You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Jess, who is looking for a historical romance that’s definitely part of a series:
I’m looking for a historical I read ages ago – I think it was part of a series, because the hero’s estranged brother (recently happily married) made an appearance.
The hero is a cold and withdrawn wealthy English nobleman, or maybe a bastard son, who inherits a manor house and ends up in a marriage of convenience to a poor girl of good character.
The only thing I really remember is that in her quest to clean up the house, she strips some very expensive Chinese or Japanese wallpaper from the drawing room. I thought it was an Anne Gracie but after reviewing her catalog I don’t think it can be.
Please, mysterious and powerful Bitchery, lend me your wisdom!
Anyone have any historical romance wallpaper memories?
I feel like I’ve read that in the past year, and it might have been Mary Balogh? Sorry, I can’t pinpoint which one, but I went through a phase of reading her back catalog through my library, so something older. Maybe The Temporary Wife? Does that ring a bell to anyone else?
There is a similar scene in a Harlequin by Christine Merrill called The Inconvenient Duchess. The poor new wife of good character tries to clean the silk painted wallpaper in the dining room, messes it up, and ends up having to replace it. However, the other details don’t fit: the hero is a duke, and his brother is unmarried and not exactly estranged (the two don’t get along and brother is the villain).
I do not know which book this is, but it is not Mary Balogh’s The Temporary Wife (a favorite, reread it at least once a year). I was tempted to suggest Meredith Duran’s Fool Me Twice (estranged and recently happily married brother, the hero is a cold and vindictive and has barricaded himself in his room and the heroine tries to clean up his house). But the only luxury destroyed in the process is truffles.
I’m just going to say, right up front, that 1) it sounds vaguely familiar but 2) I have no idea what it is & 3) I would definitely read it. That said, I have to give a standing O to this day in Bitchery History. It’s HABO-Tuesday (my weekly reward for getting through Mondays), there’s a selkie book on sale, Elyse suffered through “The Bachelorette”, “No Mistress of Mine” is reviewed (even though I’d give it an A-/B+, I was glad to see the review), and Courtney F-ing Milan drops a whopping heap of fabulously crazy catshit upon us lesser mortals! What a day! Applause all around! And to top it all off, the HVAC guy just now called; he’s on his way to fix my broken AC. The icing on this cake would be for someone to solve this HABO.
@Betsydub: Aw, yay! Hope the A/C gets fixed shortly and thank you for being part of SBTB! <3
Holy crap, you ladies work FAST! Veronica, you nailed it. It is indeed The Inconvenient Duchess – I think I smushed it together in my brain with Gracie’s Devil Riders series. Thank you all so much for your input – I’m going to check out Mary Balogh’s Temporary Wife and the one with truffles. Or maybe I’ll eat truffles while I read them all.
Icing, meet cake (except the AC fix is going to cost a fortune; at least I have the answer to the HABO).
Great – sounds like a book I’d like to read. But, @Betsydub, what’s the Courtney Milan news?
@Georgie: She’s talking about this WTF guest review Courtney Milan wrote for the site today!
I love this book