Grasp What A Lady Needs (The Redgraves, #2) Author Kasey Michaels Released As Text
anyone knows what a Regency era lady needs, its USA TODAY bestselling author Kasey Michaels, With this latest release, Michaels offers the muchanticipated second book in The Redgraves seriesand its an offer no reader can refuse, In fact, Michaels proves once again that she knows exactly what a romance reader needs,
Their bodies were touching now, as he eased her feet toward the grass, She was looking up at him, her full wide mouth a whisper away,
She had no idea what she was doing to him, Or perhaps she did.
“Yes, precisely like this, And then, as naturally follows, I steal a kiss, ”
She was gone so quickly he barely had time to realize the way she bent her knees, pulling down and out of his light grasp on her waist.
In a heartbeat, she was standing a good five feet away from him, She had her arms crossed tightly beneath her breasts, and she was still breathing rather hard,
“Very neatly done, Kate, You do this often”
Her cheeks had gone faintly pink, but Simon didnt believe the flush was in anger, “No, I most certainly do not, You shouldnt ask questions like that, ”
“No Well, then, how about this one How many men have kissed you, Lady Katherine”
There went the chin again, aiming for the sky, “Thats absolutely none of your concern, But if you must know, several, A lot. Dozens. ”
He began advancing on her, slowly, “Then one more certainly shouldnt matter, should it”
What a Lady Needs is complex and clever, an ambrosial mix of intrigue, adventure, peril and passion, with a justright amount of historical detail that adds a fascinating and chilling realism.
The conspiracy endangering Kates family is a truly diabolical one, involving generations of sexual perversion, blackmail, rape, sedition, . . and murder. Kate and her brothers are determined to not only clear the family name, but to save the British monarchy from ending up in the hands of the French, High stakes indeed. And despite the gradual, painstaking reveal of horrifying truthsnot only about the Society, but about her familyKate is determined to see her quest through to the end, She becomes even more determined when she discovers Simons scheme to lead her astrayonly it doesnt take Simon long to realize the error of his ways, and suddenly its not the incriminating journals but Kates virtue hed like to steer her away from.
And shes all for letting him! Yet neither can they dismiss the conflicts that challenge their feelingsKates impetuous nature, Simons need to be trusted, and Kates belief that the Redgrave legacy of debauchery makes her undeserving of Simons love.
The intricate, intelligent plot features a stellar complement of oddball characters, Besides Kate the independent and stubborn tomboy and Simon the smug yet lovable showoff, we have a dour but doting butler a foppish, fatuous teenage inlaw a shrewd, hulking smuggler a mischievous though wellmeaning brother an audacious, indiscreet grandmother and the grandmothers devoted minions, a slew of servants who employ all kinds of hilarious and underhanded methods to watch over Kate.
And speaking of hilariousMichaels trademark droll humor gives the story a playful polish, Never have I heard the expression kick him in the fork, but it still has me chuckling, And the scene with the playing cardswell, its too delicious to miss,
The storys prologue neatly provides the history of the Redgrave family and the Society, and though it takes several pages for the true action to begin, its well worth the wait.
Now what this reader needs is to treat myself to What an Earl Wants, the first book in the seriesbecause Im missing those unruly Redgraves already,
This is an incredible piece of work, combining just the right amount of humor, intrigue, and love into a history suspensecumromance story, along with endearing, wonderful characters, The mystery of the Redgrave scandals pick up from the previous novel, but the important details are all explained in this novel, so readers would not feel left out of the grand mission that interposes the four novels of the Redgrave siblings Gideon, Max, Val, Kate Max and Val's story yet to come.
The Redgrave family, of the Saltwood earldom, has always been lucky, Its ancestry traces several centuries back, and through sheer cunning and pragmatism, have managed to profit from England's turbulentth century history, Naturally, every noble family has its own scandals, except the Redgraves are now confronting the rebirth of the Society, a hellfire club that the current generation's grandfather had created, suspecting its unknown members of plotting treason.
