Contemporary Authors

• The Highest Stakes Sourcebooks Landmark (Naperville, IL), 2010

1. The highest stakes : a novel LCCN 2010006482 Type of material Book Personal name Lee, Emery. Main title The highest stakes : a novel / Emery Lee. Published/Created Naperville, Ill. : Sourcebooks Landmark, 2010. Description 542 p. ; 21 cm. ISBN 9781402236426 (pbk.) 1402236425 (pbk.) Shelf Location FLS2013 007891 CALL NUMBER PS3612.E34284 H54 2010 OVERFLOWA5S Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms (FLS1) CALL NUMBER PS3612.E34284 H54 2010 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE

• Hell On Heels - 2016 Lyrical Shine, New York, NY
• Slow Hand (Hot Cowboy Nights Book 1) - 2014 Sourcebooks Casablanca, Naperville, IL
• A Pledge of Passion (The Rules of Engagement) (Volume 2) - 2016 CreateSpace,
• Ivar The Red (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Wolves of Brittany Book 2) - 2016 Kindle Worlds,
• Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights Book 2) - 2015 Sourcebooks Casablanca, Naperville, IL
• Two to Wrangle (Hotel Rodeo) - 2016 Lyrical Shine, New York, NY
• Breton Wolfe (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Wolves of Brittany Book 1) - 2015 Kindle Worlds,
• The Devil's Match (The Devil DeVere Book 4) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• Sharp Shootin' Cowboy (Hot Cowboy Nights Book 3) - 2015 Sourcebooks Casablanca, Naperville, IL
• Saddle Up (Hot Cowboy Nights Book 4) - 2016 Sourcebooks Casablanca, Naperville, IL
• A Wild Night's Bride (The Devil DeVere Book 1) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo) - 2016 Lyrical Shine, New York, NY
• Jewel of the East (The Devil DeVere Book 6) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• The Virgin Huntress (The Devil DeVere Book 2) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• The Redemption of Julian Price - 2016 CreateSpace,
• A Cowboy's Midnight Kiss: Romancing Griffin Stone (Romancing the Stones) - 2016 Vane Publishing LLC,
• A Devil's Touch - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• The Devil You Know (The Devil DeVere Book 3) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• A Breach of Promise (The Rules of Engagement Book 1) - 2016 Vane Publishing LLC,
• Treacherous Temptations (Entangled Scandalous) - 2013 Entangled: Scandalous, Fort Collins, CO
• Devil in the Making (Devilish Vignettes Book 1) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• The Trouble With Sin (Devilish Vignettes Book 2) - 2014 Vane Publishing LLC,
• The Devil Devere: Volume 1 - 2012 Breathless Press,
• A Devil Named Devere - 2012 Breathless Press,
• (As Emery Lee) Fortune's Son - 2011 Sourcebooks Casablanca, Naperville, IL

• Susan Tisdale Blog - http://suzantisdale.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-interview-with-author-emery-lee.html

  Saturday, September 22, 2012
  My Interview with author Emery Lee
  I met author Emery Lane via her Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers page at Facebook. She is a very sweet lady and writes some very nice romance! I love her DeVere Series!
  Tell me about your most recent literary work.
  Thank you so much for asking, Suzan! This is the first time I have ever attempted to write more than one book at a time. I am currently working on three projects!
  The first is entitled TREACHEROUS TEMPTATIONS and is a work of steamy historical romance set in my beloved Georgian era. It is also my first full-length novel writing as Victoria Vane. It is contracted with Entangled Publishing for the launch of their brand new Scandalous historical imprint. This book was very much inspired by the novels written in the 18th century in which virtue v. vice and evil v. innocence were the predominant themes. This novel is slated for release in early December!
  Here is the "unofficial" blurb:
  A reluctant heiress resigned to her fate … Mary Elizabeth Edwardes has one of the largest fortunes in England, but has no desire to leave her quiet country existence… and even less to acquire a husband she cannot choose for herself.
  A dissolute nobleman bent on retribution … Trapped in a duplicitous existence since scandal destroyed his fortune and family name, Lord Hadley Blanchard has spent the better part of a decade posing as a disaffected exile while spying and seducing in the service of the English Crown.
  A dangerous game of seduction, and intrigue …When summoned from abroad by a former lover, Lord Hadley perceives an opportunity for vengeance at last. By employing the full measure of his seductive charm, he woos the ward of the man who destroyed his life, little knowing that winning Mary's fortune will mean risking his own treacherous heart.
  My second project is an unanticipated fifth addition to my Devil DeVere series!
  I had thought the story complete with the fourth title, but have received so many requests for "more DeVere" that I have indeed come up with a tantalizing storyline in fitting with the series. The book is entitled, JEWEL OF THE EAST and is Salime's story (the Turkish courtesan from THE DEVIL'S MATCH). My major challenge was to find a hero worthy of Salime. He materialized in the form of, Simon Singleton, nicknamed "Sin," a former carousing buddy form DeVere's youth. This is a fabulous story that I think fans of the series will eagerly devour. It is scheduled for a February release from Breathless Press.
  A brief teaser:
  "Oh, woman! All care-relieving woman. Thou art the true physician to the sickly mind."
  My third project is yet untitled, but is closely connected to JOTE, as it is a spin-off vignette featuring Diana and DeVere. This is a much shorter, steamy read but saying anything more would be a spoiler!
  What has been the most exciting thing that has happened as a result of your writing?
  Being discovered by people who want to read what I write! LOL!
  Seriously, it is so very difficult to be noticed in the current tsunami of digital releases, many by some truly great authors. The last two months, however, have been a blessing for me. AWILD NIGHT'S BRIDE (book #1 in my DeVere series) has hit Amazon's Regency Romance Bestseller list and continues to climb. The rest of the series is also selling strong, and I am hearing from readers almost daily. I am beside myself with happiness!
  In all, how many books have you written?
  Seven. Nine if you also count my trade paperback in the DeVere series. My work to date includes:
  THE HIGHEST STAKES and FORTUNE'S SON from Sourcebooks, both of which are romantic historical fiction novels writing as Emery Lee

  A BREACH OF PROMISE from Ellora's Cave, my debut erotic historical romance writing as Victoria Vane
  My Devil DeVere erotic historical romance series from Breathless Press which is comprised of four (soon to be five) serialized novellas: A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE, THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW and THE DEVIL'S MATCH. I will also have at least 3-4 more releases in the next six months as discussed above.

  I've read your series, the Devil DeVere Series, and LOVE IT! What do you hope your readers come away thinking or feeling after reading these books, or any other book you've written?
  My goal in writing this series was to be fresh and original, which is not an easy feat these days! The first two books were meant to be pure entertainment - light, hilarious, and super sexy. The third and fourth books were intended to deliver so much more in regard to depth and emotion.
  I also hope to surprise readers with the way that I incorporate real history into even my erotic stories. Based on reader response, I feel that have accomplished these goals. ;P
  Who is your favorite author?
  I don't really have a single favorite author. I have, however been influenced by many to include the Bronte sisters and Georgette Heyer in my historical works, and Robin Schon and Sylvia Day in my more erotic stories.
  What or who inspires you to write?
  Because I am such a history geek, (and have a blog to prove it) (http://georgianjunkie.wordpress.com), most of my inspiration derives from history – real people, places, and events. I love bringing to vivid life the dry facts left to us in history books and putting my own twist on these sometimes titillating historical tidbits.
  I've been told that there are many writers out there who are 'organized' and use something called an outline....are you one of those kinds of writers?
  Outline? What's that?
  Is there a genre that you're just aching to try your hand at?
  Yes. While I never see myself straying outside historical fiction, I have ideas for books that span the entire spectrum from straight historical fiction (no romance) to a historical paranormal with elements of mystery and suspense. I hope to be able to develop all of these projects in the next few years.
  How many children do you have and what do they think of your writing?
  I have two wonderful sons ages 17 and 20 who have both read and enjoyed my Emery Lee novels, but will never read what I write as Victoria Vane. I would not allow it even if they wanted to, which thankfully, they do not!
  You're stranded on a deserted island and it will be at least six months before you're rescued. Who is with you? What would you have to have in order to survive mentally, spiritually, and physically?
  Who is with me? I would take Bear Grylls.
  My other necessities for survival would include: books, coffee, and Ferrero Rocher chocolates!
  What is your biggest joy as it pertains to writing? What is it that keeps you going when you don't really feel like going?
  Hearing from fans… and hearing from fans.
  Finally, is there a question you wished I had asked? If so, answer it here.
  Question- What can readers expect from me? Answer – the unexpected!

• Victoria Vane Home Page - http://www.victoriavane.com/home/about-victoria-2/

  VICTORIA VANE

  Bestselling Award-Winning author of Smart & Sexy Romance

  VICTORIA VANE is an award-winning author of smart and sexy romance with work ranging from wild comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Her books have received more than twenty awards and nominations to include Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere Series, the 2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations, and A Red Carpet Book Awards Best Contemporary Romance nomination for Slow Hand.

• Happy Ever After - http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2016/06/07/victoria-vane-interview-saddle-up/

  QUOTE:
  It happened totally by fluke! I was riding up a mountain on horseback the summer of 2008 when I told a friend about this crazy story that wouldn’t get out of my head. She told me I should write it. So I did! I finished my debut novel ... 14 months later and was shocked to get an offer from two publishers six weeks after that. It was published in April of 2010 and I’ve been writing ever since--to date I’ve published two historical fictions novels as Emery Lee and over twenty romance novels and novellas as Victoria Vane. ... If you enjoy smart and sexy stories, I’m your girl."

  Interview: Victoria Vane, author of ‘Saddle Up’
  40
  SHARES
  By: Joyce Lamb | June 7, 2016 12:01 am
  Victoria Vane
  Victoria Vane

  Joyce: Welcome back to HEA, Victoria! Please tell us a bit about your new release, Saddle Up.

  Victoria: Saddle Up is the fourth and final book in my Hot Cowboy Nights series that features four very different heroes. The hero of the first book (Slow Hand) is a part-time rancher and full-time lawyer who is also a real charmer, the second hero (Rough Rider) is a brooding former bull rider, the hero of my third book (Sharp Shooting Cowboy) is a former Marine scout sniper who is also a backcountry Wyoming hunting guide. Keith Russo, the hero of Saddle Up, is a Native American mustang wrangler. He is also the very first hero I have written as a lost soul who spends much of the story trying to find his true purpose and redemption. Happily, this is where my heroine comes in!

  Miranda Sutton wants to do something meaningful with her life. She thinks she can make a difference as a filmmaker but feels out of place in Hollywood. Working on a documentary featuring a wild horse roundup completely changes her direction in life.

  Saddle Up is both meaningful and relevant. This book is very near to my heart as I have personally owned and trained a BLM mustang that someone else had adopted and then starved almost to death because they were ill-equipped to gentle it.

  I hope readers of Saddle Up will enjoy a smoking-hot romance, but also come away with an awareness of the current problems with federal wild horse management.

  Saddle Up by Victoria VaneJoyce: What inspires your book ideas?

  Victoria: I never know where my inspiration will come from! My ideas usually stem from a personal experience or something interesting that I read about. My characters are often inspired by real people (contemporary and historical). My own “horrible boss” from my last job makes a cameo appearance in Slow Hand. LOL!

  Joyce: Do you have any particular rituals that help you get into the writing frame of mind?

  Victoria: I absolute cannot write with a laptop in a public place. I know many authors who can, but I have to have my own private space, devoid of distractions. I also have to have music. Every book I have ever written has a playlist. I love Pandora Radio for this.

  Joyce: What do you do when you get stuck?

  Victoria: Aggravate my poor hubby! He gets mad or hurt when I ask him to help me brainstorm and then I reject most of his suggestions. In truth, what I really need when I get stuck is just a sounding board. If I talk about the story (think aloud) I can usually figure it out.

  Joyce: What distracts you the most when you’re trying to write?

  Victoria: Anything and everything! LOL! This is why I generally write late at night when most “normal” people are asleep.

  Joyce: Is there a TV show that you’ve recently binge-watched?

  Victoria: Vikings … for research purposes, of course 😉

  Joyce: What’s your favorite snack and/or beverage while you’re writing?

  Victoria: Coffee and Coke Zero.

  Victoria Vane models a historical gown she made.
  Victoria Vane models a historical gown she made.

  Joyce: What do you do in your spare time?

  Victoria: Recently, I’ve begun sewing historical gowns. I only began doing this about three months ago after I bought a historical gown for an author event from an online retailer. It was horrible looking, but rather than returning it, I took it completely apart and remade it. After that experience, I thought I’d try making one from scratch. I had very little sewing experience, but was amazed to discover I have a real talent for this stuff! After posting numerous pictures of my projects on my Facebook page, I received close to a dozen requests for gowns from fans and fellow authors. I absolutely love making them and am thrilled that others like them enough to buy them! Just for fun, here’s a picture of one of my favorites to date, a Restoration-inspired ensemble comprised of a blouse, side lacing bodice and skirt.

  Joyce: What’s coming next?

  Victoria: As I write in two genres (both historical and contemporary romance), I always have multiple projects in the works. I have released several new historical romances this year. My next new release will be another medieval/Viking novella for author Kathryn LeVeque’s De Wolfe Pack Kindle World. I contributed Breton Wolfe last October when her world launched and will now follow up that story with Ivar the Red. I was also invited to contribute a story to author Sable Hunter’s upcoming Hell Yeah Kindle World. My contribution will be another scorching-hot cowboy story, of course!

  Joyce: Thanks, Victoria!

  About Saddle Up:

  Award-winning author Victoria Vane lets loose the fourth in the Hot Cowboy Nights series

  Wild horses couldn’t bring them together…

  With exceptional talent and looks, cowboy “horse whisperer” Keith Russo once had the world at his feet — until his career was unwittingly destroyed by an aspiring filmmaker. After being rejected by his family for exploiting his Native American heritage, Keith has no choice but to turn back to his humble beginnings as a wild horse wrangler.

  But maybe their passion can…

  Miranda Sutton always dreamed of making films, until wild mustangs captured her heart. But turning her grandmother’s Montana ranch into a wild horse sanctuary proves harder than she thought. She needs someone who knows wild horses. Keith and the mustangs need each other. And while working together to save the herd, Keith and Miranda discover a passion as wild as the mustangs they love.

  Find out more at www.victoriavane.com.

• Uncaged - http://uncagedbooks.blogspot.com/2016/09/interview-with-victoria-vane.html

  THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

  Interview with Victoria Vane
  As seen in Issue 2 of Uncaged Book Reviews. To read an excerpt from Saddle Up and the Uncaged review, please see the issue, links below.

  Being a horse owner and lover my whole life, reading western contemporaries comes naturally for me. Victoria Vane easily satisfies that genre for me, and it’s a pleasure to have a fellow horse lover in Uncaged, even though she’s up against deadlines, she took the time, and I’m grateful.

  Thank you Vicki for the feature.

  1) When did you come to the realization that you wanted to be an author?

  It happened totally by fluke! I was riding up a mountain on horseback the summer of 2008 when I told a friend about this crazy story that wouldn’t get out of my head. She told me I should write it. So I did! I finished my debut novel (THE HIGHEST STAKES) 14 months later and was shocked to get an offer from two publishers six weeks after that. It was published in April of 2010 and I’ve been writing ever since- to date I’ve published two historical fictions novels as Emery Lee and over twenty romance novels and novellas as Victoria Vane.

  2) Who are some of your favorite authors now, and what genres do you tend to read the most?

  I have always loved the classics and still enjoy re-reading them. I also enjoy contemporary western romance but have too many favorites to list!

  3) How long does it take you to write a full book? Do you write full time or part time?

  A full length novel usually takes me 3-4 months. I have been writing full time for over five years.

  4) Are there any books/authors that you’ve read, that have influenced you as an author?

  Since I have been writing, it’s almost impossible for me to read a book without subconsciously critiquing it, so I would have to say that everything I read influences me – both positively and negatively.

  5) Where is your favorite place to write? What are some of your favorite ways to relax?

  I’m a very quirky writer. I can’t write on a laptop. I can’t write in public places and I have to play music while I write. Every story has its own play list. I love Pandora radio!

  6) I’ve read Saddle Up, and I’ve been a horse owner most of my life, and westerns, involving horses and cowboys – are always a safe bet for me. With Saddle Up, within a few pages, I am all in. This book is not only a romance, but it also brings up the cause of the fate of the wild mustangs, and I love that you brought that into the book with this story. Is this a cause that is near and dear to you, and did you have to do a lot of research on mustangs for the book?

  I am a true research geek with everything I write, but SADDLE UP is indeed near and dear to my heart as I have been a horse owner most of my life and once rescued a horse that was a failed BLM adoption. My personal experience allowed me to really dig deeply into the mustang dilemma. I hope readers will be both entertained and enlightened by the story.

  7) What are you working on now and what else do you have plans for in the near future?

  I had a great deal of turmoil in my personal life this past year that put me on a hiatus for a while but I am now “back in the saddle.” I have a holiday themed contemporary western releasing in October (A COWBOY’S MIDNIGHT KISS) and am presently working on two new historical romances IVAR THE RED, and THE BASTARD OF BRITTANY as part of Kathryn LeVeque’s De Wolf Pack Kindle world. After that, I will also be contributing a sexy contemporary western to Sable Hunter’s Hell Yeah Kindle world in February.

  8) What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

  If you enjoy smart and sexy stories, I’m your girl! I am very active on Facebook (Victoria Vane or Author Victoria Vane where I also frequently post pictures of the historical costumes that I make (and sell). I guess that’s a story for another day!

Saddle Up
Publishers Weekly. 263.15 (Apr. 11, 2016): p44.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Full Text:
Saddle Up

Victoria Vane. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (320p) ISBN 978-1-49263510-9

Sparks ignite when a horse whisperer meets an aspiring filmmaker in Vane's fourth Hot Cowboy Nights contemporary (after Sharp Shootin' Cowboy). Miranda Sutton, assigned to film the rounding up of wild mustangs in the Calico Mountains of Nevada, becomes reacquainted with Keith Russo, a renowned horse whisperer who claims that Miranda's previous video of him ruined his reputation as a horse trainer--even though her producer was the one who portrayed him as a fraud. Miranda and Keith's attraction builds during a night together alone in the desert, and their mutual desire culminates in a sexy night in Reno. After returning to Montana, Miranda asks her grandmother Jo-Jo if she would consider adopting wild mustangs to help sustain her ranch. Though Miranda knows that Keith would be the best person to assist with the horses, she doubts he would be willing to give up his drifting ways and take a risk on their relationship and future together. Vane's in-depth knowledge of wild mustangs adds realism to this novel, with its beautiful portrayal of the wilds of the desert as a parallel to the ever-changing but scintillating relationship between Miranda and Keith. Agent: Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds. (June)

Slow Hand
Publishers Weekly. 261.38 (Sept. 22, 2014): p55.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Full Text:
Slow Hand

Victoria Vane. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (320p) ISBN 978-1-49260112-8

Historical romance author Vane (Jewel of the East) takes a detour into contemporary settings with this red-hot cowboy tale. Wade Knowlton and Nicole Powell first meet briefly in the Denver airport, after he gallantly gives up his seat to her on an overbooked flight. When Nikki arrives in Montana to attend to her recently deceased father's funeral, she realizes she's lost her wallet and calls the lawyer handling her father's affairs--who turns out to be Wade. While waiting for her replacement ID and credit cards, Nikki's forced to stay in the small town. She starts falling for the handsome cowboy lawyer, and their sexual chemistry crackles, but Nikki's given up cowboys after a string of awful relationships with them. How can Wade break through Nikki's defenses and convince her that happy-everafter actually does exist--especially after a conniving old flame of his appears on the scene? Well-paced, scorching scenes and witty banter move the story along while setting the stage for Wade's war-hero brother to find his own true love in the next installment. Agent: Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds. (Nov.)

