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Desired (Paperback)
$7.60 - Save $0.38 (4%) - RRP $7.98 Free delivery worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for DesiredA "USA Today"-bestselling author returns with the second novel in a brand-new Regency trilogy featuring her trademark passionate and charming characters. Original.
Full description- Publisher: Harlequin Books
- Published: 15 November 2011
- Format: Paperback 378 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Historical Romance
- ISBN 13: 9780373775903 ISBN 10: 0373775903
- Sales rank: 37,229
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Reviews for Desired
- Top review
Heartbreaking HEA Romance!
"Let them whisper-the more they whisper, the farther away they are from the truth". -I really loved this quote from Tessa.:)
This is the first book that I've read from this author, and I wasn't disappointed, the story had me at its best.. :D I usually avoided writing long reviews, but this is the shortest I could manage with this book..:)
Aside from the very beautiful cover, Desired is a book that covers not only romance, but also politics (reforms) and the roles and rights of women (Spousal abuse) in the society. It's also a book of emotional wounds, hopes and all of the heart's desires.
I really enjoyed reading Tessa and Owen's cat-and-mouse interactions. These two characters have been developed well. From the very first page of knowing them, I am already engaged as to what would happen to these two. Their train of thought, was fascinating, and seeing them try to discover and peel each other's secrets is what I look forward to the most...
I loved how Ms. Cornick developed the chemistry, it wasn't forced at all, the fusion of these two was just plain perfect. Tessa may have look like a featherbrain, but underneath her smiles, and tempting body, lies an intelligent, admirable and caring woman.. she actually leads a reform movement and has an alter ego named Jupiter (a cartoonist), whom the government is pursuing. Owen is very tender, understanding, and a real protector, and he would do everything to heal the emotional wounds Tessa has.
I loved the development of the story, especially how the two of them started to trust each other, and how their romance developed from pretense into something their heart's desired. But at the end though, it seemed to me, that the story was rushed into its end. It's like the author realizes, she'd written a lot already, so she decided to give it an end. It was just at the end of the story though, I still enjoyed this a lot.
Another good thing about this book is there's the right humor and intensity .I nearly died of laughter when Owen's virility was called into question..lol, and I shed tears when Tessa's true history was known.
DESIRED moved me, I laughed and cried all throughout the story, and most importantly I had gained a better understanding of what happened in this regency era, but there's a lot to learn more with the last book in the series, "Forbidden" coming this Summer 2012.
It's a refreshing, entertaining, fascinating, heart-wrenching romance! A must-read!
Warning though, after reading this book, you would have an insatiable urge to buy the other books to learn about the side character's own stories.
♥♥~♥♥♥ ♥:)♥♥~♥ ♥♥ by avry15 Consider me hopelessly in love!
Nicola Cornick, you stay away from my nose! Remember how last October I inhaled Notorious because it was as addictive as dark chocolate? Well, I should have known better because Desired totally has this reader hooked on Nicola Cornick! Tessa and Owen had me at "hello" with their cat-and-mouse introduction. Their interactions were spot-on with the right balance between humor and intensity to satisfy this reader. I nearly died of laughter when Owen's virility was called into question, and I shed buckets of tears when Tessa's true history came to light. The story itself seems a little too picture-perfect as far as conflict and resolution goes, but the characters made the journey pretty darn enjoyable to worry about the details. I can attest that I immediately went and bought the first 3 books of the series to learn more about the side characters. If that is not an indicator of my Nicola Cornick addiction, I don't know what is! by theEPICrat
Amazing plot and lovely characters
Tessa has a really bad reputation, specially in her time but she didn't care. What if people thought she was some sort of "black widow"? What if they were always whispering behind her back about her young lover? Or about the crazy parties she usually frequented? "Let them whisper"- was what she always said- "the more they whisper the far away they are from the truth".
And it worked like a charm. While everyone assumed she was a complete "featherbrain" she was in fact the opposite: the cartoonist known as Jupiter who supported the reformists. And her alter ego, just like her, was quite popular in a really bad way. The government had put a price over Jupiter's head and a yankee with English roots suspected the truth.
