Customer Reviews

Love with the Perfect Scoundrel (Widows Club, Book 3)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Grace Sheffey, Countess of Sheffield, is a widow at the young age of only twenty-seven. In the past twelve months she has been jilted by two fiancés and London's upper elite are having a delightful time chewing up and pitting out her reputation. No longer capable of holding her head up high or maintaining an unconcerned image, she flees London. Grace intended to return to the Isle of Mann, where she spent her childhood. Instead she found herself stuck in a blizzard when the carriage tipped over. Her driver and traveling companion go for help. It is only then Grace realizes she is injured, losing blood, and quickly freezing to death.

Michael Ranier has been a fugitive for years. He spent those years in the colonies (Virginia). He returned to England because he inherited property from a friend. En route to his new property (Brynlow) he found an angel dying in the blizzard. While tending to her injuries, with the help of a lad named Timmy, he does the worst thing possible - he fell in love with her. Too bad he could not possibly keep her.

***** I learned years ago that whenever I intend to begin a story written by Sophia Nash that I had better make sure the pizza has already been delivered. Otherwise the members of my family will have to eat cold cereal or sandwiches. This tale is no exception. The author begins with a strong willed lady in distress and then the tender roots of romance begin. From there the author builds tension that only seems to increase with each page turned. Within these pages you will experience pure romance at its very best! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Love With The Perfect Scoundrel had me at hello. Seriously though, I was instantly drawn into the story and enjoyed every single minute of it. I have read hundreds of Historical Romance novels from the Victorian era and I have to say that THIS book, is in my top 10! With a story and plot that is more creative then many I have read, the Author takes advantage of the weather, social strictures (or lack there of) and with a genuine humanity, creates the distressing and ultimately delicious situations that Grace and Michael find themselves in. I immediately felt the heart-pounding attraction between the main characters and this beautiful, sensual love story. Though it is set in the Victorian era, this story had a fresh feel that amused and entertained as much as it titillated. The Author has an exceptional talent for writing and her distinctive story writing talents will, if they have not already, set her apart from many of her peers. This delightful book left me with a big smile on my face and a light feeling in my heart. It is just what I have been waiting for; kudos to you Sophia Nash.
I very highly recommend this book!

(10 out of 10 Diamonds) - Absolutely LOVED it!!


© 2008-2009 Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (Book Reviews By Bobbie).
All rights reserved.

The Widow's Club was a rather trite idea in the first place, and it is even more flat in this tale. If you want dramatic rescues in snow storms, try Guardian of the Heart by Sorcha MacMurrough.
The hero and heroine in this novel are so dull that one appearance by the secondary characters she is using to set up a sequel is enough to distract us. Lack the lively and engaging aspect of Regency romances, and the love scenes, such as they are, left me as cold as the blizzard. Skip it!

My favorite Sophia Nash book yet! The first half was the perfect development of Michael and Grace's attraction towards each other. They were snowbound together! It was funny, poignant, and believable. The second half introduced many of the characters from the Widow's Club. Again, very funny. I laughed, cried, and then laughed again. Love these books!

I just finished reading "Love with the Perfect Scoundrel" and I think it's Ms. Nash's finest work yet! From the very first page you are swept into Grace's stormy life and into the arms of the hero right along with her.

But even though Grace was helpless to keep from falling under Michael's spell, I never found her to be weak or the sometimes jelly-kneed heroine we often get in a romance. I was also proud of the choices Grace made. Choices that even a modern woman could applaud.

All in all, I think Ms. Nash has done a wonderful job of creating a story that is extremely inviting and intensely invigorating. She has also managed to create a romance heroine in a period known for its meek, doormat females that is at once true to the period and also strong enough to speak clearly to modern women who are considerably more emancipated.

I enjoyed the first part of the book when Grace, Countess of Sheffield was healing from accident with Micheal (with mysteries past). Then all the old characters from Widows Club previous showed up and took over the book. At time I wished I had read the books back to back to really enjoy the nuances of the characters. This book held my action but I am glad I borrowed it from the Library.

Check out the whole Widows Club series; A Dangerous Beauty (Widows Club, Book 1) , The Kiss (Widows Club, Book 2). I just check online you will next guess the characters in Book 4 due out 2010 Elizabeth Ashburton and Rowland Manning (the villian in this book...can't wait)

This is the third book in Nash's widows club series. I'd been wondering how the author was going to handle the Countess of Sheffield's story since she'd been jilted in each of the first 2 books. I was worried because Grace came off as quiet. But this story just blew me away. There was an amazing, strong woman under those elegant layers, a lady who deserved the best hero, who she found in the middle of a snowstorm in Yorkshire.

Michael Ranier was a man of many secrets. He has to choose between living in obscurity or placing himself in danger to follow Grace. In the end, each of them had to risk everything important to find love.

This was a marvelous story of a woman who finally understands the meaning of passion and the man who kindles those feelings. This has been a fabulous series so far-very sensual and very emotional. And there is great humor too. Each book gets better. They do not have to be read in any particular order. If you like alpha males, I'd read this book or A Dangerous Beauty-Luc and Rosamunde's story. If you like beta heroes, try The Kiss. The storytelling is excellent in ALL of the books. Write fast, Ms. Nash, I can't wait to see what's next!