"Saddle Up." Publishers Weekly, 11 Apr. 2016, p. 44+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA449662979&it=r&asid=0849fa88cf94a372a3ab712f6bb0a10a. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017. "Slow Hand." Publishers Weekly, 22 Sept. 2014, p. 55. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA383853883&it=r&asid=00d62de182753a47d22fcc9f359e996c. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.

• Romantic Times
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/saddle
  Word count: 230

  SADDLE UP
  Image of Saddle Up (Hot Cowboy Nights)
  Author(s): Victoria Vane
  Vane’s fourth Hot Cowboy Nights novel is an interesting character study that features some particularly refreshing insight and development. Some jumps in time — particularly at the opening — are confusing, and the flowery language and awkward dialogue slow the narrative in places. But Vane keeps the bar high by forcing her headstrong protagonists to confront who they truly are and what they want from themselves and each other, giving them room to grow and making their happy ending feel well-earned. Fans and newcomers alike will enjoy a satisfying reading experience.
  Once upon a time, Keith Russo was a nationally recognized “horse whisperer,” with the looks and talent to make his own rules. But after a filmmaker unintentionally ruined his reputation, Keith found himself rejected by his Native American family for exploiting his heritage. He’s just making ends meet as a wild horse wrangler when the woman he least expected to see again strolls back into his life. Miranda Sutton once dreamt of making films, but now she is trying to convert her grandmother’s ranch into a wild horse sanctuary, and there is only one man who can help. But will her reunion with Keith bring the fulfillment she really wants? (SOURCEBOOKS, Jun., 300 pp., $7.99)
  Reviewed by:
  Bridget Keown

• Romantic Times
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/sharp-shoootin-cowboy
  Word count: 242

  QUOTE:
  determination, spirit and strength make their partnership something very far from stereotypical

  SHARP SHOOOTIN' COWBOY
  Image of Sharp Shootin' Cowboy (Hot Cowboy Nights Book 3)
  Author(s): Victoria Vane
  In her third Hot Cowboy Nights novel, Vane offers readers a book that’s enormously broad in scope, but deeply personal in its study of two polar opposite, yet marvelously compatible, characters. Though some of the debates between her characters feel a bit clichéd, their determination, spirit and strength make their partnership something very far from stereotypical. The time frame of this novel also allows readers to enjoy just how much these two characters grow, together and as individuals, and makes their unique struggles and choices that much more meaningful, and their eventual happiness that much more gratifying.
  Marine sniper Reid Everett was just looking for some fun the night he stopped at a local watering hole before his deployment. He never intended to meet the studious and opinionated Haley Cooper, or fall for her so hard. Now that he is home, Reid is perfectly content working his land and keeping the local wolf population under control. But as a dedicated wildlife advocate, Haley has devoted her whole life to protecting the wolves she loves. The desire between them is stronger than ever, but can Reid and Haley manage to find any common ground? (SOURCEBOOKS, Jun., 320 pp., $7.99)
  Reviewed by:
  Bridget Keown

• Romantic Times
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/rough-rider
  Word count: 244

  ROUGH RIDER
  Image of Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights)
  Author(s): Victoria Vane
  Although the characters are great and the age-old tale of the one that got away is good, Vane’s story of lost love struggles to grab a hold until the middle of the book. It’s a bit difficult to figure out what timeline you’re in at first, but when the present storyline begins, it moves at a fast pace.
  Janice Combes has been surrounded by cowboys all her life, but she only has eyes for rodeo cowboy Dirk Knowlton. After a one-night stand that she will never forget, Dirk leaves without saying goodbye. Thinking that there are not going to be any better offers, she accepts the marriage proposal of fellow rider Grady Garrison. Life is definitely not what she expected. When she is widowed, Janice and her young son move back home to Montana. Looking for work on a ranch leads her back to Dirk. After a stint with the Marines, a scarred and surly Dirk is back at his family ranch looking to turn it around when Janice comes looking for a job. He has never forgotten her, and though he tries to avoid her, their chemistry cannot be denied. With both of them scarred emotionally and physically, they struggle to find the love that they know only the other can provide. (SOURCEBOOKS, Feb., 320 pp., $7.99)
  Reviewed by:
  Jennifer Wilson

• Romantic Times
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/slow-hand
  Word count: 215

  QUOTE:
  For erotic passion and one-liners, the first book in Vane’s new series will satisfy

  SLOW HAND
  Image of Slow Hand (Hot Cowboy Nights)
  Author(s): Victoria Vane
  For erotic passion and one-liners, the first book in Vane’s new series will satisfy. Between all of the jokes and the sex, unfortunately, there are too many coincidences, lackluster conflict and characters acting out of character. Still, for Montana and its gallant but tough men, Vane’s latest gets a big yee-haw.
  Cowboy lawyer Wade Knowlton is exhausted from trying to save the family ranch and keep his job at a high-powered law firm. So why shouldn’t he play Nicole Powell’s white knight as well? This sassy Southern gal’s sworn off cowboys, no matter how sexy. As she makes the final arrangements for her estranged father, she and Wade can’t cool their white-hot passion except in each other’s arms. The fact that they live in two different worlds and have bad relationships in their pasts derails any plans beyond today. But Wade isn’t ready to let go, and Nicole might just figure out cowboys are the good guys after all. (SOURCEBOOKS, Nov., 288 pp., $7.99)
  Reviewed by:
  M.H. Morrison

• Romancing the Book
  http://romancing-the-book.com/2012/08/review-a-breach-of-promise-by-victoria-vane.html
  Word count: 466

  Review: A Breach of Promise by Victoria Vane
  Posted on August 15, 2012 by Romancing the Book Reviews
  A Breach of Promise by Victoria Vane
  Release Date: December 23, 2011
  Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
  Pages: 94
  Source: Publisher

  When charm and persuasion fail…Only seduction remains…On the night of her betrothal, Lydia Trent receives just a taste of what ecstasy will be at the hands of her fiancé…and then he leaves her wanting. After waiting six years, and tired of being neglected by her exceedingly reluctant husband-to-be, Lydia decides to break it off.

  When Marcus, Lord Russell, receives Lydia’s letter requesting a release from their contract, he is stunned by her audacity. Confident he’ll have her eating out of his hand with his usual wit and charm, he’s determined to repair the damage. However, the headstrong woman she’s blossomed into is equally determined to thwart his every effort to win her back.

  Marcus discovers, in spite of her conviction to end the union, Lydia is more responsive to his touch than he ever imagined. He just needs to get her alone to unleash the promised passion he sees within his wanton virgin. Marcus will use any tool in his arsenal to exploit her weakness–his kisses, his hands, his mouth…her own body. In short, he’ll just have to ruin her!

  Review: What a deliciously sinful novella Ms. Vane debuted with!

  Set in a time when parents chose who their children married, Ms. Vane has created characters who you can picture in your head as you frantically turn the page to see what happens next.

  Lydia starts off as a simpering, innocent young girl with stars in her eyes and a heart that is about to be broken. Marcus cares naught for anyone but his own pleasures, though he is capable of feeling guilt at leaving Lydia alone and having various paramours. Both mature along the way, though I believe it’s Marcus who matures the most.

  I absolutely adored Mariah and Nicholas and hope that eventually they’ll have their own book as I’m anxious to see what happens to them! Do they fall in love? Do they get married? Oh, Ms. Vane, you are a tease as I think they are no longer innocent!

  And let’s not forget the formidable and calculating Lady Russell! There isn’t a single character in this book that I didn’t like or want to know more about.

  I could not recommend this book anymore then possible. If you like a good scintillating book that leaves you fanning yourself, then you definitely should read A Breach of Promise!

• Long and Short Reviews
  http://www.longandshortreviews.com/uncategorized/a-breach-of-promise-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 801

  A Breach of Promise by Victoria Vane
  August 14, 2012 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

  A Breach of Promise by Victoria Vane
  Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
  Genre: Historical
  Length: Short Story (102 pgs)
  Other: M/F, Anal Play
  Rating: 5 stars
  Reviewed by Plumeria

  On the night of her betrothal, Lydia Trent receives just a taste of what ecstasy will be at the hands of her fiancé…and then he leaves her wanting. After waiting six years, and tired of being neglected by her exceedingly reluctant husband-to-be, Lydia decides to break it off.

  When Marcus, Lord Russell, receives Lydia’s letter requesting a release from their contract, he is stunned by her audacity. Confident he’ll have her eating out of his hand with his usual wit and charm, he’s determined to repair the damage. However, the headstrong woman she’s blossomed into is equally determined to thwart his every effort to win her back.

  Marcus discovers, in spite of her conviction to end the union, Lydia is more responsive to his touch than he ever imagined. He just needs to get her alone to unleash the promised passion he sees within his wanton virgin. Marcus will use any tool in his arsenal to exploit her weakness—his kisses, his hands, his mouth…her own body. In short, he’ll just have to ruin her!

  What is that old saying? ‘If you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned.’

  That is the lesson learned by our protagonist, Marcus. Reluctant to enter into a betrothal with Lydia, who is just turning seventeen, he does what is required by family obligation. His father and uncle, the Duke of Bedford, set up the match with no consultation from Marcus. He would prefer to focus on his own burgeoning political career, and still wants to sow his wild oats. Who wants to get married when you’re young and having fun?

  And what’s the best way to put off your betrothed? Well, showing up to the engagement slash birthday party drunk of course. The young couple leave the party for a moment and Marcus’ true feelings about their engagement are revealed, of course crushing poor Lydia’s heart and dreams. But between trying to prove that she is not a child and his drunkenness, things get a little hot and heavy in the garden.

  What Marcus didn’t know was that evening he started a low burn within Lydia. A burn he let simmer for six years! Now as a woman of twenty three and still not married, Lydia has had enough and asks to be released from the engagement with Marcus. While he was off playing political diplomat, Lydia was a home waiting and wanting until she grew into a sharp, educated woman. She has plans and dreams, and Lydia has had enough of Marcus’ blantant brush off to getting married. Can’t say I blame her, who makes a woman wait six years during that time period?

  Of course Marcus’ pride is wounded by Lydia’s request and thus begins a witty and emotional game of chess between the two. Deciding to bite the bullet and finally concede to marrying Lydia, Marcus is shocked when he finds a beautiful and not only well rounded, but quick witted woman. And Lydia is shocked when she realizes that even though her mind is totally off marrying Marcus, her body is all full steam ahead to the idea. And so begins the cat and mouse game of should they or shouldn’t they get married.

  I loved this book. So much so I have read it twice. Victoria Vane wrote a wickedly funny, sexy and witty tale about lust and love set in the Georgian Era as opposed to the typical Regency/Victorian you find in most historical romance. My favorite quote from the book is made by Marcus as he’s trying to convince Lydia that marrying him is in her best interest: “Our children.” He expounded in his most seductive tone. “The fruit of our loins that would be nothing less than heaven in the making.” My other favorite part of the story is the last few pages when Ms. Vane makes it clear that parents often do know “what’s best”.

  I loved both characters immensely, both of their inner monologues had me giggling and yet the sex scene had me fanning myself. This is pretty raunchy for the time period, but in a good way and Ms. Vane does it in a very forward thinking way. Just overall an awesome read and top of my recommend list.

• Delighted Reader
  http://delightedreader.com/review-treacherous-temptations-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 1000

  Review: Treacherous Temptations by Victoria Vane

  SOPHIA ROSE • FEBRUARY 27, 2013 • REVIEWS •
  Review: Treacherous Temptations by Victoria VaneTreacherous Temptations by Victoria Vane
  Genres: Erotic Romance, Historical Romance
  Format: eARC
  Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

  add to goodreads

  four-half-stars

  Disclosure: Delighted Reader received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review.

  As I settled into this book properly and got the feel of the writing and the plot, I was delighted to discover that I had landed into a story that rivaled some of the truly dark Gothic classical tales of old where evil plotted against the virgin heroine, where schemes for power and wealth were de rigeur, where the hero was a man in need of redemption and where a madcap and slightly over the top plot is acceptable. The only variance was the setting. Instead of a dark moldering castle, our heroine’s tale is set against the backdrop of the glittering wealth of Georgian London during the beginning of George II’s reign (okay well there was that scene near the end, but we’ll keep that on the hush-hush so as not to spoil it).

  The story opens with a Prologue which begins with a dark tragedy and then continues on telling of the life a dissipated young nobleman, Lord Hadley Blanchard. His life is empty and he has plunged the depths of sin and reached rock bottom. His fall is complete when he makes a devil’s bargain to stay in funds.

  Next, the heart of the story begins when a young innocent Mary Edwardes is forced by Sir Richard, the guardian her father appointed, to leave her country estate and go to London for the purpose of being married off as an heiress. She is alone and frightened so must do as she is told. Helping her in shedding her countrified ways is Sir Richard’s mistress, the unscrupulous widowed Countess Barbara Blanchard.

  The Countess constantly schemes for money and for fulfillment to her lusty desires and then in the end she acts out of vicious jealousy. She is tired of Sir Richard so concocts a scheme to bring the prodigal step-son, Hadley Blanchard, home to help her steal the wealth of the young girl in her care by debauching her and marrying her. What she could not have foreseen was the effect such a pure innocent girl would have on a man who thought he was beyond redemption and thought he lost his conscience long ago.

  Hadley agrees to Barbara’s plans, but has his own schemes afoot to restore his family title and lands, revenge himself against Sir Richard and yes, to gain a wealthy heiress as his wife. Between Hadley, the Countess, and Sir Richard, Mary is not completely unaware of the danger surrounding her, but knows she needs an ally. Hadley, plotter that he is, seems like her best bet, but she fears he will break her heart in the process because she is drawn to him almost from the first because he is the only one to treat her with kindness.

  This book has a very twisty plot with that feel that made me see poor Marry as the tethered goat sacrifice to the wild beasts. Knowing who the villains were and being privy to their plotting didn’t make the story any less exciting because there was the tension of wondering how Mary and Hadley would navigate through the snares and dangers or get caught. That Countess could have given Machiavelli a good run for his money. It’s scary when evil is that determined and capable.

  As to back drop, I have to say that I was impressed with the authentic feel of the historic backdrop that wove unobtrusively throughout the story. I think it a strong suit for this writer as I’ve noticed this is true in her other writings as well.

  I enjoyed how Mary’s character was parts innocent and parts sass, but never naive. She was honest to the core even with her feelings of attraction and her desires when it came to Hadley. I wanted to shout ‘Bravo Mary’ when she looked Hadley in the eye and stated with honesty that she would take responsibility for her own actions- that Hadley wasn’t seducing her so much as she was allowing his advances because she wanted them. I also wanted to swoon when Hadley called her his angel and that she had saved him. Hadley excited sympathy even more so than Mary once his past was opened up to me. Then I wanted to cry when Mary heard his tale, didn’t believe in him and he was faced with the fact that his past had destroyed his future chance of happiness.

  The other plot line which I will entitle ‘Mary’s Education By Hadley’ ran through most of the book. Hadley’s tantalizing lessons in passion escalated with each new meeting between the two. These scenes were refreshingly written even as they went from warm increasing in heat to scorching hot by the time all was said and done.

  After the big scene near the end, I felt like the story did rush into its conclusion. I was happy with what came about in the end for some and wished that there had been explicit mention of some dispensary of justice for others.

  The book offered an exceptionally good reading experience that engaged me from the start, touched many emotions in me and kept my interested to the very last page was turned.

  Those who like their historical romances loaded with hot spicy passion and devilish intrigue would probably enjoy this story.

  Thank you to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review.

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2013/02/review-treacherous-temptations-by-victoria-vane-giveaway/
  Word count: 1149

  REVIEW: TREACHEROUS TEMPTATIONS BY VICTORIA VANE + GIVEAWAY

  POSTED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2013 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
  Formats available: ebook
  Genre: Historical Romance
  Length: 181 pages
  Publisher: Entangled Publishing
  Date Released: January 19, 2012
  Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
  A reluctant heiress resigned to her fate… Mary Elizabeth Edwardes has one of the largest fortune’s in England, but has no desire to leave her quiet country existence… and even less to acquire a husband she cannot choose for herself.

  A dissolute nobleman bent on retribution… Trapped in a duplicitous existence since scandal destroyed his fortune and family name, Lord Hadley Blanchard has spent the better part of a decade posing as a disaffected exile while spying and seducing in the service of the English Crown.

  A dangerous game of seduction, and intrigue… When summoned from abroad by a former lover, Lord Hadley perceives an opportunity for vengeance at last. By employing the full measure of his seductive charm, he woos the ward of the man who destroyed his life, little knowing that winning Mary’s fortune will mean risking his own treacherous heart.

  Treason, rebellion, espionage, government-backed Ponzi schemes. Dead scapegoats. Live corrupt officials. Incest.

  Some of it even happened.

  Victoria Vane is an expert at weaving the soiled threads of actual Georgian-era events into a tapestry that proves yet again that foul deeds can wear a fair face. Behind the glittering masks of the aristocracy lurked the corruption that the later Victorian era’s compulsive prudishness was a reaction against.

  The Georgian era was a revel.

  Two of the events that lay behind the story of Treacherous Temptations were real, historic events. After the Hanoverian kings, in the person of George I, took the throne of Britain, there were a series of rebellions in favor of James Stuart, and later his son Charles. History calls his son “Bonnie Prince Charlie”. The rebellions are known as the “Jacobite Rebellions” and they cost Scotland dearly. The breaking of the clan system in the Highlands was one of the results. (If you want to read more about the Jacobite Risings, invest some time in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. The first three books cover it in glorious detail.)

  The Scots did not want “German Georgie” on the throne. They paid in blood. Spying on them paid in cash.

  The government-backed Ponzi scheme was also historic fact. Bernie Madoff was small time compared to the South Sea Bubble, because the South Sea Bubble started off as a government investment. It was supposed to reduce the cost of the national debt by investing in trade with South America. There was just one problem–at that point in history, all South American Trade was controlled by Spain, and Britain was at war with Spain. There was also a pesky problem with insider trading. (Some things never change)

  As our story begins, Hadley Blanchard is summoned home after nearly ten years spying on the Jacobite court in exile. This was a dangerous game for him. If he was caught by the Jacobites, they would have killed him. If he was caught in England delivering messages to either his paymaster or to any of the exiled court’s contacts, he had his choice of being executed for treason or killed on sight.

  His paymaster would not have protected him, and he knew it. He was living by his wits, and time was probably running out.

  About that summons home, it comes from his stepmother. Funny thing about that, she’s also his lover. Or she was. That both is and isn’t as bad as it sounds. They are about the same age. But, it was the sight of the two of them together that caused his father to kill himself instead of her.

  The old man definitely shot the wrong person.

  And his father’s death was terribly, terribly convenient for the other officers of the South Sea Company. Dead men make very handy scapegoats. Hadley was all of nineteen at the time. He lost his home, his estate, his title, and his income. The government gave him a small stipend and sent him on his way. Disgraced by proxy.

  He wants it back. He wants his home back. He wants his self-respect back. He knows that his father was not the engineer behind the South Sea Company collapse. Hadley knows that the man currently paying him to spy on the Jacobites is responsible. He just can’t prove it.

  Until fate throws Mary Edwardes in his lap. Literally. The woman whose father purchased his former estates. quite legally. The woman who is now the ward of his enemy, along with her fortune.

  All he has to do is seduce her and marry her. He doesn’t even have to like her. It would be so much easier for him if he didn’t like her. If he didn’t care.