I won't explain further, as the prologue provides a good understanding of the gist of this mystery/suspense, which is the underlying component of the Redgraves series,
Taking over the reins from Gideon Redgrave, the current Earl of Saltwood, is his sister Katherine, Kate is the youngest of the four Redgrave siblings, and having been raised by their eccentric grandmother Trixie, is now an adventurous and bold beauty possessing a curious combination of worldly knowledge and innocence.
She and her brother Valentine are to search for the hidden journals of the Society, along with Simon Ravenbill, the Marquess of Singleton, whose interest in the Redgrave family is mired with his own family secrets.
At first sight, Simon is struck by Kate's beauty, but as he comes to understand her more, and she him, they come to truly fall in love with each other.
Simon and Kate are both unique individuals who are wellcrafted on their own but together, they complement each other so well the chemistry really flares up between them.
The first chapter sums up well Kate's appeal, Having a gorgeous body, a strong intellect and intense curiosity as well as an adventurous spirit, she could lead any man on a merry chase, Kate's character is of more focus in the book, as she represents the scandalous Redgraves in her spirit and unladylike behavior, By this I don't mean anything truly scandalous, but rather indulging her curiosity and intelligence where it suits her, and living her life as she wants under the careful watch of her loving brothers and servants.
Having received a fulsome education from Trixie, Kate is confident in her own beauty and irresistable charms, but from all manners she is simply an independent, singular lady, and not shrewish nor manipulative as she might have turned out had another author without Mrs.
Michaels' touch for characterization written it, To put it simply, I was both pleasantly surprised and delighted at Kate's mischievousness, sharp wits, loving nature, and mental maturity throughout the story as she deals with the crushing realities of her father.
Simon is just as likable as Kate, and in some instances, more so because he was less impacted by their discovered secrets, He is kind and sweet towards Kate, despite their initial brief hostility towards each other, Not only can he see through Kate's vulnerabilities, but he treats her as an equal and appreciates her for who she is, not wanting to change any aspect of her personality.
He gradually realizes that he will have to marry Kate, because to not do so would mean living a miserable existence, Simon is a true gentleman, letting Kate win their mock battles at times, and other times hilariously showing off, but all the while conscious of Kate's feelings and slowly falls in love with her.
Simon's first gift to Kate is his trust and friendship, which lends this novel to far more value than those others that are only concerned with repressed passions, Simon's giving Kate time to sort out her feelings to their discoveries, along with his promise that he will always be waiting for her, is just the sweetest action any hero can do for the heroine in a time of confusion.
The story's plot is done with superb pacing, with not a single seemingly useless detail mentioned that would not prove
its worth, The intrigue is maintained throughout the novel, never losing my attention even when the action slowed down in the middle as the romance gained more attention, No hacked off ending or convoluted and improbable plot twists marred the story, and the historical detail paid was astounding it's evident that Mrs, Michaels had thoroughly done her research for this novel, even down to the diction and dialogue,
With regards to dialogue, it ranges from humorous to outrageously hilarious I was laughing throughout the book at the antics of Kate's doltish and idiotic brotherinlaw Adam, the amusing and loving butler Dearborn, and Kate's charming brother Val, who is getting his story next.
All of the aspects of a fine novel are showcased in WHAT A LADY NEEDS, and I urge readers to read and see for yourselves what a great read this is.
I've only recently been introduced to Kasey Michaels, and now I can say with certainty that her writing is original even in this heavily populated genre of historical romance, The second Redgrave is about to fall in love, At the end of the first book in this series which isn't absolutely necessary to read, but I would really recommend it, Lady Katherine's brother wanted to get her out of harm's way.