LOVE WITH THE PERFECT SCOUNDREL (Widows Club Book 3)
SOPHIA NASH
Historical Romance
Avon Historical romance

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Ms. Nash crafts a winning historical romance in LOVE WITH THE PERFECT SCOUNDREL. Desperate to leave London and the gossip of the Town behind her, Grace is headed toward the Isle of Mann with the sweet Mr. Brown when they get caught in a storm and their carriage overturns. With the driver injured, Grace urges the elderly Mr. Brown to take the driver back towards the Inn and she'll stay with the carriage. But the storm grows worse and Grace finds herself injured from the broken window. Forced to make a decision, she leaves the carriage and begins walking through the storm, hoping to find help or some better kind of shelter, not knowing what she's about to encounter--the perfect scoundrel.

Michael Ranier is returning home from the colonies. His childhood friend has left him his home, also known as Brynlow and Michael is on his way there when he sees a woman huddled under the shelter of a tree in the midst of a horrible storm. Offering to take her to shelter, he couldn't imagine he's about to meet the perfect woman for him.

LOVE WITH THE PERFECT SCOUNDREL is a greatly entertaining historical read. I loved the banter between Grace and Michael and the chemistry between the two was undeniable. The way he looks after her and her injury and the way she finally begins to see herself as she is, instead of how she believes herself to be after two recent failed engagements. There was so much to the story that I enjoyed. Even the scene where their time together is cut short when a veritable search party barges into Michael's home searching for Grace and makes haste taking her back to London away from him is delightfully entertaining, although no doubt physically painful for Michael. And the `reunion' of sorts between the two of them in London once again is highly enjoyable, especially with Grace's observation of Mr. Brown in the balcony above them, possibly `clucking' at her for being a chicken in her reaction to Michael's reappearance.

Sophia Nash's first three novels won a total of eight national awards, including the prestigious RITA Award and a spot on the American Library Association's "Top Ten Romances of the Year." Sophia was born in Switzerland, and raised in France and the United States, but says her heart resides in Regency England. Her ancestor, an infamous French admiral who traded epic cannon fire with the British Royal Navy, is surely turning in his grave. Before pursuing her long-held dream of writing Historicals, Sophia was an award-winning television producer, a congressional speechwriter, and a nonprofit CEO. Visit her online at her website, www.sophianash.com/

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
February 2009

Plot Summary: A man with a past, Michael Ranier, travels from the Colonies to England to claim an inheritance left by a friend. On the road to his modest new home, he encounters a lady freezing in the snow. The Countess of Sheffield was fleeing London's wicked gossip mongers when her coach overturned. Michael takes her in, stitches her wounds, and climbs into bed buck-naked with her, because that's the only way to keep her warm. Huh. Grace's aristocratic friends track her down, and Michael has a million reasons why he won't make her an honest woman. Since this is the third time Grace has been jilted, she doesn't take it too well.

It's been a while since I've read a regency romance, so instead of picking up my usual choice of paranormal à la mode, I reached for good old fashioned vanilla. Too bad it wasn't all that sweet. I totally enjoyed myself for the first 150 pages of this novel, and then it lost all that delicious tension and became bland like puréed baby food.

Beautiful, wealthy, aristocratic ladies who find themselves widowed while still in their twenties do NOT have problems finding new husbands. Sorry, I can't choke that premise down. Maybe if Nash had made Grace an impoverished countess, I could believe it, or maybe if she gave Grace the face of a pig. Instead Nash gave our heroine every gift imaginable and then asked us to believe the improbable, if not the impossible.

Michael has more secrets than a teenager who sneaks back home at 3 a.m. I don't want to blow the story for anyone, but trust me, once his `biggest' secret comes out, it's nearly as hard to choke down as Grace's predicament. It's a shame that the plot is like a bunch of hot air balloons ready to pop, because the relationship between Michael and Grace was plenty interesting in the beginning. I won't write off all of Nash's books, because with a more realistic premise, she can probably spin a good yarn.

This is my first book by this author, I wanted to like it because I am trying to find good regency books (few as they may be). This book did not touch my heart, and it was very formulaic and not in a good way.

Grace Sheffey is a widow, wounded and half frozen to death, stranded in a snow storm when a stranger comes upon her. Michael Ranier is a man with a mysterious past. He helps Grace and they take refuge in a cottage left to him by a friend who had died. They spend a few days together after that as they are trapped by the snow, and they get closer to each other.

There was a lot of potential here, but the author skimmed what she should have detailed (i.e the gradual attraction and emotional development between Michael and Grace). Instead we get a contrived skimmable intimate scene, where the only clear motivation is that they're both suddenly overcome with lust, lol. Now why would Grace, a woman who is respectable and sweet give herself to a man who hasn't admitted any love for her and any willingness to commit, especially after being jilted by two other men.

If Grace and Michael had parted without having gotten fully intimate, it would have made much more sense and given more time for their relationship to grow emotionally, and the story would have been much better. The story is slow in several parts, and there were several times when the characters' motivations did not make sense. For example after they parted, Michael then returns to pursue Grace, at one point he is saddened that she hasn't found herself pregnant, when at the same time he knows that he can not marry her...etc. Also the whole idea of the "Widow's club" seemed silly to me.

Basically the storyline had a lot of potential had the relationship between Grace and Michael been written differently; a wrongly accused fugitive finding a lost countess in a snow storm, the potential for romance and adventure is vast in such a setting, but the author missed that chance. And instead we got a formulaic, and somewhat boring story, with the hero admiting his love in the last two pages.

However, there was a character that was really interesting Rowland Manning (who was a villain in this story), I read another reviewer mention that his story would be next. So while I was not very impressed with this book, I might check out Rowland's story, in hopes that the author will write it in a much better manner than in this book.

In the end, this book had a lot of potential; it could have been much better, but it just wasn't.