Attack of the TBR pile: How to Tame a Lady and How to Beguile a Beauty by Kasey Michaels

January 11, 2011
http://www.kaseymichaels.com/links.html
There was a revolt in my house!!!

Well, just the other day while strolling past my TBR pile, I was attacked by an avalanche of books. I think they got tired of collecting dust. It seemed as if I was fated to look at them. As I was picking them up, I noticed that I had an awful lot of books that I absolutely had to have but I am absolutely not going to read. I don't know why; maybe I read the reviews, or the back blurbs and changed my mind, or maybe I'm just supporting struggling authors... who knows. Some of those will become a donation. I also noticed that I have a number of series, so, I closed my eyes and picked one and here we go.

It is the Daughtry series by Kasey Michaels, starting with the second in the series, How to Tame a Lady (from 2009), then How to Beguile a Beauty (2010), How to Wed a Baron (2010).

Let's begin with How to Tame a Lady, shall we? This is the story of Nicole and Lucas. First of all Nicole is overwhelmingly beautiful, however, let me say this about that: this is one of the most irritating, head strong, silly, immature, selfish, manipulative heroines I've read in a long time and she is a teenager to top it all off! This girl irritated the crap out of me. And, she was created that way on purpose. I can only assume she's supposed to be funny. Although there were some humorous moments between the two luv birds, mainly she's just over the top spoiled. The problem with that is it reflects on the hero. He loved her from the beginning and hardly any of her antics got on his nerves. In fact, he did a lot to encourage her. I couldn't help but wonder if he would feel the same after they'd been married over 20 years. At one point in the story Nicole reminded me of Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and we all know how well that marriage grew over the years. I really had a hard time seeing Lucas still hopelessly in love with Nicole after a while.

Something else that I noticed was the lack of adequate chaperon for this silly girl. In fact, the family encouraged her and Lucas in their sensual trip toward the HEA. I was really glad when the end of this book came. I got quite tired of Nicole wanting fun and freedom. It was all about her, her, her.

Time/Place: Regency England
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Almost Hot

Now on to How to Beguile a Beauty, Lydia and Tanner's story. Lydia is Nicole's twin sister and the difference between the two is night and day. And, I'm glad I didn't throw the entire series against the wall. This one actually helped me understand Nasty Nicole better.

Digressing with a true story: Once upon a time in a grocery store, I happened to see a mother and her two daughters. There was one walking beside the cart and another riding inside the cart. I looked at the one walking. She was a sweet little girl about eight or so. She had brown hair, brown eyes and had the look of a ballet dancer. Then I looked at the girl in the cart. OMG!!! I've never seen anyone with violet eyes before, unless you count Liz Taylor, but this little girl had them - along with black curly hair and Yes! she could have been Liz Taylor's stand-in when she was a child. The girl, probably seven or so, was absolutely gorgeous and didn't seem to be aware of the stalker woman staring at her. Can you imagine having a sister that looked like Elizabeth Taylor? Think of all the trauma your ego would go through...and then they grow up and become more beautiful. Anyway, my mind started wandering to the older sister who was pretty and what it must be like to have such a beauty for a sister. My mind instantly traveled to Romanceland, all the dynamics that these two had and would have when they grew older. And that brings me around to How to Beguile a Beauty, because that is what this tale explores - and explores very well.

Even though this is a love story and there is a hero, this is mostly Lydia's story and how she works her way out from her sister's shadow. This had some very touching parts in it, especially when Tanner tells Lydia he loves her. I loved this book so much more than Nicole's story. And, in this case I could see this marriage working out after 20 years.

There is a great best friend, Justin; I enjoyed eavesdropping on his and Tanner's conversations. The only problem I had with this book was once again the chaperon duties left a lot to be desired and the suspense thing seemed a bit rushed. It's my opinion that the suspense was a bit of a distraction to the really strong writing that Ms. Michaels did for Lydia's character. Loved Lydia.

Next up will be Justin's story in How to Wed a Baron.

Time/Place: Regency England
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Almost Hot