Review: What a Lady Requires – Ashlyn MacNamara

Posted 27 February, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments

*I received a free copy of What a Lady Requires from Loveswept via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *

Review: What a Lady Requires – Ashlyn MacNamaraWhat a Lady Requires by Ashlyn MacNamara
Series: The Eton Boys Trilogy #3
Published by Loveswept on 1 April 2015
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

4 Stars

Unlike every other proper young lady, Miss Emma Jennings views marrying well as little more than a means to an end. Such a merger would provide her industrious father with social credibility, and Emma with a chunk of her vast inheritance. Emma’s practical views are shattered, however, when her father ties her to the fabulously handsome ne’er-do-well Rowan Battencliffe, a man she loathes on sight—from the smile that promises all manner of wickedness to the way he ogles her with those striking blue eyes.

Deep in debt, especially to his wine merchant, Rowan figures the sooner he gets his finances in order, the sooner he can go back to doing what he does best: burning through ridiculous sums of cash. Which is why Rowan agrees to marry the merchant’s daughter, a prim and proper woman with delightful curves and an ample dowry. But Emma seems to think it’s her business to reform him! Their marriage is a tinderbox—and it’s just too tempting to resist playing with fire.

What a Lady Requires is a great ending to the Eton Boys Trilogy, and I especially enjoyed Emma with her knowledge for numbers, even if she was not so good at mingling in society.

My What a Lady Requires review:

While I thought What a Lady Requires is a good ending to the Eton Boys Trilogy, it didn’t sweep me off my feet like it could have. The pacing was very slow, and while I enjoyed both Emma and Rowan, they were a little more reserved than the characters in the first two stories. I loved that Emma had such a head for business, though, and that she was able to share this with her husband, even if he was pretty clueless when it came to putting numbers on a page and make the accounts balance out neatly the way they should.

Another thing I really loved was the fact that Emma enjoyed wine, so much so that she was always trying to find new wineries to import from, and thus helping her father’s business while having a great day at the office as it were. Emma’s life was pretty lonely, and I had a great time despising her aunt. Rowan’s troubles were not exactly what I thought I knew from the prior books, and I was happy things were different than both he, I and the other characters had been lead to believe.

The relationship between Emma and Rowan took a while to develop, because they were both having feelings of not being enough for the other, but the slow burn of their romance was delicious all the same. Rowan had some knee-jerk reactions, and Emma was feisty enough to make him realize he was acting like an arse when he was. All the main characters from the prior books made appearances, and it was nice to see how they were faring since I last visited with them as well. And on top of the reluctant romance, there is a great mystery to be solved, and a friendship to be mended.

If you’re a fan of Historical Romance, this series should definitely make its way to your shelves, the ladies are very unconventional, strong-minded and not afraid to go after what they want, which is what made me have such a good time while reading about them.

Some of my favorite What a Lady Requires quotes:

His gaze was fixed on her throat. Slowly, he raised his fingers and traced them down the column. The movement sent a bolt of heat into her belly, headier than any sip of wine. Good Lord, he might be more intoxicating than the entire bottle if he insisted on staring at here with such intensity.

“Why don’t we start working out what makes you scream and go from there?”

His fingers sifted through her hair, the strokes soothing. “I quite like you this way, you know, all soft against me. You fit so well in my arms.”

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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6 responses to “Review: What a Lady Requires – Ashlyn MacNamara

  1. I like the sound of the slow-building romance between Rowan and Emma, Lexxie. And that the preconceived ideas of his troubles were wrong. I’m sorry this didn’t wow you like it could have but I’m glad it was still a nice ending to the trilogy. It is, of course, on my tbr. 😉

    Happy Friday, my dear!! I hope you’re having a great one! **BIG HUGS**

    • Yeah, the slow build is very well done, Brandee, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this, just as I did. I think my preconceived perception of Rowan played tricks with me 😉
      I hope you’re having a fabulous week, my dear. *BIG HUGS*

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