Her Wicked Longing by Lauren Smith – a Review
DESCRIPTION
Fans of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton Series and Johanna Lindsey’s Malory series will delight in this swoonworthy adventurous romance series with roguish heroes and feisty, intelligent heroines!
Her Wicked Longing contains two new short teaser stories starring Audrey Sheridan and her maid Gillian Beaumont!
What trouble can a young lady with a talent for mischief and her maid get into in just one day?
His Wicked Maid-
Always prim and proper, lady’s maid Gillian Beaumont has never acted with wild abandon the way her young headstrong mistress does. But deep down she dreams of a life filled with love and a husband who will give her his whole heart even though she knows it’s impossible. With a list of chores from her mistress, Gillian is given the chance to live the life of a gentle lady, and she clings to it, knowing that soon it will be over. While wearing a dress meant for her lady, she catches the eye of a handsome earl and is swept away from her duties by his rakish good looks and charm. Heated looks in public and passionate kisses in a dark corner of a bookshop create a perfect day for Gillian to cling to when she returns to her real life…
Her Wicked Lessons-
Determined to learn the art of the spy trade, Miss Audrey Sheridan, finds a way to escape a dull afternoon tea by running off to the residence of an infamous French Courtesan. Hoping to improve her French for a future mission to the continent, she never expects to be caught by the one man who haunts her dreams: Jonathan St. Laurent, the former servant-turned-brother of a duke. With one penetrating look from those bewitching green eyes of his, Audrey knows she’s in trouble. Unable and unwilling to confess her real reason for visiting a French courtesan, Audrey decides to convinces Jonathan she’s there to learn the art of seduction. But she never expects the devilish rogue to take her lessons seriously…
*Note: These are short stories of under 10,000 words that will prepare readers for Gillian’s happily ever after in The Earl of Pembroke and Audrey’s happily ever after in His Wicked Secret.
REVIEW
5 out of 5 for this reader folks!
Her Wicked Longing by Lauren Smith is a quick read consisting of two novellas. Lauren writes a stellar historical romance in full length and I have to say she is amazing at packing in so much teasing story in so few pages. I was left eager for more and anticipating her future releases.
The first novella “His Wicked Maid” is a taste of Lauren’s new series being released next year and it centered around Miss Audrey’s ladies maid Gillian Beaumont. Gillian is afforded an opportunity to masquerade as a gentle lady for a day, and in that short time she catches the eye of James Fordyce. who happens to be an Earl. These two have an instant spark and Lauren left us with just enough to make sure we came back for the real deal. In typical style of her lovely writing, we have humour, promise of a little naughty, adventure and the making of a great story.
The second novella is “His Wicked Lessons” and this is a taste of her full novel “His Wicked Secret” (released later this year) which will be the next full novel in her “League of Rogues” series. Here we see the beginnings of Jonathan St-Laurent and Audrey Sheridan relationship. Audrey is a smart cookie and finds herself in a compromising position when she tries to take the bull by the horns and insert herself into some spy training. Deciding to do the best she can with the situation handed to her, she is still taken aback when the one man she has been drawn to catches her in a place no proper lady belongs. Again we are left with a taste of what these two will face in their full length novel and I am excited to see where we are taken.
If you are a Lauren Smith fan, then you will love this read. I love that she released a teaser to keep our interest peaked and as usual she always gives just enough. She is an incredible historical romance author and if you haven’t checked out her writing before I strongly recommend you do. Her “League of Rogues” series is a great place to start but if you try this read first, I promise she gives you her style in true Lauren fashion, so this would be a great way to see if her style is your style .. which I am sure it will be! 🙂
HAPPY READING! 🙂
Reviewed by Rachel
Copy supplied for review
