We hope, if you celebrated, you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I did! Although we miscalculated about the pies. We had 19 people and 18 pies. I’ll just say, pumpkin pie IS a breakfast food!

Here are today’s Steals and Deals!

We gave this HR a pretty pleased B.

Virginia Heath’s The Disgraceful Lord Gray is a pleasant read with some awesome moments, all of them courtesy of the hero. It doesn’t offer anything new plot-wise, but the energy of the dialogue and the excellent writing stand out.

Lord Graham Chadwick (aka Gray) and his superior, Lord Fennimore, are on the track of the Boss, the leader of a smuggling ring linked to Napoleon. They suspect the Boss is Viscount Gilsingham, who lives a supposedly quiet life in the country, so they rent a house near his and set out to become acquainted. Unfortunately for Gray, the new neighbor’s ward and niece, Thea Cranford, stumbles across him first. Even worse, or better, depending on your perspective, he’s succumbed to both the July heat and the exuberance of his dog, so he’s shed his clothes and is splashing around in a lake.  Thea is bowled over by both his handsomeness and by the dog, which promptly pushes her into the water as well.

I liked Gray from the start, as he makes gracious introductions while standing there naked, one hand providing as much modesty as possible. It sets the tone for his unflappable, irreverent approach to everything, though of course this hides a dark secret from his past. That said, the secret made him all the more sympathetic. It’s great to see a hero who stepped into a notorious gaming hell and lost his fortune, as opposed to him doing the expected and owning the place in one way or another….

Readers looking for a solid historical romance need look no further, and I enjoyed Ms. Heath’s fresh, often witty writing. If you’ve been following The King’s Elite series, don’t miss this, and if you haven’t read Heath before, this is as good a place as any to start. It’s clear a lot has been happening outside the pages, but the former heroes don’t shoulder their way into the story. Gray was sexy and endearing enough to hold the stage on his own.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.

This is another HR we liked.

Following the death of her fiancé, Dorothea (Thea) Winslow has spent the last eight years in virtual seclusion with an aunt in Yorkshire. She is more than surprised when her brother visits, bringing their father’s orders that she return to London, take part in the Season, and marry. Thea wants neither a Season nor a husband, but her father holds the purse strings, and so she acquiesces to his demands. Thea’s only relief comes from the fact that she won’t have to stay at his house, but at her godmother’s, the widowed Lady Arnsworth’s. It is quickly apparent that Thea has suffered deeply in the past, and very slowly we get to understand what happened the spring when she was sixteen. The novel’s title actually serves as a bit of a spoiler here, but don’t think that you will have figured it out by page 20: There are a number of layers of Thea’s secret, and I liked the way they are revealed step by painful step while Thea emerges from her post-traumatic state and faces her past.

Another guest at Lady Arnsworth’s house is her favorite nephew, Mr. Richard Blakehurst (younger brother to Lord Blakehurst, hero of His Lady Mistress). Ever since a riding accident in his childhood, Richard has been lame. He is a scholar and a farmer, and from observing his brother’s domestic bliss, thinks he would like to get married. Lady Arnsworth couldn’t agree more, and as Thea recently inherited a fortune from her uncle, she is the ideal candidate. Richard’s pride balks at the idea of wooing a heiress for her money, but he liked Thea a lot when they were children, and when they meet again, he quickly decides she would be the perfect wife. Here is a scenario I love, that of the hero falling in love but insisting that he wants to marry for purely rational reasons only. Richard is delightful all over. He is very protective, often stubborn and impatient, but he gives Thea the space she needs. I really enjoyed reading about him.

You can get it at Amazon for 1.99 here.

We loved Wild at Heart.

Wild at Heart has a most unusual romantic premise … and a hero who is not only heroic, but endearing as well. Patricia Gaffney’s writing is virtually word perfect, and simply glows. This is a very, very nice book.

It’s 1893 Chicago, site of the World’s Fair. Sydney Darrow (I just loved her name), is the widowed daughter of a rather non-committal, absent-minded anthropologist, Dr. Winter. A young man has been captured after having lived alone in the wilds of Canada for nearly twenty years. This “lost man” has been brought to Dr. Winter for study. Because he doesn’t speak and has been isolated from humans since childhood, it is felt The Ontario Man is the perfect specimen on which to study the altruistic tendencies which humans, and other animals, often exhibit. Is it learned behavior to sacrifice one’s own best interests for the benefit of another, or is it intrinsic? Oblivious to his subject’s humanity, Dr. Winter and his assistant, Charles (Sydney’s fiancé wanna-be), set up a series of experiments to try to answer that question.

When the experiments on him fail to produce results, and it is discovered that their subject can speak, his value to science is lost. So, what to do with a grown man with the social skills of a wolf (not a bad thing, by the way) in turn-of-the-century Chicago? Having been virtually abandoned at this point by Dr. Winter, Sydney decides to make Michael MacNeil part of the family … socialize him, educate him, fall in love with him (ah, an unanticipated side-effect of having a tall, handsome, honest-hearted, intelligent, lusty-minded male in the house).

The story itself, though unique in its premise, is not particularly complex, and is, in fact, predictable. You suspect what’s going to happen, then, sure enough, it does. It is author Gaffney’s intelligent dialogue and character development that really makes Wild at Heart work so beautifully. Michael’s thoughts on the “civilized” world are wonderful, insightful, and provide sharp commentary on what makes us think we are so much better than the “animals” we often view simply as commodities. This book has been well-researched and animal and human behavior is presented in an informative and interesting way, serving to enhance the plot, rather than detract from it. Budding writers should give this book a read just to see how masterfully it can be done.

The sexual tension between Sydney and Michael is immediate, constant, consistent, and finally, gratifying for all concerned. The relationship between these two people is completely believable and there is no question they were made to love each other.

You can get it at Amazon for 1.99 here.

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