Review: A FUN READ!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2013
Romancing His English Rose by Catherine Hemmerling is the second book in the Lady Lancaster Garden Society series.  While it can stand alone and the romance in it is not dependent on the first book, it is better to have read the first in the series as quite a number of allusions to it are made.  The Garden Society has nothing to do with gardening, but is a secret society of young women who investigate crimes of interest to Lady Lancaster.Rose is a strong character, both for her time, and within the context of the story.  It makes Simon look weaker than he may otherwise have appeared.  The romance, in that sense, revolves around Simon growing into manhood whereas Rose was always a lady and highly mature.  It made for an interesting change in the roles in historical romance and was quite refreshing if a little frustrating at times.  Simon often comes off as quite small and petty up against Rose.The mystery is one that is quite personal to the characters and the villain has clearly been introduced in the first book.  The way the mystery is solved is pulled from historical records and the beginnings of forensics, which was fun to read about.  It wasn't so much a "whodunit" mystery as a "How can we prove he did it?" mystery, which read in places more like a thriller than a suspense.It was a fun read, and I got a little history too.  It's definitely one to read, just read Book 1 in the series (Taming Her Forbidden Earl) first.RATING: 4Heat Rating:  MildREVIEWED BY: Monique NeavesCourtesy of My Book Addiction and More