ABOUT BREE
BREE WOLF is a USA Today bestselling author and award-winning word wizard, who is rarely seen without a book in hand or fingers glued to the keyboard.
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Two Intertwined Love Stories (A Story in Two Parts): Rules to be Broken & Hearts to be Mended
Part One: Rules to be Broken
Once, Diana Lawson was young and naïve and in love…and it saw her ruined. After years of regret and with nothing left to lose, she finally decides to live on her own terms. Arthur Abbott, Earl of Stanhope, has never met a rule he did not feel compelled to uphold. After all, what would society be without rules? And then their paths cross, and for the first time in his life Arthur’s beloved rules stand in the way of his heart’s desire.
Part Two: Hearts to be Mended
Lady Eleanor is head over heels in love…with the one man she is forbidden to marry. Aware that the woman he loves is on the brink of being married off, Henry Waltham, fifth son of Baron Caulfield, is torn between simply whisking her away to Gretna Green and the deep desire to win her hand through honest means. Of course, not all is as it seems! When is it ever?
BREE WOLF is a USA Today bestselling author and award-winning word wizard, who is rarely seen without a book in hand or fingers glued to the keyboard.
I really love these books that contain two novels, intrinsically intertwined. Both books are highly entertaining with great characters. Rules to be Broken is the story of Diana Reginald and Arthur Abbott's story. Hearts to be Mended is the story of Eleanor Stanhope and Henry Waltham's love. Henry's brother Nick and Eleanor's cousin Corrine's love story too! Delightful!
Impulsive, reckless and spoilt Diana Lawson had never been denied anything she desired. Convincing herself that the man on whom her heart was set was also in love with her led her to ruin her reputation in the eyes of Society and a loveless marriage with a man twenty years her senior. Now after four long years her husband has died but she is still persona non grata to the Ton. However her reckless streak resurfaces and she decides that she is done trying to kowtow to them, and then she meets a man who always follows the rules and instead of being censuring, he in instead concerned for her.
Eleanor refuses to marry Henry Waltham without her mother’s approval and Lady Stanhope objects vociferously to her daughter’s choice of husband. Eleanor’s new sister in law comes up with a plan, one where Lady Stanhope might be induced to change her mind. Instead, on setting eyes on Henry and his brother Nick, she becomes incandescent with fury and finally tells her daughter the real reason why.
RULES TO BE BROKEN:
Excellent!
I absolutely loved Diana's philosophy of why the men were permitted to write the rules for women to follow while it was quite ok for those same men to break the very same rules and do as they pleased and get away with it.
Diana and Arthur learn very quickly that in their lives the rules are meant to be broken and that both of them could break them and they could still live happily.
She is still trying to recover from being compromised and married in haste to a friend of her father with whom she has a baby. Then her husband dies...
He has a meddling mother who wants him married to a lady of her choice. He watches as his mother interferes in his sister Eleanor's love life and is aware of how miserable this situation is making her and is not sure what to do about it and certainly doesn't want mother dearest to have a say in his own choice of a wife.
And so the story begins.
Once more, a beautifully written novella which can be read either as part of this series or as a stand-alone.
It gripped me from the very beginning and I had to finish it (cursing the bit of tutoring and the lift-schemes I had to stop and do) but finish it I did!
It is full of the angst of two people who were thinking they shouldn't care for each other at all because of their circumstances while deep down they both were falling totally in love. I love the games they played, the attempts to hide their true feelings, the arrogance of his mother, Diana's young son's
cuteness and the bond of friendship Diana and Rose have for each other.
A very pleasing and entertaining story which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.
HEARTS TO BE MENDED:
Eleanor and Henry are crazily in love with each other but her mother is not keen for them to have a relationship at all but won't say why not. They try to find out and in order to see each other engage the help of friends.
BUT! 'the truth will out', or some such saying and this happens in a most unusual way and totally by chance.
The story itself is well written, entertaining with a mystery to solve, a love story in the making and it has its moments of joy and others of sadness too. All of this is so well told that you want to get to the happily ever after which you know will be coming up.
I am happy to say that I am a fan of Bree Wolf's story telling and am delighted to recommend this as a quick and very enjoyable read.
A lovely romance with interesting characters and such an engaging story. Samuel and Emma are a delight, I mean what could go wrong with a Duke and his Scottish matchmaker. Lots of attraction, a whole lot of fun and a wonderful happy ending and finale to this series.
Lady Emma Blackwood is a matchmaker visiting London to help the Duke of Clearford’s sister find a husband. She is hoping to make a successful match, so she and her sisters can stay in London and escape from their father.
Samuel Maerriweather, the Duke of Clearford has given up on offering advise in courtship and needs help finding a husband for his sister Lady Felicity. He decides a matchmaker is just the person he needs for her but not for himself.