  But Mary Edwardes seems to actually like him, not just want him. He’s practiced at making women want him. Having someone like him, that’s different. It’s more than novel. It makes him feel like there might be a future, and not just revenge.

  Except that he’s not remotely worthy of a woman like Mary. And he still has to make her see that he’s better than any of the alternatives that her guardian will sell her to, even after she finds out the awful truth about him.

  Escape Rating B+: Treacherous Temptations has a number of elements of the “perils of Pauline” type of story. Mary Edwardes does seem beyond innocent, even naive. She is nineteen, not sixteen. It’s not that she doesn’t know about sex, it’s that she doesn’t know about people. Sir Richard, her guardian, is selling her to the highest bidder. Lady Barbara is not her friend. Human nature is the same all over. Even in her village there would have been people who were rotten, and nineteen is well out of the schoolroom.

  But it’s Hadley’s journey that fascinates. He grows from being a besotted boy in the prologue to a man who has had enough and needs to find a way out. His redemption is the story that we’re following. He needs to throw off his last tie to Barbara, his dependence on Sir Richard’s money, and finally stand up for himself by saving Mary. Hadley pulling himself out of the gutter is the story.

  And it’s a damned good one.

• Night Owl Reviews
  https://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Reviews/Mandy-reviews-A-Wild-Nights-Bride-by-Victoria-Vane
  Word count: 331

  QUOTE:
  intriguing, erotically charged historical romance

  4½ Stars
  Author: Victoria Vane
  Review by: Mandy
  Genre: HOT Romance
  Tags:
  * SPICY: HOT Romance
  * Rom: Historical
  Publisher: Vane Publishing LLC
  A Wild Night's Bride
  The Devil DeVere, #1

  A Wild Night's Bride is an intriguing, erotically charged historical romance I couldn't put down! It was a pleasure to follow Phoebe and Ned's story as they were always on edge with sexual tension and the fear of being caught. The supporting characters added a creative spin to the story and they meshed with the hero and heroine perfectly to make a smoothly written erotic romance. The plot is unique and adventurous, while being sensual and romantic at the same time. The by-play between Ned and his best friend, DeVere was the perfect blend between friendship, mischief, and frustration as good friendships seem to be. They meshed delightfully (as did the hero and heroine, of course) and I feel sure we'll see more from both in the near future. I can hardly wait for more! I always enjoy a story from Victoria Vane and A Wild Night's Bride is no exception. I highly recommend it!

  Phoebe couldn't get past the bit parts at the theatre where she'd been working for three years. Now the theatre was about to close and her savings weren't enough to carry her through. She resigned herself to the fact that she would need to find a protector/benefactor to advance her acting career. She set out to find one and inadvertently finds Ned, a widower who's not looking for a mistress. Misunderstandings develop between them and when alcohol and an intriguing wager are added to the mix, sensual feelings are awakened. While on edge from sexual tension and the threat of being caught, Phoebe and Ned are consumed with desire and find themselves in quite an erotic predicament, with both unsure where it will lead.

• Book Vixen
  http://www.thebookvixen.com/2012/05/book-review-wild-nights-bride-by.html
  Word count: 600

  Book Review: A Wild Night’s Bride by Victoria Vane
  By Brianna (The Book Vixen)
  A Wild Night's Bride by Victoria VaneTitle: A Wild Night’s Bride (Amazon)
  Series: The Devil DeVere, #1
  Author: Victoria Vane
  Genre: Historical Romance
  Sensuality Rating: Steamy
  Source: review copy from author
  Published: April 2012 by Breathless Press

  WITH THE DEVIL IN CHARGE...THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY...
  What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake?
  She’s a lonely lady down on her luck...
  Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.

  He’s steadfast and eminently respectable
  Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life … of celibacy.

  With the devil in charge — there will surely be hell to pay.
  Devil in disguise, Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which “dull dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed!

  A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, a sexy, rollicking Georgian romp!

  Reviewed By: J9
  In a Nutshell: This novella is a sexy but light-hearted romp through one night’s adventures. Given the sexual nature of this novella the sudden epiphany of the leads proclaiming love rang false but that was a minor quibble.

  The Set Up: Ned’s wife died three years ago and he’s just returned to London and his rakehell best friend, Lord DeVere. Phoebe is trying to make her way as a London actress. Phoebe’s career depends upon who her first protector is so she attends a wicked party thinking to ask DeVere but finds the lonely Ned instead. When DeVere accepts a crazy wager including Ned and Phoebe their night suddenly gets dangerous.

  Why I Read this Book: The synopsis sounded good and I like reading novellas as I typically have time to complete them in one sitting.

  What I Liked: This novella doesn’t take itself too seriously. The purpose of this novella is to provide a sexy adventure and it does that. The entire novella takes place in one night so there isn’t much character development, other than making lonely Ned a sympathetic character who needed to get laid and end his celibacy.

  What I Didn’t Like: The focus of this novella is clearly sexual and the sudden epiphany of life-altering love felt forced to me. Of course, this is classified as a romance so I guess that’s to be expected but it did seem silly that a country gentleman like Ned would marry an actress after knowing her for one day. But suspending reality is part of some romance novels so I won’t harp on it too much.

  IMO: A Wild Night’s Bride is a good erotic-romance but an average romance-romance. The emotional intimacy was non-existent but given the light-hearted sexual nature of the novella, it worked. This is the first of six erotic romance stories but given that I like more emotional intimacy between my leads I doubt I’ll pick up the subsequent stories.

  J9’s Rating:
  2 1/2 Frogs

• Feeling Fictional
  http://www.feelingfictional.com/2012/10/review-wild-nights-bride-victoria-vane.html
  Word count: 610

  Friday, 5 October 2012
  Review: A Wild Night's Bride - Victoria Vane

  NOTE: This is book #1 in a series that reads as a continuing story.

  WITH THE DEVIL IN CHARGE...THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY...
  What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake?

  She’s a lonely lady down on her luck...
  Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.

  He’s steadfast and eminently respectable
  Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life … of celibacy.

  With the devil in charge — there will surely be hell to pay.
  Devil in disguise, Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which “dull dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed! A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, a sexy, rollicking Georgian romp!

  The Devil DeVere Series:
  A Wild Night's Bride (Novella)
  The Virgin Huntress (Novella)
  The Devil You Know (Novella)
  The Devil's Match (Novella)
  Jewel of the East (Novella) (2013)
  A Devil by Another Name (Novella) (2013)
  A Devil in Diamonds (Novella) (2013)

  Visit Victoria Vane's website for more information

  Review:
  Phoebe has spent years trying to make it as an actress and she is sick of never getting the best parts - not because she is unable to act but because she doesn't have a benefactor. She has come to the realisation that if she ever wants to be the leading lady then she will have to find a rich gentleman to become her patron and sponsor her role. Ned has been in seclusion in the country since the death of his wife but is forced to return to London society to make sure his daughter can make her debut. When he comes to the city looking for a house to rent for the season he takes the time to meet up with his old friend DeVere. DeVere is determined to shake Ned out of his celibate ways and decides that a Feast of Venus party at one of the brothels he visits is the ideal place to start.

  A Wild Night's Bride is a fun and sexy read that I really enjoyed. At around 100 pages it is a quick read that is easy to devour in one sitting. You have to suspend belief at times because the actions of the characters are so over the top but that helps to make this an amusing read to pass the time with. I was slightly disappointed that Ned and Phoebe go from overwhelming lust to love so quickly though - I would have preferred them to spend some time getting to know each other rather than making declarations of love after spending just one night together.

  While I would like to see more of DeVere unfortunately I really didn't take to Ned's daughter Vesta or her godmother Diana. The fact that they are the heroines of the next two novellas has put me off continuing with this series but I will definitely keep an eye out for other stories from Victoria Vane in the future.

  Source: Received from the author as part of a promotional giveaway on Goodreads

• Red Hot Books
  http://redhotbooks.com/2012/08/review-the-virgin-huntress.html
  Word count: 536

  AUGUST 10, 2012
  Review: The Virgin Huntress

  Reviewed by Shelly
  Picking up directly after A Wild Night’s Bride, this story tells the story of Ned’s daughter, Vesta, and Ludovic’s brother, Captain Hewett DeVere.

  At eighteen, it’s time for Vesta to have her coming out. In the middle of enjoying his honeymoon and his new wife, Ned reluctantly agrees that Vesta’s godmother Diana can accompany her to London. He gives a strict warning that when they get there they are to contact his best friend and Vesta’s godfather, Lord Ludovic DeVere. I can already feel the tension.

  On their arrival to London Vesta gets her first glimpse of Hew and completely falls in love, or so she says. But when Hew sees Diana, he’s head over heels and sets his sights on her. Now while all this is going on like a well-timed soap opera, Ludovic throws down a challenge to his brother. You see folks, Ludovic doesn’t want to marry and produce heirs, and so he challenges Hew to marry (and hopefully procreate) in exchange of property and cash.

  Vesta, with Ludovic’s help, plots to get Hew. And so begins the shenanigans to get those two out of the way so that Ludovic can get on with his tomfoolery of a life. He thinks he’s quite the sneaky devil.

  Although I enjoyed this story I just couldn’t get over how selfish and spoiled that Vesta was. She did some really silly and childish things in the name of love and I didn’t get the sense that she ever learned her lesson. Furthermore I didn’t think she was deserving of Hew. Now the relationship between Ludovic and Diana is a different fish altogether. I can’t think of two other people more deserving of each other and I can’t wait to read their story.

  The sex scene between Vesta and Hew was good, but I really enjoyed the spanking that she got beforehand, that was well played.

  Overall while I enjoyed this story I can’t wait for the next one in the series. The epilogue rocked my boat. It goes a little something like this – Diana is frantically searching for Vesta, she suspects Ludovic knows something and pays him a visit. She gets to his house, of course he’s occupied and has given the butler strict instructions to not interrupt. Well, Diana is not having that – not today anyway. She walks right into the room where he’s having an orgy and starts talking to him. Can you imagine the balls to do that? Before she leaves she tells DeVere, she’ll expect him at 9 the following morning and he responds with some utter non-sense that he rarely gets up before two in the afternoon. Diana comes back with – “You will call, my lord, or you will much regret my methods of rouse you.” I love it! I think my new crush Ludovic is about to get his and then some in The Devil You Know.

  Happy Reading Folks!

  Rating: B-

• Unwrapping Romance
  http://unwrappingromance.blogspot.com/2012/06/unwrapping-review-of-virgin-huntress.html
  Word count: 812

  QUOTE:
  excellent story with excellent characters
  Friday, June 29, 2012
  Unwrapping: Review of THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, a Devil DeVere novella by Victoria Vane

  I am already so in love with The Devil DeVere Series by Victoria Vane and today, the second in the series - THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, releases!! Congratulations Victoria!

  I was so delighted when Victoria allowed me to read an eARC of this novella for I've been chomping at the bit ever since reading A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE - which by the way, if you go to her website (click here to do that but do come back) I believe you can still get a copy of that bawdy Georgian Romance novella for only 99 cents. If you haven't read it - DO - then get your hands on THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS by Victoria Vane - you won't be disappointed.

  Blurb for THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS:

  Desperate times call for devilish measures…
  when the object of one’s passion has eyes for another…
  it’s time to take matters in hand!

  Lady Vesta Chambers is accustomed to getting what she wants…
  Coddled and pampered, since her mother’s death, Lady Vesta Chambers is beside herself when her father goes to London to prepare for her come-out and returns with a young bride of his own. With her world turned upside down, Vesta accompanies her godmother, Diana, to town, where she is smitten the moment she lays eyes on a certain captain of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons.

  But when the object of her passion has eyes for another…
  Captain Hewett DeVere, younger brother and heir to Viscount Ludovic ”The Devil” DeVere, has returned from the American war scarred, disillusioned, and looking forward to settling down to a quiet and respectable life. But when the handsome and straight-laced captain turns his eyes toward the widowed Diana, Vesta is prepared to take devilish measures to prove she is no longer a little girl, but a woman with the passion of …a huntress.

  * * * * * *

  The year is 1783 and Lady Vesta Chambers is the most incorrigible young woman of eighteen ever to come to London for her coming out. Everyone from her guardian, Diana to The Devil himself, Viscount DeVere is at wits end as to what to do with her. When Vesta sets her desires on having DeVere's younger brother, Captain Hew DeVere for her own, she will stop at nothing to make him notice her not as a little girl but as a grown up woman. She will stop at nothing including kidnapping.

  Captain Hew DeVere has a great desire to take a wife but worries that no desirable woman will have him as he is scarred and wounded from his service in the American war. When he meets the lovely widow, Diana, he is tempted to woo her but she quickly rebuffs his attentions while both are unaware that Vesta has been scheming to separate the two and gain his attentions solely for herself.

  THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS by Victoria Vane is surprisingly sweet while extraordinarily naughty. Vesta is a rambunctious, brave, and incorrigible girl far beyond anyone's expectations except perhaps those of her godfather, Viscount Ludovic DeVere. Determined and resolute to gain the attentions of Hew, Vesta takes her schemes further than anyone expects especially Hew. Inevitably, Hew is unable to resist the persistence of such a young virgin and the result is pure magic.

  Victoria Vane has certainly become one of my favorite authors. Her research and attention to detail and language is exquisite. Her characters are full of depth and mischief and she excellently pulls the reader from one wonderful novella to the other but leaves each to stand on its own easily. THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS by Victoria Vane is a wonderful Georgian Romance that will have you grinning one moment and gasping the next at Vesta's naughtiness.

  An excellent story with excellent characters, I highly recommend THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, a Devil DeVere Series novella by Victoria Vane. This is a series that cannot be ignored and should certainly not be missed.

  Happy Reading Everyone!

  Don't forget, you still have time (giveaway ends tonight) to enter for a chance to win an ecopy of Anna Randol's regency novella, A MOST NAKED SOLUTION - click here to go to that post. Enjoy!

  THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, a Devil DeVere Series novella by Victoria Vane, Breathless Press, available NOW in ebook format.

  To purchase now, please visit http://www.breathlesspress.com/virgin-huntress .

  Don't forget that A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE, the first in the Devil DeVere series is on sale for 99 cents but today's the last day. Hopefully, Amazon will have THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS available soon.

• Romancing the Book
  http://romancing-the-book.com/2013/11/review-the-devil-you-know-by-victoria-vane.html
  Word count: 705

  QUOTE:
  quick, enjoyable and steamy read that kept my interest from beginning to end

  Review: The Devil You Know by Victoria Vane
  historical, JoAnne, Lovely Rose, review, romance
  Nov
  30
  2013

  The Devil You Know by Victoria Vane
  Series: The Devil DeVere series (# 3)
  Release Date: September 1, 2013
  Publisher: Vane Publishing LLC
  Pages: 145
  Source: book provided by the publisher for review

  When dealing with the devil it’s easy to be burned… especially when passion ignites the flames.

  Who can find a virtuous woman… Beautiful, respectable, and dutiful, Lady Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley has long resigned herself to her decade-long loveless and childless marriage to a feckless husband…until his gambling pushes them to the brink of financial ruin.

  Sometimes the devil is in disguise…as a gentleman… Viscount Ludovic, “The Devil DeVere”, is a man accustomed to taking what he wants according to his whim and heedless of the cost…until he encounters a woman who won’t be had at any price.

  When dealing with the devil, it’s easy to be burned… When Diana discovers a secret that shatters the carefully built façade concealing her private pain, she seeks aid and comfort from the most unlikely place…the devil’s arms. But will a single night of heavenly passion damn them both forever?

  Review: This is book three in the series and I didn’t feel that I was missing a lot of background information not having read books one and two since the prologue set eleven years before really set the stage of what was to come. It was a quick, enjoyable and steamy read that kept my interest from beginning to end.

  Yes, the Viscount, Ludovic, was the devil himself and a rogue but he also had an occasional nice side that he didn’t let anyone see. He and Lady Diana, the Baroness, had such powerful chemistry and I expected more from them as a result. I know their story continues in book four but the ending was too abrupt for me and it wasn’t until I turned the page in my ereader that I realized I was at the end. With only one hundred forty five pages there was a lot more story that could have been told. The excerpt in the back of the book for The Devil’s Match which continues their story definitely whet my appetite for more.

  There were family, friends, servants, estates, horses, friendships, romance and love but I felt we didn’t delve deep enough below the surface to find out all there was to know about any of the characters – they all had so many layers! Duchess Caroline was a piece of work and there was nothing likable about her at all. She seemed to want to blackmail everyone or hold something over their head so she could get what she wanted. I felt the same way about Diana’s husband, Lord Reginald who thought he was deserving of lots of good fortune and shouldn’t be held accountable when things didn’t go his way.

  I have not read books by Vane before but I will definitely be reading some of her others not only this series. I have not yet read books one and two, A Wild Night’s Bride and The Virgin Huntress, or book four, The Devil’s Match. Book five , Jewel of the East, is due out next year and there’s also two novellas, Devil in the Making and The Trouble with Sin.

  Favorite Quote: Diana left DeVere’s chambers in a peculiar daze comprised of equal parts anger, confusion, and lust. She had never been so affected by a man. All he had to do was look at her to set her skin tingling and pulse racing. It had taken little more that a touch and a suggestive word from him for her emptiness to expand and a powerful yearning to take hold of her body. When his lips had seared her skin, she had almost melted away – certainly her fine upstanding resolution had.

• Unwrapping Romance
  http://unwrappingromance.blogspot.com/2012/07/unwrapping-review-of-devil-you-know.html
  Word count: 975

  Monday, July 30, 2012
  Unwrapping: Review of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, a Devil DeVere novella by Victoria Vane
  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is the 3rd installment of the Devil DeVere series and this time we get a real insight into the Devil DeVere himself. This is a series consisting so far of A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE and THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS by Victoria Vane. If you haven't read them yet and are curious about them, please click on the title of one or both to visit my reviews of the first two novellas. This is a series that shouldn't be missed especially if you're a fan of historical romance. Victoria has been kind enough to allow me to read an eARC of each of these in exchange for an honest and unscripted opinion. I have to admit that after reading each, I have yearned for the next in breathless anticipation so I think I get the better end of the deal.

  Blurb for THE DEVIL YOU KNOW:

  When dealing with the devil it's easy to be burned… especially when passion ignites the flames. Who can find a virtuous woman…

  Beautiful, respectable, and dutiful, Lady Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley has long resigned herself to her decade-long loveless and childless marriage to a feckless husband…until his gambling pushes them to the brink of financial ruin.

  Sometimes the devil is in disguise…as a gentleman… Viscount Ludovic, "The Devil DeVere", is a man accustomed to taking what he wants according to his whim and heedless of the cost…until he encounters a woman who won't be had at any price.

  When dealing with the devil, it's easy to be burned… When Diana discovers a secret that shatters the carefully built façade concealing her private pain, she seeks aid and comfort from the most unlikely place…the devil's arms. But will a single night of heavenly passion damn them both forever?

  * * * * * * *

  We first met Viscount Ludovic DeVere in A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE when he talked his pal, Ned Chambers and Phoebe Scott into a dare that results in them waking up in the King's bed. Then we followed his naughty influence on the incorrigible Vesta Chambers when he assists her in her plan to kidnap his own brother, Hew DeVere so that she may seduce him in THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS. All the while, we get hints that the Lady Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley - cousin to Ned's first wife, Annalee and godmother to Vesta - has a past that connects her to Ludovic DeVere in a way that makes their blood boil whenever they are placed in the same room together.

  In THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Victoria Vane we get the backstory of the steamy past that connects Lady Diana to the Devil DeVere. We learn that Ludovic is not totally immune to the emotional charms of a woman. We learn the reasons he holds women in such low esteem but enjoys them as his greatest pleasure. We also get hints of a darker side, of secrets he keeps even from his own brother and his undisclosed covet of his dearest friend Ned's loving marriage.

