A Lady Awakened [Mass Market Paperback]

Cecilia Grant (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 27, 2011

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?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Featured Guest Review: Eloisa James on A Lady Awakened

Eloisa James holds an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale is currently an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" as an academic and a romance writer is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.

Martha Russell is a proper, laced-up widow, who finds more pleasure in charitable acts than she ever did in her marriage bed. Theophilus Mirkwood is a known rake whose all-too-true reputation has basically gotten him thrown out of London.

There couldn't be a couple less likely to fall in love--which is exactly why it's so satisfying when they do. Cecilia Grant has given us an incredibly sexy and surprisingly sweet debut that hits the perfect note for a classic "opposites attract" storyline.

Like so many great romances (and maybe real-life love stories too), A Lady Awakened starts with an indecent proposal. Martha's husband just died and she needs to become pregnant immediately--yesterday!--in order to pass off her baby as the heir to the Russell estate. If she doesn't, not only will she be destitute, but the estate will be seized by her late husband's cruel, lascivious brother.

There's one problem: in order to become pregnant, she needs to go to bed with someone. Well, who better than her notorious new neighbor Theophilus? Martha doesn't expect to get any pleasure from their bargain … and at first she doesn't. But everything changes when their relationship becomes more than just physical.

There's so much I adore about this novel--from the hilariously awkward scene in which Martha propositions Theo to the immensely sensual one in which she first succumbs to pleasure. It's not just that Theo is great in bed: there are plenty of historical novels featuring heroes with remarkable skills in that area. What makes A Lady Awakened stand out is that Cecilia Grant pulls the heartstrings of a much deeper story, the tale of how both Theo and Martha change and grow together. I really loved how they transformed one another. Martha, in particular, gives Theo a sense of purpose that allows him to escape a fairly meaningless existence.

I kept thinking about these two long after finishing the last page, and I'm sure you will, too. It's the kind of romance that sticks with you. If you read only one debut this year, this is the one to read.

---

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Martha Russell is a desperate woman. After her husband Richard’s unexpected death, ownership of Seton Park, her current home, will revert to the new heir, the reprehensible James Russell. Unless, that is, Martha is pregnant with Richard’s son. While Martha knows she is not pregnant, the rest of the countryside does not, which gives Martha one month to rectify the situation. Martha’s new neighbor, Theophilus Mirkwood, is rumored to have been banished to the countryside to repent his wicked life in London. All Martha has to do is convince Theo to agree to a month of discreet trysts with her, and she may wind up with the heir she desperately needs. The only problem is that Martha did not factor falling in love with Theo into her simple business proposition. Grant expertly imbues her elegantly written, emotionally powerful debut with a compelling combination of exquisitely nuanced characters and lusciously sensual romance. Sweet, poignant, and completely satisfying, A Lady Awakened is a romance to treasure. --John Charles

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Original edition (December 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780553593839
• ISBN-13: 978-0553593839
• ASIN: 0553593838
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm stunned (but obviously not speechless) November 12, 2011

By Ann Elliot VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This book could not have surprised me more if it had fallen from the sky and smacked me on the head.

I chose an ARC of the book and felt some regret when it arrived. The characters are not immediately likeable and the plot is morally reprehensible.

Martha, the heroine, is prudish, judgemental and a hypocrite of great magnitude who mentally condemns a congregation member for falling asleep during Sunday service, even as she is plotting to cheat a stranger of his inheritance by doing her best to become pregnant by another stranger.

Theo, the hero, is the hapless new neightbor who agrees to help Martha in her pregnancy plot. He is 26, but his maturity level is that of a 15-year-old.

Theo's sense of worth derives from his only skill--pleasing women in bed. Martha's sense of worth derives from her image as a morally upright pillar of rectitude. Their daily "exercises" in bed are doomed. He is duty bound to give her pleasure; she cannot let herself feel pleasure or she will cease to be a "good" person.

The daily bedding contains some of the most awkward, frustrating, funny, miserable sex scenes ever written.

After a chapter or two, like the moment in "Wizard of Oz" when the screen goes from black and white to color, the author's marvelous writing style kicks in and the story is transformed. Every word is chosen with care to make the tale feel authentic and often to make the reader smile. Even Martha is careful about word choice as she constantly stumbles onto double entendres and corrects herself.

The characters, like real people, are much more than they seem on the surface. They have faults, strengths, childhood difficulties to overcome and opportunities for growth.

The two find tolerance, affection and then love as they face difficulties together, not the least of which are their attempts to improve the indigent Weaver family, including a taciturn mother, large brood of children, incessantly squalling baby and a huge pig determined to move into the family living quarters.