It turns out that their father's traitorous literally, he was plotting to overthrow the king activities are still casting shadows, This includes a bible with the names of all of the men in his secret club as well as the journals they kept of their illicit activities,
Simon Ravenbill's the Marquis of Singleton brother was one of those men so he has a vested interest in making those secrets stay buried as well, Simon is a fair haired former sailor while Katherine is a headstrong twentyyearold who started off her first season by punching her dance partner in the nose,
Not as good as the first book, this book does well to move the overarching story of the Redgrave family, Whew, I can now breathe a sigh of relief,
Here's how my brain works, I've been reading romance novels for a long time and I have multitudinous authors who I have read from the very beginning of their careers, I have become very loyal to these authors, We have grown old together, But, as we all know time marches on, my taste changes, their taste changes or doesn't, And, what happens I start losing interest in their books, This makes me very sad, because these authors are like old friends, What do I do when my favorite authors start to fade Well, my routine has always been to continue to buy their books, but just not read them and then one day I just stop buying them.
Ms. Michaels is/was one of those authors, one of my autobuy authors and I was becoming concerned, Her Romney Marsh series was not one of my favorites and her first book in the Redgrave series, What an Earl Wants, almost became a wallbanger for me, So, it was with some trepidation that I began reading What a Lady Needs, However, it didn't take me long to realize that Ms, Michaels was back at the top of her game,
I enjoyed What a Lady Needs, oh sure it's not perfect, but the couple in this story blended together really well, Dare I use the term "adorable" when speaking of them
I liked both Kate and Simon, When we were first introduced to Kate in What an Earl Wants, I thought she had all the earmarks of a future TSTL heroine, Even though she had those characteristics, those moments when she might run into a burning building or confront someone who was holding five guns, You all know what Im talking about they usually happen right after the hero tells the heroine not to move, Do not fear gentle readers, with Kate all those moments were believable and I found myself cheering her on, Kate was a fun character, smart, loyal, tricky and usually one step ahead of the hero, She was a force to be reckoned with and our charming hero Simon never had a chance, Actually, from the moment Simon met her, he accepted his fate, . . although he didn't let her know right away,
For once in a romance we have a couple who worked together, They were honest with each other, and even when Simon tried to hide something from Kate, it didn't do any good because she always found out, She was one sharp woman and I just loved her, This was also one time I was able to buy into the independence of a woman in a particular time period Kate was authentic in her uniqueness,
There was a return of some characters from the first novel, Trixie, Adam, Richard and Valentine all put in an appearance, This time the secondary characters didn't overwhelm the story, I do have to say that Adam was starting to get on my nerves, He needed to be either funnier or maybe turn to the dark side, Speaking of the dark side, we also had the return of the secret society, those people with flowers in their lapels, There wont be an end to the mystery of the secret society any time soon, even though their members were dropping like flies, Maybe there wont be anyone left or just maybe there will be only one person left and that person will be the “master”, Anyway, unlike the last book, the secret society did not overwhelm the story and neither did the sex, In fact, if you blink in this book you might miss it,
Overall, I found What a Lady Needs to be a vast improvement over the last Redgrave story, Kate and Simon just may be my favorite romance couple this year, And, I won't be saying goodbye to Ms, Michaels any time soon.
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This was an interesting book, The series revolves around a secret society that uses sex as a way to trap men into doing the leader's bidding, Who that leader is is still a mystery as is the members of the club, A few of the members have been exposed and most of those members have died under mysterious circumstances, Enter the Redgrave family. The Society was founded by the grandfather and resurrected by the father of the current Earl and his siblings,
In this book, the second of the series, Kate is on a mission to find the journals of her grandfather and/or father and since they're pretty scandalous her brothers send in someone to help her find them and keep her from actually reading them.
The man tasked with that is Simon Ravenbill, But once they set eyes on each other they have more then journals on their minds,
I really liked the attraction that Kate and Simon shared and felt that they were a good fit for each other, Simon was a very understanding man and tried to keep the worst of the Society from Kate while at the same time not hiding thing from her,
I think people will enjoy this book and series, if for nothing else people will kick a kick out of Adam Collier, But seriously, it's a interesting read about the "hellfire" clubs and the threat of sedition in England at the time, .