There was something essential and elemental to watching a man perform physical labor, something that hit her as hard as a horse kicked. Instead of an explosion of pain, though, warmth blossomed inside, a flame that somehow unfurled in her belly.

Fascinated, she watched a droplet of sweat quiver at the base of Mr. Crosby’s neck until it slipped into the furrow that delineated his spine and slid down to the waistband of his breeches. For some reason, that inner flame fed on the sight and grew hot enough to scorch.

Lady Carolyn/Caro Wilde was the second daughter of the Duke of Sherrington. Since the kid Gus came to  Sherrington manor at the end of the school  term he had begged Caro for riding lessons. Gus was seven but wanted to jump the big hedges the way Caro did. Caro wants to join the next great hunt. Caro was determined to be allowed to ride in the male oriented sport of Hunting. Caro was not interested in gossip or drinking tea with other young ladies as was appropriate Gus’s father was married to Caro’s sister. Caro found Gus in a ditch but she was having problems lifting Gus out of the ditch. Then a man rode up named Adrian and said” it appears to me that you need my. help”. Then he realized one of the people in the ditch was a female and told her they had to get the boy to the manor and get a doctor. Caro was blaming herself when Lizzie- her sister said no one actually knew when Gus would wake up. Adrian was born out of wedlock but was raised with an education. Adrian’s mom was a tenant of Lord Wyvern and the Lord’s wife decided to take Adrian under her wing therefore he received an education he learned everything there was to learn about managing an estate ..  Adrian was hired to work for Caro’s father as the new estate manager as there had been a recent exposure that the  old manager was embezzling the family so then they had needed a new estate manager. Adrian was to get the estate back into good standing. Adrian feels they need to plant the fields. But Caro wants that land to work and train her horses .Caro’s father was in bed most of the time with one imaginary illness after another.  Adrian and Caro are attracted to each other. Caro had no plans of marriage or children.

I basically enjoyed this story for the most part, it just didn’t WOW me in any way.So I did have mixed feelings about it. It dragged some but not enough to make me want to stop reading. I liked Adrian’s character a lot but wasn’t crazy about Caro who to me was very self centered and selfish. Then all of a sudden she falls in love with Adrian even though they can’t publicly be together but will change herself completely for the man just didn’t sit right with me not realistic as far as I am concerned. This had a pretty good plot. I liked the ins and outs of the story but still had mixed feelings. I would have liked to rate this a 3.5.

Day One post

Wednesday (May 3rd) was the official start to the convention. I skipped the 7am work outs since I was still jet lagged, but I could only make myself get a few hours of sleep (a habit that lasted the entire convention). I hit up the coffee shop for a venti-sized tea and a piece of banana bread (I don't trust hotel catering to have enough food for all attendees) and met up with a fellow COYER group member and BL'er Lexxie (Unconventional Book Views)! After having breakfast with Lexxie, I went to the welcome breakfast; the guest speaker was Karen Robards. I thought she did an okay job opening the convention, but it seemed a lot of her speech was about previous, long ago RT cons and not much about this one. That was another theme - most attendees are long time RT convention goers and there is a feeling of cliques and talking about the old times. Then the staff at RT each had to take the mic to talk (boring)...which authors in attendance used that time to start pushing their books to the readers at their tables. Lots of aspiring and current authors writing "dark, gritty" romantic suspense is my take away.

First reader event I went to was Trope Bingo. The organizers did not plan to have so many people attend this event and ended up scrambling to set up more tables. Then more people showed up after another reader event closed due to running out of supplies. I had fun at the Bingo and met some readers that wanted to talk about what their favorite/least favorite tropes were.

Next I went to the Maple Syrup and Mounties reader event. This was one of the best reader events of the convention! Funny, smart ladies (authors Viola Grace, Lucy Farago, Eve Langlais, Ashlynn Macnamara, and Mandy Rosko) who organized and prepared for the crowd. The swag was pretty great too. FYI: Eve Langlais is pretty damn proud that she was able to put a moose shifter romance on the best seller list (Outfoxed by Love) and Ashlynn Macnamara is proud of her books' butt covers (Eton Boys Trilogy). These authors not only enjoyed interacting with the audience (it was a rowdy quiz type of event), but they seemed to really enjoy being around each other. One of my highlights of the convention.

Lunch time and then I stood in line for the one reader event I was most looking forward to - the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Reader Recommendation Party! It definitely lived up to my expectations. I ended up winning a raffle, so I took home a short story collection centered around World War I called Fall of Poppies. I have been eyeing this book for some time now and when I saw it on the prize table I had to grab it. The Bitches were as lovely and funny as they are on the blog and on the podcast. Another big highlight for me, as it was truly about the readers talking about books with other readers.

