Member Reviews
I LOVED this book, if you have been following the Disgraced Lords series then you already know Philip and Rose and you have probably been wondering why they haven't married. If you haven't read the series, you will still enjoy this book as Philip and Rose have primarily been secondary characters and Ms. Evans give more than enough back story to make this a stand alone title.
The book opens with Philip Flagstaff, the new Earl of Cumberland standing at the grave of his older brother Robert, the previous Earl. Philip is overwhelmed with grief and guilt, he blames himself for his brother's death as Robert sacrificed his own life to save Philip at Waterloo. At that moment, Philip makes a vow, he will never marry or have children, so the earldom he feels he stole from his older brother will go to Thomas, his younger brother. He believes the only way he can honor his brother is by sacrificing his own happiness. As he is standing there he is approached by Rose Deverill, Duchess of Roxborough. Rose has long admired Philip and had secret hopes to one day marry him, but her father sold her into marriage at 18 to a man old enough to be her grandfather. She endured marriage to him and was rewarded with the birth of her son and widowhood on the same day. She has no desire to remarry and has spent the last few years as a "wicked widow", taking lovers and refusing all offers of marriage.
Fast forward two years, Rose and Philip have been exclusive lovers since that day at the graveside, but now Rose wants more. She loves Philip and wants to marry him, her young son adores him and she would love more children, but she is afraid to broach the topic with Philip. For his part, Philip loves Rose and can't imagine a life without her and if not for his vow, he would marry her. So when the topic comes up, Rose is crushed to learn that Philip does not want to marry. She believes that he will marry, but not her. When a misunderstanding at a ball occurs, these two are forced to have the conversation they have both been dreading. Philip again says he will not marry and Rose tells him that she can no longer be his lover, she will remarry for the sake of her son, but if Philip cannot be her husband, she must be free of him so she can move on. Heartbroken, they spend one last night together and part ways.
Over the next few weeks, they dance around each other and each are subjected to jealousy when they are seen with other people. The tension between them is white hot and again Philip asks Rose to reconsider and again she refuses. When her son's guardian learns of their split, he tells Rose it is time for her to remarry and expects her to find a suitable groom by the time her son goes off to school. Rose is still holding out hope that Philip will change his mind and asks Lord Kirkwood to invite him to his house party. He agrees but tells her if Philip does not propose, she must move on and find someone else. Rose knows there will never be anyone else and has a secret that could force Philip to marry her - but that is not what she wants, she wants him to let go of his guilt and choose her.
At the house party Rose decides that she must tell Philip her secret, but when an attempt is made on her son's life and threats are made to her, she doesn't know who she can turn to. She decides that she must leave and returns to London without telling Philip anything. Philip knows that someone is trying to hurt Drake and enlists the Libertine Scholars to help him. He knows he loves Rose and will do anything to protect her - even if that means they must marry. When he learns she left the house party without telling him, he is furious.
He returns to London to confront Rose and tells her they will marry. Rose refuses, she tells him that she loves him, but if he can't choose her over his guilt, they would both be unhappy. Philip does not take this news well and is determined to change her mind. But before he can the villain strikes again. And Philip must decide if being a martyr is worth losing the only woman he has ever and will ever love.
OMG! This book was amazing, it is well written, flows perfectly, has super hot love scenes, a lot of action, a bit of angst, moments when you want to smack the hero, a couple of misunderstandings, cameos by the former Disgraced Lords and their ladies and finally a hard won HEA.
I highly recommend this book, even if you haven't been following the series, this book is not to be missed!!
A Love to Remember is a good book. It was fast-reading, had likeable characters, and an HEA. I was a little taken aback by the sex nearly immediately and for about the first third of the book. I don't have a problem with sex in books, but it was so surprising in a Regency to be the whole beginning of the book. Overall, I really liked Rose and Phillip although he was a little tiresome with his guilt and I was trained in guilt from a small child, so that is saying something. Once you got into the meat of the story, it much improved and actually shocked me at one point which made it even better.
