Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Lord Wastrel - Donna Cummings
Series: The Curse of True Love #2
Published by: Selfpublished, on 2 November 2014
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Pages: 167, Format: eARC
Source: Author

When Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, plays matchmaker, true love can seem like a curse. . .

Lord Wastrel--the most notorious rake in London--has a child? Clearly he knows how to sire one, but he has no idea how to actually raise one. He has to learn quickly, since he is the little girl's only surviving parent, and he's determined to find a wife who can be a suitable mother. All he needs is someone demure, and biddable, and most importantly, scandal-free.

Lady Felicia Selby is no stranger to scandal, thanks to her numerous failed elopements and Society's insatiable curiosity about her misadventures. She has devoted many years to finding her one true love, desperate to escape the consequences of the family curse if she fails. But she has begun to give up hope.

Then, one evening, a chance encounter with Aphrodite changes everything.

*I received a free ARC of Lord Wastrel from Donna Cummings in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*

Filled with Cummings’ trademark humor, her penchant for naughty heroines and converted rakes, Lord Wastrel hit exactly the right spot!

My Lord Wastrel review:

Delightful, humorous, filled with stubborn characters and a Goddess of Love who needs to seek amends, Lord Wastrel appealed to me on all levels. Very well written, in third person past tense, I got to know Felicia and Hugh very well, and the supporting cast of characters was amazing as well. Cummings always manages to tickle my funny bone, she has such a way with words, it’s just impossible not to fall in love with her characters, flaws and all.

Felicia and Hugh both were fighting against what they thought they were cursed with, and they did it in such a way that they found themselves in almost impossible situations. Felicia was sure she only had a few more weeks to find her one true love, so she eloped with various gentlemen only to leave them high and dry on the road. Hugh suddenly found himself the sole parent of a daughter he never knew existed, and so he decided to put his days as Lord Wastrel behind to become a doting father. And to do so, he thought he needed a demure, quiet woman to become his wife. Fate, and Aphrodite, had other plans…

Needless to say, a demure woman was not what Hugh needed, and Felicia had actually known her one true love her whole life.  The way she went about getting Hugh to accept her as his future wife rather than ‘flighty Felicia’ did make her work harder, though. But she soon managed to take up a big place in his heart. The hotness between these two characters was scorching, too, and I had to fan myself both when they were on a carriage ride, and when they finally got naked together in bed.

If you’re looking for a different take on historical romance, where the heroine is definitely unconventional, and where the hero is so reluctant he seems to be the one who protests too much, you should hurry up and get your own copy of Lord Wastrel ASAP, it’s only $0.99 for kindle. And so is the first book in the series, Lord Rakehell’s Love. If you’re hesitating, my review is for the first book is here.

Some of my favorite Lord Wastrel quotes:

She bit back a laugh, especially when she saw her aunt’s face flushed with excitement. “Great-Aunt Uproar” loved nothing more than gossip and scandal, no matter who was the source of it. Fortunately Felicia had managed to provide a great deal of enjoyment for her beloved relative.

He was nearly swamped with an unexpected feeling of betrayal. Even stranger, it felt as though he was betraying Felicia, not the woman who would soon be his wife.

Realization slammed into him. Dear Lord. He had fallen asleep. On his wedding night. This was much worse than his reckless wastrel days. He had become much too dull if he could not remain awake while a seductive woman was in his bed.

“Felicia, confound you. I cannot even apologize without you being entirely contrary!” “And I was about to say the same of you. You are impossible, Hugh. You always have been. It is beyond me how you found a woman to marry you.” “I am fortunate my wife proposed to me.”