The Spy's Convenient Bride by Erica Taylor (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

Practically from the moment Erica Taylor entered my life I have been begging her for more Luke Macalister. There's just always been something about him that has niggled at the back of my brain and maybe a few other parts. Okay, so definitely a few other parts.

And now it's happened.

I have such mixed feelings about this.

A page-turner that kept me guessing and my heart racing and, yes, provided all the feels. Luke is as amazing as I had dreamt. He's just the right combination of rakish and mysterious and hilarious and serious. Vivian is now one of my favorite book heroines. She's pretty much the female equivalent of Luke -- though perhaps not the rakishness. (Can women be rakish? Would the equivalent be wanton? I somehow think not. It's 4am at the time I'm writing this and that makes me ramble. Moreso than usual, that is.)

Anyway. I am absolutely in love with this book so far and I'm only at the 42% mark -- the perfect time to stop and ramble, nerd that I am. But.

There's that whole mixed feelings part. The whole BUT aspect.

I love this book at least as much as I have every other book in the series BUT part of me hates the fact that this has been released (today, in fact! Happy Book Birthday, Erica!) because this is book number five in the series. 

We're running out of Macalisters and I'm going to miss them horribly.

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach. "Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

An Enchanting Madness by Erica Taylor (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

There are a few things I need to say right off the bat:

• Read this book.
• Read ALL of The Macalister books. 
• Read them in order -- chronologically by story, not by date published. (The Perfect Duchess comes first even though it came out second.)
• Read them in private if at all possible. (You know, because of feels.)
• Simultaneously thank me and curse me for getting you hooked on an absolutely captithrallious series. Thank me for the joy and tears. Curse me that you fly through them too quickly and will have to wait until the next installment.

We're going on close to two years now since I read my first Erica Taylor book and was blown away to the point of having to make up words to describe how I felt about the story. I didn't think that it would be possible to top it. And then she did. And then she did again. And then? Oh, gosh. Then came Norah and Trevor and An Enchanting Madness and I honestly don't know if I've ever loved a fictional couple quite so much. No, not even Emma and Knightley. Maybe Catherine and Tilney ... though more because of him than her. Trevor and Norah, though? They both break my heart and then turn around and make my laugh until coffee spurts out my nose and then things get all gushy and they give me .... you know .... The Feels. 

Now, I have to warn you. This book needs to come with a trigger warning over some instances of sexual assault. It's not terribly graphic, but it can be intense and I was literally walking down the sidewalk with tears streaming down my face. That actually happened with his flashbacks, too. PTSD is a powerful thing and Erica Taylor wrote it amazingly well for both. Maybe that's really why they're my favorite fictional couple. Maybe it's because they're both so broken in so many ways and yet so much stronger than they believe ... and even stronger together. 

Of course ... there are more Macalister siblings to go ... so there's a chance that Norah and Trevor will be bumped from my top spot. A very slim chance, but a chance. (Yes, I thought that about every other couple in the series as well. Shut up.)

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach. "Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

An Improper Encounter by Erica Taylor

I love a book that makes me laugh. I really love a book that makes me cry. If a book can do those and give me other feels of the more, well, touchy-feely kind? It's definitely a five-star book! Erica Taylor's third Macalisters book, An Improper Encounter, excelled at giving me "all the feels" so intensely that I would give it more stars if I could.

This is the story of Sarah and William. Sarah is the eldest of the Macalister clan and grew up being the mother figure to her siblings -- including Susanna from A Suitable Affair and Andrew from The Perfect Duchess.

Yes, this is where I urge you to get the first two books and read them. Start with Andrew's, even though it's technically book 2. Right now they're both free for Kindle so there really isn't any reason not to. (Even if they're not free at the time you read this, if you love a good Regency, do it anyway.)

Anyway, this is Sarah's story. Sarah, the widowed dragon-in-training for the ton, who has spent most of her life dealing with tragedy and heartbreak and taking care of everybody else first. She has had a feeling for quite some time that she wants more out of life, and it takes a bet from her best friend and sister-in-law Lydia and the improper encounter from whence we get our title for her to actually do anything about it. Or, at least, attempt to. The encounter is with William -- a mysterious man with tragedy and heartbreak of his own to overcome. I really don't see it as being a "spoiler" when I give away that they end up falling in love. Of course they do. The Amazon description even gives that much away:

Lady Sarah Hartford is beautiful, wealthy, widowed, and bored. After agreeing to a scandalous dare to seduce a stranger into her bedchamber, she meets the devilishly handsome doctor, William Gordon. Though both keep their true identities hidden, an intense romance blooms between them, and Sarah finally feels like she could be happy again.
Instead, William disappears from her life only to arrive three months later on her doorstep—married, a duke, and with a pregnant duchess in tow. The pair must try to untangle truth from lies while keeping their history a secret from everyone around them.

What Amazon fails to tell you, though, is that this very well may be a book you need to read in private because ... well ... feels.

Susanna and Ian. Andrew and Clara. Sarah and William. Erica Taylor knows how to write couples that will leave you laughing, crying, and more than a bit hot and bothered ... and sometimes all three simultaneously.

Three Macalisters down and six to go. I can't wait to see who gets matched up next! Actually, I can ... but only because I'll need some time to recover from Sarah and William's emotional and physical whirlwind.

The Perfect Duchess by Erica Taylor (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

To say that I loved Erica Taylor's first Macalister book, A Suitable Affair, would be an understatement of major proportions. I haven't quite finished her second book (which is actually a prequel so feel free to read it first), but I couldn't wait to oooh and aaah and squeal with delight over Andrew and Clara (and to say yet again how much I NEED more Luke!)! 

Andrew is known as the "Stone Duke" for his typically cold demeanor, and Clara is followed by horrid gossip about her pretty much wherever she goes. The two have known each other since childhood, though, and were almost in-laws as Andrew was once engaged to Clara's twin sister. When they meet again at a ball hosted by the Macalisters, their chemistry and attraction was undeniable ... to the reader, anyway. 

When I last put down my book (okay -- my phone ... thank you ever-so-much to NetGalley for making this book the reason I rejoined!), Andrew had just beaten the tar out of Clara's brother (he had it coming). I've got a lot more to go and can't wait to see what happens next!

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach. "Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

A Suitable Affair by Erica Taylor (Tuesday Intro & Teaser Tuesday)

Take any word I have ever used to describe a book that I have absolutely loved and apply it here.... and then grab a thesaurus and look up words I haven't thought to use yet and apply those also. Erica Taylor's A Suitable Affair deserves all of the good words and even ones that haven't even been created yet. (And Amberjack Publishing does, as well, for publishing this glorious book and making it available on NetGalley so I could read it before its release .... which just so happens to be today so go buy it!)

It's captivating and enthralling and hilarious and luscious and  .... captithrallious??? Sure. Captithrallious. That almost covers it, but even that doesn't seem good enough. 

Elizabeth and Darcy? Eh. Emma and Knightley? Nah. I'm over here swooning hardcore over Susanna and Westcott. I didn't even skim over the steamier bits and you know that never happens! It's a fabulous romance with a bit of mystery mixed in and Susanna and Ian kept me guessing and laughing and aww-ing all the way.

Even the supporting characters are amazing and had me begging the author on Twitter to tell me that we'll be seeing them again (and we will! Huzzah!)! I want prequels and sequels and .... sidequels? What have Susanna's siblings been up to while she's been running around being the heroine of this story? I need to know everything about everybody ... and, quite possibly, make up some more words along the way.

I know, I know ... "First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" from Bibliophile by the Sea is on vacation ... but I'm used to doing these two together so I'm just going to stick with it. "Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

Amazon Description