  Ludovic DeVere is a man of means, a man of passion, and a man who can raise desire in any woman he sets his sights on. He carries a less than proper reputation but is, in fact, a loyal and caring friend to anyone who cares enough to call him friend. In THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, we get to know the Devil Himself and discover that his heart may not be as immune to love as we have been led to believe. This segment of the series, however, is not complete in its story-telling but rather a connector story that will help to tie all four novellas, that make up the Devil DeVere series, together. There is no happily-ever-after for DeVere or Diana in THE DEVIL YOU KNOW but rather a stay tuned for the conclusion ending yet to come in the final novella - THE DEVIL'S MATCH.

  Victoria Vane writes her stories with a hint of reality floating beneath the surface of the backstory. Her tidbits included at the end of the novellas gives us an insight into the story behind the story which help bring her extraordinary characters to life. THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is the story behind the other stories. It's the answers to questions that have been plaguing us about the Viscount Ludovic DeVere and it paints the man as more human than he wants anyone to believe. Creative, steamy, insightful, and historically accurate, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Victoria Vane is extraordinary writing that fills in the blanks connecting Ned and Phoebe's, Vesta and Hew's stories together with Ludovic DeVere's past which is completely exposed in such a way that this series is mounting to be one of the most innovative, creatively beautiful and romantically drawn Georgian romances ever.

  I highly recommend reading THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Victoria Vane as well as the first two novellas and specifically in the order in which they have been written. This series is extraordinary and literarily unique and shouldn't be missed by anyone who calls themselves a lover of historical romance. Each one unique and distinct yet better than the next even as I find myself eagerly anticipating the final one to come.

  P.S. News just in - Victoria Vane has just announced that this series will not end at the fourth installment, THE DEVIL'S MATCH, but instead she will add two more after it plus a spin-off. Life is good!!

  Happy Reading Everyone!

  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, a Devil DeVere novella by Victoria Vane, Breathless Press, available now in ebook format.

• History Undressed
  http://www.historyundressed.com/2012/09/review-of-devil-devere-series-by.html
  Word count: 1462

  Friday, September 7, 2012

  Review of The Devil Devere Series by Victoria Vane (Recommended Read!)
  I'd like to welcome another ebook reviewer to History Undressed! Callie Hutton (author of the Oklahoma Lovers series) has joined out team! Thank you, Callie!!!

  The Devil Devere by Victoria Vane -- Four Scorching Novellas, One Continuing Story

  A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE (book #1)

  What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake? With the devil in charge there will be hell to pay!

  She’s a lonely lady down on her luck... Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.

  He’s steadfast and eminently respectable..Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life … of celibacy.

  With the devil in charge — there will be hell to pay. Devil in disguise, Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which “dull dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed! A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, a sexy, rollicking Georgian romp!
  Callie's Review...

  In Georgian England, Actress Phoebe Scott is looking for a Protector. The theater where she had a brief run as the sultry Kitty Willis, has closed its doors. She decides to adopt the persona of Kitty, so different from her own, to secure a Protector who can support her now that the theater has closed, and help her in her career. Because of a closely guarded secret, and her financial circumstances, the marriage she’d always dreamed of is not an option.

  Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is dragged by his friend, Viscount Ludovic DeVere to a night of debauchery where he meets the lovely, and obviously out of her realm, Phoebe. He is not the ‘Protector’ sort of man, but after a night of passion, he isn’t about to let Phoebe go.

  I thoroughly enjoyed A Wild Night’s Bride. Ned is a hero in the true sense, and Phoebe, although down on her luck, does not come across as a victim. She’s sassy, brave, and is willing to put aside her dreams for her reality.

  Since this is the first in a series of four stories centered around the debauched Devil DeVere, I look forward to the next three from this talented author.

  THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS (book#2)

  Desperate times call for devilish measures… when the object of one's passion has eyes for another… it's time to take matters in hand!

  Lady Vesta Chambers is accustomed to getting what she wants…Coddled and pampered, since her mother's death, Lady Vesta Chambers is beside herself when her father goes to London to prepare for her come-out and returns with a young bride of his own. With her world turned upside down, Vesta accompanies her godmother, Diana, to town, where she is smitten the moment she lays eyes on a certain captain of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons.

  But when the object of her passion has eyes for another… Captain Hewett DeVere, younger brother and heir to Viscount Ludovic "The Devil" DeVere, has returned from the American war scarred, disillusioned, and looking forward to settling down to a quiet and respectable life. But when the handsome and straight-laced captain turns his eyes toward the widowed Diana, Vesta is prepared to take devilish measures to prove she is no longer a little girl, but a woman with the passion of …a huntress.

  Callie's Review...

  After thoroughly enjoying the first book in the Devil DeVere series of four stories, this second book, The Virgin Huntress, was a bit of a disappointment. I always find it difficult to appreciate a story when I dislike the heroine so much. There is no other way to describe Lady Vesta Chambers other than a spoiled brat. She goes after what she wants, regardless of the consequences to others. Captain Hewett DeVere was a likeable, albeit a somewhat unbelievable, hero.

  That being said, the story was well developed, and kept my interest. If you like a strong-willed, loose cannon type of heroine, you’ll love The Virgin Huntress. I now look forward to book three in the series.

  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (book#3)

  When dealing with the devil it's easy to be burned… especially when passion ignites the flames.

  Who can find a virtuous woman… Beautiful, respectable, and dutiful, Lady Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley has long resigned herself to her decade-long loveless and childless marriage to a feckless husband…until his gambling pushes them to the brink of financial ruin.

  Sometimes the devil is in disguise…as a gentleman… Viscount Ludovic, "The Devil DeVere", is a man accustomed to taking what he wants according to his whim and heedless of the cost…until he encounters a woman who won't be had at any price.

  When dealing with the devil, it's easy to be burned… When Diana discovers a secret that shatters the carefully built façade concealing her private pain, she seeks aid and comfort from the most unlikely place…the devil's arms. But will a single night of heavenly passion damn them both forever?

  Callie's Review...

  Lady Diane Palmerston-Wriothesley, who we met briefly in book one and two of the DeVere Devil series, has a starring role in Victoria Vane’s third book, The Devil You Know.

  Lady Diana’s dreams of a comfortable, happy marriage have withered and died in the reality of her ten year union with Baron Palmerston-Wriothesley. Not only does he ignore her needs, he has brought them to the door of financial ruin by his gambling. At a gathering for horse races at the home of Viscount Ludovic DeVere, a man of notorious sexual appetites, Diana is confronted with the true horror of her husband’s predilections, and the reason for her unsatisfying marriage.

  I will stop here in the description to avoid any spoilers, but I will offer high praise for The Devil You Know. The pages (or ebook screen, depending on your preference) literally pop every time Ludovic and Diana appear together. The sexual tension is riveting, his desire to have her, and hers to resist, a palpable thing. I loved Diana, and oftentimes moved by her predicament. The Devil is, well, the Devil. Despite his debauched ways, the author has made him not only likeable, but down right loveable. I wait with bated breath for the fourth book, and the finale.

  Well done, Ms. Vane!

  THE DEVIL'S MATCH (book#4)

  Once burned twice shy… but when old flames come together…passion reignites...

  When burned once… Arriving in London as her goddaughter's chaperone, Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley wants to avoid her erstwhile lover at all costs. Once nearly consumed by passion, four years has reduced the former inferno to bitterness and ashes.

  By an old flame... A world-weary master of seduction, Ludovic "The Devil" DeVere is bored with his chosen life of debauchery. When Diana's charge disappears, she is forced to seek help from the devil's lair, and their mutual desire reignites with undeniable ferocity.

  Fire is best fought with fire… While DeVere is hell-bent to have her back for keeps, Diana is equally determined to bring him to his knees…by acquiring some sensual secrets of her own.
  Callie's Review...

  What a fabulous ending to a wonderful series! In the last book of the Devil DeVere series, “The Devil” and Baroness Diana come back together years after their interlude together. Still hurt and confused by Ludovic’s rejection, Diana is disturbed when she and her former lover are thrown together because of their mutual goddaughter’s antics and subsequent engagement and wedding. Ludovic is anxious to renew their alliance, but Diana wishes to keep him at arms length, even though her desire for him has not ebbed.

  I was happy the appearance of Vestra in this book did not spoil it for me, since I disliked the girl in The Virgin Huntress. She was certainly more tolerable in The Devil’s Match. But overall, the series was well written, interesting, and kept me turning the pages. I highly recommend Ms. Vane’s series.

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2012/10/review-the-devils-match-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 754

  REVIEW: THE DEVIL’S MATCH BY VICTORIA VANE

  POSTED ON OCTOBER 5, 2012 BY MARLENE HARRIS

  Format read: e-ARC provided by publisher
  Release Date: 24 August 2012
  Series: Book #4 in the Devil DeVere series
  Number of pages: 132 pages
  Publisher: Entangled Publishing
  Formats available: ebook
  Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon

  Blurb:
  Once burned twice shy… but when old flames come together…passion reignites…

  When burned once… Arriving in London as her goddaughter’s chaperone, Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley wants to avoid her erstwhile lover at all costs. Once nearly consumed by passion, four years has reduced the former inferno to bitterness and ashes.

  By an old flame… A world-weary master of seduction, Ludovic “The Devil” DeVere is bored with his chosen life of debauchery. When Diana’s charge disappears, she is forced to seek help from the devil’s lair, and their mutual desire reignites with undeniable ferocity.

  Fire is best fought with fire… While DeVere is hell-bent to have her back for keeps, Diana is equally determined to bring him to his knees…by acquiring some sensual secrets of her own.

  My Thoughts: Everything has been leading up to this. Which might be both good and bad. It’s possible to read A Wild Night’s Bride, The Virgin Huntress and The Devil You Know on their own and enjoy them as much as I did Bride and Devil, or didn’t in the case of Huntress, but The Devil’s Match is the culmination of the story begun in the other three books. You need to have read at least The Devil You Know (or, one could say you need to already know how Diana knows the Devil) in order for The Devil’s Match to have the resonance it should.

  The “match” in the title of The Devil’s Match could just as easily mean a matchstick for lighting fires as a mate. And, come to think of it, one brand of matches in the early 1800’s was known as “lucifers”, yet another name for the devil. Entirely too appropriate, because the unfinished business between DeVere and Diana makes them set each other off like, well, tinder and matches.

  The Devil’s Match picks up right where The Devil You Know ends. Diana stalks into DeVere’s house in the middle of a orgy, Really, an orgy! Full of righteous indignation because DeVere’s brother Hew has kidnapped her goddaughter Vesta (see The Virgin Huntress). There are half-naked women everywhere, and DeVere himself is in the middle of getting serviced while this conversation is taking place! Diana’s speech, and her maintenance of outward composure, is astonishing.

  It’s too bad for Diana that DeVere has all too clear an idea of what’s going through her head, and that’s she wrong about who kidnapped whom between Hew and Vesta, admittedly with DeVere’s connivance.

  But just like Diana’s assumptions about Vesta’s supposed kidnapping, very little about that scene is exactly what it appears to be. And that’s what made the resolution of this four book long story so interesting (not that the erotic scenes weren’t steamy!) DeVere starts out as merely a sybarite and a rake. A consummate puppet-master out for his own amusement. As the layers peel back, DeVere turns out to be the prisoner of his own fears, too worried about making the same mistakes his parents did to trust his own heart. Or even to trust that he has one.

  Verdict: I dove straight from The Devil You Know to The Devil’s Match. I had to find out exactly how the Devil got his due! Once I finally found out how DeVere and Diana end up in the positions (hah!) they are in at the beginning of the series, I couldn’t wait to find out how they got out of the mess.

  The Devil’s Match isn’t as frothy as A Wild Night’s Bride, but it’s even more delightful in some ways. Watching the rake not only admit that love just might be possible, but actually reform, is a far better ending for him than anything the reader might have expected when he first sauntered onto the pages of A Wild Night’s Bride. Bravo!

  I gladly give The Devil’s Match 5 fiery stars.

• Unwrapping Romance
  http://unwrappingromance.blogspot.com/2012/08/unwrapping-review-of-devils-match-by.html
  Word count: 845

  QUOTE:
  must for anyone who loves historically accurate, sexy good times, good humor and romance that will have you swooning all the while wishing you could be whisked away to this amazing and romantic time gone by

  Friday, August 24, 2012
  Unwrapping: Review of THE DEVIL'S MATCH by Victoria Vane - a Devil DeVere novella
  Wow, the Devil DeVere Series by Victoria Vane just keeps getting better and better! THE DEVIL'S MATCH is the story of the Devil himself, Viscount Ludovic DeVere and it's everything wonderful. I hope that you have been following the Devil DeVere Series with me - if not, then please do for you won't be disappointed with this amazing series of Georgian Romance novellas starting with, A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE, continuing with THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, then building some backstory with THE DEVIL YOU KNOW and culminating with this installment, THE DEVIL'S MATCH. Release date - TODAY!
  Actually, Victoria has informed us that there will be two more novellas added to the series but in this one - the Devil truly does meet his match.

  Blurb for THE DEVIL'S MATCH:

  Once burned twice shy…
  But when old flames come together…
  Passion reignites

  When burned once … Arriving in London as her goddaughter’s chaperone, Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley wants to avoid her erstwhile lover at all costs. Once nearly consumed by passion, four years has reduced the former inferno to bitterness and ashes.

  By an old flame… A world-weary master of seduction, Ludovic ”The Devil” DeVere is bored with his chosen life of debauchery. When Diana’s charge disappears, she is forced to seek help from the devil’s lair, and their mutual desire reignites with undeniable ferocity.

  Fire is best fought with fire… While DeVere is hell-bent to have her back in his bed, Diana is equally determined to bring him to his knees…by acquiring some sensual secrets of her own.

  * * * * *

  Viscount Ludovic DeVere has been hiding his heart because of his past, his parents, and his lack of faith in his ability to be a good match for anyone. But over the past five years, he's hidden himself even deeper as he tries to forget the one woman who managed to crawl beneath his skin and touch his heart. Living in denial of his desire for Lady Diana, his denial that he is worthy of her love, denial that he can keep living his life wandering from woman to woman all the while still craving the one who he pushed away for the sake of honor.

  Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley has never forgotten or forgiven the one man who brought her body, her spirit and her heart to life then left her with nothing but a memory. Her anger at him and at herself for still desiring him pushes her to deny herself, her needs and her desires until she comes face to face with him when her god-daughter Vesta marrys his brother. Not wishing to give into the pull that still exists between them, she tries her best to resist but when a lost wager puts her in the position of giving into her desires without losing face, she pulls out all the stops.

  THE DEVIL'S MATCH by Victoria Vane is the cherry on the top of the best series of Georgian historical romance novellas I've ever read. Pulled together, they form a fabulous story of the men and women who claim the Devil DeVere as part of their lives and family. THE DEVIL'S MATCH is hot enough to fry your ereader, heat your own wild imagination and leave you as satisfied as the Devil himself and his beautiful match. The epilogue will make you smile as their happily-ever-after culminates in a most spectacular and unexpected ending.

  I'm very serious when I tell you that if you haven't yet started to read this series, please do! It is extraordinary writing, research instilled, steamy beyond erotic and the characters are the most endearing, get under your skin, cheer for a group of people you will ever want to know.

  Victoria Vane once said she had ventured into this genre as an experiment. She has most definitely found her niche, her power, and her calling. Brava, Victoria. This series and especially this final novella, THE DEVIL'S MATCH, has my blessing of five stars. Thank you for such an extraordinary and wonderful four months of reading.

  I highly recommend THE DEVIL'S MATCH by Victoria Vane along with the rest of the series. They are a MUST READ for anyone who loves historically accurate, sexy good times, good humor and romance that will have you swooning all the while wishing you could be whisked away to this amazing and romantic time gone by.

  Happy Reading Everyone!

  THE DEVIL'S MATCH by Victoria Vane, Breathless Press, available now in ebook format from Breathless Press or Amazon.com (click on cover below)

• Romantic Historical Reviews
  http://www.romantichistoricalreviews.com/the-devils-match-devil-devere-4-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 567

  THE DEVIL’S MATCH (Devil Devere #4) by Victoria Vane
  Aug
  27
  Published: August 24, 2012

  Publisher’s Blurb:
  Once burned twice shy… but when old flames come together…passion reignites…

  When burned once… Arriving in London as her goddaughter’s chaperone, Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley wants to avoid her erstwhile lover at all costs. Once nearly consumed by passion, four years has reduced the former inferno to bitterness and ashes.
  By an old flame… A world-weary master of seduction, Ludovic “The Devil” DeVere is bored with his chosen life of debauchery. When Diana’s charge disappears, she is forced to seek help from the devil’s lair, and their mutual desire reignites with undeniable ferocity.
  Fire is best fought with fire… While DeVere is hell-bent to have her back for keeps, Diana is equally determined to bring him to his knees…by acquiring some sensual secrets of her own.
  Tags: Romance, Historical
  Time Frame: England 1780’s – 1790’s

  Heat Level: 3

  REVIEW RATING : 5 stars

  REVIEW BY LEE ANNE:
  The Devil has met his match!The Devil’s Match is the fourth installment of the Devil Devere Series by Victoria Vane. This one had me crying. Devil DeVere and Diana keep ending up at odds with each other and it just made me cry! They need and want each other so much and it just kept falling apart!As the series has continued, the heat level has risen, until it’s pretty dang hot! The passion between Devil and Diana has grown until it’s scorching and I felt like I was going to combust just reading about their sexcapades! Of course, Diana can’t just give in to Devil, her honor won’t allow that. So, how does she give in to him while maintaining her honor? Why, a wager of course!I thoroughly enjoyed Devil and Diana’s story. It was the most heart-wrenching and passion filled of all the DeVere stories. I came to love Devil for he has honor, but he doesn’t play by the rules set forth by anyone else. He takes care of his own while playing by his own rules. Diana is everything society expects her to be. Devil encourages her to give in to her passion and live her life they way she wants.The question now is will Devil give in and follow society’s dictates or will he convince Diana to live the hedonistic lifestyle he embraces?
  Victoria Vane’s characters embody everything that is right and wrong with proper society in the 1780’s. On the one hand we have honor and society’s expectations. On the other, we have the wants and desires of people. The two do not always meet in the middle. Finding a way to meet the needs of society and people is not always easy. It is a struggle and sacrifice to make it happen. Ms. Vane does an outstanding job of bringing the reader into the story and making them feel everything the characters are feeling. She also helps the reader understand restrictions placed on people as they move through society.

  I’m also very pleased to find out the Devil DeVere series will continue for at least 2 more stories! I’m eagerly awaiting the next ones! Write faster Ms. Vane, write faster!

• Unwrapping Romance
  http://unwrappingromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/unwrapping-review-of-devils-touch.html
  Word count: 614

  Friday, February 15, 2013
  Unwrapping: Review of A DEVIL'S TOUCH, a Devilish Vignette by Victoria Vane
  I hope everyone had a romantic and sweet Valentine's Day! Just in time for Valentine's Day, Victoria Vane has released a sweet treat now available to everyone who has enjoyed the Devil DeVere series by Victoria Vane or anyone who has yet to try these devilishly delicious stories - the next installment of the Devilish Vignettes, which are companion shorts to the Devil DeVere series - A DEVIL'S TOUCH.

