Book Review: Unlaced by the Outlaw by Michelle Willingham

 

Series: Book 4 in the ‘Secrets in Silk’

 

“There’s something quite satisfying about facing one’s nemesis and bringing him down.” ~~ Michelle Willingham (Book: Unlaced by the Outlaw)

 

‘Unlaced by the Outlaw’ marks the end of the series ‘Secrets in Silk’. Let’s see how it all ends…

Genre: Historical Romance.

Main Characters: Margaret Andrews, Cain Sinclair.

‘Unlaced by the Outlaw by Michelle Willingham’ ~~ Synopsis:

No one who knows Margaret would ever describe her as someone who’s impulsive. Margaret is the sensible one and knows all the rules.

But when the man who destroyed her chances of getting married, elopes with her younger sister Amelia, Margaret decides to take Cain Sinclair’s help to trace her sister.

She should have stayed behind. All the good manners she has been taught said so, but she believes she’s somehow responsible for not warning Amelia enough against that man.

So on an impulse first she alone goes in search of Cain and after convincing him to search for Amelia, she decides to go along with him.

In all the commotion it made complete sense to her. But Margaret is ill prepared for the journey that was ahead of them.

Ever since the first time Cain met Margaret he dreamed about marrying her some day, even when it becomes clear that his dream is just a dream.

They are from different backgrounds. While he struggles to provide a good life for himself and his young brother, Margaret is expected to marry someone rich. She’s trained to become a lady and he’s no one of importance, but a Highlander who loves her.

Also, she’s made it clear on numerous occasions that she’d not consider him for marriage. But Cain refuses to give up hope. When Margaret approaches him, he’s reluctant to go on a wild goose chase.

They don’t know which road the viscount took and it could take days to trace Amelia. By then it would not be worth it and he wants to return back to Scotland to his younger brother.

But he cannot leave Margaret to her devises either, so he agrees, even when he knows it’s a terrible idea to allow her to tag along with him.

As they begin their journey, it becomes clear that Margaret is not suitable for the tough journey, nor it seems the viscount took that road. Soon their journey becomes more about their survival than search for Amelia.

Margaret begins to wonder if it was worth it to live her life as a good girl when it has bought her nothing but heartache in the end. Could she break free from the chains she tied to her ankles and dare to choose the life she desires?

Review:

I wanted to skip reading ‘Unlaced by the Outlaw’ as Margaret didn’t come close to getting my interest.

I have issues, leaving a story unfinished when it’s downright boring and this series is anything, but boring so far. So I decided to read a couple of chapters before deciding to abandon the book. I couldn’t leave the series unfinished.  

The credit, I probably, have mentioned before too, goes to the author’s interesting writing and storytelling style.

Once again, I got invested in the story and the characters I didn’t have much interest in. I liked Cain’s character from the first book. It’s Margaret’s prim and proper character that made me think I may not like this story.

By the time I was done with the story, I liked Margaret’s character as well and could understand her character better. The plot as usual is interesting and multiple POV didn’t distract from the main story.

I not sure if my impression of multiple POV in a romance novel has improved.

If you don’t mind hearing from secondary characters’’ POV too in your romance novel, you might enjoy reading the ‘Secrets in Silk’ series as well.

 

Sometimes two people might seem very different….but they are a great deal alike.” ~~ Michelle Willingham (Book: Unlaced by the Outlaw)

 

Hit or Miss: Hit.

Ratings: 3star/5.

Buy:  Amazon  |  iTunes

Happy Reading!

 

Book Review: Undressed by the Earl by Michelle Willingham

 

Series: Book 3 in the ‘Secrets in Silk’

“Every woman wants to believe that a man loves her, even if it isn’t true.” ~~ Michelle Willingham (Book: Undressed by the Earl)

I have been looking forward to reading Amelia’s story. I just hope it doesn’t disappoint me.

Let’s find out more about ‘Undressed by the Earl’…

Genre: Historical Romance.

Main Characters: Amelia Andrews. David Hartford.

‘Undressed by the Earl by Michelle Willingham’ ~~ Synopsis:

Amelia is the youngest and she’s more romantic than all her sisters combined.

For years, even before her debut in the society, she’s a crush on Viscount Lisford. He’s the rake of her dreams and despite knowing his flaws Amelia wants to marry him one day.

She’s not sure how she’d get her family to agree to their match as Viscount Lisford is also her sister Margaret’s ex-fiancé.

But Amelia the ever hopeful romantic remains sure that there’s a good person beneath the mask of a rake. She wants to be the one who reformed him and made him fall in love for good.

For the time being she has other concerns like helping David, the Earl of Castledom, find a suitable bride.

There was a time when Amelia considered him a bore and would not have talked to him ever. But after talking to him, she finds out that he’s an interesting man, who is still mourning the loss of his wife.

They end up forming an unlikely friendship and Amelia agrees to help him. In turn, she asks David to help her convince her family that Viscount Lisford isn’t a bad guy.

For six years, David mourned the sudden death of his wife. He’s still mourning and might not have attended another party in his life if not for his daughter.

His daughter wants him to get married, preferably to her governess, which he cannot. His late wife also asked him to get married. It’s something he doesn’t want to even think about.

Still, he understand the need to marry a suitable woman, who would agree to become mother to his daughter, produce an heir and wouldn’t ask for much of anything from him.

Once in a while he catches his mind drift in the direction of one of the most unsuitable candidates – Amelia -- before the logic intervenes.

Amelia is too young for him, charming, attractive and thoroughly unsuitable to become his wife. She also doesn’t match any of the requirements on his list.

He knows she would not be satisfied with what he’s offering and would demand more.

That doesn’t mean he like the idea of Amelia wanting to marry a rake. It seems she has got some wrong ideas about reforming one of the most notorious rakes in the society.

