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Ebook366 pages5 hours
A Tale of Two Lovers
By Maya Rodale
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
An incredible new talent, Maya Rodale continues her deliciously exciting “Writing Girls” historical romance series with A Tale of Two Lovers. Fans of the bestselling romance of Laura Lee Guhrke and Suzanne Enoch will adore this Regency Era-set love story from one of the most exciting members of the new generation of romantic fiction writers. A Tale of Two Lovers is a wonder, chronicling the deliciously passionate twists and turns that ensue when The London Weekly’s fearless gossip columnist, the “Lady of Distinction,” ruins her reputation by slandering the notorious Lord Roxbury, leaving them both no recourse except marriage…to each other!
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Author
Maya Rodale
Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother's insistence. She is now the bestselling and award-winning author of smart and sassy romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.
Read more from Maya Rodale
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Reviews for A Tale of Two Lovers
Rating: 3.772727272727273 out of 5 stars
4/5
55 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Julianna Somerset is a young widow supporting herself in 19th century London as a gossip columnist (identity hush-hush, of course). Lord Simon Roxbury is a rake notorious for his skills at seduction. When Roxbury's father issues an ultimatum that his son either marry within a month or be cut off, it unfortunately coincides with a juicy piece of gossip in Lady Somerset's column that shuts the doors of high society firmly in Roxbury's face. Then Julianna and Roxbury quickly engage in a love-hate relationship that was just great fun to watch. A bit predictable in the big picture (not really a criticism of a romance, unless one wants to criticize the whole genre) but often surprising in the particular events. A touch repetitive, but not annoyingly so. Rodale's characters are a hoot (one of my favorite things about this book is that it's believable when the characters (inevitably) turn the corner from loathing to loving. It's not the deepest character study I've ever seen, but the development is there), and the bits of newspaper gossip we get feel deliciously of the time. A mystery about the identity of a rival gossip columnist adds just enough interest beyond the romance between the principles. Delightfully fun.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An interesting book but I was not able to warm to the heroine. Julianna, the heroine, is somewhat secretly writing a gossip column. She destroys the hero, Lord Roxbury's reputation in her column. He is determined to get back at her for this. Honestly, I was on his side at this point. It made me wonder how many other people's lives she had destroyed. Ostensibly she writes the column to support herself since her husband died but I doubt the column pays as well as her lifestyle. Anyway, Lord Roxbury ends up ruining her reputation and the two end up married to save both of their reputations. I never was really able to warm to the heroine and their relationship didn't seem to deal with any of their pre-marriage issues.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After falling in love with the first in the series "A Groom of One's Own" I was so excited to read Julianna's story. This series is about four women that write together for a newspaper and each book is their story. Now I have recently fallen in love with this author, and so I was really looking forward to reading more of her work. Now it was not my favorite, I think I enjoyed the first one a lot more, but Tale of Two Lovers was a very enjoyable read and there were many things I liked about it.We begin with Julianna out on the town, looking for a new delicious scandal, to bring her ahead of her rival "Man About Town". Julianna then finds a shocking scandal, and can hardly wait to report it. So when we see this scandal (even I was surprised and a bit shocked but we find out the truth eventually but expect the unexpected in this story.) When she reports it, she expects her life to keep going great and getting better, only her life starts a spiral downward. Now Julianna at first seems a bit shallow being a reporter on scandal and all. We start to see more depth to her as you continue forward in the story. Then we turn to Simon, who is one of the top rakes, loves women, has had countless mistresses and affairs (more than anyone should ever have), and when his father hands him this ultimatum he is more than shocked and angry. However when the scandal reaches his ears, and everyone looks at him like he is a bug to stamp on, he knows that his life has been changed forever. So he vows on revenge, now I was kinda on his side at this point. And boy did I love the come back he did against Julianna, and it definitely had my laughing to the point I couldn't breathe. So if you want a good laugh, just read this story, it will crack you up to tears. There is a strong hate/love relationship we see develop here. They both despise each other in the beginning and the middle, but towards the end is where it really gets good.Now