So this was a romance buddy read with WhiskeyintheJar/Kyraryker and Sam (AMNReader). The three of us I think all really enjoyed this though Sam is still finishing up. I really loved the entire plot (a marriage of convenience) with heat. The two main characters, Sukey and John were great and I loved how they did things differently though they were both part of the servant class. The sex scenes were highly explicit, but very very hot, I loved them and liked that we actually had these two trying their best with each other and wanting their marriage to work. I do wish the book had ended with more of a resolution between John and his terrible parents and with Sukey letting her mom know about something that she did. Other than that, I got a kick out of this book from beginning to end.

"Listen to the Moon" follows John Toogood and Sukey Grimes. Both of them are members of the servant class, though John is considered higher up on the ladder due to John being trained up to be a valet. Due to John not telling his former employer about her son's romantic entanglement he finds himself dismissed and unable to find another job. He moves into rooms across the street from a boardinghouse that Sukey works in. From their first meeting John and Sukey find the other one intriguing. However, Sukey vows to never marry and John feels as if he's too old (he's 40) to be trying to marry. He's focused on finding another position as fast as he can. John is given a lead at a local vicarage though the only problem is that the vicar refuses to hire a man that is not married. So John proposes that he and Sukey marry in order for them to take over running the vicarage. What follows from there is a great book that takes a look at servants in a household and the type of things they had to put up with in order to not be dismissed (sexual harassment, rape, etc.) I feel really foolish for never reading a historical romance that focused on the servants in the household instead of members of the "ton."

John was great. I loved how he wants to be a better man this his father and we find out why he's so reluctant to be a butler like his father. He is careful to not take out his frustrations with Sukey and is so kind and caring though he's a super type A person. My favorite scenes with him were definitely with him showing how much he thought of Sukey beyond the physical. There's a boot cleaning scene and a bath scene that I adored. Usually you get the heroes in historical romances being all big and powerful and it feels as if they can't be in the wrong. John owns his mistakes and actually tries to be a very good husband to Sukey.

Sukey is 20 and though she doesn't want to marry (due to her family history) she finds herself attracted to John. The new job situation would be perfect and we see her realizing that she has to change how she behaves towards others. We can see why Sukey is so defensive and her wondering if she and John will fit since he is much more educated than she is, but I thought she was gutsy and charming. 

We have the two leads dealing with several problems in the vicarage and then a big question comes up which can change their lives.

I loved the secondary characters we get to know such as Mrs. Khaleel and Molly. Mrs. Khaleel especially had a very intriguing story-line and had me wanting to read more about her. 

The writing was very good, I thought Lerner did a good job with the language in the time period we were reading and her being able to show us what duties that John and Sukey and an entire household would have. Also she did a great job of showing us how trapped you can get as a woman in this world.

The flow was very good switching between John and Sukey's third person point of view. 

The book's setting is 100 percent focused on the servants in this one. We hear about the "ton" and political parties and we know that affects things to a certain extent, but we really get a sense of how precarious these people's lives are if their employer takes up against them. The world is small and you can find yourself without a job or reference. 

The book's ending could have been tighter I thought since there were still a few things left in the air regarding John's parents. Other than that, I really enjoyed this one. 

I'm pretty sure I've said this before but if you like Courtney Milan, then you should read Rose Lerner's books. Milan leans better on the focus of the romance between the main couple and Lerner leans better on overreaching story but they are both top contributors in historical romance, in my humble opinion.

I swear the next time I read a Lerner book, I'm buying an extra copy for a friend so I can call them up every time I come across a line and theme that hits me hard in the feels and I feel like I'll explode if I don't get to discuss all angles of it. I think I've read three books by Lerner now and she seems to touch on classism quite a bit, and does an excellent job of it. I posted some quotes from the book in my reading updates but I had to wrestle myself down from quoting many longer passages. I'm not sure if I just don't have the time to write her books proper reviews or I simply don't have the ability. As with Milan books, they hit me on very personal levels and all I want to talk about are my feelings and my back and forth on the ideas, issues, and themes in the book. Gah, is there a strictly Lerner book club?! 

