Cover Image: Gothic Love Stories

Gothic Love Stories

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Member Reviews

To say that I'm a big fan of the author it's just a tiny bit unfair because i just love her writing and each story that she writes for us to enjoy.
I loved each couple, so different and so perfectly matched, with flaws and feelings that can't deny the love they share and even if they have to go through some dangerous situations, love will always find a way to bring them back together and never let go.
Just love.

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These are the first Gothic stories I've read from Ms Ridley. They were quite wonderful. She does such a beautiful job of bringing the characters to life. I would highly recommend.

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Another excellent set of stories by Ms. Ridley. Good plost and such an interesting assortment of characters. Enjoyed

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Really enjoyed this collection of exciting adventures filled with danger, intriguing charters and thrilling emotional ups and downs..... excellent reading!

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Positively addicting! A raving success in ravishing detail. Gothic horror? No. Gothic pleasure at its finest. 5/5 stars for a job well done.

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I absolutely adored this set of books. The stories were all standalones but each one heaved you firmly and wouldn't let you go. If you enjoy romances with amazing characters and happy endings these books are for you

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These are the first of Ms Ridley’s gothic stories that I have read and found them very different from my usual read. They had murder, mystery, paranormal and a full range of emotions. If you like Ms Ridley I am sure you will like these as well. They are something different but of course well read as you would expect from a great story teller. Well worth the read. I received these as an ARC and was happy to review.

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Gothic Love Stories are a collection of an interesting mix of historical meets paranormal romance.

Too Wicked to Kiss- 3.5 stars

Evangeline Pemberton in a desperate chance to flee her abusive step-father runs off to the doorstep of one of her late mother's friend. Lady Stratford (said friend) is on her way to a house party at Blackberry Manor belonging to the reclusive Lord Lioncroft, who is rumored to have killed his parents in cold blood. Lady Stratford agrees to take in Evangeline as long as she agrees to help in her scheme to trap Lord Lioncroft into marrying her daughter, Susan. Evangeline has a secret that she desperately tries to keep hidden. The party suffers a sort of Clue-like death and a whodunnit ensues.

I enjoyed the dialogue between the two MCs. Erica Ridley has a way with words and discussion that is fun and exciting. The setting was very fun and spooky. And as always, the romance was quite fun!

Too Sinful to Deny- 3.25 stars

Smugglers, and pirates, and ghosts! Oh my!

Exiled socialite Susan Stanton just can't catch a break. First, she's exiled from society for tattling about a witnessed clandestine affair between two members of the ton, then she fails her mothers attempt to trap a Lord into marriage to cover up said scandal (see Too Wicked to Kiss). She was punished by being banished to her room. One night she escapes and goes out to an ice festival but on her way there the ice cracks and she falls in and carries the lasting effects of that night. Now, her family has banished her to a little seaside town steeped in mystery and secrets.

In all honesty, I was not really looking forward to reading any more about Susan. She kind of annoyed me in Too Wicked to Kiss but she also acted sometimes in a way that made me not really trust her. But I was pleasantly surprised and ended up liking her. I dug Evan and their interactions. As always, the back and forth banter between the two MCs was on point. While normally, I absolutely dig how Erica Ridley writes her smexy, romance times, but I just wasn't feeling this one too much. I did get a bit wearisome with the constant mistrust through nearly the entire book. There were a lot of twists and turns that maybe were a bit distracting. The mystery and all its layers made for quite a good whodunnit. But truthfully, at some point, you fully distrust almost every single character in the book. Like, Who do you believe? Who is the woman? Who is running the manor? Who killed Evan's brother? What is the... I could do this for a while, but you get the point. All in all, this was a good historical mystery/romance.

Too Tempting to Resist- 3.5 stars

After the death of her parents, Miss Rebecca Bond was sent to her only living relative, in a lonely castle. In an attempt to stay out of the way, she keeps to the shadows. Many of the castles occupants thing she is actually a ghost, When the new heir inherits the castle, he decides he must marry her off or be out on her ear. In an unexpected chance of fortune, she is reacquainted with Lord Stonebury, one of the ton’s greatest rakes. While he broke her heart many years ago, she decides he might be just the one to help in her mission to find a husband. Daniel's biggest regret is hurting the only girl he's ever cared about. In an attempt to make amends, he jumps at the chance to finally make up for his previous misdeeds, even if that means helping Rebecca get married to another man.