  ***eARC provided by author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

  A DEVIL'S TOUCH is an erotic romance vignette that can stand alone as a complete story, but also serves to bridge Book #4 THE DEVIL'S MATCH, and Victoria's forthcoming Book#5 JEWEL OF THE EAST (Salime and Simon's story)

  Blurb for A DEVIL'S TOUCH:
  In her last month of pregnancy, Diana, Viscountess DeVere, has barely settled into her new life and role as "the devil" DeVere's wife, when her increasingly restless husband receives an urgent summons to London. When Diana inadvertently discovers a message he received from a known courtesan with whom he was formerly linked, she fears her marriage is over before it has begun.

  * * * * *

  Diana, Viscountess DeVere, is starting to worry that her marriage is beginning to sour. She fears that Ludovic has become bored with her, bored with married life, and that her ever growing belly is presenting her as less than attractive to her handsome husband and his never-ending appetite for sexual adventure. Has he turned to someone else? Will she lose him even after only having just won his attentions and his love?

  Eight months pregnant, feeling insecure, and because Ludovic hasn't made love to her in a while, Diana is feeling desperate. She fears that she is losing her beloved husband of only three months. So when Diana discovers a message from the exotic, beautiful, and sexually skilled Salime, she is sure that his sudden departure for London is more about satisfying his lustful needs rather than meeting up with an old friend.

  A DEVIL'S TOUCH by Victoria Vane is the perfect bridge that fills in the blanks for those of us who have followed this series from the beginning, and a perfect introduction to the series as a stand alone for anyone who wants to just try a taste. Be forewarned - once you get a taste of the Devil DeVere, like chocolate, you'll not be able to stop. The timing is perfect for the release of this sweet story that shines a whole new light on the wickedly sexy, Ludovic DeVere. Not only does the story have a beautiful Valentine's Day ending but we find out how Simon and Salime are thrown together in anticipation of their own story - JEWEL OF THE EAST - coming soon!

  As usual Victoria has invited us into the sexy world of the Devil DeVere, so unlike the first vignette - THE DEVIL IN THE MAKING - this vignette, A DEVIL'S TOUCH, is a very sexy addition to the series. If you're prudish and sway away from erotica, this one might not be for you. But, if you appreciate the love between Ludovic and his Diana, the adventurousness of this sexually charged man, and the devotion Diana has for him, you will appreciate, comprehend, and respect where Victoria takes the newlyweds in A DEVIL'S TOUCH.

  I highly recommend this romantic, emotional, sex-charged Devilish Vignette, A DEVIL'S TOUCH by Victoria Vane, to anyone who just loves a sigh-worthy happy ending.

  Happy Reading Everyone!

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2013/02/review-a-devils-touch-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 868

  REVIEW: A DEVIL’S TOUCH BY VICTORIA VANE

  POSTED ON FEBRUARY 14, 2013 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  Format read: ebook provided by the author
  Formats available: ebook
  Genre: Historical romance, Erotic romance
  Series: The Devil DeVere #4.5
  Length: 60 pages
  Publisher: Victoria Vane
  Date Released: February 11, 2013
  Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon
  A DEVIL’S TOUCH (The Devil DeVere 4.5) is an erotic romance vignette that can stand alone as a complete story, but also serves to bridge Book #4 THE DEVIL’S MATCH, and Book#5 JEWEL OF THE EAST (forthcoming Salime and Simon’s story)

  BLURB:
  In her last month of pregnancy, Diana, Viscountess DeVere, has barely settled into her new life and role as “the devil” DeVere’s wife, when her increasingly restlesss husband receives an urgent summons to London. When Diana inadvertently discovers a message he received from a known courtesan with whom he was formerly linked, she fears her marriage is over before it has begun.

  My Review:

  Just the idea of Ludo “Devil” DeVere attempting to be the perfect husband is enough to constitute the perfect Valentine’s Day present all by itself!

  What’s even better is that this delightful Georgian bonbon actually delivers every bit of decadent deliciousness that lovers of The Devil DeVere Series could possibly wish for…and sets us all up for wicked delights yet to come.

  On his best day, the Devil couldn’t have maneuvered his puppets any better!

  But in this little vignette, Ludo DeVere is definitely not having one of his best days. He has finally found that wedded bliss is actually blissful, provided one is wedded to the right woman. For him, that woman is Diana. Through all of their acquantaince, they have thrown sparks off each other at every turn. Even when they have been at their angriest with each other, the one thing they have never been is bored with each other.

  Now Diana is radiantly pregnant with his child. Also about to burst with the child. Ludo is about to burst because the damned doctor says he shouldn’t be bothering Diana for sex. Ludo’s never gone 8 hours without sex, and now it’s been 8 days. And bloody counting.

  Diana has no idea what’s wrong with Ludo. She thinks he’s lost interest in her because she’s the size of a small estate. He won’t look at her. He won’t touch her. She’s lonely, bored and afraid.

  Not to mention extremely pregnant.

  Suddenly Ludo’s best friend Ned arrives and whisks him away to London. Ludo claims it’s an emergency regarding their boyhood friend Simon. Sin has miraculously returned to life after years as an American POW, but Diana fears there are darker motives for Ludo’s sudden disappearance. After he departs, she finds a letter addressed to him from his former paramour Salime, requesting his immediate return to rescue her.

  Diana, already afraid for her marriage, and questioning Ludo’s rather recent conversion to marital fidelity after a lifetime of utter debauchery, wonders if he’ll return at all, and whether she’ll be better off (for certain utterly miserable values of “better”) if he doesn’t.

  Ned gets a good laugh out of telling Ludo that the doctor was an idiot, which puts Ludo in a tearing hurry to return home, only to find that his wife has lost her rather shaky faith in him.

  What lengths will they both have to go to bridge the chasm between them?

  Escape Rating A: Reading A Devil’s Touch is like indulging in your favorite decadent dessert. Death by Chocolate perhaps. It is very rich, but perfectly scrumptious, and a small serving is just right!

  Unlike Devil in the Making, the first Devilish Vignette, A Devil’s Touch is a complete story with a beginning, middle and end. It takes some shortcuts because we are expected to know all the characters. Even Simon was previously introduced in Devil in the Making.

  Part of what makes this fun is that Ludo and Diana are still themselves. Ludo is still trying to stage-manage. He loves Diana, and he wants to do what’s best for her. But rather than discuss it with her, he decides for her, and that’s where the misunderstandammit starts. He gets into a lot of scrapes, and a lot of his scrapes with Diana, that way.

  I hope she thinks it’s part of his charm.

  The setup for the next book in the series, Jewel of the East, is not-so-subtlely the way that Ludo rescues Salime by arranging for her to care for Simon. He’s stage-managing again. When he does it for other people, it usually works wonders.

  We’ll find out in April. But first, it’s time to congratulate Lord and Lady DeVere on the birth of their son. Ludovic Valentine DeVere, born 14 February 1784.

  Happy Valentine’s Day.

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2014/01/review-jewel-of-the-east-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 1065

  REVIEW: JEWEL OF THE EAST BY VICTORIA VANE

  POSTED ON JANUARY 28, 2014 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  jewel of the east by victoria vaneFormat read: ebook provided by the author
  Formats available:
  Genre: historical romance, Georgian romance
  Series: Devil DeVere #5
  Length: 191 pages
  Publisher: Vane Publishing
  Date Released: January 18, 2014
  Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
  Maimed by misfortune… healed by love…
  His wounds run deep… Having once lived his life only for larks, laughter, and ladies of easy virtue, Captain Simon Singleton has returned from war a shambles of a man. Although free from six years of captivity, he’s still fettered by fears that confine him to a life of seclusion.

  Her scars are well-hidden… Once the crowning jewel of the most lavish brothel in London, the exotic Salime finds her reputation and livelihood destroyed by a bitter rival. With a closely guarded secret stripped away, she fears no man will ever desire her again. Seeking aid from one who once saved her life, she accepts a proposition to become a companion to his war-scarred friend.

  But love is the eternal cure… When circumstance brings these two damaged souls together, fate ignites a love story worthy of the Arabian Nights.

  My Review:

  Jewel of the East is a sensual love story between two damaged and scarred people, brought about by their relentlessly manipulative matchmaking friend, the Devil DeVere.

  trouble with sin by victoria vaneWe’ve met both Simon and Salime before, and in somewhat better circumstances. Simon, better known as Sin, was one of DeVere’s school chums. Their escapade with the lion got all of them expelled and rusticated.

  They were all a lot younger and in Sin’s case at least, considerably lighter at heart. Sin didn’t think any of his antics would catch up to him, until the morning they all fell on him at once. He’s been paying ever since. (Sin’s last straw, or his parents’ last straw, is detailed in The Trouble With Sin).

  DeVere and Ned Chambers (Ned’s story is in A Wild Night’s Bride) have believed that Sin was killed in action in the Colonies. Instead, Sin has been languishing in a prison hulk for six long years. He may have returned from the dead, but the man who comes back is not the same as the one who left.

  Six years as a prisoner of war in a hellish situation has left Sin with horrific nightmares and a full-blown case of PTSD to add to the permanent injury to his right hand. He needs healing, and Bedlam was not the place for it.

  DeVere has a solution. DeVere always has a solution. Sin can hide in DeVere’s London house and be mostly alone. As he needs to be; part of his PTSD is that he can’t bear to be touched.

  Sin is incapable of realizing that he is also helping DeVere. DeVere’s friend, the exotic courtesan Salime, needs a place to stay and a task to perform. The sensual and erotic skills that she acquired in the East are just the perfect solution for Sin’s current aversion to touch.

  Salime can make him beg for it.

  Salime thinks she’s doing a favor for DeVere. It doesn’t take long for her to come to value Simon for himself. She never realizes that DeVere is meddling, and matchmaking, both Sin and herself into a relationship that will heal both of them.

  Escape Rating A-: Jewel of the East is a decadently delicious addition to the marvelous Devil DeVere series. And while it would be possible to read Jewel without having read the rest of the series, if you love historical romance you would be missing an absolutely treat.

  wild nights bride by victoria vaneIt was great to catch a glimpse of how the characters from the previous books are doing, especially DeVere, Diana and Ned Chambers. Even though DeVere is not the star of Jewel, his influence on events is keenly felt throughout the story. His house, his friends, his matchmaking, his manipulative meddling. And he’s right again, just as he was in A Wild Night’s Bride.

  Sin and Salime have both been deeply wounded before they reach this point. Sin’s path to recovery, while difficult, seems more straightforward. We know what damaged him, and we see him working against his internal barriers to become whole again.

  It’s easy to see why Salime wants to help him for his own sake, no matter how she starts out. Sin has a lot to overcome, but he is trying.

  The road that Salime took to reach her present circumstances is not as clear. She was kidnapped in childhood and sold into slavery in a sultan’s harem. While that sounds romantic, it clearly is not. DeVere rescued her from a life of prostitution after she was scarred and discarded. But in England, she became a famous courtesan, until the unveiling of her scarred face got her tossed out of her place.

  But Salime has led a life where she can never reveal her feelings for anyone. She has made a living in the only way she knows how, and she knows it is precarious at best. Her facial scar makes her feel unworthy.

  What Sin gives her is that as she heals him, he gives himself to her without reservation. Not just physically, but also emotionally. She’s never been loved. Desired, but not loved. She’s sure his feelings can’t be real. So she runs away.

  Salime tells Sin most of her personal story through stories, much like Scheherazade and the Arabian Nights. He uses those stories to track her down. It’s beautifully done, but I would also love to have heard her tell her story without embellishment. She is exotic, and I would love to know more of her story.

  I’ll have to content myself with future installments in DeVere’s story. Or future tales of DeVere’s meddling. They are the same marvelous thing!

• Fresh Fiction
  http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=41782
  Word count: 562

  QUOTE:
  lovely story of two damaged people who come together and heal each other's suffering

  Jewel of the East
  Victoria Vane

  Reviewed by Rachel Williams
  Posted February 7, 2014

  Romance Erotica Sensual | Erotica Historical

  With JEWEL OF THE EAST, the 5th book in Victoria Vane's sexy and intriguing Georgian era The Devil DeVere series; the focus is not on Ludovic DeVere and his notorious romps. This time we are treated to an in-depth look at one of his closest friends, Simon Singleton, affectionately known to his comrades as Sin. Simon is a randy youth, a rake well known for his bawdy poetry. His escapades with Ludovic and Ned are legendary; much to the horror of his family.

  Simon's father decides that it is time for Simon to become a man and leave his frivolous youth behind. He forces Simon into the military; where he is sent to America to fight on the British side of the Revolutionary War. During the battle of Saratoga, Simon disappears and is presumed dead. Seven years pass, and then Simon miraculously returns to England; but as a much changed man. He is broken both physically and mentally by the horrors he has suffered in the war and his long captivity.

  Salime is the premier courtesan of all London in 1784, the JEWEL OF THE EAST of the title. Veiled, mysterious, and desirable; she commands the attention of all the males in her sphere of influence; and is quite select in her clientele. When her client base begins to dry up, however, Salime discovers to her dismay that the new owner of the brothel is veiling herself and pretending to be Salime while siphoning off her customers. After an argument ensues, Salime is summarily dismissed from the brothel. Having nowhere else to turn, she reaches out to old patron Ludovic DeVere; the man responsible for saving her from the streets years before.

  DeVere has recently married his beloved Diana, however, and must tread carefully as to how he helps Salime. With Simon's return and poor state of mind; the answer to DeVere's dilemma as to what to do with Salime becomes apparent. He sends her to be a companion to his old friend Simon, and help bring him back from the depths of the torment he has been languishing in. Salime has her own issues to deal with. She suffers from low self-esteem, and is overly conscious of the scars on her face which she keeps veiled. Salime feels that she can do nothing to help Simon, and Simon makes it plain that he doesn't want her with him. Salilme perseveres, and a friendship begins to form between them; soon blossoming into something more.

  JEWEL OF THE EAST is a lovely story of two damaged people who come together and heal each other's suffering. Victoria Vane's lovely prose and well-defined characterizations make for an emotional and satisfying love story. Vane excels at stripping away the layers of both Salime and Simon's tormented past; and delighting the reader with the unfolding tale of two broken souls redeeming each other with friendship and love. JEWEL OF THE EAST can easily be read as a standalone, but will make the reader want to reach back and start this excellent series from the beginning.

• Delighted Reader
  http://delightedreader.com/review-devil-in-the-making-illustrated-edition-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 516

  Review: Devil in the Making Illustrated Edition by Victoria Vane

  SOPHIA ROSE • JANUARY 21, 2013 • REVIEWS •
  Review: Devil in the Making Illustrated Edition by Victoria VaneDevil in the Making by Victoria Vane
  Series: #1 Devilish Vignettes
  Genres: Historical Romance
  Published by Indie/Self Published on January 19, 2014
  Pages: 87
  Format: eBook
  Buy: Amazon

  add to goodreads

  four-half-stars
  How many times did I wonder what Devil DeVere was like as a younger man to start him along the lusty larger than life journey that became the intriguing man I met in Wild Night’s Bride? There are hints and flashback memories through the series that made me more than curious. So when I was given the chance to read this prequel story of just that very thing, there was no way I was going to say no when I was offered the book for honest review. But then to discover that each chapter came with a lovely jewel-toned illustrated page that could only serve to enhance what was written? Hey, that’s just icing on an already decadent cake.

  This was the first time I have read an illustrated adult novella so I have to say that the artwork was phenomenal. Not only were the characters portrayed just as I would imagine them to look; the facial expressions and the ability of each illustration to communicate the scene were fantastic. As I stated before, the rich jewel tones were a feast for the eyes and I adored the attention to historical authentic detail. Polina Ipatova and Victoria Vane who worked together to bring us the illustrated story are definitely a powerful one-two punch.

  As to the story line itself, it opens with DeVere attending prep school with his close chums Ned Chambers and Simon Singleton who make up with DeVere the Unholy Triumverate. They came together and forged a strong friendship that helped spare them the typical prep school bullying. But that being said, it doesn’t prevent a professor from settling on DeVere as his target only to have Ludovic insolently best him at his own game. This led Ludovic to the incident mentioned in Wild Night’s Bride involving the lion and the result being to fall in disfavor from King and in further disfavor from the crazed and diseased man that was his father. His father sends him into exile which leads him to make another good friend and have a reunion that leaves him with a new perspective on his past and his future.

  I truly enjoyed the mayhem that ensues wherever DeVere is present and there were several laugh out loud moments in the story. But there were also several places in the plot when the seeds of what grew into the Devil DeVere we encounter in the later books are revealed.

  It was a splendid Georgian romp that I can recommend not only to the fans of the DeVere series, but to anyone who enjoys authentic historical with a dash of spice.

• Red Hot Books
  http://redhotbooks.com/2013/08/review-devil-in-the-making.html
  Word count: 281

  AUGUST 29, 2013
  Review: Devil in the Making

  devil in the makingReviewed by Shelly
  This is a free read on Amazon, I’m not sure if this will be indefinite but I do know that it’s been free for a few weeks now.

  A prequel to the Devil DeVere series, this tell the story of Ludovic, Simon and Ned when they’re in school. I must warn you, this isn’t the same type of book as the later series because let’s face it these are still lads and the experience and expertise hasn’t been developed. If you didn’t know, I’m letting your know now – I’m a big fan of Vane’s work. I think her writing is witty and fast paced which to me makes for an interesting read especially when you take into account that I’ve only read her historical romances to date. This is a fun and fast paced 60 page story.

  We find out a little bit more of the background and family history of Ludovic, Simon and Ned. We find out some nasty crap that people used to back in the day, some of it still goes on today. This story really sets the stage of the friendship that these three have and are able to maintain. If I tell you more, I’ll start spoiling the stories for those who’ve not read them.

  If you’ve not read Vane in the past, might I suggest that you give her try with this vignette (remember it’s free on Amazon).

  Happy reading folks!

  Rating: B

• Romantic Historical Reviews
  http://www.romantichistoricalreviews.com/devil-in-the-making-by-victoria-vane-review-and-free-download/
  Word count: 662

  DEVIL IN THE MAKING by Victoria Vane REVIEW and FREE DOWNLOAD
  May
  17
  DITM cover3
  Click cover for FREE Download

  BLURB:
  **A prequel to the Devil DeVere series, Library Journal’s best E-book romance of 2012**

  A rebellious young nobleman’s prank with the king’s lion goes comically awry, leading to a startling chain of events.
  Every devil has a beginning… From the outset of young Lord DeVere’s arrival at Westminster School, his scandalous family secrets set him apart from the other aristocratic scions as an “untouchable.” Akin to a dark shadow following him, the ugly truth remained that his mother was indeed the biggest whore in England, and his presumed father was no less than a pox-ridden madman.
  Likewise, Simon Singleton’s poetic proclivities had instantly made him the bullies’ mark, and even Edward Chambers’ great size had served as little deterrent for the upper classmen’s taunts when accompanied by adolescent awkwardness and a broad North Country drawl. By the end of the first form, however, the three young outcasts had forged an iron-clad bond that would maintain them through nearly six years. DeVere’s finely honed shell of arrogance, Ned’s increasing brawn, and Sin’s rapier wit gave birth to an unholy triumvirate that would come to wreak perpetual and unchallenged havoc upon Westminster School.
  RHL CLASSIFICATIONS
  Georgian Era, UK

  Historical Novella (Romantic elements)
  Heat Level: 2 (strong language and adult themes)
  Reviewer rating: 5.0
  Series: Devilish DeVere (Devilish Vignettes #1)
  REVIEW BY PATRICE:
  INTRO
  There are three sides to a story: His/Her/Their Side, Your Side and The Truth. So it goes when reading Devil in the Making, as readers are entranced by DeVere, Edward, and Simon, DeVere’s parents and various individuals of note. The multiple sides and angles of the delightful tale approached 4 dimensions meaning this series is off to an extraordinary beginning. What’s best is when an author does a fine job exploring every side of the story.

