Review: It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

SHE KNOWS BETTER THAN TO SAY “I DO”

After a humiliating end to her engagement, investment banker Sidney Sinclair is done with commitment-phobic men. But when her sister winds up engaged after a whirlwind courtship, she’s thrown in to close contact with exactly the kind of sexy playboy she wants to avoid—the gorgeous best man. She’s stuck with him, for better or worse, until her sister walks down the aisle, but that doesn’t mean she has to give in to his smooth advances, no matter how tempting they are…

BUT HE MAKES IT HARD TO SAY “I DON’T”

Special Agent Vaughn Roberts always gets his man on the job and his woman in bed. So Sidney’s refusal to fall for his charms only makes him more determined to win over the cool and confident redhead. Only what starts out as a battle of wills ends up as a serious play for her heart. Because the one woman who refuses to be caught may be the only one Vaughn can’t live without… of sexy playboy she wants to avoid—the gorgeous best man. She’s stuck with him, for better or worse, until her sister walks down the aisle, but that doesn’t mean she has to give in to his smooth advances, no matter how tempting they are . . .

One cannot go wrong with a Julie James book.  There is SO much to love!!  

Sidney and Vaughn to not fall easy into their love affair; they actually don't like each other.  Yet they're stuck until her sister and his brother get married.  They spar back and forth, a Julie James character trait, and you just know they are falling in love with each insult or quip that's thrown. 

Another aspect of Ms. James's books I enjoy are the secondary characters.  You never know who is going to return! 

Review: The Duke in My Bed by Amelia Grey

HERE COMES THE GROOM

As a notorious member of the Heirs’ Club, Bray Drakestone can’t resist a challenge from one of his well-heeled colleagues—especially when it involves money and horses. But the friendly wager takes an unexpected and deadly turn. Bray is forced to agree to marry one of his challenger’s five sisters—sight unseen. Now gamblers all over London are placing bets on whether Bray will actually go through with it…

THERE GOES THE BRIDE

Miss Louisa Prim, the eldest sister, doesn’t care a whit what the reckless rogue at the Heirs’ Club promised her brother—she has no intention of marrying the future Duke of Drakestone. Bray, however, sees her rejection as another challenge. He bets that the fiery Miss Prim will not only agree to marry him, she will propose to him! With four sisters behind her, Louisa knows she can’t lose. But why does her opponent have to be a divinely handsome scoundrel? And so sweetly, irresistibly seductive…

First, I love the cover.  All that purple!  Second, the exclusive I got at Heroes and Heartbreakers really sold me on this book.  I couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen next.

In The Duke in My Bed, Ms. Grey has taken a very prim young woman and a rakish man and changed their outlooks toward the other.  Their futures are entwined based upon a deathbed promise, one which Bray has no intention of keeping.  Louisa plans to live her life caring for her younger sisters, and as the blurb says, she isn't going to marry Bray, promise or not.  

Throughout the course of the narrative, we see their respective opinions change.  Louisa watches Bray with her sisters; Bray cannot stop thinking about Louisa.  Their involvement with each other begins with a promise yet morphs into so much more.  Their romance is a sweet one -- Louisa protests a bit too much at times -- but I thoroughly enjoyed watching them fall in love.

(A very special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Duke in My Bed.)