This was a quick little novella that, gratefully, lacked the constant twists and constant mistrust of Too Sinful to Deny. There were no side plots and unfortunately not much of a gothic or paranormal twist other than the beginning misconceptions that Rebecca was thought to be a ghost living in the castle. I really did enjoy the romance aspect and the brevity. I'm not gonna lie, the Gothic Love Stories collection/bundle was quite wordy. All in all, Too Tempting to Resist was a short and sweet romance.

Too Wanton to Wed- 3.0 stars

Violet Whitechapel, is a woman on the run. In the defense of an innocent child, she accidentally murdered two men. In an attempt to save her own life, she ran as far and as fast as she could and found herself at the doorstep of a broken down Abbey. Its owner is a desperate recluse in search of a cure. Alistair Waldegrave, the owner of Waldegrave Abbey, is desperate to find a cure for the deadly disease that afflicts his daughter and forces him to keep her imprisoned in her own home. Lilian suffers horribly and is incapable of tolerating any sunlight. Alistair must keep his daughter's life a secret from superstitious townsfolk who think him and his wildly misbehaving daughter are--- vampires.

This was a good read and I enjoyed the overall story and mostly enjoyed the characters. I know this is bad to say... and I'm a mom, so I feel super horrible about it but I really disliked Lilly. OMG, that girl needed something! I know the whole story progression was supposed to come from Violet helping to tame the wild-feral child and help Alistair wake up from his super-indulgent, super-obsessive cure researching coma and bring life back into them. I know, I know that but... ugh, there is not such a fine line between overindulgence and unconditional love that you can't see the difference. (channeling Veruca Salt anyone?) No one ever disciplined her or even said "you were wrong to throw paint all over those paintings that took Violet days, weeks to paint FOR YOU", no one ever made her apologize. Nothing! And could Violet have been more disrespectful? I mean she was about to jump his bones right on top of his wife's grave. My goodness, could they not have moved further away? And the whole chemistry/relationship build-up was just not there for me.

Ok, so I'm just going to chalk this one up to a miss for me. On the whole, the story was good and the overall love relationship worked out, but it just didn't click for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this generously provided ARC!

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For lovers of gothic romance this is the perfect escape. These stories will give you hours of nail biting suspense and intrigue. Dark mansions with unending and confusing corridors lend just the right eerie touch to these stories. Some are a bit humorous, others poignant, but all are intriguing and compelling?

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An enjoyable selection of Gothic Romance stories and they all are great for light, fun reads; perfect to jump out of reality for a while and into these. A couple are much more gothic than the others, and I enjoyed these more as I like a gothic setting, and of course it provides a rich, dark and dramatic backdrop to a period romance.
Overall, I'd recommend this selection of romance reads, perfect for a cold winter night by the fire.

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Absolutely fabulous kept me gripped throughout, I’m not even sure where to start. They were fun to read with the right amount sinister suspense for me a great balance of sexual tension and I loved all the characters who were very believable and you had a great connection with.
I love the brooding heroes the feisty heroines and altogether fabulous read, that was a different read for me but one that I totally enjoyed and would happily recommend.

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I'm a huge historical romance reader but not many of those have been Gothic love stories. I found the dark castles, ghosts, secrets, second chances and romances a lot of fun to read. Something different from my usual reads.
I love reading Erica Ridley books when I need a little break from my norm. They are shorter in length but not short on humour, love and happenstance. I highly recommend her books.
I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

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Each book in this set was fantastic. They were intriguing and romantic and I couldn’t wait to see how they unfolded. They each had a ghostly storyline that left me guessing and a black guard that left me guessing too, in a good way. Book provided by NetGalley.

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Too wicked to wed: 4 stars
I enjoyed this book with Evangeline and Lioncroft. The supernatural aspect was entertaining as well. The story line kept me engaged and I couldn’t wait for The Who dun it reveal! The romance was at a good pace and I enjoyed all the characters! Would recommend this book.

