How to Woo a Reluctant Lady (Hellions of Halstead Hall, #3)

by Sabrina Jeffries

THE HELLIONS OF HALSTEAD HALLWhen a charming rogue proposes she marry him to meet her grandmother's ultimatum, the Sharpe clan's strong-willed sister makes a tempting counter-offer that preserves her inheritance and ignites his imagination.Lady Minerva Sharpe has the perfect plan to thwart her grandmother's demands: become engaged to a rogue! Surely Gran would rather release her inheritance than see her wed a scoundrel. And who better to play the part of Minerva's would-be husband than wild barrister Giles Masters, the very inspiration for the handsome spy in the popular Gothic novels she writes? The memory of his passionate kiss on her nineteenth birthday has lingered in Minerva's imagination, though she has no intention of really falling for such a rakehell, much less marrying him. Little does she know, he really is a covert government operative. When they team up to investigate the mystery behind her parents' deaths, their fake betrothal leads to red-hot desire. Then Minerva discovers Giles's secret double life, and he must use all the cunning tricks of his trade to find his way back into her heart.

• ISBN10: 1439167583
• ISBN13: 9781439167588
• Publish Date: 18 January 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Pocket Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

4.5 How to Woo A Reluctant Lady offers us Lady Minerva Sharpe’s tale, one of two sisters in the Hellions family and oh lord is she snarky, quite witted and in over her head. While each can be read as a standalone, there is an overall mystery ARC that is threaded throughout and one I quite enjoy. Three world review: funny, smexy and suspenseful.

The hellions have all been given an ultimatum. Their beloved grandmother has had enough of this strong willed bunch and their shenanigans. They must each marry by year’s end or forfeit their inheritance. Two are now happily wed much to their surprise,and Lady Minerva has devised a plan thwart her grandmother's plans. She advertises for a husband in the chronicle hoping she will cry off. What she doesn’t anticipate is Giles Master applying for the position. He is the man who in one moment gave her the best kiss of her life and in the next broke her heart. He is also the inspiration behind her fictional character in the highly popular Gothic novels she writes. The tale that unfolds was absolutely delightful and had me completely captivated.

I adore the characters Jeffries has created with this unique family and was anxious to get Lady Minerva’s story. She is witty, and doesn’t take any grieve from her overbearing and protective brothers. She writes Gothic novels and is quite good at them. This makes her passionate and headstrong qualities I love in a heroine. Her weakness is Giles Masters and she deals with him like I imagine a lot of writer’s do, by weaving him into her stories. Giles' is smexy, dangerous and not at all like the image portrayed by his peers. His reaction to Minerva and his convoluted ideas about love, marriage and trust made this tale and their interactions delicious, suspenseful and at times annoying. He is smart and logical and skilled at his chosen career but has a few loose nuts when it comes to relationships thanks to his past. The Hellion brothers and grandmother were ever present and added to the tales humor, suspense and mildly addictive angst.

Jeffries' tale is well paced, filled with twist and turns that kept me flipping the pages. I read this in two non-stop sittings and found myself laughing, intrigued and swooning as the heat between them was turned up. We see some advancement in the overall series ARC and I cannot wait to learn more. We glimpse the other siblings, and at times they created angst which was delightful. The Grandmother is so clever and she really allows the siblings to fall into their own webs and I adore her. The banter, heat and unfolding of Giles and Minerva’s romance was perhaps my favorite thus far. The chemistry, history and their personalities meshed making it feel genuine and believable. We get hints about the unwed sibling’s stories that are yet to be told and as I closed the book with a smile I found myself looking forward to the next book.

originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Ing Cruz]

My Synopsis:

At the age of nine Minerva Sharpe fell in love with Giles Masters the scoundrel friend of her older brothers. At nineteen Minerva fell out of love (or so she convinces herself) with Giles after he rudely rebuked her attempts at getting him to notice her as more than just the baby sister of her brothers. They shared one kiss that night that neither have been able to forget.

Minerva now a writes gothic novels under her own name that has a villain who resembles Giles a great deal. Her grandmother has given her and her siblings an ultimatum to marry or else she'll cut them off from their dowries. Minerva does not want to marry. She's seen the ugly side of marriage from the men in the world and from the scandal of her parent's death. At the age of nine Minerva lost her parents. Her mother was rumored to have shot her father and then killed herself after his many affairs. So she cannot stand the idea of being trapped in a marriage. To thwart her grandmother she advertises for a husband in the Lady's Magazine. She hopes this stint will scandalize and get her grandmother to relent from her goal of all her grandchildren having to marry in order for them to not get cut off.

Giles has lived a double life since the age of 19 pretending to be a scoundrel and a gambler in order to gain information from his peers to help the English government. He has never been able to forget the night he and Miranda shared a kiss so long a long and they way he had to treat her in order for to stop questioning him about his activities that night. Activities that could get him disbarred as barrister and bring scandal to his family. When he realizes that Miranda's villain resembles him a great deal and she was writing of that night in her stories he realizes that he needs to put a stop to her writing before others connect him to her story and the incident long ago. Giles figures he could marry her and keep her from writing more so he heads to interview as a potential husband.

Fun, intrigue, and love ensues from here!

My Thoughts:

I have been looking forward to the story of Miranda and Giles since the start of this series. Miranda was so unconventional, opinionated, and an author to boot. Giles..well as you can see he was the worst sort of scoundrel and that is what the readers were lead to believe but I always figured there was more to him. Boy was I not disappointed in their story. From the beginning until the end Sabrina had me hooked to this book. I finished it one night and that is saying a lot.

For fans of this series we get more clues in to the mysterious death of the parents of the Sharpe sibling. I honestly have no clue what could have happen that night so I can't wait to see where Sabrina leads us on this mystery. Minerva and Giles...wow the sexual awareness between these two literally crackles between the pages. Their banter and games of cat and mouse was verbal foreplay at it's best. I love that they've known each other so long and that initially Minerva secretly loved Giles since the age of nine. I love those unrequited love story-lines. Giles and Minerva were perfect for one another and every moment spent with them was a pleasure. I loved discovering the details that made both characters tick they way they do.

It was great catching up with the characters from the previous two novels to see what's been going on in their lives. We also I'm pretty sure meet Gabe's heroine in this novel. If I'm correct and the incident in this book with Gabe and the heroine in question is correct than I can't wait for Gabe's book. There might be some tears here and I'm not sure how Sabrina will get them to work but I'm sure she will. Also Pinter and Celia wow do those two rub each other the wrong way. I'm just rubbing my hands together eagerly awaiting that story too.

I am not looking forward to the end of this series. Which will not be soon since we still have two more books but this unconventional and lovable family are now keeper books on my shelf.