Samuel and Emma are determined to forget their first meeting in the garden under the moonlight and do their duty to each of their sisters. The more they are determined not to be together, the more determined the sisters believe they do belong together. Even going as far as to fake a disappearing sister and sending Samuel and Emma on a wild chase together. Let the fun courtship begin!!
Wow!! What a way to end the series!! Samuel finally gets a wife and I felt Emma was perfect for him. I absolutely loved their story!! This book was very entertaining, lots of fun and had plenty of steam. One of things I really loved about this series was the interaction between Samuel and all of his sisters. It was so much fun having all of them together in each of the books as we read each of their stories!! I highly recommend this book and the entire series!!
This was a great conclusion to a great series. I enjoyed all of the books and was hoping that Samuel would get his story told and was not disappointed.
Samuel is the Duke of Clearford and the brother of eight sisters, most of whom are of marrying age. He needs to get his sister, Felicity, married to a suitable man after she was spurned by another man, leaving her bereft and heartbroken. She wasn’t interested in any other men, but when he has Lady Emma Blackwood come in as a matchmaker, Felicity does not object.
What adds more zing to the story is that Samuel is in need of a bride himself—and an heir. He’s in his thirties and time is ticking. He wants to get his sisters married off first and most of them are (and have their own stories in this series), but he is concentrating on Felicity since the younger sisters are too young to be pursuing husbands. He has his eye on a certain widow, but has just platonic feelings for her. He thinks he can make a relationship with her work. He has to be careful of who he picks for a wife due to the risk of scandal should anyone find out about his sisters’ book club. That is a story unto itself and spread throughout the series.
Emma has a story of her own that’s sad and has determined her course in life. She’s already on the shelf and is trying desperately to save the reputations of her own sisters. She knows she will never marry, even though she’d like to someday. How she first meets Samuel was absolutely beautiful and laid out some angst for the rest of the story.
The tension, the difficulties, and the feels between Samuel and Emma flew from the screen. There were a few times when I wanted to shake her for being so stubborn and obtuse, but she had her reasons. In the end, I admired them both.
This was a terrific story that captivated me from the beginning and kept me enthralled to the end. I couldn’t have asked for a better finale.
*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.
Six sisters, two matchmakers and the moon
Emma & Samuel
Scottish Lady and disgraced matchmaker, she’s set on securing a duke’s sister the perfect husband, keeping her wastrel father happy and her little sisters far out of reach of his greedy clutches.
He’s the duke and retired wannabe matchmaker set on marrying the young widow his sisters selected for him. Not the love match he once dreamed of, but she’s already well aware of the family secret and that should be enough.
They accidentally meet under the moon; a magical moment in which anything seams possible... followed by the cold shower the next morning when she learns he’s her new employer, and he realises he can’t risk her reputation...
At 31 she’s a fairly innocent but curious spinster, and he, now 35, forgot about women the moment he became the Duke 13 years ago. Their repartee and sizzle is chef’s kiss!
It’s 100% love at first sight for the both of them, and they can fight it all they want, you just know these two are made for each other. Literally two peas in a pod, and it’s oh so enchantingly enthralling watching them crack each other’s pod - it’s such an endearingly clumsy awkward irresistible muddle!
Add a mingling meddling mischievous gaggle of sisters, seductive knife throwing lessons, salacious books, naughty notes, ballroom shenanigans, new friends, old foes, the jealousy theory, too many brothers-in-law, a failed proposal, an elopement, a mad dash road trip, a storm and a true knight-in-shining-armour rescue - and you get the brilliant, bubbly, both heartbreaking and heartwarming, delectable, fantabulous fairytale ending to this wonderful series! Never a dull moment; I absolutely devoured this book! I love this family and their stories so much, and I cannot recommend this entire series highly enough!
The Duke of Clearford would like to marry for love, but his family’s secret erotic lending library makes that impossible. If the library is discovered, his wife would be ruined. But if he marries a member of the library, someone already courting scandal, he won’t have to risk an innocent’s reputation. He’s determined to do just that. Until he meets Lady Emma Blackwood—beautiful, intelligent, and entirely off limits. Chased out of Edinburgh by her enraged father and a scandal she did not cause, Lady Emma is determined to restart her matchmaking practice in London with a prestigious client the insufferable Duke of Clearford. Yet attraction, unexpected and consuming, threatens to their loyalty to duty and obligation
The final book of this delightful series, it’s easily read on its own but the Merriweather family features throughout. I loved both Samuel & Emma, they were attracted to each other from their first meeting in a community garden. I loved how their relationship grew & deepened. Their sisters were a delight & were determined to find the right ‘match’ for their eldest siblings. The banter was delicious, the attraction sizzled & the pace was good. There were plenty of hiccups on their journey which all made it an engrossing romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own