I'm telling you people, if you find yourself complaining about wallpaper historicals, TSTL heroines, over abundance of Dukes, and an overall feeling of sameness in historical romance (specifically in the regency time period) you NEED to be reading Lerner. 

*I did think this one had a bit of slow start with the politic focus but things smoothed out around the 20-30% mark. The story and characters are more subtle in their devastation to your feels and if you like the more overt regency romances (feisty heroines romping around and titled heroes broodingly scared of love, hey, I like those too) then this wouldn't be for you. But if you want something fresh and quietly devastating (the whole scene and speech where the hero says he loves the curtains, I found my eyes watering out of nowhere) then read this immediately. 

She turned it over in her mind. “It’s more like fear than embarrassment. Fear that you won’t think I’m a lady anymore.”

He propped himself up above her on his forearm, clearly delighted. It occurred to her that he must have picked up everything he knew about being gentry through observation. He had never been able to ask anyone directly before. “Ladies have bodies like other women,”he said.

"Yes…”She couldn’t think how to explain it. “It’s as if…as if one is trying to avoid reminding men that one is like other women. Men don’t always treat women very well.”

.................

She’d worked at being easy to love too. She’d made her father love her, and her brother—or at least it had felt that way. She’d made this town like her. It seemed sad, somehow; she wondered whether other people were loved naturally, without trying, even when they were difficult and useless. Whether she could have been, too.

He tried to not want her. If he could just find a part of himself that didn’t want her, he’d know what to say and how to make it sound natural.

He couldn’t even find a part of himself that could breathe.

While I read quite a few Historical Romances this year, it turns out that almost none that I loved were published this year. 

My favorite Historical Romance published in 2015 was...

1. Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt 

I love this series and this is a wonderful book. 

Here are the Best Historical Romances of 2015 according others and which are glaring at me from my Kindle To Be Read Now!!!

I have a lot to look forward to! Woo hoo! 

1. True Pretenses by Rose Lerner

Through sheer force of will, Ash Cohen raised himself and his younger brother from the London slums to become the best of confidence men. He's heartbroken to learn Rafe wants out of the life, but determined to grant his brother his wish.

It seems simple: find a lonely, wealthy woman. If he can get her to fall in love with Rafe, his brother will be set. There's just one problem--Ash can't take his eyes off her.

Heiress Lydia Reeve is immediately drawn to the kind, unassuming stranger who asks to tour her family's portrait gallery. And if she married, she could use the money from her dowry for her philanthropic schemes. The attraction seems mutual and oh so serendipitous--until she realizes Ash is determined to matchmake for his younger brother.

When Lydia's passionate kiss puts Rafe's future at risk, Ash is forced to reveal a terrible family secret. Rafe disappears, and Lydia asks Ash to marry her instead. Leaving Ash to wonder--did he choose the perfect woman for his brother, or for himself?

2. The Fighter and the Fallen Woman by Pamela Cayne

London, 1883

"People like us don't get happy endings."

In twelve years as a bangtail, Lady has never feared a man's kiss. Owned by the ruthless Hannibal Adams, the "Earl of the East End," she's draped in jewels and dead inside. Lady learns fear, however, when she kisses Mr. Adams's best fighter for luck—for King sees the real woman locked away behind finery and falsity.

King's life is made of fists and scars, the only things that have ever felt real to him. Even his name came from the man who owns him—the man who turned him into a champion. From the moment Lady's kiss sends him reeling, King resists wanting what he can't have. Mr. Adams never gives up what he owns.

When Lady is sent to nurse King through the tournament, she finds a new strength through the one man who's never treated her like a whore. King discovers that the woman who shares his dark world might also be the one to lead him out. And as the tournament comes to a violent finale, Lady and King must decide—stay spoiled and shackled, or break free and risk what happens when fear and dreams collide.