  SYNOPSIS OVERVIEW
  When young DeVere devises a scheme to avenge himself on a pompous and sadistic school master, he crosses the line, gravely offends the powerful, and is forced to answer to his despicable sire. The viscount sends his heir into temporary exile, forcing the disillusioned DeVere to abandon his loyal companions, Ned and Sin. While away on the Continent, shadows and living shades from the past confront and revisit him and new allegiances are made.
  CHARACTERIZATION
  Glimpses of the man the future Viscount DeVere will become, and the choices he will be forced to make to cement his future, are captured brilliantly in this story. His fight for independence, cynicism, shrewd insight, legendary sexual prowess, and sophisticated pragmatism are captured in the snarky and rapier-witted dialogue and antics of our favorite Georgian anti-hero.
  The author keeps my feet on the ground when it comes to DeVere by offering a heaping dose of reality. It wasn’t uncommon for such petty tyrants in the British school system to demonstrate sadistic and cruel behavior towards their charges. I’m certain that some of these egotistic tyrants found themselves at the mercy of men like DeVere—or worse—later in life, who recalled every moment they suffered at the hands of such educators.
  CLOSING THOUGHTS
  The most engaging aspects of this story are how well Ms. Vane understands her characters and human nature. Cause and effect in the lives of men and women; how they choose to live and persevere is what’s explored. DeVere survives, thrives, and surpasses whatever is thrown at him with coolness a modern rocker would envy, living by his own code. It’s why readers continue to read this series and have sympathy for “Devil” DeVere.
  ***
  Devil in the Making is now available for free in all digital formats at Smashwords

• Red Hot Books
  http://redhotbooks.com/2013/03/review-the-trouble-with-sin.html
  Word count: 285

  MARCH 30, 2013
  Review: The Trouble With Sin

  Reviewed by Shelly
  Continuing with the story of Ludovic DeVere and his friends, Vane’s latest is a prequel vignette (about 40 pages) to the story of Simon “Sin” Singleton and his adventures. Just the name, Sin, tantalizes the senses doesn’t it? This is also a prequel to Jewel of the East (book #5 in the Devil Devere series)

  Simon loves his parents, his mom is a bit tyrannical, but that’s okay because she’s got his best interest at heart. His father rightfully thinks that Simon’s best friend DeVere is a bad influence and makes a slight adjustment in Simon’s allowance, while his mother thinks that the best thing for him is the priesthood. It’s too bad that Simon loves the ladies too much to let little things like money and his mother hold him back. After a night of drinking, Simon has found a way to do the things he loves best – poetry and whores.

  In the words of Sir Walter Scott ‘Oh!‘what a tangled web we weave when we […] practice to deceive’. Simon’s interactions with his mother are absolutely brilliant! If any other man was caught in those situations I don’t know how they would be able to face themselves in the mirror but, oh no, not our Simon. He’s one part mischievous and one part naïve and gets himself in some very interesting positions all in pursuit of his two passions. I’m really looking forward to reading more about him and catching up on Ned and Ludovic.

  Happy Reading Folks!

  Rating: B

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2013/04/review-the-trouble-with-sin-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 625

  REVIEW: THE TROUBLE WITH SIN BY VICTORIA VANE

  POSTED ON APRIL 11, 2013 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  The Trouble With Sin by Victoria VaneFormat read: ebook provided by the Author
  Formats available: ebook
  Genre: Georgian romance, Historical romance
  Series: Devilish Vignette (The Devil DeVere), #2
  Length: 79 pages
  Publisher: Self-published
  Date Released: March 9, 2013
  Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon
  The Trouble with Sin … Is the devil within…

  Aspiring poet Simon “Sin” Singleton, has lived his life only for larks, laughter, and ladies of easy virtue, eluding defying, and flouting all manner of authority until his impetuous misdeeds finally catch up with him. Having lost his muse, his allowance, and even his friends by edict from a tyrannical father and puritanical mother, Simon is ready to drown himself in drink, until receiving an ingenious proposition that could change everything.

  The wages of Sin is……twenty-five percent of the net!

  It seems a fantasy come true when Simon is offered an independent income by combining his two great passions– poetry and lewd women –by writing poetry about lewd women! Unfortunately, maintaining anonymity may be much harder than he thought…

  My Review:

  Devil in The Making by Victoria VaneSimon Singleton, otherwise so appropriately known as “Sin” is the third of DeVere’s friends. We first get to know Sin in the infamous (and hilarious) Lion incident in Devil in the Making. Sin seems to be the only one of the rather infamous trio to have what we might consider normal parents. Well, more normal than DeVere’s anyway.

  Although Sin’s mother does seem to be excessively devoted to religious pursuits! And Sin is so far from religiosity as to be positively pursuing anything in the opposite direction. What I meant was that his parents are both alive and do seem to care what happens to him, even if they sometimes have a peculiar way of showing it.

  DeVere is definitely a bad influence. Not evil, definitely not that, but not precisely on the side of the angels, either.

  And Sin Singleton is the picture of a sweet boy looking for nothing but good times. Wine, women and song, if by song you mean poetry. He seems somewhat of a lightweight, seeking the easiest ways to keep himself in pretty girls, decent drink and to continue writing that poetry.

  So he ends up writing a guidebook to prostitutes. In verse. How else were they to advertise?

  It’s a great way to supplement his allowance! Until his mama finds out. And then his papa buys him a commission in the Army. Sending him off to the wilds of North America, of all places.

  The trouble with Sin is that he always tried to take the easy way out. In the end it turned out to be very, very difficult, indeed.

  Jewel of the East by Victoria VaneEscape Rating B+: The Trouble With Sin is a light and lovely romp that provides the perfect bridge between the main DeVere series, its prequel Devil in the Making, and the upcoming Jewel of the East. We haven’t seen much of Sin until now, so it was great to finally read his backstory.

  He clearly had to have had a rough time in order for the boy he was in The Trouble with Sin, to turn into the broken man who appears in the midst of A Devil’s Touch. I can’t wait for Jewel of the East, because this story has completely whetted my appetite for another of Victoria Vane’s delightful Georgian bonbons!

• Unwrapping Romance
  http://unwrappingromance.blogspot.com/2013/03/unwrapping-review-of-trouble-with-sin.html
  Word count: 937

  Wednesday, March 13, 2013
  Unwrapping: Review of THE TROUBLE WITH SIN, a Devilish Vignette by Victoria Vane
  If you've been keeping up with the Devil DeVere series and the Devilish Vignettes that have been filling in the back story in anticipation of the next book, JEWEL OF THE EAST by Victoria Vane, coming sometime in late April or early May, then you're going to want to read THE TROUBLE WITH SIN. This humorous vignette fills in the back story of Simon Singleton, and takes up where we left off before he, and his two cohorts in crime, Ned Chambers and Ludovic DeVere, were sent from school after the lion incident - read DEVIL IN THE MAKING if you're not up on that.

  ***eARC provided by author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

  Blurb for THE TROUBLE WITH SIN:

  **The Trouble with Sin (Devilish Vignette #2) is a comic romp that follows on the heels of Devil in the Making. It is also a prequel to Jewel of the East (book #5 in the Devil Devere series).

  The Trouble with Sin … Is the devil within…
  Aspiring poet Simon "Sin" Singleton, has lived his life only for larks, laughter, and ladies of easy virtue, eluding defying, and flouting all manner of authority until his impetuous misdeeds finally catch up with him. Having lost his muse, his allowance, and even his friends by edict from a tyrannical father and puritanical mother, Simon is ready to drown himself in drink, until receiving an ingenious proposition that could change everything.

  The wages of Sin is…...twenty-five percent of the net!
  It seems a fantasy come true when Simon is offered an independent income by combining his two great passions— poetry and lewd women —by writing poetry about lewd women! Unfortunately, maintaining anonymity may be much harder than he thought…

  * * * * *

  Simon Singleton, or Sin as he's referred to by his pals, Ludovic DeVere and Ned Chambers, is in trouble with this parents. Having been sent home from school after aiding DeVere in stealing a lion from the King's Menagerie, he's had his quarterly allowance cut and been ordered by his parents to remove himself from the company of that "devil DeVere." Sin never makes life easy for himself or those around him anymore than DeVere does, so when asked to watch over something DeVere left behind while he is sent to the continent for his punishment, Sin takes on the charge only to discover it will cost him funds, funds he hasn't at his ease. But, if he can earn the funds, he believes his new charge will be such an excellent muse for his poetry that when a proposition comes along that goes against everything his parents would want for him, he knows what he should do. So what will he do? Well, earn the funds, of course - to win his muse and provide him the funds to enjoy life. But as usual things for Sin never quite go as they should.

  Simon Singleton is the mean between Ned's somewhat traditional and prudish manner, and Ludovic DeVere's devilish and tawdry manner, which makes him all the more intriguing. He's a man who loves women, loves poetry, and would love nothing more than to spend his days enjoying good drink, good company and the company of a less than good woman. I looked forward to learning more about Sin and what happened to him between the time he was forced to leave school and when he ended up in the Army in America, but for the first time, I was a bit disappointed in how Victoria gave us a story.

  THE TROUBLE WITH SIN by Victoria Vane is probably my least favorite installment of this series not because I didn't like Simon Singleton, but because this particular vignette seemed rather scattered and disjointed to me. It was humorous yet failed to draw even a giggle from me. I still wouldn't have missed reading it because it gives us a look into what Sin wants and desires from life and fills in those missing bits of information we will need to know if we are to enjoy JEWEL OF THE EAST. For the first time, I found Victoria's handling of a part of this expansive story to be erratic and not as flowing as she usually is with her writing. Every time I thought the story was going in one direction, it would quickly shift and move to another. I was never sure where we were going with Sin. I appreciated his misfortunes, his desire to pursue his poetry, and his need for a muse, but I was left confused at times. The last scene was cute and I admit to smiling but I did not get a belly laugh out of it. The epilogue is important and necessary to understanding where Victoria will be taking Sin in his story with Salime. Despite my criticisms of this naughty Devilish Vignette - and it is! - I still liked this story and I'm glad I read it.

  If you wish to keep up with the Devil DeVere series by Victoria Vane, I do recommend you read THE TROUBLE WITH SIN - you'll want to keep up, because if you're like me, I'm sure you're eagerly awaiting JEWEL OF THE EAST as much as I am.

  Happy Reading Everyone!

  THE TROUBLE WITH SIN, a Devilish Vignette by Victoria Vane, Amazon Digital Services, available now in ebook formats.

• Delighted Reader
  http://delightedreader.com/beauty-bull-rider-victoria-vane-review/
  Word count: 1195

  QUOTE:
  The humor and heat competed in this fun, heartwarming story

  Beauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane #Review

  SOPHIA ROSE • MARCH 15, 2016 • AFTERNOON DELIGHT, REVIEWS •
  Beauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane #ReviewBeauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane
  Series: #3 Hotel Rodeo
  Genres: Contemporary Romance
  Published by Lyrical Shine on March 15, 2016
  Pages: 125
  Format: eARC
  Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | ARe

  add to goodreads

  four-stars
  four-flames

  Disclosure: Delighted Reader received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

  This third installment of the Hotel Rodeo series of novellas was one I anticipated after the way things were set up in the last book. The spotlight has shifted from Ty and Monica to Zac and Delaney who were minor characters in the other books. The humor and heat competed in this fun, heartwarming story.

  As noted, this is the third book. It really needs to be read in order even if the main characters are different because the story line began in the other books as did the intro to the characters.

  This story opens with older bull rider, Zac McDaniel, making the decision that it is time he retired from the rodeo circuit and concentrate on ranching. His ranch needs work and money to get it going after the neglect, but his old friend, Ty, presents him with another couple options. Unknown to Ty, it is the second and more outlandish one that motivates Zac more than the first one which is to sellout and become a partner with Ty at Ty’s Oklahoma ranch breeding rodeo bulls.

  Ty’s flippant offer that Zac should put himself forward to Ty’s ex Delaney as a human stud because she wants a baby disturbs Zac and settles deep in him. And this is because, unknown to Ty or Delaney, Zac has carried a torch for her since the night he met her and she chose Ty so he had to step aside and then knowing that for years, for whatever reason, she held him responsible for breaking up her marriage when it was simply a matter of two people making a mistake and not being right for each other. Zac let things lie for years since he believed that trying to be in a committed relationship and raising a family wasn’t a good idea when he was gone nine months of the year. But now? Zac has waited long enough for his dream of settling down and having a family- and having Delaney.

  Delaney McCall has her life planned out to the last dot of the ‘i’ and cross of the ‘t’ whether its her plans to breed rodeo bulls or breed herself so she can have a baby since she definitely doesn’t want the problems of having a man around- not after what happened with Ty anyway. But from the moment, tall, quiet, and determined Zac enters her life offering to be her baby daddy along with the temptation of getting off the fence and back into the game of life with another man, her plans start falling by the wayside. Delaney knows the reason she is holding Zac at arm’s length and putting forward her rules and plans for a clinical artificial approach to making a baby is out of fear just like she has the daily, mounting evidence before her that Zac means what he says and says what he means. If she can get over her fears, she might have the chance for something real.

  This one started off a little rocky for me, but I feel that is more on me than the story itself. I had to get in the right frame of mind to appreciate what I was getting. A romantic comedy where a woman is determined to have a baby while equally determined to keep a man out of the picture and a man even more determined that she has things all wrong and he’s up to the challenge of proving it to her. Also, a small niggle was the early attitude of the heroine toward the hero. She was harsh and judgmental toward Zac. I was pleased when he called her on her attitude and she owned to her mistake.

  Once I settled in and got the feel for this new pair of lovers and their unique story, I found it engaging. Zac has to work so hard to convince a once bitten twice shy woman that he is not her ex and she can trust him. And Delaney needs to work through her fears and coping mechanisms to truly see Zac and appreciate that he respects her and wants her.

  When Zac stood in a fertility center waiting room and had a nurse announce in a carrying voice in front of other people the instructions for him to give both his urine and semen samples, I laughed, but I also wanted to drag Delaney there by her hair and point ‘see what this wonderful man is willing to do for you?’ Fortunately, Delaney isn’t dense and she does see and it is her epiphany moment.

  The author impressed me with the way she doesn’t write formulaic romance. Here is a pair who have to overcome the damage done by a messy previous relationship that is ticklish because the woman was the one in the relationship and the guy is best buds with her ex. Not that a best friend falling for the ex is unique, but how this played out on top of Delaney’s strong need to prove herself because she came from wealth and was self-taught when it came to ranching work. This is a quick and shorter story, but I felt the author touched on several issues that would arise from that and how they would affect anything coming after.

  It’s the little things that can give a story more flavor and depth. I also enjoyed and appreciated the author addressing what a woman would face as a rancher and bull breeder along with the work put into such tasks. It was obvious that this was researched.

  And as to my reservations from the last story because there were things needing to be addressed, I felt this story followed up on the last book well reinforcing where things were left with Ty and Monica even as it turned to finishing up Ty’s past with Delaney and Zac. This one tied things off neatly.

  The blending of addressing the past, the sparks between the lovers, and the humor made this a real treat to read. I feel the series gets better with each new installment. Again, I would recommend these to those who enjoy modern cowboy romances on the spicy side.

  I picked up this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

  Challenges Met:

  Romance Roundabout #91 CR

• Harlequin Junkie
  http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-beauty-and-the-bull-rider-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 433

  QUOTE:
  If you’ve read the previous two books then you definitely should give this one a read. The characters are surprising, fun and enjoyable."

  REVIEW: Beauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane
  Posted March 7th, 2016 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Cowboy Romance, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 10 comments

  HJ_TopPick
  Beauty-and-the-Bull-RiderBeauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane is the third book in the Hotel Rodeo Series and for those readers who have read the first two books, this is Delaney’s story.

  As you know Delaney is Ty’s ex-wife; the one who took half his Ranch in the divorce, so I was prepared to hate Delaney after reading the other two books, but that was one emotion that didn’t even cross my mind. I felt sorry for Delaney and the way she grew up and the way her marriage ended, even though love wasn’t in the equation. Delaney and Ty were never meant to be, but she and Zac make a very good team. The only problem is Delaney doesn’t want another husband. One failed marriage is enough for her, but Zac can offer her something she desperately wants…a baby.

  “For almost eight years she’d worn her heartache like a badge of honor, but in less than a week this bad, broody bull rider had reduced it to a barely perceptible twinge.”
  Zac has been attracted to Delaney from the very beginning, but when his best buddy went after her and then married her, she became off limits. Zac has been with many women but Delaney is who he wants to start a home with. Zac is persistent and you can honestly see how much he cares for her. He’s got a battle on his hands trying to convince Delaney to give him a chance, but he’s up for the challenge.

  I loved how Delaney wanted to make something of herself on the ranch. She wanted to be a part of something and she accomplished that. She knows exactly what she’s talking about and is very knowledgeable about the breeding program. If it works for her cows, it can work for her…right?

  If you’ve read the previous two books then you definitely should give this one a read. The characters are surprising, fun and enjoyable. In fact, I think I loved Delaney and Zac’s story more than Ty and Monica’s and that’s saying something because I really enjoyed theirs.

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2016/03/review-beauty-and-the-bull-rider-by-victoria-vane-giveaway/
  Word count: 1303

  REVIEW: BEAUTY AND THE BULL RIDER BY VICTORIA VANE + GIVEAWAY

  POSTED ON MARCH 21, 2016 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  Review: Beauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane + GiveawayBeauty and the Bull Rider by Victoria Vane
  Format: eARC
  Source: publisher via NetGalley
  Formats available: ebook
  Genres: contemporary romance, western romance
  Series: Hotel Rodeo #3
  Pages: 144
  Published by Lyrical Shine on March 15th 2016
  Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
  Goodreads

  When Beauty Wants A Baby
  Championship bull breeder and former Texas beauty queen Delaney McCall was having a heck of a time finding a daddy for the baby she craved. A failed marriage left her with no desire for another husband, but finding the right stud to satisfy her needs presents a bigger problem that she could have imagined.
  And The Bullrider Wants Beauty
  After hanging up his spurs, bull rider Zac McDaniel wants nothing more than to fulfill Delaney's dream of having a family. After all, his best friend's ex has been his fantasy for years. Zac, however, has no desire to be seen as just a means to an end. And when Zac insists on doing things the "old fashioned" way, their passion explodes like a bull out of the chute…
  Some Bucking Is Bound To Happen
  While insisting it's all just a passing fancy, the more Delaney sees the softer side of the rough and tumble cowboy, the harder it is to keep her emotions corraled. Zac, meanwhile, is more determined than ever to prove he's what she really needs, and will do whatever it takes to tear down the mile high fence around her heart…
  Praise for Victoria Vane
  "Erotic and sexy." --Library Journal on the Devil DeVere series
  "For erotic passion and one-liners, the first book in Vane's new series will satisfy...Vane's latest gets a big yee-haw." --RT Book Reviews on Slow Hand

  My Review:

  hell on heels by victoria vaneDelaney McCall has been an important secondary character in the first two Hotel Rodeo books, because she’s an important person in Ty Morgan’s life. But her introduction in Hell on Heels may not dispose readers any too kindly towards Ty’s ex-wife.

  It’s pretty obvious in Hell on Heels that Delaney is the source of all too many of Ty’s trust issues when it comes to women, and the breakup of their marriage has definitely made him gun shy of commitments, an issue that Monica spends most of both Hell on Heels and Two to Wrangle dealing with. Or that Ty spends most of those two books working through.

  It’s not that Ty ever held a torch. It’s that they never should have gotten married in the first place. It’s much more that Ty was so glad to be out of the marriage that he let Delaney get half his family’s ranch in the divorce – and that she decided to keep it.