Readers looking for a standard romance novel will be disappointed by this book and would do well to read a few reviews to know what to anticipate.

Readers looking for a charming, well-written gem of a romantic book will find this one a stunner.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Grant's writing is exquisite. November 9, 2011

By Old Latin teacher TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

When you set down on paper the plot to this HR, it doesn't look all that appealing and might even seem offensive to some persons' sensibilities. Newly-widowed Martha Russell wants to retain control of her late husband's estate and can only do so by producing an heir within the appropriate number of months of her first year of mourning. Unfortunately, she was not pregnant when her husband died. What to do? Hire the stud services of newly-arrived neighbor Theo Mirkwood, whose father has exiled him to their nearby Pencarragh estate as punishment for his wayward ways. She has one month to conceive or it's off to live with her brother and his wife and her brother-in-law will come to take over the Russell property.

Well, she's not as mercenary as that sounds. Said brother-in-law is not a good person. He seduces helpless women, wastes money, neglects his wife, and would care not at all about the welfare and education of the tenants at the estate or even about the condition of the estate itself. Martha wants desperately to protect those people who have been relying on her during her time as mistress of the Russell property.

Since there's a deadline for getting pregnant, we have sex scenes early on in the book, but it's business-arrangement sex for a good part of the story. Martha is bound and determined not to have any pleasure in their encounters and encourages Theo to just do it and get it over with every time they have sex. No dawdling around with unnecessary kissing and foreplay. Enjoying the experience would only add to the guilt she's already feeling about what she is doing.

Well, the rest you just have to read. Theo isn't into necrophilia so he's working towards getting some response from her in bed, while she is blocking his attempts at all cost. And at the same time, out of bed they are becoming acquainted with each other as real people, not just sex partners. Martha begins to see the goodness and responsibility hiding in Theo's fun-loving persona. Theo sees the real caring and feeling woman that cool and aloof Martha works so hard to hide from others.

The best thing about the book is the beautiful writing. I venture to say I enjoyed the way the story is written much more than the story itself. This is polished, flowing, wonderful writing and was a joy to read. Very few authors of mass market paperback HRs write this well. IMO, Grant is in a class with Joanna Bourne and Meredith Duran, two exceptionally talented writers of HRs.

Other books and movies have tried variations on this theme of using or hiring someone, not a lover, to procreate but this one by Grant is by far the best HR with that theme that I have read. Other recent attempts have been Lorraine Heath's Waking Up With the Duke (London's Greatest Lovers) and Anna Campbell's My Reckless Surrender but Grant's is better than those. Perhaps comparable in romance and poignancy to the Grant book is the movie Firelight (Le lien secret)- Sophie Marceau (Import - All Regions), a beautiful movie set in the 1800s.

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not at all what I expected December 27, 2011

By teacher mom

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I'm a sucker for a beautiful cover, and this one is definitely interesting. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but this book left me very unsatisfied, and I doubt I will read more of Cecilia Grant's works.

The premise is intriguing. Martha has been widowed, and if she is not carrying her husband's heir, she will lose her home and financial security, and her husband's estate will go to his ruthless brother (known for raping some of the female staff on previous visits). Determined to save herself and her staff, she decides her only option is to hire a stud to impregnate her. However, Martha Russell is so cold and self-righteous that she's able to convince herself--and Theo, the chosen stud--that it's necessary for the greater good, but that she will find no pleasure whatsoever in it. She hires Theo, a young and handsome neighbor, to visit her every day for a month.

This is where the story loses interest. Theo wants her to enjoy their time together, but Martha is so cold and distant that once he even compares her to a corpse. She doesn't allow him to prepare her, and she makes it difficult for him by glancing disinterestedly around the room or making inane comments during their coupling. Why Theo agrees to continue is beyond me. She is a self-righteous bore, while he is charming, handsome, and caring. In real life, I believe Theo would have discontinued their relationship after the first meeting and found a more willing and enjoyable partner. There is nothing about her whatsoever to recommend her as the heroine of this novel. I believe the author intended the reader to feel sorry for her and to desire her to come to her senses and feel again. However, that is not the case. She is a woman without natural affection, and I have never been so sorry to see a dashing rake fall for a woman as I was when Theo fell in love with Martha.

Regarding the love scenes, they are extremely short. There is a great lack of tender caresses and genuine intimacy. The scenes are cold and tasteless, and it's very hard to continue reading about Martha's indifference, night after night. There are times when the action drags and I lost interest. Much effort was given to showing Theo's progression from a young, reckless rake to a concerned and responsible gentleman. If as much time had been spent developing Martha's character into a warm and likable heroine, this book would have fared much better.