His name? Viscount Owen Rothbury. This gentleman was a fundamental key in Tess' plans for two reasons: a filthy man wanted to marry Tess' stepdaughter while she was still "pure" and if she didn't accept he was going to begin gossips about her and with her reputation everyone would believe him... So Tess took a decision: Owen would be her forth husband.
Why not? She was rich and he needed the money; as her wife he would never betray her; being married again meant she would have to behave properly and the gossips would die before they were even born and, most importantly, Owen was impotent so she didn't need to worry about having sex with him.
Why the "no sex" policy? Tess' past had a terrible and sad secret...
But you see, there was a little problem with her plan: Owen wasn't impotent, far from it actually. And he liked her a lot.
Oh, yeah.
Personal opinion:
Tess won a space in my heart from the very beginning. She is not only strong but courageous, kind and independent. And while her fears felt very real her emotions and hopes were real too. I found myself wanting to hug her and confort her in the rare occasions she needed support.
Owen was also an amazing character. His best quality was that he is direct and that made him authentic. What begun as a game to catch Tess ended in a mature and tender love where she needed him to heal her psychological wounds.
And there's a plot, a real plot. Sometimes I have found romance books with a lot of sex and no plot to make the story interesting. Well, with Desired I didn't have this problem. Thanks Nicola!
My goal? I'll try to buy the previous books of this series as soon as I can because this one left me wanting more. by Alaiel Kreuz4th time's the charm, not 3...
Oh man! What a great book. I read the first three books of this series and somehow missed out on Notorious (which I will go back and read when I get a chance) but Desired is my favorite. That Owen Purchase, recently minted Viscount Rothbury, is something else.
Tess Darent is the tons scandalously notorious widow. She's racking up husbands like a man collecting mistresses. Husband #1 was her best friend. Husband #2 was an old drunk. Husband #3 did a number on her psyche, verbally, mentally and physically abusing her. She's vowed to never again marry unless the man was impotent and old and very rich. Her outlet is drawing and her political cartoons have the government searching for "Jupiter". They even go to lengths sending in their best man into a brothel searching for this "Jupiter".
Owen Purchase, American and inheriting the title of Viscount Rothbury, has come to England to take responsibility in running his title's accounts and lands. Tess Darent intrigues him and he can't help but wonder what the lovely widow is doing swinging from a bed sheet out the window of a brothel he and his men are searching through. She's fascinated him for some time and he doesn't quite believe that Tess is trying to avoid scandal by rappelling out a brothel window.
With the threat of scandal over hanging her stepdaughter, Tess must find an upstanding Lord to marry. Someone who is old, impotent and loaded. She is willing to give up all her scandalous activities just to make sure a slimy, toady, lecherous old man doesn't get his hands on her fifteen year old stepdaughter. *shudder* And what better way than to look through a book of the tons most eligible bachelors.
Owen talking with her brother-in-law puts an idea into Tess's head. Oh no! Oh, yes! Owen Purchase will be proposed to by one, Teresa Darent. She did propose to each of her past husbands, why not make it a fourth time? Tess proposing intrigues Owen. Neither will back out of the engagement even if it is in name only.
Much to Tess's surprise, her new husband isn't impotent as some people have led her to believe. She must stay strong and not let his advances wear down her defenses. Owen knows that something happened to Tess in her last marriage but not what, which makes her uncomfortable with physical touching.
Now, Owen must make Tess respectable in the eyes of the ton, keep her from getting discovered as "Jupiter" by making her promise not to draw anymore, find the traitor who is willing to betray Tess for a handsome sum of money and show her that touching is a pleasurable thing.
Danger, suspense, betrayal, lies, spies, desire, lust and sacrifice. Whoa! This book hooked me from the first mention of Tess escaping capture by rappelling out a brothel window to the happily ever after on the last page. It always makes my heart ache knowing that the heroine of the story has been abused by a previous husband. The mental barriers are sometimes so great that the hero must tread carefully as not to scare her away at the slightest touch. Owen has a way of making Tess feel safe and stirs something in her that scares her a little. Owen and Tess may have started off trying to push the other as far as the other would be willing to go but as the barriers are slowly taken down, their passion for one another explodes off the pages and not only love but respect blossoms.
***requested off Netgalley*** by Kati R
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