  It’s a big surprise to Ty when Delaney offers Ty all sorts of inducements, mostly monetary, to give her a baby. He never does let her get into the details, because he is so uninterested as to be pretty close to revolted. He’s certainly doesn’t trust Delaney enough to give her another hold on him, and he would never abandon his own child. And then there’s his relationship with Monica.

  But his own reaction doesn’t stop him from telling his best friend Zac McDaniel about Delaney’s offer. Zac is retiring from the bull riding circuit and takes a job managing the ranch that Ty just inherited. Ty thinks that he’s making a joke, but Zac’s been interested in Delaney from the minute that she, Ty and Zac met, seven years ago.

  He’s willing to give Delaney the baby she wants, but what he wants is Delaney, any way that he can have her. It’s up to Delaney to figure out whether what she wants is a baby…or a life.

  Escape Rating B: I liked this one a whole lot more than I expected. Plots that revolve around babies are just not my cup of tea.

  But in spite of the way that Zac gets back into Delaney’s life, this isn’t his story, and it isn’t really a story about the baby. This is Delaney’s story, and that’s what made it work for me.

  From Ty’s perspective, Delaney seemed originally immature, and later just plain vindictive. Of course that’s not the whole story. (And not that Ty wasn’t just as immature at the time, only in a different way.)

  When we get to know Delaney from her own point of view, we see something completely different. Her marriage to Ty was a mistake from day one. They were both too immature, and Ty wasn’t ready to settle down. But Beauty Queen Delaney wasn’t so much looking for a man as for a way out of the scripted and controlled life her rich parents shoehorned her into. Marrying Ty got her out from under their overbearing thumbs, so when the marriage inevitably failed she took and kept half his family ranch. While there was some desire for payback, it was mostly out of a need to have her own space and her own life, one where Delaney and only Delaney made the decisions and had the control.

  Running the ranch and starting a bucking bull breeding program keeps Delaney intellectually and physically challenged in a way that her old life as a debutante did not and could not. She is fulfilled on those fronts, but she’s lonely. She’s a woman in what is still a man’s world, and she has no friends and no one she can rely on.

  It seems like she decides to have a baby not because her biological clock is ticking all that loud, but because she wants someone to love. And from the way she approaches the process of getting that baby, it seems as if she is also a bit interested in someone she can control. Not in any terrible sense, just that the baby will be dependent on her, where the man she makes it with will certainly have a mind of his own.

  There’s almost a feeling that she is approaching the creation of her own baby with all the same scientific know-how, and using much of the same process, that she is using in the breeding program for her stock. She has a plan, and she intends to stick to it. And it originally involves turkey-basters all the way around.

  Zac throws all of her plans out the window. He’s willing to help her with her baby-making project, but he wants to do it the old-fashioned way. Delaney has learned not to rely on anyone, but Zac is being helpful when needed without impinging too much on Delaney’s independence. He respects her, and he also cares for her. He’s all in, but she’s reluctant every step of the way.

  This is Delaney’s story because she’s the one who changes. She doesn’t give up her independence, but she does let Zac in to share the load…and to bring a much needed dose of spontaneity and fun into her life.

  It makes for a fun story. And what looks like a fitting conclusion to this fun and sexy contemporary western romance series.

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2015/11/review-breton-wolfe-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 956

  REVIEW: BRETON WOLFE BY VICTORIA VANE

  POSTED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2015 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  Review: Breton Wolfe by Victoria VaneBreton Wolfe by Victoria Vane
  Format: ebook
  Source: author
  Formats available: ebook
  Genres: historical romance
  Series: Wolves of Brittany #1
  Pages: 115
  Published by Vane Publishing LLC on October 27th, 2015
  Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Amazon
  Goodreads

  My Review:

  Breton Wolfe, the first of a series, is a fun early-medieval romance that takes place during a time period that we don’t often see featured in historical romances. Or possibly historical fiction, for that matter.

  It’s 907 A.D. So the Romans are long gone and William the Conqueror hasn’t yet conquered much of anything. Mostly because he won’t be born for another century plus. But I use him as a touchpoint because this story is set in Brittany. Brittany eventually became a quasi-independent dukedom as part of a united France, but in 907 it was a bunch of squabbling counties and dukedoms who seem to have spent as much time making war on each other as they did in alliance.

  They should have remained allies, because this story takes place at a time when the Vikings were famously going a-Viking. Their raids and occasional attempts to settle carved huge chunks out of the medieval history of France and England, among other places. Breton Wolfe is the story of one of those Viking raids that came to stay.

  France wasn’t united in 907, which made it easy for the Vikings to divide, raid and occasionally conquer. But the only place seemingly more divided than France itself was Brittany. The setup of this story is that a successful Viking raid sets itself up as a kingdom in France, and that the Frankish king gives his new allies a chance to conquer fractured Brittany. I think everyone may be putting off the day they make war against each other until later, but Brittany is certainly fractured enough to conquer.

  One of the young leaders of the Vikings, Valdrik Vargr, is given a small army and the remit to conquer Brittany and rule it, or die trying. Valdrik starts with the weakest link in the Breton lands, and overthrows Radult, Duke of Vannes. Radult is no great loss to the world, but his Duchess Adele is not ready to turn her homeland over to the barbarians who killed her father and brother in their earlier raids.

  She’s happy to be rid of Radult, but not all that happy with the agency that accomplished the deed. Until she meets Valdrik and discovers that the Viking barbarian raider is a much better man, not to mention a much more thoughtful lord, than her disgusting husband.

  Can two former enemies find a way to make peace? Even better, can they find a way to make love and not war?

  Escape Rating B: This is short, eventually sweet, and a lot of fun. It also feels like the setup for a much longer story, which it is. Breton Wolfe is the first of a series, The Wolves of Brittany. So far, the wolf in the title is a nickname, and doesn’t have anything to do with any supernatural wolves. We’ll see.

  The story reminds me a lot of A Sword for His Lady by Mary Wine (reviewed here). The setting is different, but the premise is the same. A strong woman is left widowed and in possession of a significant holding. She is forced by circumstances if not at actual swordpoint to give up her independence and marry her conqueror. Said conqueror turns out to be a much better man, and a much better lord for her lands, than the bastard of a husband he replaces. Eventually her resistance crumbles in the face (and other parts) of an intelligent man who knows how to treat a woman in bed. True love conquers all.

  There is a difference in the details. Where in the Wine story, the heroine just doesn’t want to give up her independence to the point of being shortsighted and stupid about it, in Breton Wolfe the heroine faces a conflict of loyalties and has a rightfully difficult decision figuring out which way to turn.

  While there is the definite possibility that her choice is between life and death, there are other considerations as well. Her cooperation means life and reasonable accommodations for her people. But at the same time, she is accommodating the raiders who killed her father and brother, and is effectively facilitating a Viking takeover of Brittany from its hereditary rulers. If she were a man, it would be her duty to resist, through force of arms if necessary, to her last breath.

  At the same time, the current rulers of Brittany are a rapacious and ineffective lot, although not as personally disgusting as her late husband. Valdrik and his people look like they will be better stewards of the country than the men they overthrow. But Valdrik and his people still worship the Norse gods, and Brittany is a Christian country.

  Adele of Vannes has a lot of hard decisions to make. Unlike the heroine in Sword, she is never stupid about her choices. Occasionally short-sighted, but never dumb. And she fumbles more than a bit while making those choices, with nearly disastrous consequences for herself and her country. But with ultimately the best intentions.

  If medieval romance is your cup of mead, then Breton Wolfe looks like the start of a fascinating series.

• Romantic Historical Reviews
  http://www.romantichistoricalreviews.com/tag/de-wolfe-pack/
  Word count: 698

  Breton Wolfe (novella) by Victoria Vane
  Nov
  16
  BRETON WOLFE
  Purchase Now from Amazon

  She vowed to defy him to her dying breath… but passion blurs the line between love and hate…

  The bluest blood and the hardest heart… at least when it comes to marriage… The daughter of a duke and granddaughter of a king, Adele of Vannes was bartered at birth in a marriage treaty for the sole purpose of producing a royal heir. When her philandering husband is slain by Norse marauders, Adele’s only desire is to retire to the peace and solitude of a cloister—until coerced to wed a savage Norseman. Adele knows that her beloved Brittany needs a strong hand to survive, but how can she ever reconcile her bitterness and hatred with the desire she feels for her avowed enemy?

  She’s the jewel he seeks for his Breton crown…A Barbarian bent on building a dynasty, Valdrik Vargr, ‘the Norse Wolf,’ is renowned for both his bravery in battle and shrewdness in statecraft. Setting his sights on claiming the kingdom of Brittany, he knows that siring sons from royal blood would solidify his hold, but the woman he would claim as his queen refuses to have him. Will he fuel her hatred by taking her to his bed, or will the man who strikes terror in the hearts of men be reduced to wooing his bride?

  add-to-goodreads-button

  Publisher and Release Date: Kindle Worlds, October 2015

  RHR Classifications:
  Time and Setting: 907-911 A.D., France
  Genre: Historical romance novella
  Heat Level: 2
  Reviewer Rating: 4 stars

  Review by Maria Almaguer
  Warning: this novella contains one rape scene.

  Victoria Vane breaks out of her usual refined Georgian period romance into the untamed era of medieval Brittany in this historical romance novella, part of the World of de Wolfe Pack set and the first in Ms. Vane’s The Wolves of Brittany series.

  In a primitive world where men conquer and rule the world, women either accept their often misogynistic and animalistic behavior or suffer in silence. Adele of Vannes, daughter of a duke and granddaughter to a king, is a lady to her core. She submits with grace and heart-breaking resignation to a brutal and dangerous husband who treats her with contempt.

  “The men of this world may do as they please…It is the indulgence we must grant them for our provision and protection.”

  Adele has already lost a brother and father to the Norse and the last thing she wants to do is marry the enemy; but she has no choice for the alternative is much worse for her people. So she makes plans to thwart Valdrik’s intentions and this causes a rift between them. Both are headstrong and devoted to their people. But both Adele and Valdrik also have honor and kind hearts.

  When Valdrik shows her kindness and passion, two things completely absent in her first marriage, Adele eventually softens toward him. And Valdrik comes to see Adele’s compassion and past pain.

  The best thing about Ms. Vane’s stories is the impeccable and impressive research. The reader learns about the healing properties and power of herbs in Adele’s stillroom sanctuary, the complex diplomacy in the political maneuvering of Brittany, and the customs and etiquette of medieval culture, however barbaric, sexist, and outrageous to our modern sensibilities! For example, when Adele’s husband is slain, she can be claimed by the victor; in this case, the strong and honorable warrior, Valdrik Vargr.

  Some of the prose in the love scenes veers into the purple at times but overall, this does not detract from the story’s flow. The novella is action-packed from start to finish, with equal time given to both the romance and the fight for Brittany. Future stories will focus on Valdrik’s half-brothers, Bjorn the Bastard and Ivar the Red.

  This is an exciting and fast-paced story, with likable protagonists and honor amid brutality.

• Fresh Fiction
  http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=58505
  Word count: 377

  QUOTE:
  very promising lead-in to book three

  Two to Wrangle
  Victoria Vane

  Reviewed by Monique Daoust
  Posted February 16, 2016

  Romance Erotica Sensual | Romance Contemporary

  Ty Morgan is drowning his sorrows in bourbon: he misses Monica Brandt, the woman he can't get along with, except in bed. It's Tom's funeral, and Monica is back from New York—with her fiancé, Evan, who is desperate to make it work. To put it mildly, macho Ty doesn't like it one bit, but this is not the time for bickering. Yet.

  Ty and Monica's sort-of- relationship is less strained, due to their shared grief, and the sexual tension that surrounds them is at an all- time high. They cannot manage to do business together, they simply cannot see eye-to-eye, but then suddenly the conditions have changed because of Tom's will. Ty is looking for investors to renovate the Rodeo Hotel, and an offer comes out from the most unexpected source. Monica has also found someone who's interested in investing, which could complicate matters even more. And Ty's ex-wife, Delaney resurfaces...

  Ms. Vane cleverly recaps most of what happened in the first book, HELL ON HEELS, as well as shedding more light on Ty and Monica's pasts. The sexual tension that smouldered in the first book has reached the level of a brush fire in TWO TO WRANGLE: Ty cannot get enough of Monica, who finds it very hard to resist the sexy cowboy. Still neither is budging in regards to the hotel, but it doesn't stop the sexy banter, the double entendres, and they'll screw themselves silly while they figure everything out.

  The appearance of Ty's ex-wife is especially fun; she's very entertaining, doesn't know when to quit, and she certainly got my attention. I'm inordinately pleased she will be featured in the next instalment, BEAUTY AND THE BULL RIDER. Some of my favourite moments in TWO TO WRANGLE have nothing to do with Ty and Monica's romance—I particularly enjoyed getting a taste of the cowboy life, and the bull riding passages. Ms. Vane remains unsurpassed when it comes to creating that sort of atmosphere. A very promising lead-in to book three!

• Reading Reality
  http://www.readingreality.net/2016/01/review-hell-on-heels-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 954

  QUOTE:
  I’m still not completely sure how I feel about this one. I love Victoria Vane’s work, but Hell on Heels didn’t quite click for me until the very end

  REVIEW: HELL ON HEELS BY VICTORIA VANE

  POSTED ON JANUARY 28, 2016 BY MARLENE HARRIS
  Review: Hell on Heels by Victoria VaneHell On Heels (Hotel Rodeo, #1) by Victoria Vane
  Format: eARC
  Source: publisher via NetGalley
  Formats available: ebook
  Genres: contemporary romance, western romance
  Series: Hotel Rodeo #1
  Pages: 128
  Published by Lyrical Shine on January 19th 2016
  Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
  Goodreads

  Some Odds are Meant to be Played...

  PLACE YOUR BET
  The Hotel Rodeo in Las Vegas has seen better days, but managing partner Ty Morgan has come up with a way to return it to its former glory. His plan looks promising until the unthinkable happens. Suddenly Ty is working for the boss’s daughter. And Miss Monica Brandt, hot as she may be, doesn’t share his vision…
  ROLL THE DICE
  She left a fabulous career and a frustrated fiancé in New York to move to Vegas and save her father’s investment. But now Monica is locking horns with a sexy cowboy-turned-businessman. What does Ty think he can do that she can’t? All Monica knows is that she doesn’t dare trust him—or is it herself she doesn’t trust...
  AND WIN
  The battle lines are drawn. The stakes are high. And the attraction can’t be denied—especially the more closely Ty and Monica have to work together. Some odds are just meant to be played, and with chemistry this electric, it may be time to grab life by the horns…

  My Review:

  I’m still not completely sure how I feel about this one. I love Victoria Vane’s work, but Hell on Heels didn’t quite click for me until the very end.

  beauty and the bull rider by victoria vaneAnd then it clicked so hard that I picked up the third book in the series (Beauty and the Bull Rider) on NetGalley, after swearing that I wouldn’t. The baby trope it uses is far from my favorite.

  I already have the second book, Two to Wrangle, and I’m very glad I do. Because the story in Hell on Heels is NOT OVER when you turn the last page. Ty and Monica are definitely not through with each other, even though they both thought they were.

  The story in Hell on Heels is definitely an “opposites attract” romance. Ty Morgan is Western through and through. He grew up on a ranch in Oklahoma, and used to ride bulls for a living. Now he’s the manager of a well-past-its-heyday Rodeo-themed hotel at the edge of the Las Vegas strip.

  Ty is full of plans to remodel and renovate and bring the hotel back to its glory days. And just as he convinces his boss, controlling partner and mentor to back his play, the man that Ty looks up to as a father figure has a debilitating stroke.

  And Tom Brandt’s business tycoon daughter Monica sweeps in to take the best care she can of her father, including taking care of all the businesses her dad needs her to manage for him.

  Top of that list, or bottom of the heap, is Ty’s Hotel Rodeo. And Monica finds herself caught between making the right business decision and making the right decision. Her heart wants to please her father by helping Ty. Other parts of her want to make Ty happy, in the hopes that they might have a future together.

  But her business sense tells her that the hotel is too far past its prime to ever come back.

  Does she go all in with Ty, or does she run away back to her life in New York City?

  Escape Rating B-: At the end, I liked it enough to keep going with the series. But in the beginning (and some of the middle) I felt very conflicted. Luckily this is a short enough book that the beginning doesn’t last long.

  At the beginning, Monica acts like a bitch on wheels, or as Ty says, “hell on heels”, while Ty comes off as a sexist neanderthal. It’s only as the story progresses, and readers start to see behind their crusty exteriors, that we are able to empathize with the characters, and they are able to see a bit past each other’s surfaces. They still argue every five minutes, but it’s more about what they are actually saying and doing than quite as many stereotypical assumptions on their part.

  There are still plenty of damaging assumptions on both sides, but they are less about roles and more about the heart of their conflicts. And even though they indulge in all the sexual chemistry that their arguing fires up, neither of them can manage to see past their own baggage. Which would give them a view of the other person’s equally weighty baggage.

  two to wrangle by victoria vaneIn the end, Hell on Heels is a novella that starts out simplistic, but develops depth as it goes. The ending is frustrating because it isn’t an ending. Ty and Monica’s rocky relationship goes through more twists and turns in Two to Wrangle. And I find myself looking forward to it.

• Harlequin Junkie
  http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-hell-on-heels-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 358

  REVIEW: Hell on Heels by Victoria Vane
  Posted January 7th, 2016 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Contemporary Romance, HJ Top Pick!, Review / 9 comments
  HJ_TopPick
  Hell on Heels by Victoria Vane is book one in the Hotel Rodeo series and gives new meaning to the term opposites attract.

  Hell-on-HeelsThe story starts off with Ty trying to get his business partner, Tom, to invest millions in a renovation project for the hotel. Ty really cares about this project and believes he can turn the hotel around. Tom believes in him and decides to invest, but as soon as they come to an agreement, Tom has a stroke.

  When Monica’s is notified that her father in the hospital due to a stroke, she jumps on a plane leaving everything behind, including a fiancée. Monica arranges for the best care possible for her father while taking the reign at his company. Her first order of business is to go through the financials and see what’s going on. Monica is a smart businesswoman and can’t figure out why her dad keeps the place, so she plans to sell…too bad Ty has something to say about that.

  Monica and Ty are complete opposites. From the very beginning, these two fail to get along. He thinks she is uptight and ballsy and she thinks he’s a dumb cowboy after her father’s money. The banter between them is highly amusing and made me snicker a few times. I wasn’t quite sure if these two would ever see eye to eye, but the high levels of sexual tension made it possible. Throw in a fiancée, an ex-wife who wants a favor, and two people who refuse to admit their feelings and you have an exciting five-star read.

  The end of the book is a shocker and doesn’t leave readers satisfied, but that’s what book two is for. I will be counting down the days until I can read the continuation of this entertaining story and find out the outcome between Ty and Monica.

• Red Hot Books
  http://redhotbooks.com/2016/01/hell-on-heels.html
  Word count: 572

  JANUARY 23, 2016
  Review: Hell on Heels by Victoria Vane

  hell on heelsReviewed by Shelly
  This is part 1 of 2 in Victoria Vane’s Hotel Rodeo series. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers, especially when there’s not a disclaimer. But surprisingly that’s not what made me dislike this story. This time I’ll blame the characters. Talk about a couple of self-absorbed jerks – the both of them!

  Ty Morgan is bound and determined to renovate the hotel that he’s managing. I’m not sure what his motivation is, but he doesn’t have the finances to do it on his own and is thereby dependent on financial backers. He thought he had one pegged and ready – the owner of the hotel, but unfortunately, Tom ends up having stroke and is incapacitated.

