{REVIEW} TAMING HER FORBIDDEN EARL (LADY LANCASTER GARDEN SOCIETY #1) by CATHERINE HEMMERLING

Series: Lady Lancaster Garden Society #1
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Entangled Publishing ~ Scandalous
Publication Date: 12/2/12
Format:  eARC
Pages: 165
Source: Received from publisher for review

Everyone knows William Bredon, the earl of Pembroke, has a reputation as a captivating rogue, determined to never marry until his duty to produce an heir requires it. So when he invites Lady Hannah Rochester to dance, Hannah vows to keep her distance. But the undeniably gorgeous William, with his dark humor and seductive gaze, draws her in nonetheless.

Of course, Lady Hannah is not completely what she seems, either. A member of the dowager Lady Lancaster’s Garden Society, she secretly spends her days solving mysteries and uncovering intrigues, and when she brings William into the fold, a sinister plot develops that brings the two closer together. William’s protective nature ensures he remains by Hannah’s side, but he will not surrender his anti-marriage stance.

Can intrigue, passion, and maybe even a little bit of scandal reform the most notorious of rakes?

I don't often read Historical Romance these days, but I was a huge fan of the genre several years ago. I love the detail given to the setting, the dialogue, the character's mannerisms and dress. To be able to step back in time, at least into these circumstances with the often pleasant lifestyle, is a nice escape.

Taming Her Forbidden Earl was a light, pleasant read for me. What made this story stand out was the women. Lady Lancaster's Garden Society is a group of young, smart, and charming women, lead by Lady Lancaster. These women work to solve crimes, using their gender to fly under the radar. This aspect to the story was excellent, but there is very little back story to go on. We're told very briefly about the purpose of the group, and the members, but I felt that it could have been explained a little better.

I did like Taming Her Forbidden Earl, and it's main characters. Hannah and William are the typical hero and heroine of stories such as these. He is an affluent man who is also a confirmed bachelor. He doesn't want to marry, but he certainly loves to bed the willing women around him. William was kind, and I love that. It's hard for me to love a "rake" who is also an ass. Hannah was a pleasant and endearing heroine. Being a member of The Garden Society, she is obviously smart and resourceful. She is also super quick to fall in love, basically the first time William speaks to her she has fallen. But, this nitpickiness (?) is simply my issue, and does ring true to society in the 1800s.


Overall, I would say that I liked Taming Her Forbidden Earl. It was a quick read that often made me smile. I am definitely on board to read about the other ladies of Lady Lancaster's Garden Society.


Favorite Quote:

  Raising his head slightly, he looked Hannah directly in the eyes and said, "I am going to make love to you now, because we belong together and this act will ensure that we can stay together from this day forward; but mostly we are going to do this because I love you and..." He smiled wryly. "Not finishing what we have started here would very likely kill me."   ~81%


About the author:
Catherine Hemmerling has been a technical writer in the software industry for nearly twenty years and has published many user manuals and technical documentation in that time. She has always had a love of writing fiction but has never pursued publication in that genre until now.

Hopefully it is the beginning of a long new journey with Lady Lancaster and the Garden Society girls. Certainly historical romance (especially the scandalous kind) is more fun than writing technical documents!

This author happily resides in Tehachapi, California with her family.

Catherine writes for Entangled Publishing's Scandalous historical line and is thrilled to be part of their family of writers! (taken from GoodReads)



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