3. A Talent for Trickery (The Thief-Takers Series Book 1)  by Alissa Johnson

The Lady is a Thief
Years ago, Owen Renderwell earned acclaim-and a title-for the dashing rescue of a kidnapped duchess. But only a select few knew that Scotland Yard's most famous detective was working alongside London's most infamous thief...and his criminally brilliant daughter, Charlotte Walker.

Lottie was like no other woman in Victorian England. She challenged him. She dazzled him. She questioned everything he believed and everything he was, and he has never wanted anyone more. And then he lost her.

Now a private detective on the trail of a murderer, Owen has stormed back into Lottie's life. She knows that no matter what they may pretend, he will always be a man of the law and she a criminal. Yet whenever he's near, Owen has a way of making things complicated...and long for a future that can never be theirs.

4. Most Precious Pearl  by Piper Huguley 

sa Caldwell returned from the Great War with nothing to show for it—as in nothing below his left knee. Forget about the journalism career he loved. His story is over. Done.

Yet he finds the strength to journey to Winslow, Georgia, to get Ruby Bledsoe Morson’s sister out of trouble. Before he can bring Mags Bledsoe home, though, a spate of mysterious attacks reawakens his investigative instincts.

During the war, Mags did her duty to God and country by stepping into a management role at the textile mill. Now she’s been shuffled back to the rank and file—and Asa has her hard-earned job. Not only is the infernal man doing everything wrong, her plan for revenge against the mill owner who lynched her childhood sweetheart is farther out of reach than ever.

As they clash over almost everything, Mags begins to set fire to Asa’s soul, bright enough to dim the memory of the killing fields of France. Enough to give him a new mission in life—to make her feel the same way.

5. Doing No Harm by Carla Kelly

Douglas felt his face grow warm when Olive sat across from him. With no hesitation, she took his hand in hers.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Bowden. How on earth could anyone go through a lifetime of war and not have a bad dream or two?” She released his hand and just looked at him, her face so pleasant. He couldn’t think of a time he had seen such kindness, which made her nearly beautiful.

When war-weary Surgeon Douglas Bowden, recently retired from the Royal Navy, decides to set up a country practice, he wants to be far away from the ocean. But upon seeing a seriously injured boy in Edgar, Douglas rushes to help and finds himself in a Scottish fishing village right next to the sea.

There he meets Olive Grant, she of the Scottish fiery temperament who has long ago given up on romance and marriage. Promising to stay for only a few days until the boy is better, Douglas learns that Edgar has more problems than solutions. Little does he know that it’s his heart that needs the most loving care—and that Edgar (and Olive) are the perfect remedy.

6. The Brightest Day  by Kianna Alexander, Piper Huguley, Lena Hart, and Alyssa Cole:

The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology, with a foreword by the inimitable Beverly Jenkins, brings you four novellas highlighting love, light, and hope set over a period of history that’s often left in the shadows.

Amazing Grace, by Lena Hart:

It’s the year 1866—the Civil War is over and slavery has ended. Life for 18-year-old Gracie Shaw takes an unexpected turn when she is “encouraged” to marry a man sight-unseen. Boarded on a train headed West—to lawless territory—she is faced with misfortune at every turn and must accept the help of former Confederate soldier, Logan Finley, while denying herself the one thing she wants most. Him.

Drifting to You, by Kianna Alexander:

During the sultry Carolina summer of 1875, baker Rosaline Rhodes boards a Juneteenth cruise down the Cape Fear River. She's there to serve her famous cinnamon spice cake; shipbuilder Will Pruett is there for pleasure. They've denied their mutual attraction for months, but now the river won't be the only thing ebbing and flowing.

A Sweet Way to Freedom, by Piper Huguley:

In 1910, schoolteacher Missouri Baxter refuses to return home with a big belly and no husband. She’s got nine months to teach juke joint owner Arlo Tucker—a most reluctant student—an important lesson about what marriage means to their people. With God on her side, she'll show him “A Sweet Way to Freedom.”

