Ravishing in Red – Madeline Hunter (The Rarest Blooms book 1)

This book was an impulse read, I have heard good things about it but was not convinced it was something I would enjoy. I can admit I was totally wrong, I loved this book and am glad I picked it up.

Synopsis:

Armed with her cousin’s pistol, Audrianna travels to a coaching inn, to meet with a man who may have information that will clear her dead father’s name. She does not realize that the handsome man of commanding sensuality who shows up is not the person she expected, but instead Lord Sebastian Summerhays, one of her father’s persecutors, lured to the inn by the same advertisement that brought her there.

When the pistol accidentally fires, the situation becomes mortifyingly public, and thoroughly misunderstood. Audrianna is prepared to live with the scandal. Lord Sebastian has other ideas…

Rating: 4.5 Stars

As I mentioned before I was surprised about how much I actually enjoyed this book, it’s one I would recommend to those who love historical romances. The best books are the ones that take you by surprise. Audrianna has travelled to an Inn on her own to confront some who may have information concerning the scandal her father’s suicide. Her father committed suicide as he was the last person to sign off some faulty gunpowder which lead to soldiers being killed in the war. Audrianna does not believer her father was at fault or responsible but his suicide has made everyone else close the case as they see it as a deceleration of guilt. She goes to the Inn to find answers but instead of the informant she meets with Lord Sebastain who has had the same idea to see what information this informant has as he is one of the people who was working on the case. Due to a misunderstanding both Audrianna and Sebastain are discovered together and though they try to hide their identities from the rest of the world, it does not work as you can guess it leads to a scandal. The story really picks up from here, I really enjoyed the writing as well as the plot in this book. The writing was witty and the dialogues were brilliant to.

“You will have to forgive me, Major Woodruffe. I am new to marriage, and perhaps more given to jealousy than some of the more experienced husbands that you know. It is possible that you seek only friendship with my wife. If, however, you entertain any other–“
“I assure you that such a thing is the furthest thing from my mind.”
“Come now, Major. We are both men. Such ideas are never far from our minds at all. But if you do anything that causes me to think that your mind dwells long on that particular idea, I will thrash you, I will ruin you, and I will probably kill you.

Sebastian was a really good character, he was confused about how he was suppose to be because he was acting in stead of his older brother. Even though the marriage between himself and Audrianna was to avoid a scandal at no point in this story did I feel that he misused or misunderstood Audrianna, which was a refreshing change. Normally in books like this even people who marry due to love end up hurting or misunderstanding their partner. Audrianna was a interesting character aswell, I really enjoyed the fact that she did not agree to marry Sebastian straight away she tried to find other options and be independent.

I know I go on and on about this in all my romance reviews but to me communication between the two main characters is important as it shows they are getting to know each other and what they have is a developing relationship which can lead to love rather than lust. I was pleasantly surprised with this book as the two main characters do communicate and talk to each other. They do not have this massive misunderstanding which can be solved by speaking to each other. Sure there are times Sebastian tries not to tell Audrianna some things but in the end he does if she asks (persistently sometimes I will admit). I really enjoyed reading about the relationship between Audrianna and Sebastian and the romance.

The secondary characters were interesting too, I guess this is a plus as this book is part of a series and the next one is based on Audrianna friend. I was a little disappointed that this book did not have an epilogue, I know there’s other books in the series that will mention these characters but I like reading near happily ever afters rather than relying on my imagination.

Happy Reading!