New Release Review and Giveaway! ONE DANGEROUS DESIRE by Christy Carlyle (Accidental Heirs #3)

My first book by this author, but definitely not my last!

I really liked Rex and May and their second chance romance 🙂 It takes place just before the turn of the (twentieth) century, which was a nice change of pace–Rex wanting to electrify the entire hotel he wanted to build was just such a neat detail (and totally reminded me of Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess, shielding herself from the “abominations” her son had recently installed in Downton Abbey, LOL). May’s a department store heiress–like Cora, she’s being pursued for her dowry by ever more impoverished nobleman, but she’s reached the point where she’d just as soon pursue her own interests (interior design–she’s even contemplating starting her own business) as wed, especially when love isn’t there.

Not that she trusts love, because it’s burned her before. She’s looking at you, Reg, Er, Rex. But then her father’s business associate/right hand man comes for a visit, dropping a proverbial bomb, and suddenly marriage becomes a necessity. Because fate (or Ms. Carlyle) has a devious sense of humor, soon afterwards May finds out that that man who broke her heart six year ago? Yeah, he’s here. In London. And also looking to marry–someone who has a position in London society that can benefit his new hotel. Not a fellow American who’s looked down on for her American-ness and whose father hates him.

But of course as soon as they’re in a room together, the sparks are still flying as crazily as ever, which is most inconvenient for them both. And then there’s the bet…

Actually this book almost felt like a two-parter–part one being the angsty bet one, where they sniped a bit at each other and each had to witness the other spending more time than was comfortable with prospective, titled spouses (who happened to be brother and sister, to add even more drama to it all). And then the second part was after they both chucked their prospectives to the curb and gave in to what had been simmering between them for more than six years…only to have both of their families throw up obstacles. You gotta know that when the hero and heroine declare love and intend to wed at just a little past 50% in that something major’s going to get in their way soon–their HEA still has a while to go.

Which, for all its frustration, is a good thing. Because the rest of the story was–well–quite a story 🙂 (There were gasps of surprise going on over here. While my daughter was driving. Sorry, honey!)

While this is third in the series, it worked just fine as a standalone. The couple from the first book were mentioned, mainly because he was the nobleman that May originally intended to marry (plus, Rex knew him from business dealings), but other than that, this one was fairly self contained. I’ve of course added 1 and 2 to my TBR ( One Scandalous Kiss and One Tempting Proposal ), and am daring to hope that May’s good friend Lady Emily will be getting her own story in the not too distant future…

Rating: 4 stars/A-

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.