Bronwyn Scott

Good book. After the tragic death of her husband and being evicted from the family home by her stepson, Emma moved to the French property she inherited from her husband. Julien Archambeau, the estate manager, runs the chateau and accompanying vineyard. Emma doesn't know that Julien's family owned those lands until losing them during the French Revolution. His family has been trying to reclaim them ever since.

Emma's arrival shocked Julien, who had been in almost complete control for seven years. He and his uncle, who owns a neighboring vineyard, have been working on a special champagne and building their reputation with the local consortium. All that is put at risk when Emma states her intention to take over the running of the vineyard.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Emma and Julien develop. Initially, each was focused on their claims to the property. Emma is determined to ensure that Julien knows his place as working for her, while Julien wants to keep Emma as a figurehead while he continues to carry out his plans. Their first few encounters have antagonistic undertones despite the surface politeness. When Emma insists on learning about the vineyard, Julien tries to overwhelm her with information. He is stunned and impressed by how she soaks up and processes what she learns and the wealth of good ideas she has for the future of the vineyard.

It isn't long before he and Emma grow closer, with sparks of attraction flying between them. Emma feels guilty about her growing feelings for Julien. Giving in to the attraction accelerates those feelings, creating internal conflict. Emma also has some trust issues stemming from her pre-marriage days. Those feelings are exacerbated by the sense that Julien is not entirely open with her. When the truth comes out, Emma and Julien are left with hurt feelings and wondering what the future holds.

There are some interesting twists at the end, from Emma's confrontation with the consortium to the events of the gala she planned at the chateau. I loved the emotional ending, and the epilogue was terrific.

Julien's Uncle Etienne was the main secondary character. Etienne is obsessed with reclaiming the land lost seventy years earlier. He encourages Julien to do things that Julien considers underhanded and dishonorable to regain the property. I disliked how he created such an internal conflict for Julien between his loyalty to his family and his growing feelings for Emma.

My husband and I spent a week in Epernay this summer and enjoyed touring several champagne houses and learning about champagne's history. I loved the feeling of revisiting that trip as I read this book.

#netgalley… (altro)

The Earl’s Forbidden Ward is the second book in Bronwyn Scott’s Ramsden Brothers series. In this one, we have the eldest Ramsden brother, Peyton, fourth Earl of Dursley, paired with Tessa, the daughter of the English ambassador to Russia who has just recently passed. Before becoming the earl, Peyton was a diplomat and sometimes spy for the crown. Lord Brimley, the man he worked for in the home office, calls him in one day, telling him of a secret list of Russian revolutionaries that Tessa’s father was purported to be compiling before he died. They think that Tessa may be in possession of it now, and that Russians loyal to the Czar may be coming after her. Since she and her sisters are now alone in the world and possibly in need of protection, and the home office needs a way to search her home without raising suspicions, Peyton’s former boss comes up with the scheme of creating a false codicil to her father’s will, naming Peyton as Tessa’s and her sisters’ guardian. With his Aunt Lily’s help, Peyton looks after all the girls, while giving Tessa her season and also looking for the purported documents that could help to avert a war. The more time they spend together, the closer they become, until Peyton starts to have real feelings for Tessa, and she feels the same. But with the Russians hot on the trail of the list, too, they both could be in danger. Not to mention, with Tessa being a mere diplomat’s daughter and not of aristocratic blood, she feels she might not be the right match for an earl, and if she learns the truth about Peyton’s deception, she might not forgive him for lying to her.

