A SISTERS DUET
by Cheryl Holt
June 10 - July 12, 2024 Virtual Book Tour
WITH ONE LOOK
CHERYL HOLT dazzles readers once again with her new two-book SISTERS duet! It’s two fun, fast-paced, and dramatic tales of love forevermore…
JACKSON BENNETT is an army veteran who was seriously wounded in India while saving the life of a royal cousin. As his reward, he’s become the new Earl of Thornhill. But it’s an honor he doesn’t want. After barely surviving his final tour of duty, his view of life has been altered. He simply likes to loaf, gamble, and revel in every decadent activity he can find.
THEODORA CRONENWORTH is a dreamer and idealist who thinks the world should be a much fairer place, particularly for women. She works hard to improve women’s lives, and she definitely believes prominent men should behave better.
When Jackson meets Theodora, he’s humored by her energy and pluck, but he’s a confirmed bachelor who doesn’t think he could ever fall in love. With one look, he’s completely smitten, and with Theodora rattling his debauched existence, nothing will ever be the same.
WITH ONE KISS
Fall in love with CHERYL HOLT all over again! She delivers the companion novel in her fun and dramatic SISTERS duet! It’s another tale of passion, forbidden romance, and love forevermore…
CHARLOTTE CRONENWORTH was born into a rich, prominent family, but after her father’s death, her fortunes plummeted. To support herself, she’s been teaching at a girl’s boarding school. Just as she’d begun to feel secure and complacent, the school went bankrupt, so it was closed and the students sent home. She’s been cast to the winds of fate, and she’s hoping to find employment as a governess, but she’s not optimistic. A woman on her own is never safe in her personal circumstances.
WINSTON WAINWRIGHT is Earl of Dartmouth. His title is one of the oldest and most esteemed in the kingdom, and he’s a rich, pompous snob. He takes his high status for granted and he’s confident of his elevated spot in the world. He was raised to believe that lesser mortals should bow down to his exalted self, and he never regrets his conceited attitudes or haughty habits.
When Winston meets Charlotte, there’s an instant attraction, and he’s enough of a rogue to feel entitled to act on it. He’ll be delighted to trifle with her, but she’s so far beneath him. He would never have honorable intentions. But with one kiss, he’s totally ensnared, and she just might be the one woman who can make him happy forever…
Book Details:
Genre: Regency Period Historical Romance
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: June 19, 2024
Series: A Sisters Duet
Series Link: Amazon
Read an excerpt from WITH ONE LOOK:
CHAPTER ONE
Theodora Cronenworth, called Theo by her family, strolled down the London street toward her home. She’d just attended the latest rally of the Matron’s Brigade, and she was lost in thought, struggling to deduce why she was still a member.
The group claimed to have begun a crusade against the dandies and vixens of the demimonde. The city had become a den of iniquity and they were determined to clean it up. Illicit conduct was rampant, and from the most toplofty aristocrat to the lowliest opera dancer, people were openly wallowing in sin and vice.
There seemed to be no limit to their depravities and civic leaders ignored what was happening. In fact, many of them were the worst offenders. So the Brigade had been formed.
The ladies had shrouded themselves in the mantle of moral indignation, and their purported goal was to root about decadence, but from Theo’s perspective, they simply argued amongst themselves over which direction to take. They also liked to point fingers as to who was sufficiently devoted to the cause and who wasn’t.
When they finally chose a target, it was a female who had no power or rich friends to protect her. The Brigade liked to punch down at those who couldn’t fight back and their focus enraged Theo.
In her view, if a woman was lured into wickedness, it was always the fault of a corrupt man. She constantly suggested they shame some of the scoundrels who instigated so much of the trouble, but the group wouldn’t hear of it. She’d flat-out been apprised that they didn’t dare harass any important males, and their cowardice infuriated her. None of their motives were true and they were a gaggle of hypocrites.
Her stepmother, Georgina, had encouraged her to join. Theo was clever with words, and she’d been tasked with writing pamphlets that would spread their message, but any message she penned was watered down to irrelevance.
Though she never discussed it, her own family had been destroyed by a cad when she was a little girl. Her mother had run away with him and vanished forever. Theo had never learned his name or any other information about him, but he’d never been held to account for his mischief.
