Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

What a Lady Demands - Ashlyn MacNamara
Series: The Eton Boys Trilogy #1
Published by: Loveswept, on 4 November 2014
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Pages: 276, Format: eARC

Viscount Lindenhurst cannot seem to find a governess who meets his impossible standards—until Cecelia Sanford becomes the first woman to interrupt the widower’s brooding in years. Lind had returned home from the Napoleonic wars, broken in body and soul and longing for his wife’s embrace, only to find her changed. Before they could reconcile, an accident struck their son and claimed her life. Now enter Cecelia, with her soft curves and sharp tongue—a tempting distraction, it is true, but not a welcome one.

Past the usual marrying age and haunted by a scandal of her own, Cecelia soon finds herself caring for both the child and the man. The viscount is brittle and even abrupt at times, yet she cannot deny the attraction that stirs her body in his presence. Moved by the deep sense of abandonment that tortures his soul, Cecelia aches to fully awaken Lind’s heart from its rancorous slumber—if she can just keep their pasts from destroying a second chance at love.

What a Lady Demands is an amazing Historical Romance story, because Cecelia Standford is such an unconventional heroine – and that makes everything that happens even better.

My What a Lady Demands review:

If you are familiar with my blog, you know that I love reading Historical Romances, but that I kind of loathe reading about virgins… Kind of like an oxymoron, right? Apart from the fact that What a Lady Demands fulfilled my desires – beautiful historical romance story, with a very strong heroine, who is scandalously not a virgin. She’s twenty-three years old, and she knows her way around a male body for sure. Of course, just the fact that the heroine isn’t a virgin isn’t enough for me to give out five stars, so let me tell you all the other reasons for my high rating.

The writing is really good, I was swiftly grabbed by the story and the main characters, even little Jeremy was a great part of what happened, and of the overall plot. Lind was a character I was curious about ever since I read What a Lady Craves, and he did not disappoint. Brooding, bordering on impolite, harsh and not wanting to see farther than his own problems, it took a little while for me to warm up to him. But Cecelia had been mesmerized by him ever since she was a young girl, so there had to be more to the widower than met the eye.

There is mystery, chemistry, humor, some very hot scenes where Cecelia shows her particular skills and the way the plot was moved forward was truly flawless! I really enjoyed that Jeremy, Lind’s son, was such a big part of the story, because it showed how important Cecelia’s patience and her willingness to try things that weren’t conventional were to his overall well-being. And the character development was great, too! Cecelia grew a lot, both because she wanted to show everybody that she was now a grown woman, and because it changed her to be responsible for Jeremy. Lind finally managed to open up his heart after he thought it was lost forever.

If you are looking for a hot and steamy historical romance novel, and you enjoy lots of plot to go with the hotness, you should pick up What a Lady Demands – it can be read as a stand-alone, but I loved the first book in the series,too, so I definitely recommend reading that as well.

Some of my favorite What a Lady Demands quotes:

“Why do you have two different letters when your first name and last name start with the same sound?” Goodness, and wasn’t that an astute observation If Jeremy hadn’t learned to read yet, the fault certainly did not lie in any lack of intelligence.

Cecelia poured herself another measure of brandy and raised her tumbler. “They get just as caught up. Only with masculine gossip, they claim it’s news.”

An impish grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Thank you,” she said with the air of someone who knew she’d won. And she had, damn her.