David also has no idea how he could save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Instead, he agrees to talk to women, Amelia has listed; the list also includes her elder sister’s name. Margaret does seem like a suitable wife material.

But when Amelia finds herself on the verge of ruin, David couldn’t stand aside and not save her. In a weird twist of fate, David finds himself married to Amelia, who challenges his decision to continue living in the past.

Amelia never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would end up marrying David, but there’s no other option. Now that they are married, it doesn’t take her long to realize that David wants to stubbornly stay in the past.

She doesn’t want a marriage in the name or on his terms and she’s ready to do what it would take to make her place in his heart. But first she needs to win over his daughter.

Review:

Another good story! Amelia and David’s characters are so unlike each other and the author brings out all the drama and tension that could build between such personalities amazingly.

Sometimes I find the drama that happens in the last couple of chapters too melodramatic. It certainly doesn’t keep me from reading or enjoying the books.

So that drama continues, but the drama of secondary characters’ lives has slowed down a bit with every book in the series ‘Secrets in Silk’.

I like that secondary character drama is not as annoying a factor anymore. Still, I don’t like to read too much about the secondary characters’ lives in any romance novel.

Anyways, it’s an entertaining series and you should read it if you like historical novels.

 

“A man could make a fortune if he could write a pamphlet of instructions about how to interpret a woman’s feelings.” ~~ Michelle Willingham (Book: Undressed by the Earl)

 

Hit or Miss: Hit.

Ratings: 4star/5.

Buy:  Amazon  |  iTunes

Happy Reading!

 

 

 

Book Review: Unraveled by the Rebel by Michelle Willingham

Series: Book 2 in the ‘Secrets in Silk’

“There are some men who cannot accept defeat. They’ll destroy everything in the hopes of acquiring what they desire most.” ~~ Michelle Willingham (Book: Unraveled by the Rebel)

I wanted to move on to ‘Undressed by the Earl’, but thinking I might miss something I downloaded ‘Unraveled by the Rebel’ instead. When you have the chance to read the entire series in order and could easily get your hands on all the books, then you should do it.

Let’s find out what’s the verdict on it….

Genre: Historical Romance.

Main Characters: Juliette Andrews, Paul Fraser.

‘Unraveled by the Rebel by Michelle Willingham’ ~~ Synopsis:

Once upon a time ago, like girls of her age Juliette dreamed about getting married, maybe even to her best friend Paul.

She also knew her parents may not agree to marry her off to a commoner. Then Paul was sent away to London to study and to keep to him away from trouble, unfortunately, the trouble found her.

At present, Juliette harbors no dreams or intention of getting married ever. She cannot tell anyone why she has no interest in seeking a match for herself.

She has confided in only a few people out of necessity, but not her sisters and especially not Paul. She’s ready to spend her time and life keeping track of the earnings from their business.

She knows she must discourage Paul from pursuing her and encourage him to find someone suitable for himself.

It’s been years since Paul last met Juliette, but one thing he has always been sure of was her love for him. But for some reason, Juliette wants him to find someone else.

He’s perplexed by her weird behavior. Should he believe what she’s saying or what she’s not saying?

Paul is determined to find out why Juliette avoids him and Cain Sinclair hints at the events that changed Juliette. Paul’s sure he knows who’s responsible for ruining his and her life and he wants to kill the wicked Earl.

But before that he wants Juliette to trust him enough to tell him what happened. When Juliette moves to London to visit her aunt, Paul decides to follow her.

Trying to win Juliette’s trust and her hand in marriage are not the only reasons to take Paul away from the Scotland. He wants to ruin the earl, who’s responsible for the death of his father. But killing the wicked earl would only get him imprisoned.

While he’s in London, he’s planning to take full advantage of the family title that he may inherit. As a doctor no one will invite him to the balls and parties, but as an heir to a title would remove that small trouble.

Juliette runs away to the safety of London when Paul’s questioning becomes too much to tolerate. There she may not be safe from the matchmaking schemes of her family, but at least she’s safe from Paul’s probing.

But when she meets Paul, she’d not believe that he’s trying to become someone he’s not for her. She’s scared someone would find out his real identity and forbid him from attending any more parties.

As much as she wants to stay away from him, his persistence is making her want a life she’d not have. Telling him about her predicament is probably the only way to keep him from chasing her around.

When the earl threatens to make her secret a common knowledge, Juliette has no other option, but to tell Paul everything. Even after getting the answers to his questions, Paul is determined to marry Juliette on her terms.

Juliette is sure, sooner or later, he’d come to regret his decision and her. Still, she agrees to marry Paul, not just to escape the threat. But hoping maybe Paul’s version of their life could be possible.

Review:

If I have to pick which sister I like the best then only Victoria & Amelia would make it to my list. I don’t find Juliette or Margaret interesting at all.

Though, I do sympathize with Juliette’s character and what it went through. I still found my attention drifting in the direction of other books which is always a bad sign for a story.

I don’t have any complaints about Juliette & Paul’s characters or their story.

The one thing that annoyed me too much: too many terrible things happening to Juliette.

Other than that the plot is well crafted. It just couldn’t keep my interest.

The writing alone kept me reading ‘Unraveled by the Rebel’. I chose to read this one as I thought that I might miss something important if I went with the third book.

As it turns out, nothing of importance happened that would have made me wonder what happened in ‘Unraveled by the Rebel’.

Even when the entire story is written so beautifully, I still don’t care about the stories of secondary characters and cannot make out why they are there at all. For example: the story of Andrews’s sisters’ parents. Oh, why the torture!

The only good part is I felt that the other characters’ stories are not that many in this one.

Hit or Miss: Hit.

Ratings: 3star/5.

Buy:  Amazon  |  iTunes

Happy Reading!