A Lady Awakened
RECOMMENDED: A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant is $2.99! This book is often recommended in terms a sex-positive heroine and was mentioned on a previous podcast where Sarah and I discussed Tinder. However, other readers found the heroine’s view of sex to be rather unromantic. Have you read this one?
In Cecilia Grant’s emotionally rich and deeply passionate Regency romance debut, a deal with a rumored rogue turns a proper young woman into . . . A Lady Awakened.
Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes . . . for a fee.
Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?
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A Wicked Way to Win an Earl by Anna Bradley is $1.99! This is the first book in the Sutherland Scandals series. Readers seem divided on the hero. While some loved his grumpy, broody attitude, others found him a bit too pompous. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
A tantalizing new Regency romance filled with the most elegant society—and the most forbidden desires…
England, 1811. Delia Somerset despises the privileged ton, but her young sister, Lily, is desperate to escape their family’s scandalous past and join high society. Unwilling to upset her sister, Delia reluctantly agrees to attend a party at the Sutherland estate—and avoid the gossip at all costs.
Alec Sutherland is known as a hot-headed scoundrel, but nothing gets a rise out of him as much as the news that his brother desires Delia’s hand in marriage. She is, after all, the daughter of the London belle who soiled their family name. He’s determined to ruin her reputation as well, in the most delicious way possible. It’s only a matter of time before he can woo her with his irresistible advances.
As Delia devilishly plays along in Alec’s game, determined to prove the joke is on him, they inch ever closer to repeating history. And in this game of seductive glances, scandalous whispers, and old debts, the outcome might be much more than either of them anticipated…
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RECOMMENDED: The Chief by Monica McCarty is $2.99! This is the first book in the Highland Guard series and Elyse gave it an A-:
The Chief isn’t McCarty’s best book (Highland Scoundrel is my all-time favorite of hers), but it does a lot of work setting up what will be a ten to twelve book series. And it’s full of Old Skool themes that I luurve so much. Seriously, Fabio should be on this cover. In a kilt.
AN ELITE FIGHTING FORCE UNLIKE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN . . .
Scouring the darkest corners of the Highlands and Western Isles, Robert the Bruce handpicks ten warriors to help him in his quest to free Scotland from English rule. They are the best of the best, chosen for their superior skills in each discipline of warfare. And to lead his secret Highland Guard, Bruce chooses the greatest warrior of all.
The ultimate Highland warlord and a swordsman without equal, Tor MacLeod has no intention of being drawn into Scotland’s war against the English. Dedicated to his clan, the fiercely independent chief answers to no one—especially not to his alluring new bride, bartered to him in a bid to secure his command of the deadliest fighting force the world has ever seen. The treacherous chit who made her way to Tor’s bed may have won his hand, but she will never claim his heart.
Although her husband’s reputation is as fierce as his manner, Christina Fraser believes that something softer hides beneath his brutal shell. But the only warmth she feels is in their bed, in glorious moments of white-hot desire that disappear with the dawn. When Christina’s reckless bid to win her husband’s love goes awry and thrusts them into danger on the eve of war, Tor will face his ultimate battle: to save his wife and to open his heart—before it’s too late.
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This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!An Earl Like No Other
An Earl Like No Other by Wilma Counts is 99c! This historical romance is a standalone and features two single parent characters. Readers wanted more in terms of the romance, but others found the hero and heroine’s worry over their children to be really touching. Also, I may hate strapless dresses, but I’m loving what the heroine is wearing on the cover.
WHEN ALL SEEMED LOST…
Katherine Gardiner, a young English widow, has only one dream: to protect her son—a future duke—from her merciless father-in-law. Determined and desperate, she has no option but to take the guise of a housekeeper and escape to Yorkshire where the only hope is the enigmatic Earl of Kenrick…
…LOVE SAVED THE DAY
In all his years spent roaming the world, Jeremy Chilton never braced himself for the burden of a much-damaged inheritance. Now, the new Earl of Kenrick must save his family legacy and raise his motherless young daughter as a proper English lady. His only salvation is his beautiful housekeeper, Kate. But as her secrets unravel, much that is puzzling about her falls into place. No wonder the Earl has caught himself imagining her more wife than employee. Clearly she belongs at Kenrick—safe in his arms. Now, if only he can convince her to agree…
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EVERYBODY STOP, DROP, AND 1-CLICK A LADY AWAKENED IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY READ IT BECAUSE O! M! G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously. It’s so good. It’s ALLLLLLLLLL the good! If you remain unconvinced, let my 0-chill, copious fangirl flailing video review convince yo ass otherwise!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXbsCz5xGK0
I mean, yeah this time I didn’t act out any quotes, but the internal dialogue I read SHOULD TOTES get you doing the buying. Right? Right!
