One More Kiss

By Mary Blayney

Mary Blayney, the acclaimed author of Courtesan’s Kiss, returns to the Pennistan family with this new historical romance—the delectable story of a free-spirited beauty with no interest in marriage who gets more than she bargained for when a seductive kiss leads to the possibility of love.
 
Dispatched by their ambitious father to snag a titled husband, Beatrice Brent and her twin sister, Cecilia, attend a house party with an array of eligible gentlemen. Defiantly ignoring her father’s wishes, Beatrice flirts shamelessly with Lord Jessup Pennistan, a gamer with scandal in his past—and the one man her father has warned her against. But when flirting goes too far, Beatrice suddenly finds herself engaged and, worse, estranged from her family. Though convinced that her fiancé’s wicked ways will bring nothing but heartache, Beatrice is powerless against Jess’s masterful seduction and the anticipated delights of the marriage bed.
 
A gambling man who has lost more than his family is willing to forgive him for, Jess quickly realizes that compromising Beatrice was the best mistake he ever made. But to keep her he must right the wrongs of the past, reclaim his lost fortunes, and place the boldest wager of his life. For now he has everything to win . . . and everything to lose.

Praise for One More Kiss
 
“One More Kiss sets itself squarely in Pride and Prejudice territory, both in sentiment and conclusion, with Beatrice and Cecilia playing the parts of Elizabeth and Jane Bennett. The book is light in tone and surprisingly literate in execution. One section has the characters delving into the nature and societal underpinnings of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in a manner worthy of literary fiction rather than a mass market romance; another passage skews off into a discussion on the genius of Rembrandt’s sketches. Dialogue is more witty than suggestive, characters more chaste than reckless. . . . One More Kiss is a delightful combination of social comedy, slight mystery, and sweet romance. It’s a thoroughly charming novel, well worth a read.”—New York Journal of Books
 
“Delectable . . . a fun, marriage-minded . . . Regency romp that showcases Blayney’s knowledge of the era. One More Kiss is a charming double love story.”—RT Book Reviews
 
“What a fun romance. Oh, the sparks that fly between Lord Jesse and Beatrice are so hot it is surprising that the pages do not sizzle. . . . This story is witty, amusing, steamy and romantic.”—Night Owl Romance

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9780345535740

Mary Blayney

Mary Blayney’s first writing effort, at age 14, was a script for her favorite TV show. She has written ever since but did not discover until she was a “grownup” that people would correct your mistakes and then pay you for what you wrote.In the years since she has written more than twenty novels. Her first were for contemporaries for Silhouette, including FATHER CHRISTMAS which is now available as an ebook.The rest of her books are Regency set romances, including four novels and one novella in the Braedon Series (originally published by Kensington), five titles in the Pennistan Family Saga (published by Bantam) and eight novellas in anthologies that features a magic coin. Mary also published an original novella “Playing for Keeps” in the anthology ONCE AND FOREVER.Mary believes that life is best lived with joy, love and a generous heart and it is those ideas she most wants to share with her readers.Please visit Mary on her website at www.MaryBlayney.com and connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorMaryBlayney.

Reviews for One More Kiss

[amdrane2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. It took me a couple of days to read it because I just kept getting bored with it. This is the first book by this author that I've read so I'm not sure if it was just this book or her writting style that I didn't care for. It just seemed as if nothing really exciting happened. I wasn't to impressed with the characters either. I got tired reading about how short one of the guys were, I mean every time his name was brought up it would mention how short he was. The main guy, Jess, kept being told to leave the girls alone because he was such a rake, but most times he wasn't even doing anything. Maybe I'll try reading another of her books to see how I feel about her writing, but as of now I really can't say that I'd recommend this book.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My rating: 4 of 5 starsOne more Kiss by Mary Blayney is a Bantam publication with a tentative release date of April 2013. This is the fifth in a series, but you wouldn't know it was part of a series. It could easily be read as a stand alone novel. Jess Pennistan is "gamer" and arch enemy of Lord Crenshaw. After losing some land to Crenshaw while gambling, Jess has shown up at a house party hosted by a Countess, a good friend to Mr. Brent- a man in "trade", but wealthy enough and connected enough to try and get his daughters, Beatrice and Cecilia, a season in London. The party was given to introduce Beatrice and Cecilia to different elements of society and give them some "practice" at flirtation. All Jess and Viscount Bendabrook want is to spend their time gambling, hopefully giving Jess the chance to win back the land he lost to Crenshaw. Beatrice and Cecilia have been warned to steer clear of Jess due to his terrible reputation. But, Beatrice is instantly taken with him. Jess also finds himself curious about Beatrice. The Brent sisters couldn't be more different. Beatrice is content to focus on education, art and hopefully a career instead of marriage. Cecilia is overly cautious, takes few risk, always does as she is told. She is known for her beauty, but nothing deeper than that. A season in London is much more important to Cecilia than it is to Beatrice. But, Beatrice is determined to see her sister's dreams come true. Beatrice is curious about Jess. The details of his fall from grace are unknown to her and she is determined to find out what scandals he was guilty of. Much to her surprise she finds that some people consider Jess a hero and a very honorable man. This makes Beatrice even more curious and more attracted to Jess. Meanwhile, Viscount Bendabrook is smitten by Cecilia and each works to prove to the other that they see past looks and are looking for something deeper in a person. The courtship between the Viscount and Cecilia provides some laugh out loud moments.,When I first saw the reviews for this one on Goodreads, I noticed there were some rather lukewarm reactions. No, there is nothing groundbreaking here. It is a typical regency period historical romance. No, there isn't a lot of explicit sex scenes. In fact, on the steam level it would only rate a two. The story was drawn out a bit longer that it should have and could have been cut down just a bit. Having said that, I did enjoy the story. Beatrice being a free spirited girl, was open minded about Jess and didn't form a negative opinion about him until she had the facts straight. Her sister, Cecilia is more delicate, and more innocent and less confident, but learned to take risk and prove she had brains as well as beauty. The character of Jess and his efforts to help someone at a great cost to his personal reputation, shows us he is not the rogue that even he has convinced himself that he is. I was also impressed with the author's staying true to the ethics and language and behavior of the time period. The book is well written, the story is sweet, and has a HEA for all. Overall a B. Thanks to the publishers and Edelweiss for the ARC.

[books007_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Jess is the one man Beatrice has been warned away from by her father (and the one man she can't see to stay away from.) Lord Jess is a gambling man with a past that may seem like appealing to most than it really is. And Beatrice may be the one woman worth fighting for.I really enjoyed this book. I would best describe is as an historical romance with a little mystery added. Lord Jess and Beatrice (as well as other characters in this book) were enjoyable to read about and I did feel like I connected with them. The plot was a fun to watch unfold as well. The main "con" I have with this book is parts did seem to drag on too much. I never found myself losing interest but maybe it is best described as too long of a build-up. Overall, good read but not necessary a quick one. I would definitely read more by this author. I received this book in exchange for an honest review for NetGalley.