Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book Info
Kindle Edition, 384 pages
Expected publication:January 27th 2015 by Harlequin HQN
original title The Devil Takes A Bride
ASIN B00IWTZ1FA
edition language English
series The Cabot Sisters #2
other editions (3)
Source:Netgalley EARC

Book Buy Links
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BOOK SYNOPSIS

From powerful love to sizzling passion, Julia London always delivers an incomparable reading experience. Returning to her acclaimed Cabot Sisters series, we meet an earl who can only be tamed by one wicked lady…

A plan born of desperation…

Once the toast of society, Grace Cabot and her sisters now await the shame of losing high status and fine luxuries upon the death of the Earl of Beckington. The dire circumstances are inevitable unless, of course, Grace's wicked plot to seduce a wealthy viscount into marriage goes off without a single hitch. But once a stolen embrace with the wrong man leads her to be discovered in the arms of Geoffrey, the Earl of Merryton, her plan takes a most unexpected—and scorching—twist.

…and altered by passion.

Governed by routine and ruled by duty, Geoffrey had no desire for a wife before he succumbed to Grace's temptation. Though his golden-haired, in-name-only bride is the definition of disorder, he can't resist wanting her in every way. But once her secrets meet his, society might consider their lives to be ruined beyond repair…while Geoffrey might just see it as a new beginning.

My Thoughts

Having found myself intrigued by this second book in the Cabot Sisters series, while hitting myself over the head for not reading the first one to get a better background on Grace and her siblings, was pleased when my request was approved and downloaded from Netgalley. Waited to read until closer to the then late July release date not really knowing what to expect other than a typical victorian historical romance, it was a bit more complicated than that once Grace’s plot was actually executed and to her surprise, and the delight of the reader, she got much more than she bargained for when she found herself caught up in a passionate encounter the likes of which she had never dreamed of while hatching her scheme to snare a husband!

What happens after the couple are discovered together is pretty much standard as they marry in haste to satisfy the rigid moral expectations of the time period and their social peers. However what happens after the actual wedding and subsequent removal to the Earl’s country seat is anything but standard to the genre, rather it is at times too hysterical for words and at other times so very melancholy as to make one weep in despair that things will ever work out for Grace and Jeffrey!

I particularly found myself wondering exactly why Jeffrey, the Earl of Merryton, was given such a burden to bear as the one he found himself shouldering at a young age. The harshness of his father’s treatment of him was part of the cause of his perceived affliction but it did not account for it in its entirety. The fact that if discovered Jeffrey’s particular peculiarity would not be socially acceptable was also a huge factor in how he isolated himself from public gatherings as much as he was able to do so. Even family gatherings, that disturbed the structured order of routine with all their noise and chaos, were more than Jeffrey could handle.


This is one of the most painfully honest looks into the workings of what some would call a deranged mind and yet if society were truly honest Jeffrey Donovan is actually quite normal compared to some people who do not have his control.

[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]