The Of the Royal Line Challenge is my first challenge with the Romance Readers Reading Challenges group over at Goodreads. Since I read a lot of historical romances, this one seemed like a no-brainer.

The goal is to read TEN books which titles (or series titles) have nobility words in it (Ex. king, queen, prince, princess, lord, lady, duke, earl, viscount, duchess, etc).

Duration: Dec 1, 2009 – Feb 28, 2010

1. Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey, #1) by Deanna Raybourn, 01/03/10, ★★★
2. Silent in the Sanctuary (Lady Julia Grey, #2) by Deanna Raybourn, 01/05/10, ★★★
3. Silent on the Moor (Lady Julia Grey, #3) by Deanna Raybourn, 01/08/10, ★★★
4. The Princess Bride by William Goldman, 01/17/10, ★★★★
5. The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jeffries, 01/21/10, ★★★★
6. How I Met My Countess by Elizabeth Boyle, 01/23/10, ★★★
7. His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls, 01/26/10, ★★★
8. At the Duke’s Pleasure by Tracy Anne Warren, 02/03/10, ★★
9. TBA
10. TBA

Note: I’m currently linking to each book’s Goodreads page but I do plan to review one or two of them here and I’ll update this post with links to those reviews as I get them done.

This Rake of Mine
by Elizabeth Boyle

Elizabeth is another author I read regularly. This book is from her “The Bachelor Chronicles” series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It features several characters seen in previous books and centers around Jack and Miranda. Many years ago, Jack ruined Miranda’s reputation and led to her exile in the country. Now Miranda with three charges from the establishment where she teaches incognito is forced to take refuge at Jack’s country estate. Jack and Miranda are just the type of characters I love and I enjoyed their fight to resist their attraction as well as their struggle to keep their secret identities from each other. Plus, the rest of the characters add just the right amount of spice to the story. I definitely recommend this one.

The Naked Marquis
by Sally MacKenzie

I thought I had read “The Naked Duke” by Sally but, after reading this book, I’m pretty sure I haven’t and now I need to order it. This book was laugh out loud funny. I kept waking my mother up with my laughing. As you can imagine from the title Charles, the Marquis referenced, ends up naked more than once in the story. He spends the whole book trying to convince Emma, who adored him when they were younger, to marry him. Emma could have easily been too cliche but she managed to come across as believably in love with Charles while still having practical reasons for refusing his suit. If you get the chance, this is a fun read that should tickle your funny bone.

The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers, Book 3)
by Lisa Kleypas

I know a lot of people love Lisa’s books but I am not one of them. There’s just something about her formula that doesn’t engage me like other authors do. So, I have not read the other two “Wallflower” stories and wasn’t sure if I’d like this one… Well, this one almost made me want to read the others. I really enjoyed Evie and Sebastian and their evolution from strangers to friends to lovers. I’m curious if I would have liked Sebastian as much based on what he did in the other book. Since I didn’t read it, I wasn’t as judgmental about the situation so I’m not sure I ever got the same libertine vibe off of him that many of the characters did. That may have made it easier for me to like him? Either way, I enjoyed the book.

Never Seduce a Scoundrel (The School for Heiresses, Book 1)
by Sabrina Jeffries

Sabrina is one of my favorite authors. This is the first in her new ‘The School for Heiresses’ series. If you’re a fan of Sabrina’s other books, you’ll enjoy seeing a few people making appearances here. In the book, Lady Amelia Plume is being wooed by Major Lucas Winter, an American. Though enjoying the spark he ignites in her, Amelia knows the real reason he’s wooing her and is just as determined to keep him guessing. Amelia is a bit of a Mary Sue and I usually prefer my heroines to be a bit less perfect. However, she was never so far over the top that I disliked her. I’m not sure I can say the same about Lucas. It was like he got all the faults she was missing. It’s not that I didn’t like these two, it’s that the balance between them wasn’t quite right. It’s possible it’s because Lucas was American and it’s very rare that I like that combination in my historical romances. And, yet, I actually did like this book. I just didn’t love it like I usually do with Sabrina’s books. That said, I’m eager for the next in this series because I like each of the girls involved as well as Charlotte.

Countess Confidential
by Barbara Dawson Smith

Barbara Dawson Smith is usually a hit or miss with me. As a result, I don’t keep track of when she releases new books. If there is a new one out and I don’t have anything else to read, I will typically check it out but she’s not one of my “must read” authors. However, I really enjoyed this one. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down when I was forced to take breaks in my reading. In the book, Claire’s father has been arrested for a series of jewel thefts. To help clear his name, she gets herself hired as a paid companion and uses that as a cover while doing some investigating of her own. Meanwhile the Earl of Rockford, who unbeknownst to her is actually the man who arrested her father, takes an interest in her. I’m sure you can figure out how the story ends but I found the entire cast of characters immensely likable and amusing. Very few of them were cast in typical roles and I really like it when an author stays away from the cliches. The plot is predictable but, as long as I’m given a compelling cast of characters, I rarely care about that. This cast definitely made the book a fun read.

Her Master and Commander
by Karen Hawkins

This is a very typical Karen Hawkins romance. Which is good because that meant I was guaranteed to enjoy it. It’s the first in a series of books about the illegitimate children of the late Earl of Rochester. Reeves, the late Earl’s butler, is left to find each of the children and inform them of the conditions in their deceased father’s will. This story concerns the eldest son, Tristan, and what he must do to be rewarded with the Earl’s fortune along with the title. Tristan is, as you might expect, resisting the changes to his lifestyle while enjoying taunting Prudence, his neighbor and the woman Reeves enlists to help Tristan learn some manners. I liked both Prudence and Tristan. Prudence was strong but not without her faults and there was just the right amount of spark between the two of them. Oh and of course we were introduced to the next sibling that Reeves must track down. He actually fits the type of main male character I prefer so now I’m impatiently waiting for the next book in this series to be released. I encourage you to check out it out as well as Karen’s other books.