Bronwen Evans is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her books, and A Love to Remember tops the list. I love how Phillip and Rose were not afraid to admit their feelings, even if Phillip was not ready to act on his. I felt the connection between the two almost immediately and enjoyed watching their relationship grow. My only problem with the book was that it was not long enough! I would have loved reading more of their life together. Well done Bronwen Evans!
Yes please! Give me more. What a wonderfully captivating story to read. The characters are dynamic and heartfelt. The plot line is intriguing and delightful
Philip had made so many mistakes in his life. He feels guilt after the death of his older brother and vows to change his life. Making a difference so that his brother could be proud of him. Rose has always loved Philip since she was a young girl. Of course their lives took a turn they drove them apart but circumstances have brought them together once again. Philip is adamant he will never marry but hoe can you lose the one you love?
This is a captivating and romantic story that I couldn't put it down. Philip is a charming and engaging man who has a tortured soul. Rose is a strong, sweet and independent woman. Philip and Rose have had a relationship for 2 years, each having decided to remain unmarried for the rest of their lives, since she is an independent widow, and he because he believes is honor bound to do so. Until Rose decides that she does want to marry and have more children, and tries to convince Philip to marry her. With dramatic twists and turns to the storyline it is a brilliant and intriguing story that needs to go to the top of your TBR list.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. This is my voluntary and honest opinion of it.
A Love to Remember by Bronwen Evans is the continuation in the Disgraced Lords Series. This is a historical romance story that is a full-bodied plot with suspense and romance. The author weaves a story with both strong characters and a full descriptive plot. The main characters are wealthy widow Rose and Philip, the Earl of Cumberland who have been lovers for two years. Neither wanted to marry for different reasons. But that arrangement changes when Rose changes her mind about marriage and Philip doesn’t. The story adds suspenseful twists, and a change in the Earl’s feelings towards marriage. Very enjoyable and hard to put down!
This is a terrific series and I look forward to more stories from Bronwen Evans.
This is one wild ride of a story. There is seduction, reluctance to accept what you cannot change, villains, and a bit of mystery. Let’s be honest, Phillip is an arse. Not a little one but a huge one. I know he is living with the death of his brother, but damn, come on man. If I was Rose, I would have left him in a minute. She loved him, yes, but with his self-deprecating going on and on I could not stand to stay with him. Books should sometimes generate powerful emotions and this one definitely does with me wanting to throw it against the wall a couple of times.
A Love to Remember had the perfect ingredients: a hero haunted by the past and a heroine who would make him see that he deserves to be happy. Too bad that in the end everything was very quickly wrapped up with a nice bow.
Rose is always described as an independent woman who doesn’t want to get married, but we readers only get to know her when she wants to get married again and, in my opinion, she shows very little of her independence – which made her a character I didn’t particularly liked.
Philip is the typical tortured hero, which made sense, and in the end of the book he gets to the conclusion that he should be happy and honour his brother by having a nice life.
My problem with this book it that it was mainly contrary to the synopsis. And the little mystery it had I figured it out right away. The characters all felt weak to me and, honestly, I should stop now or it will only get worse.
In short, a disappointment.
I thought we came to an end with this series, but I was wrong. So now we have the brother of Portia involved in guilt who is in love with Portia's best friend, who loves him back, but can love be stronger than ghosts? It seems so for a long time, but then we got our HEA. Nice story but nothing unforgettable.
Pensavo che questa serie fosse giunta a degna conclusione, e invece mi sbagliavo. Qui i protagonisti sono il fratello di Porzia innamorato della migliore amica della sorella, che lo ricambia, ma il suo senso di colpa, di lui intendo, e tutti i fantasmi del passato sembrano essere molto piú forti dell'amore tra i due. La storia si trascina tra complotti ed intrighi fino a giungere al lieto fine di routine. Storia carina, ma certo non indimenticabile.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!
A Love to Remember is unique in its romance between Rose Deverill, the Duchess of Roxborough, and Phillip Flagstaff, the Earl of Cumberland. They were childhood friends with Rose being offered in marriage to a man old enough to be her grandfather to provide him an heir. The Duke dies shortly after she delivers his heir leaving her a wealthy widow. Phillip has become the Earl due to his brother’s death at Waterloo and blames himself. Not a great start between these star crossed lovers.
