Catherine M. (Catherine1) reviewed Lessons From a Scarlet Lady (Northfield, Bk 1) on + 60 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
Brianna, wife to the Duke of Rolthven, has bought a copy of a banned book. The book, "Lady Rothburg's Advice", was written by a courtesan and helps the reader learn how to please a man and keep his attention. Brianna has been married for three months and is determined to please her husband, Colton, in every way so that he will never look to a mistress.
Brianna and Colton have a content marriage, but Brianna hopes that they can grow together and that possibly her husband will fall in love with her. She fell in love with him before they married but is dissatisfied with his lack of attention. She wants him to notice her and to be more adventurous sexually.
The other part of this story centers around Rebecca, Brianna's unmarried friend. She has been infatuated with Colton's rakish brother Robert ever since they first met. Unfortunately he never notices her in return. After unexpectedly helping Rebecca hide from a persistant suitor sparks begin to fly between them. Watching Rebecca and Robert fall in love was a sweet experience.
I really liked the fact that this book showed a couple working to make their marriage better and an unmarried couple slowly realizing that they would like to be together forever. It was nice to get to experience both sides of a relationship.
Brianna was a little too sweet and giving for me at times, but overall I liked her. She did have a habit of forgiving slights before I was ready for her to though. I liked that she was willing to work to make her marriage how she wanted it. She obviously realized that she couldn't force Colton's feelings for her, but she was smart enough to figure out that if he spent more time with her and found her more interesting his feelings might grow. Brianna was an odd mix of modern thinking and a product of her times. At times she seemed to have authentic expectations for a lady of her time, but at other moments she would seem more modern and have more expectations of equality.
Colton was my least favorite character of the book. He was a total product of his rank which I kind of liked. I hate when high ranking peers act like they don't care that they're a duke, earl, etc. It always pulls me out of the story because I sincerely doubt that most of them walked around thinking they weren't any better than anyone else. If he was just arrogant I wouldn't have minded so much, but he was stuffy on top of it. It was kind of funny to see him struggle with asking his brother for advice about Brianna. But I also wished he would relax a bit and let me see there was more to him other than his intense need for privacy.
Rebecca and Robert were an interesting couple. I actually liked them the most and kind of wish more time had been devoted to them. As Rebecca gets to know Robert more she realizes that she was just like everyone else and became infatuated with the surface he presents. After finding that he shares a love of music with her they both start to pay more attention to learning about their internal character. I loved Robert's interactions with his brothers. Watching him be amazed that Colton would be suspicious of things most men would love to have was humorous.
All in all a good read and I'll be on the look out for more titles by this author.
Brianna and Colton have a content marriage, but Brianna hopes that they can grow together and that possibly her husband will fall in love with her. She fell in love with him before they married but is dissatisfied with his lack of attention. She wants him to notice her and to be more adventurous sexually.
The other part of this story centers around Rebecca, Brianna's unmarried friend. She has been infatuated with Colton's rakish brother Robert ever since they first met. Unfortunately he never notices her in return. After unexpectedly helping Rebecca hide from a persistant suitor sparks begin to fly between them. Watching Rebecca and Robert fall in love was a sweet experience.
I really liked the fact that this book showed a couple working to make their marriage better and an unmarried couple slowly realizing that they would like to be together forever. It was nice to get to experience both sides of a relationship.
Brianna was a little too sweet and giving for me at times, but overall I liked her. She did have a habit of forgiving slights before I was ready for her to though. I liked that she was willing to work to make her marriage how she wanted it. She obviously realized that she couldn't force Colton's feelings for her, but she was smart enough to figure out that if he spent more time with her and found her more interesting his feelings might grow. Brianna was an odd mix of modern thinking and a product of her times. At times she seemed to have authentic expectations for a lady of her time, but at other moments she would seem more modern and have more expectations of equality.
Colton was my least favorite character of the book. He was a total product of his rank which I kind of liked. I hate when high ranking peers act like they don't care that they're a duke, earl, etc. It always pulls me out of the story because I sincerely doubt that most of them walked around thinking they weren't any better than anyone else. If he was just arrogant I wouldn't have minded so much, but he was stuffy on top of it. It was kind of funny to see him struggle with asking his brother for advice about Brianna. But I also wished he would relax a bit and let me see there was more to him other than his intense need for privacy.