But now I sit here debating if MY FINGER should 1-click The Chief. Can’t deny it; Elyse has got my ass tempted. But dammit, RT is literally like 2 seconds away and I can’t do the money spending!
Holy Cupid I’m a hypocrite. I tell all the humans to buy 1 book whilst I remain stubborn over another. Sigh. Such is ze fangirl feelz I suppose.
Grumpy, broody, AND pompous? Sounds like my soul mate.
@Ren Benton Riiiight?!?!? I don’t often gravitate towards the emotastic man pain, but when done well IT GETS ME IN MY HEART-HEART!!!
I LOVED ‘A Lady Awakened.’ I loved that sex wasn’t suddenly magically glorious for the heroine the instant that the hero’s magic wang came along after she’s had an unpleasant experience previously. I loved the way their respect and liking for each other had to slowly, gradually develop long after they first have sex. It’s one of the few romances I’ve reread several times.
I must point out that sex positive and romance are mutually exclusive terms. One does not require the other. The pleasure of A Lady Awakened is Martha’s journey from desperately practical to true love. Not to mention the resolution of the conflict with her brother-in-law. All Cecelia Grant’s novels are deeply satisfying.
Aww. Both “A Lady Awakened’ and ‘A Wicked Way to Win an Earl’ are not available for sale to me. Must be my region. This blows.
@Tam YES YES YESSSSSS! I said almost ALL of that in my video review because I’M WITH YOU HON!!! That unqiue dynamic was probably one of my favorite ass things in the whole book!
Honestly filming videos where I fangirl hard over a book is often harder than rant videos. It’s easy to remember my script when I’m pissed but when I’m in love with a book ALL I wanna do is just make a 7 minute video of nothing but happy noises…WHICH A LADY AWAKENED DESERVES BECAUSE HOLY FANGIRL SHIT!
I’m getting excited all over again dammit! LOL
@DonnaMarie That IS true! A romance doesn’t necessarily have to have a sex positive message to be a romance. I think the example would be Amish and Inspirational romance titles since, if memory serves, they don’t do the boinky boink.
But I would argue that a romance that has a sex negative message, like 50 Shades, wouldn’t necessarily qualify as a romance. Or, if it does, would qualify as a problematic romance. I think.
I am fluent in Out-Of-My-Ass language, so I might be wrong here. But yeah, good point!
I am married to grumpy, broody, and pompous. Trust me, it is MUCH more sigh worthy in fiction. 😉
@KellyM EPIC AGREEMENT! I married the beta-tastic happy go lucky dork, but I dated the grumpy, broody, arrogant man a lot before I realized that dude is NOT cool.
I think it works in fiction because you can get INSIDE their perspectives. Otherwise I’d be wall-chucking books a lot more often. (Another reason why I have to have 3rd person narratives, or split 1st person POV books.)
I highly recommend A Lady Awakened, but I hesitate to call Martha “sex positive.” She actually views the act with distaste at first, and the damage to the hero’s ego is pretty hilarious. Grant’s writing is graceful, and the journey and growth of both characters both separately and together is deeply satisfying.
The other day I was remembering a lovely scene from a book, and I could remember what the characters said to each other and how they looked at each other that stuck in my mind, but I couldn’t remember which book. Then it suddenly came to me, of course, it was A Lady Awakened!
@Andrea D But see, I find the book to be sex positive in that neither it nor Theo point the finger at Martha saying, “OH MY GOD YOU ARE A WALKING WEIRDO HOW DARE YOU NOT LOVE SEX!”
Yes, there’s underlying issues and things which need to be resolved, but it doesn’t act as though a person is wrong or weird for treating sex as not the greatest thing in the world. Theo is the one who struggles with their sexual relationship dynamic, not Martha. I think that by treating Martha with so much respect, that can be interpreted as having a pretty sex positive for Asexual people.
@KellyM: My favorite real-life grumpy-brooding-and-pompous is a sham (borderline irredeemable asshole in superficial acquaintance but all of the best things once he issues your membership card to his inner sanctum), so I pretend to believe ALL grumpy-brooding-and-pompouses lead secret lives of tremendous warmth and hilarity.