This book is full of the love between Rose and Phillip, but it is also full of the reasons they cannot marry and be happy. Your heart wants them to be able to move on from past choices and circumstances that are keeping them apart. Rose is the first to realize they need to change from lovers to spouses. It seems to take Phillip forever to get there.
What I liked about their love affair is that they were true to each other. It was obvious by their relationship and lovemaking that there was no other person in their lives like the other. Although it took Rose being kidnapped and threatened to make Phillip realize he needed to make changes, he was honest about it. Seeing him take control melts your heart a bit.
Rose’s son Drake, the current Duke of Roxborough, is only five and loves Phillip, even mistakenly calling him his Father once because they are together so often. Drake’s guardian, the Marquess of Kirkwood, was Rose’s father’s and her deceased husband’s friend. Although Rose had her own money as a widow, Kirkwood had a lot of control over her life through her son. Rose always found him to be fair and caring of Drake.
The ending was not what I expected; so that is another benefit to the great writing of Bronwen Evans in the Disgraced Lords series. Although part of a series, this could be a standalone, too. Ms. Evans is, also, great about interweaving the characters from previous books into this one as secondary characters.
Suspenseful, romantic, and filled with complex characters Bronwen Evans Disgraced Lords series always has a place at the top of my must read list. She doesn’t shy away from dealing with some of the darker issues – sometimes much to my dismay. However, this book isn’t dark. It is a journey to acceptance and redemption from a deep grief and guilt.
Widowed, Rose Deverill, Duchess of Roxborough, has decided that she will never, ever marry again and she has cultivated a reputation that will assure that will be the case. She’s had many lovers since becoming a widow and she makes sure none of them stay around long enough to get serious with her. I liked her and how much she loved her son, but she felt pretty modern to me.
Philip, the Earl of Cumberland, never expected nor wanted to be the Earl. He is eaten up with grief and guilt at the death of his older brother Robert. You see, it is basically his fault Robert died. Philip escaped into the military and the war – and Robert bought a commission and followed him – to keep him safe. As you learn why Philip did that, you will realize that yes, he does bear a good portion of the guilt for Robert’s death – but – nobody that is close to Philip points out that Robert was a grown man, an Earl, head of the family and yet he made his own decision to follow Philip into war. Philip has vowed he will never marry and produce a family because he feels that would be profiting from Roberts death.
Rose and Philip reconnect on the day of Robert’s funeral. They had been friends since childhood. Rose comforted Philip and they became lovers. With neither of them wanting to marry, that relationship worked really well for them. But then, Rose realizes she wants to marry and she knows, in her heart, that Philip loves her. She doesn’t take into consideration how very stubborn he will be in holding on to his guilt.
When the lives of Rose and her son are threatened, Philip must manage to save them and come to grips with his feelings. He has to decide if he will continue to refuse to be happy or if he will grab it with both hands.
The villain in the book is quite a surprise, but I won’t tell you anything about them.
"I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."
The Disgraced Lords is one of my favorite historical series and this one doesn't disappoint. We get to see Phillip struggle to deal with the death of a beloved brother, take on the Earlship that he never intended to take up and handle the family and responsibilities that he never dreamed would come his way. With so much to handle and the guilt on top of everything it's no wonder that he wasn't looking to take on a wife as well. Rose roared into his life and into his heart, she was such a strong character, never really wavering in her love and support for Phillip. To say that someone completes you is such a cliche but in this case it's true for these two. Had they not found their way to each other they would have truly been lost.
A definite buy buy buy buy book. Arguably I know a five star, however, The hero irritated me so much with his attitude that I downgraded it to four.
The one thing I am positive of is this author is creative and imaginative. Her writing is always captivating and new. This was no exception. From the first to last page, I was captivated. Her characters were wonderful and her pace of the story was just right. I must say that all in all this was a romance to be read and just enjoyed and reread later. So another fantastic book by this gifted author is ready for your reading so buy buy buy buy buy and enjoy"! I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna
Both Philip and Rose have very good reasons for not wanting to marry, but what happens when true friendship and a lot of lust turns into love? Guilt wars with honour, a little mystery and mayhem as these two struggle to find their own HEA.