Some books recommended:

The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne (historical set during the French Revolution)

The Iron Duke Series by Meljean Brooks (steampunk)

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper (paranormal)

Blood on the Earth (Soulwood #1) by Faith Hunter (spin-off of the Jane Yellowrock series)

Roller Girl (Lake Lovelace #3) by Vanessa North (f/f contemporary featuring a trans woman as one half of the couple)

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare (historical)

Bedchamber Games by Tracey Anne Warren (historical)

The Glassblower Series by Petra Durst Benning (historical)

Pages of the Mind by Jeffe Kennedy (fantasy)

The First Star I See Tonight by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (sports contemporary romance)

Rites of Passage (Tulsa Thunderbirds #4) by Catherine Gayle (sports contemporary romance with HIV+ characters)

A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1) by Amanda Bouchet (fantasy)

Anything by KJ Charles pretty much

The SBTB party was still going but I left after winning so I could make it to my first author panel, Welcome to Americana, featuring Alyssa Cole, Kianna Alexander, Kate McMurray, Beverly Jenkins, Piper Huguley, and Joanna Shupe. What a great discussion! Everything from the state of American historical romance (in terms of what is being published right now) to how they go about researching the history for their stories. Kate McMurray has a really great blog post on her website in regards to POC/LGBT+ people in historical romance not being present in mainstream historical romance and that readers really have to search to find the authors that are writing outside the mainstream. Most importantly, American historical romance is oversaturated with cowboys and mail order brides - and these authors are trying to expand American historical romance to include POC/LGBT+/urbanites. Everyone on the panel had some very thought-provoking things to say about racism, sexism, homophobia, and historical romance writing. Shout out to reference and research librarians for providing plot bunnies and historical research for the authors.

Took a much needed break from all the people, then headed to the Petticoats & Pistols party. Here the organizers actually had a big enough room that attendees could walk and mingle about without being crushed. I enjoyed the outfits the authors and cover models wore and the design of the party. Probably my favorite social event of the convention - it was low-key enough to take in at my leisure, but high-spirited enough to build excitement for the attendees. Here I got to meet Merry Farmer, a personal favorite of mine and talk with Joanna Shupe about her panel I attended. Shupe encouraged me to try my hand at writing historical romance. Maybe....someday.

After the party I was tired from being around so many people all day, so I got dinner and headed to my room. I didn't expect or intend to make this a very historical romance intensive day, but it is my favorite subgenre. So many new to me authors to try.

Caro has been allowed to run a bit wild. She is an excellent horsewoman who wants to ride with the men in a hunt. Marriage would mean an end to that. Adrian comes into her life, shows tenderness to a boy he does not know, and tries to help manage the family money. Curiosity and lust pulls Caro to Adrian, and she loses her heart. There are some ups and downs, misunderstandings and good intentions throughout, enough to keep me reading. When Caro took the chance of giving up everything she cared for, I rooted for her to be right. I recommend this story and the series.

I received a copy of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.

TO TAME A WILD LADY (Duke-Defying Daughters #2)

To me this was a story of reverse roles where the rogue doing the seducing was the lady and the temptation was the gentleman.
We met Caroline in the first installment of the series as the second daughter of the Duke of Sherrington. Although a lady of good breeding, she had no interest in securing a husband and even the prospect of marriage was the least of her concerns. He main concern had always been her horses and more recently to take part in a very important race where only gentlemen were allowed. When Adrian was hired as the new estate agent some of his ideas did not sit well with Caroline because they would affect her horses and because they would only complicate her very private plans to be included in the men-only race she so desperately wanted to be part of.

Caroline and Adrian could sound the typical enemies-to-lovers trope but that could not be farther from the truth. Adrian is one of the most honest, caring, hard-working, loving heroes I’ve read in a long time, thus he really never behaved as an enemy to her; on the contrary, he was always protective and considerate. Every time Caroline tried to sound petulant or gave voice against one of his plans he very patiently explained why he thought his plans would work or simply put her mind at ease with straightforward logic. In other words, he always treated her with respect. Even when feelings for each other were expressed he clearly explained his position could never let him aspire to more with her and that for both their sakes he could not let her love him.
I liked how they resolved their love issues and how they reached their HEA. Throughout the book Caroline sounded impetuous, sometimes childish, and way too improper for a lady of her times (blamed it on her father that was never near to keep an eye on his unmarried daughters but was always willing to tell them what to do if he so saw fit) however the fact that she was willing to give up her most valued possession in order to see Adrian happy redeemed her in my eyes. I liked the first one better but this one is still another good read IMHO.

*** I received this book from the author at no cost to me and I volunteered to read it; this is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.***