  In comes Tom’s daughter from his first marriage. Monica Brandt is the daughter that Tom didn’t know he had until she was 18. The last thing she has time for is to rush to the side of the father she’s just getting to know, but rush to his side she does.

  I’m usually pretty lenient about either the hero or heroine not being nice, as long as one of them is, I tend to overlook a lot. But I couldn’t stand either of the people. The way they treat everyone around them tells me everything. The first scene between Monica and her fiancé was so uncomfortable for me because there was nothing loving between them and she gave back to him what he gave her – verbally that is. It’s then my opinion on Monica started, and it wasn’t good.

  Monica’s got a ginormous chip on her shoulder. She thinks that Ty’s an idiot in cowboy clothing, but she overlooks both the idiot and the cowboy parts when he sticks his hand down up her skirt (sounds crass, I know). It’s funny because from the way that Tom’s described he’s not that much different than Ty, but I guess his bank account played a big difference in the way that she viewed the man she called father, or that’s the way it seemed to me. She’s from money and respect only money.

  Then there’s Ty. This guy thinks he’s a ‘player’ but came across as an as*hat. Talk about having your head stuck up your you know what. He used to be in the rodeo but now manages this hotel. I’m not sure I actually saw him manage, nor am I sure what about management he actually liked. During what sounds like one of their busiest seasons, he’s comping rooms for the rodeo performers and their groupies. I’m not sure that’s something I learned in all those business classes I had to take in grad school, nor is it something that would seem like a wise idea if I’m trying to raise capital to renovate. This dude might look pretty but… just sayin’…

  The sex scenes between the two was like watching cats fight, at some point I was ready to pull them apart and call it a day.

  Happy Reading Folks!

  Rating: C-

  *ARC provided via NetGalley by publisher

  Click to purchase: Amazon

• Harlequin Junkie
  https://harlequinjunkie.com/review-rough-rider-by-victoria-vane/
  Word count: 483

  REVIEW: Rough Rider by Victoria Vane
  Posted February 6th, 2015 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Cowboy Romance, Review / 3 comments
  Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights #2) by Victoria Vane is the second book in the Hot Cowboy Nights series. If you have not read book one, you will be a little lost, even if you did read book one like I have, I still felt a little lost at times.

  roughriderJanice Combes has been in love with Dirk Knowlton for all of her lift, but Dirk only has eyes for Rachel the Rodeo Queen. When Dirk and Rachel break up, Dirk turns to Janice, and for one night, Janice is able to live the fantacy. But then Janice gets the news that her dad is sick, Dirk is gone and the only one left to help her is Grady Garrison. Cursing her life with a mean, drunk like Grady, Janice holds tight to the love that she has for Dirk and the dreams that one day they might find their way back to each other.

  Dirk Knowlton ran away from the rodeo and Janice after watching a young rider die in the ring, watching his ex make a play for his younger brother, and thinking that he was too late, waited too long to tell Janice how he feels about her. After serving in the Marines, he is back home, wounded, broken and looking to keep the family ranch from going under. When Janice walks back into his life, it might just be fate giving this old cowboy a reason to survive, a reason to live again.

  Ok, I love a good cowboy book, This book started out ok, but then kind of jumps around a little. First part of the book is all about the past, but you don’t know it is the past, and nope they are not flash backs. The middle 2 or 3 chcapters are about what happened in 4 years down the road, then jump to 10 years down the road and bamb here we are. For me, the transition through the story was missing. I think a lot of the first half of the book could have been done through flashbacks, because although it gave you the background, you really did not need that much detail. I think more could have been done with middle part of the book, what happened in the last 4 years, it was kind of short and really left me scratching my head.

  The relationship between Janice and Dirk was ok. At times I thought that Dirk was a little wishy washy, couldn’t seem to make up his mind, and then when he did, he was angry that he waited too long and lost the girl. I had a hard time connecting with these characters, so I think that is why I struggled with the book.

• Publishers Weekly
  http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4926-0115-9
  Word count: 210

  QUOTE:
  over-the-top story with more tragedy than romance

  Rough Rider

  Victoria Vane. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (320p) ISBN 978-1-4926-0115-9

  MORE BY AND ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
  Rough Rider
  BUY THIS BOOK
  Vane's second Hot Cowboy Nights contemporary Western (after Slow Hand) is an over-the-top story with more tragedy than romance. Country girl Janice Combes has idolized rodeo star Dirk Knowlton for years, but he doesn't seem to return her feelings. Nonetheless, he's willing to be seduced, and Janice gladly relinquishes her virginity. After another bull rider has a fatal accident, Dirk heads to California and the Marine Corps, leaving Janice alone to handle the unexpected consequences of their encounter. Over the next 14 years, Vane throws every possible crisis into her story—an abusive spouse, drug addiction, war injuries, and more—until it feels less like a love story than a Greek tragedy. When both Janice and Dirk return home to Montana to lick their wounds, readers will want to root for them, but the romance is overshadowed by the anticipation of the next devastating event and the concern that both protagonists may not survive long enough to get a happy ending. Agent: Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds. (Feb.)

• Smart Bitches Trashy Books
  http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/highest-stakes-by-emery-lee-a-guest-review-by-redheadedgirl/
  Word count: 2061

  QUOTE:
  Lee does her homework. She set up the historical context really well. ... All in all, I did enjoy this book very much and really hope to see more from Lee

  Highest Stakes by Emery Lee: A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl
  by SB Sarah · Apr 7, 2011 at 11:47 am · View all 49 comments

  B+
  Title: Highest Stakes
  Author: Emery Lee
  Publication Info: Sourcebooks 2010
  ISBN: 978-1402236426
  Genre: Historical: European

  Book Cover It was a Kindle freebie on Amazon. It was published last year, so it’s not totally new, but it’s not old school, either. But I have words.

  I’m finding a whole bunch of “not the usual Old West or Regency England or Victorian England setting” and this one is no different. It starts around 1742 in England- there are several background historical that inform the action and the author does a really good job of tying these in to the reality and the motivation of the characters.

  First is the house of Hanover and the succession crisis that brought the Germans to the throne of England. (Thumbnail: Queen Anne didn’t have a living male heir, and Parliament passed the Act of Settlement of 1701 that settled the throne on the Electress of Hanover, who was a granddaughter of James I, which passed to her son George I by the time Anne died.) France is squabbling with Austria (as you do) and the King sends the Army to “help” (but is really just trying to protect the Hanoverian holdings).

  Consequently, the House of Stuart and the Jacobean uprising of 1715 and 1745 come in to play, too. There are a number of people who quietly support Bonnie Prince Charles, or at least think the Stuarts are at least more English than the German House of Hanover.

  So that’s the political context. The social context surrounds horse racing. (PONIES) At this point, the English have developed a strong racing tradition (Sport of Kings, and all that). If you’ve ever read King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry (and WHY HAVE YOU NOT) that gives the background to one of the three foundation stallions and the basic gist behind some of the breeding issues. (Horse-breeding issues. There are people-breeding issues, too, but we will get to that.) Also it’s really good.

  So our hero is Robert Devington, who starts out his journey as a groom in Sir Garfield L’s stud. Our heroine, Charlotte, is Sir Garfield’s niece and ward. She comes into the family after her parents died (as parents in these stories are wont to do), and Sir Garfield is one of those annoying, absent, snotty guardians (as guardians in these stories are wont to do). His head groom sees a kindred spirit in Charlotte, and teaches her how to ride- eventually letting her help train the babies. She loves it, and is fearless, and has a good rapport with the horses, especially a broodmare named Amoret (as girls in these stories are wont to do).

  Our story opens with a race- Sir Garfield’s son is supposed to ride, but is detained by a broken carriage. As the jockeys for this race are only supposed to be gentlemen, Robert shouldn’t be able to ride, but he bluffs his way in by saying he’s engaged to Charlotte. The race officials buy his story, he wins, Sir Garfield is happy to have made a SHITTON of money by selling the horse to the King of France, and Robert tries to convince Sir Garfield to make the fake engagement a real one (Charlotte is totally down with this plan).

  Sir Garfield started off as a tradesman, and bought his way into a baronetcy, and in the way of nouveau riche, NOT willing to marry his ward off to a groom. His social mobility trajectory is up, not down. So Robert joins the Horse Guards to make his fortune (as stableboys in his position are wont to do).

  He does fine, and ends up in possession of a warhorse he names Mars- the stallion is irredeemable, except Robert uses a bit of natural horsemanship (this was the point I knew the author really researched, and was a horse person, because no one but a horse person would give a crap about what this means) to convince Mars that life doesn’t blow when you have a job to do. Robert makes it back from the wars a captain. He’s hoping that being a captain would convince Sir Garfield that he’s an acceptable suitor for Charlotte.

  It doesn’t work of course. An officer in the army still doesn’t meet Garfield’s definiton of upward mobility. Instead, he’s looking for landed peers that need money for Charlotte and his daughter, Beatrix.

  Robert has met his heterosexual life-partner in the wars- Phillip Drake, the second son of the Earl of Hastings. The Earl of Hastings is dying, and his oldest son and heir, Edmund, is unmarried and not showing a great deal of interest in doing so. Also he is a tool. The old Earl tells his son and heir that hes a tool, and the terms of the will have been changed- if he doesn’t produce an heir within a year of the Earl’s death, Edmund will lose the title, and it’ll all pass to Phillip.

  So Robert and Phillip head to the home of Sir Garfield, and Robert and Charlotte are thrilled to see each other other, and Phillip and Beatrix start off a kind of annoying round of Slap Slap Kiss (she decides she needs to get revenge on him for some imagined slight, and it ends with her going to his room in her nightie, and, well, fade to black). Naturally, because she can’t get away with anything, she gets pregnant and blackmails daddy into letting her marry Phillip.

  Sir Garfield has decided that Edmund will do for a husband for Charlotte, who decides to run away to Gretna Green with Robert. Phillip agrees to cover for them, and a plot is hatched to keep everyone from knowing that the two crazy kids ran off. The plot fails, Phillip is sent after them, which he reluctantly agrees to. If he doesn’t bring Charlotte back, he doesn’t get to marry Beatrix.

  So Charlotte and Robert have about 12 hours lead time to get 300 some odd miles, on horseback, from London to Gretna Green. (And finally, after years of reading romances, I finally looked up why Gretna Green was the go-to place for runaway marriages. Answer (in case anyone is as dumb as I am): it’s right over the border to Scotland, and Scots law on marriage allowed a woman of 12 and a boy of 14 to marry without parental consent, rather than 21, which was the age in England. So now you know.)

  They make it only about halfway before Phillip catches up with them, and the shit really hits the fan. Robert and Charlotte both think Phillip has totally betrayed them, Phillip is just trying to do his best, there’s a duel (of course), and Robert loses, badly. But they’re both officers in the Army, and dueling is against the rules, especially in a time of war. So off to the stockade they go.

  Edmund has discovered that his bride-to-be has run off, which pisses him off no end, and he also discovers that his brother’s fiancée is pregnant. So he declares Beatrix to be an acceptable substitute, and marries her. Phillip is given Charlotte to marry (who hates this idea with flames on the side of her face), and Robert is transported to the Colonies (Charlotte is told he is hanged for his crime of dueling).

  Now, the best description of story structure I’ve ever heard was Cleolinda on a Made of Fail podcast, quoting who she thinks may have Billy Wilder that, in Act One, you put your hero in a tree, Act Two, you set the tree on fire and in Act Three, you get them out of the tree.

  Our heroes are in a lot of trees, and they are well and truly on fire. This is where Lee kind of falls down. The last third of the book is really rushed- you have a lot of stuff happening off-stage, and plot points I expected the play into the resolution are dismissed with barely a mention. By the end, it really felt like she said, “uhhhhh, yeah, you’re all out of trees, enjoy your lives!”

  It’s a romance, and you expect a HEA, and I don’t think it’s spoiling to say you get one ….kind of… but it’s contrived. During the book club discussion of Unveiled, I said that I had no idea how Milan was going to resolve the conflict, and it was exciting. In Highest Stakes, I had no idea how the conflict was going to be resolved, and it was kind of a mess. I feel like the end was either a “oh crap, this is getting to be kind of long, I better end it!” or “oh crap! My deadline is approaching, I better end it!” We get through 8 years and a lot of stuff in maybe 50 pages.

  The main conflict could have been resolved if people actually listened to each other. I know Robert is angry about all the shit that keeps landing on his head, and justifiably so, but still. Even if he’d let Charlotte explain WHY she had to marry Phillip (that or turned out on the street with no money, no protection, no nothing), maybe a little bit of heartache could have been avoided. But no. Lee ups the ante by having no one listen to anything anyone else is saying.

  I am pretty certain this is a first novel, and there’s a little bit of first-novel-itis that I feel very confident she can overcome. A little bit more telling than showing, some awkward phrasing, and a fairly characture-ish villain (violent and gay- unfortunate implications, sadly).

  But there’s a lot more that I really liked about this than I disliked. First, Lee does her homework. She set up the historical context really well, and the concern of the country over the lack of male heir of Queen Anne is reflected by Edmund’s desire to get a male heir. I liked how she drew the parallels between the concerns, and the conflict between Hanovers and Stuarts is sort of reflected in the conflict between Phillip and Edmund and who gets to be the Earl of Hastings.

  Also, she does a few of the best infodumps I’ve ever read. When Charlotte is introduced to the horse world, the head groom at her uncle’s stud explains the differences on conformation and why that’s important in breeding and in what job a horse is given. Cart horses have a certain build, race horses have another. I know all of this, and I wasn’t bored by it, and I feel like someone who doesn’t know all this would follow it. It’s an adult explaining to a child, so it isn’t overly technical, and the dialogue is realistic. There’s a few other infodumps that explain the history of racing and the main stallions of the English turf and the theories of breeding race horses- again, well done. She’s a horse person. She can’t not be.

  All in all, I did enjoy this book very much and really hope to see more from Lee. (ETA: According to Goodreads, she’s got a few more books coming down the pipe in the same era. YAY!) The issues will, I expect and hope, resolve themselves with more writing, and I love seeing someone who can research and apply that research well. (Seriously, her bibliography is pages long- all good stuff. I love it when authors include their sources. LOVE IT.)

  ALSO PONIES

• Historical Novel Society
  https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-highest-stakes/
  Word count: 271

  QUOTE:
  thinly-drawn characters ... [are] a disappointment in what is otherwise an impressive debut.

  The Highest Stakes
  BY EMERY LEE

  Find & buy on
  Emery Lee vividly portrays the world of 18th-century British and American horseracing in her debut novel.

  Robert Devington has spent much of his youth working in the racing stables of a country baronet whose orphaned niece, Charlotte, soon becomes the object of Robert’s affection. Determined to be worthy of the young lady, Robert quits the stables to join the King’s Horse Guards. Action on the continent swiftly raises him to the position of captain, but even this promotion does not sway the heartless, striving baronet, who is determined to marry both Charlotte and his own children into the nobility. With the help of Robert’s commanding officer, who happens to be the wastrel second son of an earl, Robert tries to win Charlotte through a horse race. But the good captain is thwarted at every turn, betrayed by those he trusted, and eventually transported to the colonies. There, Robert sets his mind on one thing only—revenge.

  Emery Lee knows horses. This novel is full of detail about pedigrees, how to care for them, ride them, train them, stud them, foal them, and sling them onto ships. In addition, the author describes the multiple horse races with verve and passion. Unfortunately, the thinly-drawn characters—the striving heartless father, the spoiled wanton daughter, the petulant aristocratic homosexual—seem to come straight from central casting. It’s a disappointment in what is otherwise an impressive debut.

• Publishers Weekly
  http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4022-5644-8
  Word count: 179

  QUOTE:
  scanty romance

  Fortune's Son

  Emery Lee. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $6.99 mass market (448p) ISBN 978-1-4022-5644-8

  Fortunes Son
  BUY THIS BOOK
  Lee (The Highest Stakes) returns to the world of Georgian London's gamblers with this scanty romance. Susannah, the widowed Lady Messingham, needs money. Her options are gambling, tutored by dashing gamester Philip Drake, and becoming the odious Prince of Wales's mistress. The choice is obvious, and the attraction between Sukey and Philip sizzles, but the two goad each other into one terrible decision after another. Lee heaps on historical detail (and cussing of the "filthy sodding whoreson" variety) at the expense of story; a subplot involving Philip's sexless marriage, which could have filled its own book, is crammed into a handful of pages, while a bishop interrupts Sukey's humble confession of adultery to praise Westminster Abbey's architecture at Wikipedia-esque length. Readers will likely give up on pathetic Philip and sulky Sukey long before they find their roundabout way to a semblance of a happy ending. (Nov.)

• Romantic Historical Reviews
  http://www.romantichistoricalreviews.com/retro-review-fortunes-son-by-emery-lee/
  Word count: 609

  QUOTE:
  perfect melding of historical fiction and historical romance
  Retro review with excerpt: FORTUNE’S SON by Emery Lee
  Apr
  20

  BLURB:
  Love is the ultimate gamble… Seasoned gambler Philip Drake knows every trick and uses most of them. After years of infamy, he’s ready to accept the mantle of respectability with his earldom– until a devastating racing loss and the threat of debtors’ prison force Philip right back into his gaming ways…
  Susannah, Lady Messingham, is a woman with a past who refuses to belong to any man again. But Philip’s skill catches her eye and she persuades him to teach her how to win at the tables. Their new partnership turns into an exhilarating high-stakes game that entangles them in terrifying risk and unimaginable rewards…
  Immerse yourself in the risky side of Georgian England with a pair of lovers who aren’t afraid to risk it all on a toss of the dice…

  RHL CLASSIFICATIONS:
  Georgian Era

  Romantic Historical Fiction

  Heat rating 1.5

  Reviewer rating: 4.5

  REVIEW BY JILL:
  “I refuse to be placed under any man’s dominion again. Who, now, must I truly please but myself?”

  For Susannah, Lady Messingham her unfulfilling and unhappy ten year marriage to a much older man, is finally over, wanting now to be able to choose the life she wants to live. However, there is a small problem. Not only has she been left virtually penniless, but with a household to maintain, her debts are accruing. How can a lady in 18th century England acquire the necessary funds without tying herself down either as a man’s mistress or his wife?

  She had watched him with fascination from across the room. He was a cool one, indeed…. His movements were always deft and self-assured, as if the dice were his to command.

  Once Susannah (Sukey) has seen the charming Philip Drake’s skill at the gaming tables, she knows that this is the answer she’s been looking for. Here is a young man that she can use to teach her how to play and win the funds that she needs, to live as she wants.

  Set in the Georgian era of 18th C England, Emery Lee has the perfect ‘voice’ for this period. Her research is obvious. Her details of the times are lavish, from the dress, speech, culture and societal etiquette to the specifics on gaming. For readers who enjoy romance as pivotal to a story (as I do), then you will find this a truly satisfying read. Fortune’s Son centres on the romantic relationship between Philip and Sukey who were the secondary characters in Emery Lee’s debut novel The Highest Stakes. Though Fortune’s Son can be read as a stand-alone, if you want to understand the full character of Philip it is ideal to read The Highest Stakes first.

  At the end of The Highest Stakes I intensely disliked Philip. He was not evil, but what is probably worse in my opinion, his decisions were driven by selfishness, his character two-faced. Fortune’s Son is also the story of the redemption of Philip Drake. That author Emery Lee is able to turn this Janus from unlikable opportunist to hero, is testament to her ability as a writer.

  For readers looking for a meatier historical romance or readers who enjoy historical fiction with romantic elements, Fortune’s Son is the perfect melding of historical fiction and historical romance. Highly recommended.

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