This book was a romance from a different perspective. Unlike most regencies, the story begins 2 years after the main characters became lovers. I enjoyed the different perspective, the characters and the underlying mystery. I have purchased earlier books in this series, but have not read them yet. I will now!
I love this series! That being said this was not my favorite book in the series. I still enjoyed this book and I loved visiting with all the Libertine Scholars and their wives. I can't wait for her next book!
I know I have mentioned in other reviews how much I like historical romance and I do know that I have mentioned, on several occasions, how much I dislike reading books that are in a series out of series order. Well, A Love to Remember not only fulfilled my historical romance craving (I have read contemporary a lot these days) but it also can be read as a standalone book. Which made me very thankful because I have enjoyed the two books I have read out of this series.
What I really enjoyed about A Love to Remember was that Rose was no innocent virgin. She was married and widowed at a young age….leaving her to explore her sexuality. That is something that is almost unheard of in most historical romances that I have read and to be honest, it was very refreshing to read. There was no de-flowering scene when Philip and Rose had sex and Rose knew what she liked and she knew how to please Philip. I. Freaking. Loved. It. Don’t get me wrong, I love a romance where the virgin is de-flowered but sometimes it gets old. So when you have an older woman (26 for that era was considered old) who decided that she was going to be in charge of her body (again, for that era…totally unheard of since women were considered men’s property) and who fully enjoyed sex, I couldn’t get enough.
I really liked Rose too. She had a mind of her own, knew what she wanted and wasn’t about to let a man order her around. She loved with her whole heart…be it her son, Drake, or Philip, who she had loved her years. But she was also realistic and knew that her and Philip’s relationship was just sex based….even though she loved him. I also like that she wasn’t at all bothered by her “Wicked Widow” reputation. But I did find some fault with that. While I loved that she was sexually aware and that she took lovers, I really couldn’t help but think “Would have the ton really accepted her in real life“. Honestly, that is probably the only thing that I could find to complain about with this book.
Philip, I wanted to strangle most of the book. He kept things so close to his chest that I kinda wanted to shake him and say “Dude, you love her…just go tell her.” But no, being a typical man, he refused to act on his feelings until it was almost too late. While I wanted to strangle him, I did feel bad for him. He had survivor’s guilt over surviving the battle that got his older brother and heir killed. It affected everything that he did from that day forward. It almost cost him his relationship with Rose. It took two acts of violence to wake him up.
Speaking of that, I didn’t see that plot twist coming. Nothing leading up to it until Rose received the note in her bedroom, threatening to tell Philip her secret (want to know what…read the book). Then everything slowly started to come out and I was shocked by who the villain was. I was totally not expecting that person to be the bad guy.
The sex scenes were burning and I loved that there was no “introduction to his member” scene. Actually, the first chapter of the book, they are going at it doggy style…so yeah. Rose was experienced (see what I wrote above) and I think that brought a little extra oomph to the sex scenes. And when their feelings started to get involved, it made the sex even hotter, in my eyes.
The end of the book was your typical HEA and I loved how everything was pulled together for the epilogue I can’t wait to read the next book!!
How many stars will I give A Love to Remember: 4
Why: Great characters, great plot line and some pretty burning hot sex scenes
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Sex and some mild violence
**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**
This entry was posted in ARC, book review, NetGalley, Random House Pub
I enjoyed the story and the charater were well drawn and i would recommend this book to anyone.
This is really good. The stage is well set at the beginning. Rose is a great single-mother, great friend, down to earth, a little nerve wracking at times but no one's perfect :). Her grace needed a little more physical..... resistance and I thought she was heading toward obsession but the author throws something in the midst of this love affair which really raises the excitement, anticipation and action level.. I like Philip, he is compassionate but he also has some of the normal bull-headed aristocrat tendencies. He fought in the war but now his heart has to fight pass the grief of the war, his body already knows, the rest of him is a little slow at figuring things out, lol. He's a good man though and shows his love for Rose & her son way before he realizes why he's so drawn to them. I'm glad Rose has a second chance, she deserves it. Great couple, I enjoyed reading their fascinating story!