ARC Review: Betrayed by Your Kiss by Laura Landon

Title: Betrayed by Your Kiss
Author: Laura Landon
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Historical Romance - Victorian
Length: Novel
Release Date: March 24, 2015
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 2
Sexual - 3

It should have been the happiest night of her life…

Lady Olivia Sheridan knows one thing: she has loved Lord Damien forever. But when her beloved is accused of fathering another woman’s child, Olivia’s world is shattered in ways she never thought possible. Especially when Damien’s accuser sets a huge price on his head, and Olivia discovers Damien’s death will be the only outcome…unless she does the one thing he will never forgive her for doing.

When Olivia’s plan to save him goes disastrously, dangerously awry, Damien doesn’t think he’ll ever see the light of day again and, with bitterness, he realizes that the woman he loves is capable of the ultimate betrayal.

Now, four years later, Damien has returned. His eye is on one thing: seeking revenge for what Olivia did to him. Only his heart may get in the way…

Because hell hath no fury…like a man betrayed.

So much potential that just didn't seem to get where it should.  Lady Olivia believes the love of her life to be dead - until he shows back up again looking for revenge.  I just had a hard time buying that he would be that upset about her actions.  So upset that he was set to ruin her life and take everything away from her.  How could I like a "hero" like that? Yes there were things that happened to him that changed who he was, but there really needed to be some more redeeming qualities to him.

Lady Olivia wasn't very smart for being an intelligent woman.  With betrayal all around her, she doesn't seem to notice that someone is out to hurt her business.  She's also too humble to point out all the things she did for Damien while he was "dead".  He never seems to realize that she's the one that kept things going for him and she never really speaks up when she has the chance.

There was just too much that didn't quite make sense and line up for me.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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More on Laura Landon

Jasmyn's review of A Risk Worth Taking

Jasmyn's review of Intimate Surrender

Review: A Risk Worth Taking by Laura Landon

Title: A Risk Worth Taking

Author: Laura Landon
Source: Amazon Vine
Genre: Historical Fiction, Victorian
Length: Novel
Release Date: October 1, 2013
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 3

Griffin Blackmoor blames himself for the tragic accident that claimed his wife and young
son. Riddled with guilt, he prays that during the Crimean War an enemy’s bullet will end the consuming torture he can’t escape. Instead, that bullet finds his best friend. Now there isn’t enough whiskey in England to make him forget all the people who have died because of him. But before he can drown himself in an endless sea of liquor, he must keep the promise he made his dying friend. Except that promise is sure to risk an innocent woman’s life—and his own battered heart.

When her brother’s sudden death leaves her destitute, Lady Anne Carmichael knows she must marry. Although her dark beauty earns her the attention of London’s most eligible bachelors, only one man can stir her soul with his kisses. Griffin Blackmoor is everything she swore she never wanted. So why does his love feel like exactly what she needs?

A Risk Worth Taking had everything it needed to be an amazin book, but it just didn't quite make it.  Griffin was a little too much of everything.  He was too convinced he knew who was trying to kill him and why that it practically screamed that he was wrong about something.  His devotion to his deceased wife and son was at first very sweet, but Lady Anne dwells on it far too much at one point in the book.  The think I really liked about Grif was that he made the tough call to stop to drinking.  Laura Landon did a fantastic job showing what a mental and physical struggle this could be for someone.

Lady Anne was incredibly stiff.  Her swearing off of any help (even though she really needed it) was enough to make me want to scream at times.  Her devotion to her sister was touching, but I sort of wish we had seen a little more of her throughout the book.

Unfortunately, I had a good chunk of the mystery figured out long before I should have which ruined the big reveal for me.  If it had been just a little more hidden it would have been an amazing twist to really make this book work.  It was just a tad too predictable to be make it out of the 3 rating range.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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Review: Intimate Surrender by Laura Landon

Title: Intimate Surrender
Author: Laura Landon
Source: Amazon Vine
Genre: Historical Fiction - Victorian
Length: Novel
Release Date: August 13, 2013
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 2
Sexual - 2

A Scandalous Secret

Hannah Bartlett was tossed out of her home at the tender age of fifteen, when a man of the cloth stole her innocence. To survive the streets, Hannah entered into a life that she never imagined. Now, known as Madame Genevieve—the owner of London's most infamous bordello—she dedicates her life to rescuing young girls from the streets and protecting them from a shameful fate.

An Unexpected Attraction

Vicar Rafe Waterford meets Hannah at one of his sister-in-law's country gatherings…and immediately falls for the mysterious beauty. Despite his declarations of love, Hannah insists they cannot be together. But Rafe is like no other man…and he refuses to forget a love so passionate and consuming.

Laura Landon has a way of creating really interesting characters and situations, but Intimate Surrender gets a little repetitive in the conflict between our characters.  As an owner of London's most infamous bordello, Hannah knows she isn't a good match for the Vicar Rafe Waterford.  She repeatedly tells us until I hoped someone in the story would slap some sense into her.  Her occupation isn't even as bad as it sounds - it once was, but now she is a woman with a mission and a purpose in life.  It was all very admirable.

Vicar Rafe Waterford doesn't care that the woman he loves used to be prostitute, she isn't now, and maybe no one will recognize her if she changes locations or something.  Good idea in theory - but not when a person isn't interested in changing who they are.

The most interesting part of this story wasn't the romance, unfortunately, but the turf war between the bordellos.  It escalated quickly and reminded me a bit of the gang wars large cities have now.  At first I was amazed at what people were willing to do to try and keep their girls, but I guess it's a matter of paying the bills in a business like that.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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