Review and Giveaway - An Earl to Enchant by Amelia Grey

Title: An Earl to Enchant: The Rogues' Dynasty
Author: Amelia Grey
Genre: Historical Romance
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (April 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402217617
ISBN-13: 978-1402217616

Rating: 4.75
Description:

He’s determined not to be a hero…
Lord Morgandale is as notorious as he is dashing, and he’s determined no woman will tie him down. But from the moment Arianna Sweet appears on his doorstep, he cannot resist the lure of her fascinating personality, exotic wardrobe, and tempting green eyes…
She has a deadly secret…
Arianna Sweet never imagined the significance of her father’s research until after his untimely death. Now she is in possession of his groundbreaking discovery, one that someone would kill for. She can’t tell Lord Morgandale her secret, but she knows she needs his help, desperately…

Review: This historical has rich characters to enhance a mystery that twists till the end!

Arianna is a British young woman who was raised in India in the care of her scientist father. While he studied herbs and plants, Arianna convinced her maid to teach her belly dance among other rebellious and not so British behaviors. Unfortunately Arianna’s father is murdered for an important formula and the murderer escapes under her nose. Arianna returns to Britain seeking help to recreate the formula. Instead of finding her father’s distant relative to take her in she finds the grand dame’s notorious grandson, Lord Morgandale.

Imagine Morgandale’s surprise when he is expecting a beautiful courtesan for a weekend rendezvous and instead finds an exotic waif who proceeds to faint in his arms. Morgandale really wants nothing to do with a “good” woman as he has no inclination to get leg shackled. He isn’t thrilled with becoming guardian to this outspoken and strange young woman who is unlike any woman he has known.

The antagonism and bantering between these protagonists is intertwined with the unwanted attraction and chemistry. The characters are well developed with wonderful quirks and hidden depths. Morgandale allows Arianna to recuperate at his estate while trying to avoid the urge to spend time with her. He suspects she has withheld some information from him but he is moving as quickly as he can to get her off his hands before he is tempted to succumb to her (unintentionally?) sensual innocence. I enjoyed the age-old conflict of a man fighting cupid’s arrow.

Morgandale’s protective instincts finally take control when danger stalks Arianna. The push-pull relationship of the hero and heroine kept me delightfully engaged while the threats to Arianna heated up to a surprising end. The writing and descriptions flowed making this a wonderful, easy read and sultry romantic entertainment. I was only sorry when it ended!

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Thank you to Danielle at Sourcebook for this ARC.  I was tempted to keep it but ---- no more room to keep books I have read so I am offering this to a lucky winner!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THIS BOOK:
1. Comment on the review telling me if you have ever studied bellydance or if you like something else about India.  Please leave your e-mail!

2. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For another entry, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

(Three total entries possible.)
It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reason.
* This contest will close Midnight (Central) on April 30, 2010. The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.

Comment Tuesday Giveaway April 13, 2010: Titillating Titles

TUESDAY

I mentioned during the Readathon minichallenge post that I had seen this game at Riding With The Top Down and thought it was great fun.  I used my review books and a few selected TBR's in the Saturday story post. The books here are all from books won over the past few months.

Here are a few fun sentences created from my books.  Can you make some from your books?  List them by titles or you can take pictures if you want.  You aren't limited to three that is just how I set them up. Actually the top nine make their own story.
A winner will be selected randomly from all Comments on this post and will get to pick a book from the Friday Pick List.

 Found Love

Passionate Love

Lost Love

 

Two different fallen loves:

The Promise
Led Astray by A Rake
Another Man's Baby

Tempting Fate

Fallen

Grave Sins

Happy Birthday Zane!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDSON ZANE!!
SIX YEARS BIG TODAY!

P-Pop and GramMom LOVE YOU!

Top Ten Picks Meme April 6, 2010: Must Reads

This is a weekly meme hosted by Jillian at Random Ramblings where she picks every week she picks a different and specific topic to list our top ten favorites.You really have to think a bit about these!

This week the list is:Top Ten Books You Have To Read At Least Once
Here are mine, not necessarily in the order listed except for #1.
 

1. The Holy Bible

It doesn't have to be the King James Version. In fact sometimes people not accustomed to reading the Bible like The Way or The Message.

2. Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Boxed Set of 4 Books

You really should read the Hobbit

before the LOTR trilogy!

3. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

I thought this was an excellent 

Civil War history novel. 

I loved the style that made reading history 

interesting by following the officers and participants.

 

4. The Shack by William P. Young

I don't necessary agree with all of the 
theories in this book - it is fiction. 

But it is a wonderful, imaginative presentation of God. 

If it makes you think - that's good.

 

5. Alice In Wonderland 

by Lewis Carroll

This is a classic not to miss.

6.  God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours by Regina Brett

This little book is so full of wisdom
for everyday living that 

I think everyone should read it at least once!

7.  Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

If you have never read this you really should.

My DH is not a reader although I can get him to 

listen to books on Audible now and again.

This may be the only book he has read 

more than once - other than the Bible.

He listened to this again about 

a month ago and kept saying - 

"This is happening in our country today!"

 

8.  The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Like Jillian I read this book very early in life 

and still have my copy. 

(Wait till you see the picture below!)

 

9.  This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

This book changed my view of angels and demons.

It also changed my prayer life!

10.  White Lotus by John Hershey

This is another classic worth reading. 

This might give you pause to think.

An allegorical novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and reporter. In a world in which whites have been enslaved by Orientals, a young girl named White Lotus is captured in Arizona and transported to China. After being sold into slavery, she survives a vast Chinese civil war and is emancipated upon its conclusion. Later she abandons her life as a tenant farmer and moves to the white district of a large city in the North of China in search of a better life.

Now I do not have a copy of White Lotus but I have never forgotten reading it in college after reading Hiroshima.

We have several worn out Bibles - the red one in the picture below is my husband's and is all separated from its binding. My copy of This Present Darkness is with a friend at church but I do have the sequel Piercing the Darkness. I gave my copy of The Shack to my step mother.

But to show that I mean these books are keepers here are pictures of my very worn books!  My son insisted on buying a new set of Tolkien books as he refused to read my old "moldy" books! :D

Mailbox Monday April 12, 2010

This Meme starts with Marcia at The Printed Page

I got one book last week that wasn't a review book.

I won Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter at a Writerspace Chat!  Madeline was VERY nice!  Thank you Madeline and WS!

Madeline has published 20 historicall romances. I have read seven and had eight TBR on my shelf.  Now I won this first in the Rarest Blooms series and purchased Provocative in Pearls which is the second book in the series.
The three books I do not yet have are the first three in the Rothwell Series - although I think I have one on Kindle or Audible - I'll have to check that. 

Here is my thought - I am would like to do a Madeline Hunter Challenge.  I will read the two Rarest Blooms books first. I will finish those in plenty of time to pick up the third book, Sinful in Satin, which will be released in September.

Then I will read the five books in the Seducer Series plus two spin offs.

The Seducer series consists of five books, all set in early 19th-century Great Britain. Their order is:
THE SEDUCER
THE SAINT
THE CHARMER
THE SINNER
THE ROMANTIC

LORD OF SIN and LADY OF SIN which are spin-offs of the series. They are not as closely tied to the others as the series books are tied to each other. However, they take place in the same world, and characters from the series appear in them.

That will be a total of ten books.  That is certainly doable in a year! If things go well I may add the Rothwell series. Is anyone else interested in joining the challenge??  I'll check around some of my historical romance friends to see if there are others interested.  If we get a handful or so I'll get a badge and a Linky list going.