Rebecca and Robert were an interesting couple. I actually liked them the most and kind of wish more time had been devoted to them. As Rebecca gets to know Robert more she realizes that she was just like everyone else and became infatuated with the surface he presents. After finding that he shares a love of music with her they both start to pay more attention to learning about their internal character. I loved Robert's interactions with his brothers. Watching him be amazed that Colton would be suspicious of things most men would love to have was humorous.
All in all a good read and I'll be on the look out for more titles by this author.
Karin A. (Jerseygirltoo) -
Helpful Score: 6
I really loved this book. It starts out being about the Duke, Colton, and his new bride Brianna, but the secondary romance between the Duke's youngest brother Robert and Brianna's best friend Rebecca, ends up getting almost equal time by the end of the story. Both couples were delightful to read about, it's hard to say which I liked better. The Duke & Duchess's story had more erotic scenes, because they were already married, but R&R's story had more romantic tension because you don't know how they'll get their HEA. The middle brother, Damien, works for British intelligence during the Napoleonic wars, but he's home on leave and is also part of the story. The interaction between the 3 brothers, who are all very different, but have close relationships with each other, was lovely. The most amusing part was when Damien sees that Rebecca has fallen in love with Robert, but Robert is reluctant to marry, so Damien does a very good job as a Cupid/go-between. The best line is from Robert after Damien has connived to get R&R alone together: "Is this the type of thing Bonaparte has to deal with? I pity the little Corsican, I really do." Made me lol!
The other thing I loved about the book was that the author was able to construct a whole story and keep it interesting without any extraneous plot elements, like evil enemies, terrible conflicts or impossible obstacles keeping the characters apart. That was the way Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer did it, and you have to be a good writer to make the character development and the steps of the courtship dance enough to keep readers turning the pages.
If you are looking for a fun read, without any heartbreaking agonies or angst, you can't do any better than this. 5 stars. I hope Emma Wildes will write Damien's story, I'd love to see this whole family again.
The other thing I loved about the book was that the author was able to construct a whole story and keep it interesting without any extraneous plot elements, like evil enemies, terrible conflicts or impossible obstacles keeping the characters apart. That was the way Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer did it, and you have to be a good writer to make the character development and the steps of the courtship dance enough to keep readers turning the pages.
If you are looking for a fun read, without any heartbreaking agonies or angst, you can't do any better than this. 5 stars. I hope Emma Wildes will write Damien's story, I'd love to see this whole family again.
Helpful Score: 4
This was a nice, light, quick read. Good well developed characters with more than an average number of players in the plot. An interesting plot - combining lessons written by a courtesan and the lives of inexperienced society women. Interesting and recommendable.
Monica G. (champsmom) -
Helpful Score: 1
Great book, I am really glad I stumbled upon Wildes.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent!
Emma Wildes gives us two love stories intertwined into one story - first of the newly married couple Colton Northfield and his young bride Brianna. She buys a scandalous book and uses secrets within to seduce her husband. The second story is about Colton's brother Robert Northfield, a notorious rake, and his developing relationship with Rebecca, a young debutante who is friends with Brianna. Their stories overlap and you get the immediate sensuality of reading about a married couple, but also the slow build to romance of the younger couple. Attention grabbing perfect combination.
Wildes creates interesting characters, each of whom has an individual personality and set of strengths and weaknesses. The story is fast paced but without giving up exposition or revelations about the characters.
Emma Wildes doesn't shy away from sex scenes - they're steamy and frequent although less detailed than a Lisa Kleypas novel. But she manages to keep things steamy while more slowly revealing the relationship between Rebecca and Robert.
Well written and fun to read. An all-nighter for this reader.
Emma Wildes gives us two love stories intertwined into one story - first of the newly married couple Colton Northfield and his young bride Brianna. She buys a scandalous book and uses secrets within to seduce her husband. The second story is about Colton's brother Robert Northfield, a notorious rake, and his developing relationship with Rebecca, a young debutante who is friends with Brianna. Their stories overlap and you get the immediate sensuality of reading about a married couple, but also the slow build to romance of the younger couple. Attention grabbing perfect combination.
Wildes creates interesting characters, each of whom has an individual personality and set of strengths and weaknesses. The story is fast paced but without giving up exposition or revelations about the characters.
Emma Wildes doesn't shy away from sex scenes - they're steamy and frequent although less detailed than a Lisa Kleypas novel. But she manages to keep things steamy while more slowly revealing the relationship between Rebecca and Robert.
Well written and fun to read. An all-nighter for this reader.
