Eve PendleReseñas

Totally didn’t notice that it was set in England prior to reading but I loved it just the same! Had a lot of fun. Knew how he was going to react. But I can’t read more of her work

Once a Fallen Lady by Eve Pendle is the historical romance book I have been patiently waiting for.

Annie's polio makes it hard on her single other Lydia, but don't worry too much loyal readers... Alfred Lowe, Annie's school professor, comes to the rescue. Alfred and Lydia hit it off and a beautiful romance begins to bloom. But, the rent is too high and continues to climb, and Lydia's ex-husband is a wee bit of a mysterious issue... Things will get messy, but you know they always turn out great in the end.

I love getting SO lucky with romance books that I'm able to deep dive into them and disappear from the world in an epic binge. This book was such a lovely read and it pulled at all the heart strings. Organic romance that will give you shivers, a shocking scheme that will blow your mind, and a relationship that blooms so naturally you'll be begging for more. I honestly loved Eve Pendle's writing! It can be really hard to write an engaging historical romance without the political nonsense, and Eve made it perfect.

I want to read more by Eve Pendle. This book is a must read and so far one of my faves of 2022.

Four out of five stars.

I received this book for free from the author, Eve Pendle, in exchange for an honest review.

Allow a long afternoon for this adult Regency Christmas romantic comedy set at the Chilson family home which 23-year-old Amelia has returned to from her Great-Aunt Henrietta's in London. I had an ARC from Booksprout and this voluntary review is my own opinion.

Eve Pendle takes some common tropes and subverts them in Falling for a Rake, book 1 in her Fallen series. While out hunting for ferns, botanist Lady Emily falls in a hole. With a rake. Overnight.
The rake, Lord Markshall, shows her a bit of his inner truth but is insistent that he's a consummate ne'er-do-well and that she shouldn't expect anything good from him. Except, of course, they're stuck in a hole overnight and this is Victorian England.
To save her reputation, Markshall declares them engaged to the onlookers the following morning as they're rescued and well... here comes the fake engagement/marriage of convenience/oh no we have feelings. At one point, I was utterly tired of Markshall's insistence that he was not in fact a rake to be redeemed, even as he kept up his public facade as a way to secretly influence politics on behalf of the poor and oppressed.
Turns out though, he had done some truly despicable things in the past and I wasn't sure I wanted him to be redeemed. Here's where it gets interesting though: Pendle has him acknowledge on page that he can't fix any of the things he did in the past. He can only try to do better from now on. AND Lady Emily has quite the skeleton in her proverbial closet as well.
So while I was annoyed by Markshall's "she's too good and pure for me" internal monologue, I was pleased that both of them have a less than pure past and they kind of deserve each other.
Have we ever had a heroine who needs to be redeemed as much as the rakish hero? Hm. Probably, but I've not read it.
I also liked that the two of them have a physical relationship before it turns into an emotional one. He falls first, but doesn't want to. She is caught up in ideas of what a "proper" lady does and feels and chastises herself for wanting physical intimacy... but she can't keep herself away. I liked her whole journey with accepting her past and present to make way for an emotionally healthy future. It's really well done.
There's quite a bit of gender essentialism here, however. Not at all the worst I've read and it falls far shy of a lot of older historical romance, but the author chooses to write in bits about how male or how feminine each character is and that's one of the standards of the subgenre that I'd love to do away with. There isn't one way to perform gender nor is there one way for a body to look. ie, if my waist doesn't flare gently into rounded hips, am I not feminine? Hm. We should be able to appreciate a body in ways that don't imply that bodies that don't fit that archetype are less. However, this is a society thing and it's not like any one book is responsible for the gender binary.
In all, this was a solid historical romance read with a botanist heroine, a secretly-good politician/rake hero, quite a bit of steam and a satisfying ending.

Audio notes: Catherine Bilson does a great job here. I sometimes struggle with dual POV romance with a single narrator, but I thought she captured Markshall and Emily's internal worlds well. It's hard to tell if that was due to her skill or the author's, so I give credit to both. :)

I received an audio copy of this book from the author for review.