I know it’s not true, but imagining all such people lose their minds over baby goats makes them ever so much more tolerable in nonfictional encounters. 😀
Another enthusiastic yes for A Lady Awakened!! It was one of the first romance books I read (after a hiatus of many years; I found my cousin’s stash when I was in my late teens) and boy I was blown away!! Time to re-read it and maybe even own an electronic copy at this price.
I also liked A Gentleman Undone by the same author and I emailed her to ask when her next book was going to be out… I got a nice email from her saying that something was in the works but she wasn’t ready to share it with the world yet. This was a while back… I follow her on Twitter but nothing there either, at least not recently. So Ms. Grant, if you are out there… 🙂
Emily Foster’s How Not to Let Go is $2.99 on kindle.
An enthusiastic no from me on A Lady Awakened. I didn’t find it sex-positive at all. The heroine hates sex. Like, actually hates it. This would have been okay if the book had had any kind of emotional connection between the couple, but it just slogs along for-freaking-ever with nothing except pointing out how inferior he is to her. I’m not sure they ever really enjoy sex with each other or… feel… anything. Did not like this book at all.
@ A Lady Snoozes
I also had a really really hard time getting into A Lady Awakened. The conflict was also cringey (like her motivation for sex with the hero). I dont love the blackshear family series, although I’ll admit that I like elements of her writing.
I was surprised to see so many raves for A Lady Awakened because I didn’t like it at all. 🙁 DNF. The hero has an irksome name, and he’s so… I don’t know somewhere between self deprecating and arrogant but neither in a way that is charming. The heroines hatred of sex and men was really off putting to me. I also couldn’t get behind all the deception that was the central plot. I wish I liked it like so many of you did.
A Lady Awakened was fantastic. One of the best historical romance novels I’ve ever read. Both heroine and hero were far more complex than the usual you find in historical romances these days, and even so, they fit beautifully into their time period, and the setting came solidly to life. The initial sex scenes were fun, and later they were very romantic and sweet. This is no wallpaper historical. You can tell she did her research. A magnificent novel in every respect, and A Gentleman Undone is even better. I’m sorry Cecilia Grant has written so few books because I’d love to see more from her. She’s the best in the genre right now.
So I’m really intrigued to read A Lady Awakened after such strong feelings in the reviews! Goodreads reviews really seem to echo the sentiment here- either you love this and it’s a best-of-genre keeper, or it’s not for you at all. Not much middle ground, which is kind of refreshing. For those of you who only mentioned one other book by Ms Grant, on Amazon this is first in a series of three and all three are available – book 3 being A Woman Entangled- plus a novella is available. cant wait to find out what I think of this series! Thanks for the reviews!
@Emily C Divisive books like this are SO fun because the feels are intense on both sides, and DAMN I LOVE THAT CRAP!
It’s been months since I posted my video review of this, so I am SOOOOOO pumped to be able to finally read the next book! (I try to space out authors on my channel.) WHICH I’M GONNA READ RIGHT DAMN NOW!
And by “now” I mean after I marathon my The Study of Seduction because guess which idiot mixed up the due dates for her RITA review books? AND ONE WEEK BEFORE RT NO LESS AHHHHHH MY BRAIN IS A GIANT GRAPEFRUIT!
Put me in the loves Lady Awakened camp. I found the conflict between the characters – her desire to not enjoy sex and his desire to make it pleasurable for her – really very hot. It made for a very different dynamic and the way he slowly won her over and showed her that being a widow didn’t mean she had to feel guilty about her own pleasure (not just sexual, but also in terms of personal goals) really worked for me. Also, it worked in the enclosures act, which made me history squee because it gave the book a strong sense of place and time. The only thing I didn’t care for was the ending, which felt a touch editorially mandated – everyone had to get what they wanted even though those desires were contradictory because the heroine needed to “think of the children”. I’d much rather have had a more selfish and less contrived ending.
I also had a strong anti-A Lady Awakened reaction, which I was surprised by because I loved A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong. I can enjoy romance novels where the sex isn’t perfect the first time (e.g., virgin heroes). But for me, there’s a big difference between working through a rough start and talking about needs in bed, and what was presented in A Lady Awakened. Like, the heroine is repulsed by the hero, and although she absolutely gives consent, it was stomach-churning to me the way they use each other physically.
I finished it, so I guess it got better for me? But I can’t recall why.