Shouldn’t he have been? Could any prominent gentleman ever be forced to answer for his dissolution? Shouldn’t women demand better behavior from them?
Well, if the tepid antics of the Matron’s Brigade were any indication, no changes would ever occur.
She shoved the issue out of her mind. It was a beautiful May afternoon, the sky clear, the temperature balmy, and it was silly to waste any energy fretting about the situation. She wasn’t the Brigade’s prisoner and she didn’t have to continue to participate.
***
Excerpt from Cheryl Holt by WITH ONE LOOK. Copyright 2024 by Cheryl Holt. Reproduced with permission from Cheryl Holt. All rights reserved.
Review of With One Kiss:
Another nobleman’s mother behaving badly!
In With One Kiss, author Cheryl Holt concludes the two-book set of A Sisters Duet, wonderful Regency romances filled with excitement, angst, love and lust, and a double dose of perfidious moms! The intertwined stories were robustly plotted with randy, confirmed bachelors who meet their matches in the Cronenworth sisters.
Charlotte, the younger of the two Cronenworth sisters, reacted much differently to their change in fortunes on the death of their father than her older sister, Theodora. While Theo had gone with the flow and acted as the peacemaker of the surviving family members, Charlotte had burned with constant rage. She’d railed against her fate and had willfully forged her own path, escaping her stepmother’s control at the earliest opportunity. She’d quarreled with Theo and taken a low-status position as a teacher in a boarding school, much to the toplofty family’s chagrin. It was not the first, nor would it be the last scandal to beset the Cronenworths.
Winston Wainwright, Lord Dartmouth, is the spoiled young patriarch of one of the oldest and noblest lineages in the kingdom, part of the inner circle surrounding the throne. An established roué, he’s soon to give up his bachelorhood to wed the icy and conniving Lady Jasmine Clement. Win meets Charlotte Cronenworth when she shows up on his doorstep with an abandoned young pupil when their boarding school abruptly closes, the only clue to her origins being the name of his coastal estate in her file. He assumes the girl is his deceased younger brother’s love child. Feeling responsible for Holden’s death, he is determined to do right by the young girl, but his desire for Charlotte is anything but noble. While used to his pleasures and the adoration of every woman he meets, he has become besotted with Charlotte, who doesn’t immediately succumb to his charms.
The main romantic plot contains a couple of great secondary storylines and circles back to events left unresolved in the previous book. I enjoyed Charlotte’s and Win’s initial meeting; he’s rude, imperious, and entitled, and she stands up to him. Her dialogue is clever, biting, and priceless. As in the previous book, the Dowager mom is a devious force to be reckoned with, but she’s also met her match in Charlotte and Win’s eventual determination to get what he truly wants. Jasmine is a scheming shrew without a heart, and I was shocked when Jake Boggs’s true position in the Wainwright family was initially revealed. However, the resolution to the duet of tales is ultimately satisfying.
I recommend WITH ONE KISS to romance readers who enjoy strong
female protagonists, conniving noble ladies, and a touch of spice in a Regency
setting.
Author Bio:
She’s also a lawyer and mom, and at age forty, with two babies at home, she started a new career as a commercial fiction writer. She’d hoped to be a suspense novelist, but couldn’t sell any of her manuscripts, so she ended up taking a detour into romance where she was stunned to discover that she has a knack for writing some of the world’s greatest love stories.
Her books have been released to wide acclaim, and she has won or been nominated for many national awards. She is considered to be one of the masters of the romance genre. For many years, she was hailed as “The Queen of Erotic Romance”, and she’s also revered as “The International Queen of Villains.” She is particularly proud to have been named “Best Storyteller of the Year” by the trade magazine Romantic Times BOOK Reviews.
She lives and writes in Hollywood, California, and she loves to hear from fans.
Catch Up With Cheryl Holt:
www.cherylholt.com
Goodreads
BookBub - @CherylHolt
Instagram - @cherylholtauthor
Twitter/X - @TheCherylHolt
Facebook - @officialcherylholt
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Great review! Thanks so much. These books sound fun!
ReplyDeleteHi again, Paula. Thank you so much for the great review of Book 2 of my SISTERS duet. I realize that it's a huge time drain to read and review two books, and I am so grateful that you took the time and that you gave such detailed descriptions of the plot and characters. Thx again for hosting me on your site. I am very, very grateful for your kind attention.
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