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

by Sabrina Jeffries

[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