I think I fell in love with Roxbury from the beginning, he is your average alpha male type rake, but he is very amiable and passionate and I love how he doesn't hide from his mistakes and doesn't blame it on others. He takes it all in stride, and I couldn't help but admire him for that. I found him to be way more noble than Julianna. Now Julianna, I really wanted to like her and I tried hard to, but there were so many things I didn't like about her, until the end. She seemed so, too proud and greedy at times. I understand her background and bad experience with men, but it just got on my nerves to the point I wanted to shake some sense into her. Don't get me wrong I didn't hate her, I just didn't like her. She seemed to me to have this superior attitude at times, and even though the second half of the book she slowly mellows down a bit, so I grew to like her a bit better, but overall she just didn't reach to me all that well.Overall it was a good and solid read, and there were things I liked and things I didn't like too much. I felt like there was enough plot and tension and sensuality to be a strong book. I also liked how we see the secondary characters and their involvement in the story, and there were a few scenes that definitely won my heart over. There was charm and wit and a sense of playfulness to the story line that only added to the wickedly enticing story. There was some extreme measures put in play here, that I just soaked up toward the end. Even though there were a few things I didn't like, I felt like this was such a enthralling read, that just draws you in like a magnet, and I couldn't help but find a story that sent shivers down my spine and enough sizzling tension to curl your whole body.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/53.5 StarsThis was a solidly written, moderately steamy, historical romance. It was unique and adventurous. The main characters, Julianna and Simon, are fun to read. Both are witty and multi-layered. They spar and torment each other- then begin to secretly mutually respect and desire one another. It's a lovely seduction. By the end they have both truly and deeply fallen in love. This is a smart, sexy and a delightful tale to read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A TALE OF TWO LOVERS follows Julianna, a popular gossip columnist for a weekly paper who can't make ends meet without her beloved job, and Roxbury, a rake whose father has decreed he must marry or lose all access to family funds. Julianna and Roxbury clash after she prints a juicy piece of gossip about him at exactly the wrong moment, and it isn’t long before their mutual antagonism has destroyed both their prospects. A marriage of convenience seems like the obvious solution, but can two strong-willed enemies who are determined not to fall in love possibly make a go of it?Okay, we all know how it ends. It’s a romance novel, yeah? Thing is, truly good romance novels let you (meaning me) forget the obvious ending. They either trick you into becoming so invested with the characters that you truly believe in their potential separation, or they entertain you to such an extent that you don’t care that you know about the upcoming HEA.A TALE OF TWO LOVERS falls into the latter camp. My dears, this is a spectacularly fun story! Both Julianna and Roxbury are strong-willed and feisty. Neither backs down after the initial volley, and their attempts to thwart one another become increasingly pointed as the feud drags out. You’ve gotta love a romance novel where the heroine and the hero spend the first hundred and fifty-odd pages screwing each other over. Especially when they’re so obviously perfect for one another, and so totally incapable of seeing it.Rodale tempers these vicious jabs with a fair measure of sexual tension. That’s tension, mind; the characters are instantly attracted to one another, but this isn’t your average I-must-snog-you-or-I-shall-DIE romance. They share one kiss quite early on, then refrain from more until they know one another much better (and until they’ve stopped trying to destroy one another). Rodale does a wonderful job of balancing desire with romance. She tempers the characters’ physical attraction to one another with the genuine affection that springs up despite all they do to fight against it.I like a good sex scene as much as the next girl, but I love a romance that unfolds slowly and naturally. Rodale delivers the goods. She doesn’t rush a thing. By the time the characters come together, body and soul, it feels right.On the downside, there’s a fair amount of repetition herein, and most of it falls quite close together. Rodale particularly likes to remind us of how Julianna got her job, what went down with her previous marriage, and where her pistols are currently located. I was also a little unsure about certain aspects of the ending, which felt a tad rushed in places.Overall, though, this was excellent. I don’t hesitate to recommend it to other historical romance fans; in fact, I’ve already lent my copy to my mother. Maya Rodale has officially joined my list of Romance Authors To Inhale.This review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina, in a slightly different form.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5witty :)