Let It Shine, by Alyssa Cole:

Sofronia Wallis knows that proper Black women don't court trouble by upending the status quo, and they most certainly don't associate with roughneck Jewish boxers like Ivan Friedman. But it’s 1961 and the Civil Rights movement is in full swing. Change—and love—are coming whether Sofie is ready or not.

7. After a Fashion (A Class of Their Own Book #1) by Jen Turano

Miss Harriet Peabody dreams of the day she can open up a shop selling refashioned gowns to independent working women like herself. Unfortunately, when an errand for her millinery shop job goes sadly awry due to a difficult customer, she finds herself out of an income.

Mr. Oliver Addleshaw is on the verge of his biggest business deal yet when he learns his potential partner prefers to deal with men who are settled down and wed. When Oliver witnesses his ex not-quite-fiance cause the hapless Harriet to lose her job, he tries to make it up to her by enlisting her help in making a good impression on his business partner.

Harriet quickly finds her love of fashion can't make her fashionable. She'll never truly fit into Oliver's world, but just as she's ready to call off the fake relationship, fancy dinners, and elegant balls, a threat from her past forces both Oliver and Harriet to discover that love can come in the most surprising packages.

8. The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne 

STEALING BEAUTY
Dorian Blackwell, the Blackheart of Ben More, is a ruthless villain. Scarred and hard-hearted, Dorian is one of Victorian London's wealthiest, most influential men who will stop at nothing to wreak vengeance on those who've wronged him...and will fight to the death to seize what he wants. The lovely, still innocent widow Farah Leigh Mackenzie is no exception-and soon Dorian whisks the beautiful lass away to his sanctuary in the wild Highlands...

COURTING DESIRE
But Farah is no one's puppet. She possesses a powerful secret-one that threatens her very life. When being held captive by Dorian proves to be the only way to keep Farah safe from those who would see her dead, Dorian makes Farah a scandalous proposition: marry him for protection in exchange for using her secret to help him exact revenge on his enemies. But what the Blackheart of Ben More never could have imagined is that Farah has terms of her own, igniting a tempestuous desire that consumes them both. Could it be that the woman he captured is the only one who can touch the black heart he'd long thought dead?

9. The Lady Hellion  by Joanna Shupe

A rabble rouser for justice, Sophie's latest mission is to fight for the rights of the poor, the wretched--and the employees at Madame Hartley's brothel. She's not concerned about the criminals who will cross her path, for Sophie has mastered the art of deception--including the art of wearing trousers. Now her fate is in her own hands, along with a loaded gun. All she needs is instruction on how to shoot it. But only one person can help her: Lord Quint, the man who broke her heart years ago. The man she won't let destroy her again...

The last thing Damien Beecham, Viscount Quint, needs is an intrusion on his privacy, especially from the beautiful, exasperating woman he's never stopped wanting. A woman with a perilously absurd request, no less. For Damien is fighting a battle of his own, one he wishes to keep hidden--along with his feelings for Lady Sophia. Yet that fight is as hopeless as stopping her outlandish plan. Soon all Quint knows for certain is that he will die trying to protect her...

10. This Gun for Hire by Jo Goodman

He’s got a job to do…

Former army cavalryman Quill McKenna takes pride in protecting the most powerful man in Stonechurch, Colorado: Mr. Ramsey Stonechurch himself. But the mine owner has enemies, and after several threats on his life, mines, and family, Quill decides to hire someone to help guard the boss’s daughter. Only problem is the uncontrollable attraction he feels toward the fiery-haired woman who takes the job. 

…but she’s a piece of work. 

Calico Nash has more knowledge of scouting and shooting than cross-stitching, but she agrees to pose as Ann’s private tutor while protecting her. But between her growing attraction to Quill and the escalating threats against the Stonechurches, Calico will soon have a choice to make—hang on to her hard-won independence or put her faith in Quill to create the kind of happy ending she never imagined…

Vote for your favorite  at Best Historical Romance 2015 and please give a shout out here to what I should read. Boss me around!