Review: Just Marvelous
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 17, 2013
Fallen in love with Ms. Burke's writing.  I read and reviewed the 1st book in this series "Her Wicked Ways", for that review - just look at that book.  After finishing the 1st I was eager to read more and found this package much to my delight.  It did not disappoint, though I was surprised to find myself really liking Lord Ambrose Sevrin & Lady Philippa in the last book more than I did the second with Lord Jasper Sinclair & Olivia West.Dealing with the last: "To Seduce a Scoundrel" Ambrose & Philippa story had a depth of emotions and realism greater than most romance novels.  Ambrose is a Lord, but he's also a fighter/boxer and the descriptions are rather vivid at times, but well done as they don't gloss over the violence of the sport, but also use it to illuminate the story and why he fights.  This figures in Jasper Sinclair too, but somehow it was more believable with Ambrose.  Ambrose is our tortured hero with a past to overcome and Philippa is a paragon of virtue who has that all endangered upon their first true meeting.  The start of their relationship while just as fast as most somehow rang much truer.  You're cheering for them both all the way through it.  Philippa is extremely likeable - you want to know her and Ambrose, well - who doesn't love a strong, handsome, sexy man who will protect you?  The conficts the characters have to overcome are interesting and well fleshed out, and the minor characters are also interesting and keep the novel moving.The middle book - "His Wicked Heart" is a good story and one will absolutely love Jasper's Aunt, but the misunderstandings between Jasper and Olivia and the trust issues between characters get a little old as it progresses.  The sudden change of one character from apparently being honorable to not didn't fit well for me, and could have borne a bit more development in my opinion.  I would elaborate, but then it would be a spoiler alert and I'm not a fan of reviews that do that.  In the end, the story is satisfying and the characters are memorable, but the 1st and the last especially book in this trio are far superior in my opinion.