Too sinful to deny: 4 stars
This story is Susan Stanton’s story. She was a side character in book one. Susan has been ostracized from London and is now in a small smuggling town. Evan Bothwick is our hero in this story. He just discovered his brother is dead and his cargo is gone. Susan and Evan are entertaining together. Again, I felt their romance grew at a good pace. The story line was interesting and once again I couldn’t wait to see who the culprit was. The supernatural edge of this story was entertaining. I would recommend this book.

Too tempting to resist: 3 stars
This was a short novella. I found the characters engaging but there was no edge to this story like there was in the first book. There was no supernatural aspect either. I felt this book was okay but wasn’t what I expected. I would still recommend reading since it is part of the series.

Too wanton to wed: 3 Stars
This story is about Violet and Alistair. I enjoyed both of the characters, but I found the story to be just a little off to me. The writing is good, the story just wasn't really for me.

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Too Wicked to Kiss

While I have read this author’s work before Too Wicked to Kiss is a departure from her usual style of writing. It did take me a while to get into it, maybe because for some reason I kept imagining Jane Eyre as I was reading it - I’ve no idea why. Perhaps Gavin Lioncroft reminded of Mr Rochester minus the mad wife in the attic of course. It was a bit darker than her other books and is without the customary humour I’ve come to expect from an Erica Ridley novel. She set a believably sinister scene complete with the requisite dark and brooding scarred hero. The heroine Evangeline, well I have to say I preferred Susan as a character to her but the story itself was filled with suspense with a slight paranormal element which I really enjoyed. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.


Too Sinful to Deny

Too Sinful to Deny is the second book in the Gothic Love stories series and I was looking forward to this book as Susan was one of my favourite characters from the first book but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. There is plenty to grab a reader’s attention with smugglers, ghosts and pirates and an atmospheric, sinister setting but for some reason I kept having to go back and re-read parts because I just wasn’t taking in. Maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll give this one another go.


Too Tempting to Resist

Too Tempting to Resist is a second chance romance, more in keeping with Erica Ridley’s usual style of writing so I’m unsure why it’s been included as part of the Gothic Love Stories series. There wasn’t the suspense/mystery event I’ve come to expect with this series so even though I enjoyed this book I can’t help but feeling a little disappointed overall with the storyline.


Too Wanton to Wed

Violet is on the run from the hangman’s noose and has found refuge at a gothic abbey complete with catacombs as the governess of Alistair Waldegrave’s young daughter. A child who he keeps locked away as she has the misfortune of suffering from an illness that leaves her vulnerable to the superstitions of the villagers.

I can honestly say that Too Wanton to Wed is my favourite book in the Gothic Love Stories series. The characters are all well developed and the setting described so vividly I can visualise it in my mind as I read. The story moves at a steady pace making it easy to read. Definitely a book I’ll be happy to re-read at a later date.

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I had a really hard time getting into these stories. Normally I am a huge fan of Ms. Ridley, I just wasn't so into these.

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Easy-to-read Gothic love stories in a boxed set. Vampires, secret passages, smugglers, ghosts are just a few of the motives in these four books. The heroines are strong and have to work their way out of some very dire situations.

Book two is a little weak in comparison to the other three books, but still a solid 3-star read.

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A great collection of gothic romances with a dark castle and no one does it better than Erica Ridley. Each books has some elements from paranormal, pirates, wounded souls needing love redemption and a mystery to solve as our hero and heroine learn to trust and fall in love in these captivating stories. I voluntarily read and reviewed this collection of exciting gothic mystery and romance.

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It had been a while since I had read a good Gothic romance with them being what was the first kind years ago on what got me started on romance. In this one you get a great collection of her finest that sweeps you away without you having to stop if you do not have too. The settings alone are divine then put that together with the characters you are in for amazing. Mystery with it keeps you captivated with the romance ass the tales are spun.

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I'm a big fan of Erica Ridley. And a big fan of romance stories. But to date, i haven't really read a lot of gothic love stories.
I'm not sure that's really going to change in the future. The style in general doesn't really do it for me.
However, having said that, I'd read anything Erica writes. Her books are just so much fun. The stories are so easy to get into and to get caught up in.

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