Oddly enough, where I ran into difficulty with this one was with the power dynamics. The heroine is a divorcee; rumors about her abound in high society and she's considered something of a maneater. In fact, she's lived a retiring, virtuous life since her ex-husband framed her for adultery; the scandal upsets her and she wants mostly to be left alone. The hero pursues her with the intent of making her his mistress, very publicly. This... kind of sucks. The fact that she finds him attractive doesn't make it suck any less. He sets her up in situations where she is assumed to be his mistress, and he doesn't care about what this does to her reputation. I had serious difficulty getting past this. If the heroine were a little more devil-may-care or burned-out on the idea of being proper while rumors are constantly spread to the contrary, I'd have less of a problem with it, but she wasn't, at least until the romance was well underway. The writing and characterization were strong which is part of the reason I had so many problems with this plot aspect.

Anyway, eventually the book kind of... devolves into very standard romance-land plot, which I thought was also unfortunate. We are introduced to the hero's giant and unrealistically loving and accepting family, most of whom are undoubtedly the protagonists of past or future novels; we are introduced to the heroine's terrible ex-husband, who is essentially Meanyface McPlotDevice. Warren has a very good sense of place and time and her characterizations are good, which is part of the reason I was hoping this would be something exceptional - but it seemed pretty bound by standard romance tropes (it's ok if the hero pursues a woman in a way that would be creepy in the real world, the rules of high society need to stop working in pursuit of happily-ever-after, and there has to be a Bad Guy) which brought it down to just ok.

All the feels. The heroine is older than I'm used to in historical romances, and the hero starts off as a bit of an entitled jerk. But it makes the relationship stronger and the HEA more rewarding. The ending took a twist that was a bit melodramatic--and maybe a little too pat. But I didn't give a damn. It just made the final chapters that much better as far as I was concerned because of the way it brought everyone together.

This book surprised me. I hadn't read anything from this author and just picked it up at the library on a whim because I wanted some easy fluff read. For me, it was touching, endearing, had my heart breaking during the conflicts, and had me rooting for the couple at the end.

I liked that the relationship grew over several months rather than the usual mere days or a week. I was pained by the heroine's backstory, and I thought the author wrote it well. I felt I understood the development of the heroine's character and it wasn't out of place. The hero was my favorite because it's rare that you read about a young hero who is mature and sensitive. The sex scenes were also hot, so always a plus with me! I need to feel the passion along with the compatibility for me to really believe in the characters and the love story. This was a definite reread for me!

I wasn't overjoyed at the almost annoying persistence of the hero to get the heroine's attention in the beginning, but then again there would be no other way for the heroine to have not easily pushed him aside. However, it still got my dander up, if that's the right phrase. I did like that the heroine softened towards him by seeing his gallantry and sensitivity first. I also rolled my eyes at the way the conundrum was wrapped up in the end -- it's literally the second book this week to wrap up the villain's storyline in the most permanent way so that the conflict is just suddenly gone. This book didn't really play into many of the same romance tropes that I was slightly disappointed that the ending was a quickie wrap up with such a Basic Ending. But, it was such a small glitch in an otherwise fantastic book that it doesn't bother me overly much!

5/10.

Michelle's Thoughts

The Bedding Proposal is the first installment in Tracy Anne Warren’s The Rakes of Cavendish series.  The heroine is Lady Thalia Lennox.  She was pretty scandalous for that day because she was a divorcee.  Unfortunately, Thalia was ostracized for her status and forced to live a life with few frills away from her few friends.  Lord Leo Byron sees her and is determined to take advantage of her divorced state and sordid reputation by acquiring her as his mistress.

The book got off to a slow start.  The hero seemed very shallow.  Thalia seemed shrewish, sad, and overwrought.   I just felt like she went overboard discouraging his advances.  There didn’t seem to be any chemistry between the two of them.  I think the story just moved very slow and seemed to be repetitive.  He would send her a gift, and she would return it.  He would try to visit, and she would rebuff him.  After a while we get the point and want to move on to see what happens next.

BUT……I am so glad I didn’t stop at the beginning.  I loved reading about Leo and Thalia’s romance.  I still think Thalia was a little overly dramatic (but I definitely know women like her).  I think Leo scored major points when he refused to give her up.  When he faced death but still acted to protect her I almost wept.  Their romance was white hot.  The chemistry between the two of them was nothing short of amazing.  I loved that they thumbed their noses in the faces of society by choosing to live according to love.  Leo’s family was nothing short of incredible when they welcome Thalia into their family.

When Thalia’s ex-husband got his comeuppance it took my delight to another level.  Ms Warren is definitely a great storyteller.  I look forward to the next book in the series.
This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books.

While I enjoyed the characters and their development as a couple the whole story itself with incredibly anticlimatic. When reading reviews people would say how interesting the female situation is because of what it was that caused her down fall in society-- yes, divorce is different, but everything else revolving around her situation was nothing new-- asshole husband wants out of the marriage and he finds a way to accomplish it. The whole situation just falls short as it promised a big confrontation.

I have this book another try....it was okay - good story, of a little problematic at times in a #metoo world.

Not for me. The hero was too obsessive and the whole thing was just a bit off to be enjoyable.

I forgot to review this book. Happy to find a new author I enjoy. So many feels. Can’t wait to read another book by this author.

DNF at 33%. “Guy pursuing a reluctant woman” is a delicate balance with consent and I’m just getting too squicked out at this point. This “if you give me two weeks to court you then I’ll leave you alone after that” bugs me. She’s already said no, so leave her alone, Lord Sam I Am. She doesn’t owe you two weeks of courting to “earn” being left alone. No should be enough.