was really good ( )

was really good ( )

I enjoyed "Forever Yours", Janmarie Anello's debut Kensington historical romance novel. There were parts of the story I didn't like and pieces of plot I didn't quite believe, but her writing kept me reading until her story was done.

Sophie is a beauty who was ruined by a rake. When the consequences of her mistake became obvious, rather than allowing her family to force a marriage to such a scoundrel, she accepts her half-brother's offer of a small country estate. But tragedy seems to hover over Sophie and now she's quite at her wit's end. She hasn't seen her half-brother in two years, she's sold off almost everything she can, and now she's being importuned by yet another scoundrel! Into this scene steps a commanding man with a scar and WEDDING PAPERS!

Jagger can't believe his debt of honor will force him to return to England and marry! But learning of the death of his mother means he can now return and seek his revenge on the cruel father whose brutal actions caused him to leave England in the first place. He'll just wed her and then leave her in the country, no problem. Until he catches sight of this beautiful and courageous woman willing to defend what's hers with...a feather duster?

A little less angst and a little more relationship building would have brought this read four stars from me with no reservations. Although the plot is a well-used one, there were enough tweaks to give me a few surprises and the sensual pull between the lead characters was very well done. I'm headed to my TBR to pull out her next novel to sate my curiosity on Janmarie Anello's next book, "A Dangerous Man". ( )