A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare

source: purchased
title: A Week to Be Wicked Book 2 of 5 in the Spindle Cove Series
author: Tessa Dare
genre: regency romance
pages: 322
published: March 27, 2012
rated: 4 out of 5 stars

first line: When a girl trudged through the rain at midnight to knock at the Devil’s door, the Devil should at least have the depravity-if not the decency-to answer.

Blurb:
When a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin…
Time is not on their side.
Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove’s confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland.
Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be… anywhere but Spindle Cove.

These unlikely partners have one week
to fake an elopement
to convince family and friends they’re in “love”
to outrun armed robbers
to survive their worst nightmares
to travel four hundred miles without killing each other
All while sharing a very small carriage by day and an even smaller bed by night.

What they don’t have time for is their growing attraction. Much less wild passion. And heaven forbid they spend precious hours baring their hearts and souls.

Suddenly one week seems like exactly enough time to find a world of trouble.
And maybe…just maybe…love.

My thoughts:
A Week to Be Wicked is book two in Tessa Dare’s Spindle Cove series. Having read and enjoyed book three, A Lady by Midnight a few years ago, I happily dove into this one when I was in the mood for a nice regency romance. I know I’ve been reading this series backwards but they are standalone reads so it hasn’t made much difference.

In this installment we have Minerva Highwood from Spindle Cove who wants to stop  Colin Sandhurst aka Lord Payne from marrying her sister. Minerva thinks the notorious ladies man Payne is not the right match for her sister. She thinks that Payne is looking to marry so that he can get his inheritance so Minerva makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

How to Seduce a Scot by Christy English

source: free review copy via Sourcebooks
title: How to Seduce a Scot
author: Christy English
published: Sourcebooks Casablanca (December 1, 2015)
pages: 373
genre: historical fiction/romance
first line: Catherine Middlebrook surveyed the ballroom at Almack’s, looking for a quiet, biddable man to marry.
rated: 3 1/2 out of 5

He’s the terror of the ton…

Blurb:
The plan is simple:
1. Descend from the Highlands to face the aggravation of a London Season;
2. Foist his wild sister off on some gullible English lord;
3. Retreat before the ladies of the scandalized ton can get any ideas.

Determined to see his hellion of a sister wed, Highlander Alexander Waters is willing to face anything-even the English. He just didn’t expect his own rough manners to cause such a riot…or for a blooming English rose to catch his eye.

Gently bred Catherine Middlebrook must find a respectable man to marry or her family will be ruined. She won’t allow herself to be distracted by Highland barbarians…no matter how her body may thrill whenever Alex is near.

Catherine wasn’t part of the plan, but as their battle of wills escalates, Alex comes to realize this “proper” English girl is as wild as the Highlands themselves…and nothing will stop him from having her.

Broadswords and Ballrooms:
How to Seduce a Scot
How to Wed a Warrior
How to Train Your Highlander

My thoughts:
How to Seduce a Scot was a fun and sweet historical romance and kicks off the Broadswords and Ballrooms series by Christy English.

Catherine Middlebrook is trying to find a husband because her family is in debt. Her dad passed away leaving her single mother owing a mortgage on the house that she cannot pay. Catherine is in London and her need to marry to save her family is dire. She meets Lord Farleigh, an aristocrat with money who would make a sensible match and is interested in her, but she also meets a Highlander named Alexander Waters. Alexander is the opposite of Lord Farleigh. The Highlander is tall, dark, and handsome and straightforward with her, where Farleigh is always reserved.
What ensues is a bit of a love triangle as the men vie for her affections.

Alexander is in town to see that his sister finds a suitable English husband. He is anti-English even though his mother is English and he never thought he’d fall for an English woman himself, so this adds another dynamic to the story.