"When a Chattan male falls in love, strike his heart with fire from above..."\r\n\r\nThey call him Lord Lyon, proud, determined-- and cursed. He is in need of a bride, but if he falls in love, he dies. His fervent hope is that by marrying-- and having a son--without love, perhaps he can break the curse's chains forever.\r\n\r\nEnter beautiful Thea Martin--a duke's headstrong, errant daughter and society's most brilliant matchmaker. Years ago, she and Lyon were inseparable, until he disappeared from her life without a word. Now she is charged with finding Lyon's bride--a woman he cannot love for a man Thea could love too well.

Oh where to start. Lets see, how about Oct. 30th, 2012. What is that you say, that is the date the next book in this series comes out. I liked this book so much, that I got online and looked up when the next one comes out within minutes of finishing this one. This book hit almost all of my requirements for a “Oh dear god, you have to read this” romance novel. The only thing missing was steaminess, and to be honest I only really missed it just a tiny little bit. Don’t get me wrong there is sex in this book. There’s a half clad man on the cover, of course there is some adult content in this book.

Thea is the daughter of a duke but she is too headstrong for her own good. She married a commoner against her parents wishes and was disowned by her family. After his death she moves back to London to try to carve out some sort of life for her and her two sons. All she wants is to have a life where her sons can grow up and become part of the society she left behind. She can’t reenter society as a high society member, so she does the next best thing, she becomes a matchmaker for them. After helping out some poor unfortunate souls (Look she’s Ursula without the tentacles and mean streak! Sorry my kid loves that movie….anyway….) She find them the love that has eluded them, and word gets around that she is very good at what she does.

Enter in Lord Lyon, with a ancient curse on his head that says he is never to fall in love. Actually he can fall in love but it will kill him if he does. All of the males in his line have died after finding love. His father was the only Chattan male that conceived more than one child and that was due to hating his first wife (notice the emphasis on first, yup married for love the second time and BAM! dead as a door nail.). So he wants Thea to find him a Bride he can live with but never love. After much debate, she agrees to do this. Thus begins the tried and true romance plot and you know what, I didn’t even care that I knew what was going to happen and who Lyon would marry. A good romance will do that, it makes you forget you already know the main characters will end up happily ever after, you just keep hoping it does and then are happy when it works out.

This was my first book by Maxwell and I loved her writing style. I was able to fall in love with the characters and invest myself in them. I wanted to see Thea achieve her dreams for her kids. I wanted to see Lyon find love and try to overcome the family curse. The world that Maxwell has written is easy to fall in and the characters are very believable. There is a great scene with two of the would be mother-in-laws arguing about the merits of their stuck up daughters that just had me rolling with laughter. Of course it part of it may have been because my brain can’t do an English accent to save its life, so those Moms were arguing in a bad Jersey Shore accents… What? You don’t read in accents… nope? not even a litte?… OK.. moving on.

What can I say other than it all just worked. It worked so well, I’m giving it a 4. One more thing, I enjoyed this book so much that I was only a little mad when she left it with a major cliff hanger. MAJOR cliff hanger. Arrggggg…but I want to know what happens to the family nooowww! Hurry up October!

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Amanda @ BookShelfery

Associate Reviewer/Minion

I'm a mother, a wife and a scientist. I read just about anything you put in front of me. I would say that my favourites are horror and romance. No wait, it's YA and dystopian novels. Umm, actually this week its mystery and paranormals. You know what, I really don't have a favourite genre, for me it varies by month, by week, or by day. Deep down I'm a nerdhuffer to my core. \r\n\r\nWhat? Nerdhuffer? What is that, you ask...\r\n\r\nDo you love the written word? Do you love those hard copies that sit in libraries full of the smell of glue, paper, and ink? Do you love those new copies that you stalk the book store for at midnight on its release to go home and read till 6AM even though you have to get up to go to work 7? Do you cherish an e-reader so that you can access a whole world of books whether you are at home, at the store, in the airport, or even... the bathroom? (What, you read in there too. Don't deny it, we're all friends here.) Did you just shake your head yes to any of those questions? Well then, my friends you are a nerdhuffer. Be proud, go forth in your addiction. I'll meet you at the bookstore to teach you the secret handshake. I'll be the one on the floor getting high off the pile of books at my feet.

Latest posts by Amanda @ BookShelfery (see all)

• ARC: Surrender to the Earl by Gayle Callen - 07/16/2013
• ARC: An English Bride in Scotland by Lynsay Sands - 07/09/2013
• A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time Series #14) by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson - 07/03/2013