant attraction between them.

Setting this book in the beauty of the English countryside added a further dimension to its atmosphere. 

The enemies to lovers trope is not an original one, but Ms. James did a great job in bringing all the elements of this book together. It was a captivating story, and I enjoyed it very much. 

ISBN:  978 0263305135

Publisher:  Harlequin Historical

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  282 (paperback)

About the Author:

Lotte James trained as an actor and theatre director, but spent most of her life working day jobs crunching numbers whilst dreaming up stories of love and adventure. She’s thrilled to finally be writing those stories, and when she's not scribbling on tiny pieces of paper, she can usually be found wandering the countryside for inspiration, or nestling with coffee and a book.

(book, photos and bio info all courtesy of the blog tour host, Rachel's Random Resources)