Romancing the Past
10 Swoony Historical Romances

Wow! This is a book that one could take on a long airplane trip that would keep you busy the entire trip with over 1000 pages of delightful reading to enjoy. I have read two of the books and plan to read the rest as I highly recommend the two read already.

Darcy’ Burke’s A Duke is Never Enough was a delight when I read it and one I rated a high four stars…I love this authors books. I thoroughly enjoyed the H/h both and their story as Marcus tried to right wrongs.

The other book read was The Spy’s Fake Bride by Jackie Barbosa. She is an author I have not read before but would gladly read again. Thomas Pearce is a new diplomat sent to save the illegitimate daughter of William Pitt. He travels to France, is enchanted, and has to get Sabina Rousseau and her two big horses safely to England as his first official mission. That the heat level mentioned for this story was “high” was oh so true! Loved the H/h and their story!

Did I enjoy what I read? Definitely!
Do I recommend the anthology? Yes

Thank you to Darcy Burke for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

The entire time I was reading this, I kept feeling something was not quite clicking. I enjoyed the writing, the plot was equally great. The heroine was smart and wonderful. The hero was smooth and swoony. I also really enjoyed the sex scenes.

The problem was probably the hero. I didn't feel much vulnerability. I got fear, but not vulnerability.

However, this was so solid. I recommend it, and will be reading more Pendle.

Six Weeks with a Lord by Eve Pendle is a wonderful addition to the Victorian Romance world. Debut author. Well crafted, and well written. A marriage of convenience, emotional, secrets, suspense, poignant and witty, makes for a page turning story. Grace Arnott and Everett Hetherington, Earl of Westbury make an emotional, engaging and believable couple. Sparks fly and love blossoms What a beautiful story! Ms. Pendle is an talented author who pulled me into her story and held me there in awe. I hope to read more from this talented author.

“I voluntarily received a complimentary copy, however, these are my honest opinions. I was in no way required nor compensated to write a review.”
Rating: 4
Heat rating: Mild
Reviewer: AprilR½

Six Weeks with a Lord by Eve Pendle

Grace Alnott’s father has stipulated she must marry a peer to receive her inheritance so her idea is to find a poor man with a title to marry her but he will have to abide by her terms. Everett Hetherington, Earl of Westbury was in the military when his father and later his brother, the heir, died. He is back from war and destitute thus willing to engage in a marriage of convenience… He wants to save his estate and she wants to get her money in hopes of freeing her young brother from the man that is currently his guardian. Grace and Everett do marry but they keep secrets from one another that later come out and create problems.

I enjoyed this book but wished that Grace and Everett had been honest from the beginning. They were attracted to one another but both so guarded that it was difficult for them to really connect on all levels. I wanted to sit the two of them down and have them talk openly but that just didn’t seem to happen. I wanted to know a bit more about some of the other characters in the book: Everett’s brother George, Grace’s friends Caroline and Maurice, Lord Rayner and even Grace’s parents. I would also have liked to know how the issue with the cattle ended and perhaps whether or not Everett ended up with an heir.

NOTE: I did look up Rinderpest, the disease that was attacking the cattle on Everett’s estate. It was lethal and continued to plague animals for over a decade after this story took place even into the early 21st century.

Did I enjoy the book? Yes
Would I read another book by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing-Amara for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars½

if you plan on buying this today 1/21/14 is the LAST DAY TO GET IT !!

message from Evie

Due to traumatic life events beyond my control I am taking my books off the shelf for the unforeseeable future.
I'm extremely grateful to all my readers and the bloggers who helped promote the word of my book.
I'm so sorry that I have to do this, I wish I could explain further however I'm unwilling to post my private life all over face book. I hope you all understand.
I will be leaving them up until tomorrow my time when I will unpublish.
Again I'm so sorry. That Is all I'm able to say right now.

Evie






4.5 Stars

This book once I started just consumed me. I could not stop reading. Full review to come later once released.

I will say this this is not an easy read for some. It has Abuse in it from both characters.

I will also say I would recommend this book everyone who does not mind the fact that their is Abuse in it.

Why my 4.5 Star review and not 5 stars. Simply because their is no epilogue. I wish there had been. I am hoping that in Book #2 which is based on Another Character in the book has more of Roxi & Luke in it.