Rules of an Engagement (Avon) Review

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(More customer reviews)Captain Bradshaw Carroway is at a crossroads in his life. He loves his current mistress, the sea, but he is also hitting the beginning stages of burn out for his current life. When a sealed order from the Royal Navy and a request from the Duke of Sommerset send him on a mission he finds the perfect cure for his restlessness-a feisty, improper lady, Zephyr Ponsley. Miss Ponsley and her famous botanist father, Sir Joseph Ponsley are in need of transportation to the South Seas to examine the flora and fauna. Given the importance of their research, and with the power of the Royal Society, the Ponsleys receive one of the best captains in the biz.
Right from the get-go Shaw and Zephyr engage in a battle of words and wits. In their initial meeting, our heroine was more than willing to throw our hero into the "stupid brute" stereotype. Not one to turn down a challenge, Shaw came up with his fair share of witty retorts to her snobbish comments. Surprising Zephyr with his quick mind and quicker lips their verbal sword play became a highlight for this book. I found myself a few times at the droll banter of these two. Once these two establish that they are a match in the intelligence department they realize they are also physically attracted to one another. Shaw, an alleged rake does a very un-rake like thing and begins to court her like a proper lady. Well, at least as much as he can on a ship.
The real scene-stealer in this book was the action. You have cannibalistic, Dahmer-type natives on the islands, spiders the size of football fields in the jungles, and "The Perfect Storm" type weather on the seas. You wonder where they found time to fit in this courtship and the romance.
Well, Enoch really didn't. Didn't fit in romance that is. The action, subplots, and dialogue (even if it was witty and made me laugh) completely trumped any relationship developement/romance in this book. Now I'm not saying you can't have a fantastic plot and dialogue in a romance novel. That's not it at all. You just have to make sure you leave enough room for a little somethin'-somethin' to bloom, or you might as well just label it historical fiction. The sneak kisses and the passionate scenes just felt forced. It didn't work for me.
The other gripe I had with this book is Shaw's invitation to the Adventurers' Club. I know, I know...It is a somewhat petty and self-indulgent gripe to put in this review. But that invitation felt forced too! It was like Enoch wanted to bring in as many "blasts from the past" as she could, so she shoved Sommerset in this book. With it being Sommerset, she of course had to bring his club into it. If you bring his club into it, you might as well throw out an invite. Right? Silly! Then on top of it there was the little disgruntled speech from Mr. Thomas Easton about the only qualification needed to join the club nowadays was surviving rough seas. That just makes me think Enoch knew that Shaw had no business being in that club, but SHE decided to be self-indulgent and do it anyway.
If you are looking for an amusing tale with some engaging action and a smooch here and there...Buy this book! If you are looking for the next Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, you might want to keep on looking. This just isn't up to par with Enoch's usual work in the romance department.
Kiss or Diss? Too busy fighting natives, but meh...Give me a quick peck!
-Sarah of RomanticallyReviewed

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For proper young ladies, good behavior has always been the rule…

Captain Bradshaw Carroway loves the seafaring life-though he'd rather be battling brigands than his current assignment of ferrying a boatload of spoiled aristocrats. One passenger, however, has caught his eye: a bewitching young minx who definitely distracts him from the rules of shipboard decorum . . .

Some rules, of course, are meant to be broken.

Miss Zephyr Ponsley has traveled the world, but she's completely innocent in the ways of love. She's never learned to dance or flirt. But scientific observation has taught her that the laws of attraction have no rules, and that no adventure, on land or sea, is more dangerous-or delicious-than passion!

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A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It's not often that I am both entranced and repulsed by a heroine in a romance novel. Usually I either love them or hate them. Theresa (Tess) Weller is a heroine that I think might rub some readers the wrong way, but a character I both loved and wanted to smack upside the head.
Our hero, Colonel Bartholomew (Tolly) James is much more evenly appealing. The book opens with him--wounded quite badly and the sole survivor of a massacre-- hiding out in the Adventurers' Club, away from the sympathy and pity of his family. His family's persistent requests for his presence, though, force him back home where he encounters Tess Weller at a dinner party. Despite being rude and provoking a mild argument, he seems to capture the attention of Tess--someone who is never rude, always proper, and is somewhat obsessed with remaining a paragon of unexceptional behavior.The budding relationship between the two seems to confuse both of them. I found it very sweet that neither character was 'in pursuit.' There is no chase. Which seems appropriate since our heroine is very conscious of propriety and our hero is in a wheel chair or using a cane throughout most of the story. The romance is low key. No big dramatic betrayals. I found that kind of slow build refreshing.
Why did I want to slap Tess, you ask? Because she lacks backbone at a crucial moment. She can assist with a surgery and shave a man in his bedchamber, but she refuses to support Tolly when he needs it because it would harm her reputation. It sounds shallow--it is shallow--but Tess is obsessed with propriety for a reason. And she is aware of how cowardly she is being. Disgusted by it. But, for a time, she remains paralyzed by her fear of stepping outside the carefully constructed box of good behavior in which she's surrounded herself. What I found redeeming was that she wasn't really as shallow as most of society thought her to be. She was aware of her fear. Aware that she was failing a friend at a crucial moment. And ultimately, finally, shows some backbone by casting aside the rules she's governed her life by for a decade.
The mention of the Thuggee problems in India during British colonialism was something I hadn't seen a lot of in standard Avon historicals. I found it interesting that while there is some lingering PTSD issues with Col. James, the major emotional scars come from the destruction of his ability to trust. And the scenes with Tess helping him shave were more emotional than the love scenes--which, I admit, were fairly tame and not very imaginative.
Something only an Enoch fangirl would love: the brief mention of Bradshaw Carroway. I'm hoping this means that she's going to finally give us those books featuring the rest of Dare's family. (Originally seen in the Rake.)
One thing that I almost missed: the switch to 2nd edition excerpts at the chapter headings. I'm guilty of skimming most chapter headings, even amusing ones, but thankfully noticed this change and flipped back a couple of chapters to read the headings with the 2nd edition difference in my head.
Overall, I thought this was much better than the previous book featuring the Adventurers' Club, the Care and Taming of a Rogue. And while it did have some thematic echoes of London's Perfect Hero, those similarities were very superficial. Pretty much, just the wounded war vet angle and the fact that the War Office and Horse Guards seemed to be part of the conflict and interfering in a happily ever after.
The resolution of the 'threat' against Col. James seemed a bit rushed and superficial. As if an editor was a little too stingy on the page count. The necessary elements were there, but I would have liked to have the 'danger' element expanded on more just a bit. And I would have liked to see at least a portion of Tolly's editorial.
I found this book unexpectedly moving. Not quite as good as the Lessons in Love trilogy, but then few books are. And I'm still crossing my fingers that Bradshaw's reappearance means that we'll get more stories featuring the Carroways soon.

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The Rules:

A lady should always make polite conversation . . .

Theresa Weller understands the rules of decorum, and is appalled when Colonel Bartholomew James disrupts a perfectly civilized dinner. This rude, insensitive man is the complete opposite of everything a gentleman should be-but with one searing kiss, Tess can think of no one else.

A lady should never lose her temper . . .

Aggravated beyond bearing by a man who speaks his mind, Tess wishes there was a guide to men like Bartholomew. Surely, with such an assortment of handsome, polite suitors to choose from, Tess should not ache for him.

And a lady should never pursue a gentleman.

She invites him on carriage rides and dares him to dance, and almost makes him want to return to Society. Bartholomew knows Tess wants to be seen as a proper miss, but deep down, he knows she is precisely the sort to spark his desire . . . A most improper lady.

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