Tessa lost her mother nearly a decade earlier when she died shortly after the birth of Tessa’s youngest sister. As she grew up, Tessa became indispensable to her father, acting as his hostess at diplomatic functions, so she’s well versed on the politics of diplomacy. She has spent most of her life in Russia, so moving back to England with her sisters in tow after their father’s death has been a bit of a shock. She’s an independent-minded young woman, though, who is determined to finish raising her sisters in a way that would have made her parents proud. When Sergei, an old friend from Russia who had designs on marrying Tessa and who she once had a crush on, shows up in London with some other Russian diplomats, it’s like having a taste of the country she used to call home. Then, out of the blue, Peyton, a complete stranger shows up at her door, claiming that her father added a codicil to his will, naming him their guardian. Tessa is immediately suspicious, but when the paperwork seems to be in order, she feels she has no choice but to comply. Peyton and his aunt are insistent upon giving Tessa the season she never had. Although that was never a priority for her, she can’t deny that she enjoys attending the balls and parties on her handsome new guardian’s arm and soon they become lovers as well. After her house is ransacked, though, Tessa knows something isn’t right. Peyton eventually confesses about the list, so that they can search for it together, and also about the danger possibly posed by Sergei and his comrades. Tessa can scarcely believe her old friend could be so duplicitous, but her instincts tell her to trust Peyton. As they make inroads on their search, an attempt is made on Peyton’s life and he later disappears, leaving Tessa to save the day. I like that Tessa is a smart cookie who figures out a lot on her own. She’s pretty logical and not particularly reactionary, which was nice, too. I also enjoyed the twist ending where she comes to Peyton’s rescue, but instead of running headlong into danger like some romance heroines might, she does so in a smart way.

Peyton has never given his heart to anyone and instead has simply been playing the rake. When his old boss in the diplomatic corps asks for his help, he’s a bit reluctant to take on four wards, but feeling that his duty to country must come first, he agrees in hopes of finding the supposed list to avert a war. When he discovers how comely the eldest Branscombe daughter is, though, he thinks it might not be so bad after all, except that she turns out to be a bit of a firecracker. It’s not easy convincing her of the fake codicil, nor is the independent miss particularly amenable to the measures he puts in place to try to suss out the list and to keep her and her sisters safe. However, after her house is broken into and trashed, she starts to see reason, especially after he confesses a part of what’s going on. Along the way, Peyton starts to have real feelings for Tessa, and after they become lovers, he immediately offers marriage, even though she initially turns him down. Gradually the Russians’ plan unravels, but even after the danger has passed, Tessa doesn’t entirely feel worthy of marrying a peer and when she learns that Peyton deceived her all along, he definitely has some explaining to do. I liked Peyton and thought he was a good hero. He might not have been too keen on having wards, but he treats Tessa and her sisters very well, playing the big brother to the younger ones. He’s also a real gentleman for offering marriage and for doing his best to put Tessa’s concerns about wedding him to rest.

It’s been a number of years since I read the first Ramsden Brothers book, so I barely remembered it at all. However, it turned out to not be an issue. Peyton’s younger brother, Paine, and his wife, Julia, (Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady) appeared, but they don’t play big enough roles that I needed much of a recap. Peyton’s other brother, Crispin, plays a little larger role, and his is the last book of the series, Untamed Rogue, Scandalous Mistress. I finished The Earl’s Forbidden Ward with somewhat mixed feelings. The earlier parts of the book weren’t always holding my attention well. Not having a strong knowledge of Russian history, the political bits about Russia somewhat confused me, but luckily they were mostly covered in a few pages. I also felt like the setup for the story wasn’t as strong as it could have been, and that Peyton and Tessa’s characterizations could have gone a little deeper. Despite Tessa being a virgin, there is zero pain for her during their first love scene, which just wasn’t believable to me. Their relationship, at first, felt more lusty than loving to me, but I admit that the emotional connection did improve as the story continued. Once some more exciting things started to happen, I became more engaged as well. All those events led to a pretty well-done denouement that I enjoyed. So I’d say that the story started a bit weaker, more in the three-star range, but ended stronger, more in the four-star range, which is why I settled on 3.5 stars. Both Peyton and Tessa were good characters who didn’t rub me the wrong way. Although their story wasn’t perfect, it was very readable and not bad, so overall, this was a pretty good read.… (altro)

Kuban is a Ruratanian part of Russia and Princess Anna-Maria Petrova and Prince Stepan Shevchenko are from there. They've known each other all the days of her life (he's a bit older) and now she realises that she really likes him and being together with him but his smuggling may imperil him.
Oh the author really is in favour of smuggling because of "unfair" taxes. Prince Stepan is okay because he's a nice smuggler who is helping kids get ahead when there is little to allow someone to prosper, instead of trying to find legal niches, no go full on smuggler. It was only after thinking about it that I realised what bothered me about it. Also, the view that America is the place that will allow them to create a better life, well if he continues trying to import vodka without paying duty that could prove to be an interesting life there too. It was fine but it left me feeling that there was too many questions at the end for me.… (altro)