(Secret Brides, #1)
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)
Cover Blurb
How to Stop a Wedding
Young, widowed, and penniless, Lily Andrews, the Countess of Merrill,has strong opinions on marriage. When she spots a certain engagement announcement in The Times, she decides to take action. She will not allow another hapless girl to fall prey to a man—particularly the scoundrel who broke her heart five years ago. Anonymously she writes and distributes a pamphlet entitled “Secrets of a Wedding Night,” knowing it will find its way into his intended’s innocent hands…
How to Seduce a Widow
Devon Morgan, the Marquis of Colton, desires a good wife and mother to his son—someone completely unlike Lily Andrews, the heartless beauty who led him on a merry chase five years ago only to reject him. When Devon’s new fiancée cries off after reading a certain scandalous pamphlet, he vows to track down the author and make her pay. But when he learns it’s his former fiancée Lily, he issues a challenge: write a retraction or prepare to be seduced—to find out how wonderful a wedding night can be…
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SECRETS OF A WEDDING NIGHT, the first book in Valerie Bowman’s Secret Brides series, is a delightful tale of secrets, seduction and second chances, written with warmth, wit and style.
The things I love about this book:
Sexy, confident, strong, compassionate but stubborn hero ~
Society sees Devon as a gambler, a drinker and a rake. The reality is very different. Using his skill with numbers, Devon has accumulated a large fortune at the gaming tables and invested it wisely. Now he gambles in the squalor of the Rookery for one reason only…. to restore a family heirloom which was a symbol of his ancestry. Having once been deserted by the woman he loved in favour of an older, richer man, Devon now hides his true financial situation. The woman he marries must love him for himself and not his money. His love for his illegitimate son, Justin, and his rescue of an adorable puppy reveal a kinder and softer side to Devon. When Lily needs a knight in shining armour, he comes to her aid.
Resilient, protective, loyal and equally stubborn heroine ~
Left in financial straits after her father dies, Lily is determined to keep her “ragtag little household” together. Nothing is more important than her sister’s happiness and I can understand why Lily is overprotective. She wants Anne to have the freedom she didn’t enjoy whilst under the control of firstly her father and then her elderly husband. I can also understand her reluctance to trust Devon with her heart. To all appearances, he is a carbon copy of her father who drank and then gambled away everything. I love the fact that she is scared of spiders…something so many of us ladies share. It gives her a very human edge.
Delicious sexual tension and steamy passion ~
I enjoyed all the varied nuances of Devon and Lily’s romance.
The feelings of hurt and anger reflected in their barbed remarks to each other…
“I see in addition to your renowned gambling and rakishness, you’ve also turned to the bottle. Are you trying for all the seven sins?”
His voice was calm. “And I see in addition to your renowned flirtations and fickleness, your skills as a hostess leave much to be desired.”
The strong attraction that still simmers below the surface…
He was a drug. That’s what he was. Like opium. A maddening, unhealthy pleasure that left her senses reeling.
Blast it. He was already plagued with indecent thoughts. This entire seduction plot would be much easier if he weren’t driven half mad just looking at her.
The seduction …
She moaned when his warm lips finally touched hers. The contact was almost unbearable. It was the softest, smoothest, least aggressive kiss he’d ever given her. It demanded nothing from her and made her feel more than all the other kisses combined.
The lies…
“Damn it, Lily. Will you listen you me? I never intended to profit from it. You must belive me.”
She clenched her fists at her sides. “Believe you? A liar? A gambler? A man who prizes money above all else? What sort of fool do you take me for?.”
A lasting love…
Tears flowed down Lily’s cheek. She smiled through them. “I love you, Devon. I always have.”
An engaging cast of secondary characters ~
I adore Lily’s loyal servants – Evans, the butler who had the habit of falling asleep at the most inopportune moments and Mary, the lady’s maid with an unfortunate memory problem. I love the way in which Lily’s sister, Anne matures during the course of the story:
Oh, Anne, when did you become so wise?”
Anne smiled a knowing smile. “When you weren’t looking, dear sister.”
I also enjoyed the interactions between Devon and his friend, Jordan Holloway, Earl of Ashbourne and Devon’s jealousy of Lily’s friend, Viscount Medford.
Overall, this was a charming fast-paced story filled with humour and passion and a very impressive debut novel from Ms Bowman. I will definitely be reading the other books I have in this series.
REVIEW RATING: 4.5/5 Stars
SENSUALITY RATING: HOT
Read March 2014
The Secret Brides series (click on cover for more details):
Rakes And Rascals 
LOVE this series so much 🙂
I already have A Secret Proposal and It Happened Under the Mistletoe but I need to get the other books in the series.
I read them all and each one is different and enjoyable in its own way. Valerie is well on her way to becoming one of my fave authors, joining Kieran Kramer and Vicky Dreiling and Eileen Dreyer…and those are just to begin with 😉
Mel, I love discovering new authors.
I loved this one too, but I have not yet read the other books from the series. Ack! Glad you liked it as much as I did!
Sharlene, I have two other books but I want to read the series in order and so I need to get the remaining books. Taking a leaf out of your book! My problem is that, doing my TBR Pile Challenge, I’m not buying anymore books at the moment.
My library system has them, but I already have a ton of books out.
Oh yes! I really loved this book too!
🙂