Earls Just Want To Have Fun by Shana GalenSeries: Covet Garden Cubs #1
Publication Date: Februaryy 3, 2015
Date Read: February 22, 2015
ever steals…
housebreaker-and a better actress than any professional on the stage. She runs
with the Covent Garden Cubs, a gang of thieves living in the slums of London’s
Seven Dials. It’s a fierce life, and Marlowe has a hard outer shell. But when
she’s alone, she allows herself to think of a time before-a dimly remembered
life when she was called Elizabeth.
when his brother, a hired investigator, ropes him into his investigation of the
fiercely beautiful hellion. He teaches her to navigate the social morass of the
ton, but Marlowe will not escape so easily. Instead, Dane is drawn into her
dangerous world, where the student becomes the teacher and love is the greatest
risk of all.
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4 Stars!
I am always looking for something a little bit different. That can sometimes be a little hard to find for somebody who reads as many books as I do. This book gave me exactly the unexpected element that I look for in a book. I used to read a lot of historical romances but moved to other genres when I found most of them to be overly predictable. Shana Galen has created a wonderful story and a heroine that is anything but predictable. I don’t remember ever encountering a character quite like Marlowe.
Marlowe lives with a group of thieves. She spends most days dressed like a boy looking for easy marks and carrying out the plans of her group. Satin makes the plans and is the boss of her group of thieves, which she refers to as cubs. Satin rules with a heavy hand and everyone within the group makes sure that they do their job.
Marlowe is taken by two men as she plays her part. Before she knows what is going on, she finds herself in Earl Dane’s home where she gets cleaned up and fed. Dane’s brother believes that Marlowe is actually the Lady Elizabeth who was abducted as a small child. Dane is given the job of keeping an eye on her until Lady Elizabeth’s parents can be contacted. Dane doesn’t realized that he has met his match in Marlowe.
Marlowe was so wonderfully original! I loved her rough speech, her distaste for bathing, and the fact that she would rather wear men’s clothing that a dress. Marlowe had a certain innocence about many things that really showed that she had never had anyone around to teach her. She also had wisdom regarding the lives of the poor that Dane needed to taught. They really made quite the perfect couple.
This book was wonderfully written. I found myself grinning quite often and found a lot of humor in the things that Marlowe would say and they manner in which others reacted to her. The chemistry between Marlowe and Dane was spectacular and their feeling felt so genuine on the page. The growth of both Marlowe and Dane as characters added a lot to the story. They both needed to figure out what they wanted and whether it was worth the cost.
I would highly recommend this book to fans of historical romance. This is the first full book of a new series. I did read the preceding novella but that would not be necessary to enjoy this story since there were only a few short mentions of that story. This is the first full length novel by Shana Galen that I have had chance to read but I plan to look for her work in the future.
I received an advance reader
edition of this book from Sourcebooks Casablanca via NetGalley for the
purpose of providing an honest review.
Shana Galen is the bestsellingauthor of passionate Regency romps, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The
Making of a Gentleman. Kirkus says of her books, “The road to
happily-ever-after is intense, conflicted, suspenseful and fun,” and RT
Bookreviews calls her books ” lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet
touching.” She taught English at the middle and high school level off and
on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner
city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is
most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from
readers, so send her an email or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and
Twitter. Visit her website at www.shanagalen.com
woman in this position,” Dane said quietly, “I must confess something about the
dagger between your lips is less than romantic.”
he was faster, grasping her hands and pinning them at her side. She lost her
balance and settled on top of him, and he pushed her down so that she would
fall forward if she tried to swing her legs out from under her.
dagger in her mouth, and she shook her head, shaking her arms to indicate she
wanted to be freed from his hold.
a knife between your lips? Hazard of your profession, I assume.” He began to
rise, sliding her along his body, as he did so. Even beneath the layers of
bedclothes, she could feel the strength and power of him. His hands, remarkably
strong, held hers at her sides. Nothing she did would free them. He was far too
strong. It was times like this she hated being a woman. Gideon would have freed
himself easily. He was also tall enough that he wouldn’t have needed to climb
onto the bed.
Marlowe conveniently in his lap, he leaned forward so his face was inches from
hers. “Drop the knife.”
dagger, a subtle but important distinction, but she couldn’t speak and hold on
to her weapon. And she couldn’t think very well with her body pressed against
his. Something about their positions made her skin tingle and her belly
flutter. She should want to pull away. Instead, she fought the urge to push
closer, to rock against him. What the bloody hell was wrong with her?
his lips moving so near to hers she could smell his breath. Like the rest of
him, it smelled clean. She was so intent upon smelling his breath, so intent
upon the heat of his body pulsing against hers, she forgot to move her head
back, and she jolted in shock when his lips touched hers. What was he doing?
Kissing her?
closed on the dagger’s blade, and she reacted too slowly. He yanked it from her
mouth, and she had no choice but to let it go or risk the blade cutting the
corners of her sensitive flesh.
her hands then, allowing the dagger to drop into one of his. She swung at him,
and her fist collided with a satisfying thunk against his cheek. But her
satisfaction was short-lived as he recovered easily and flipped her over.
Suddenly, she was beneath him on the bed, and all the warmth from the
bedclothes and his body were covering her. She bucked immediately, trying to
throw him off, but he was solid and heavy, and when his hands grasped her
wrists and pinned them to the pillow, she knew she was trapped.
Amazing giveaway 🙂
XO
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Good luck, Zarrah!
pretty interesting
It was such a fun book to read, Ailyn!
Thanks for hosting me!
It was my pleasure! I really enjoyed this story. Marlowe was such a great character.
Sounds really interesting!
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Check the post on my blog for details
aeriko001 @ The Reading Armchair