Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Love Matched by Laney Hatcher [Review]


Love Matched (London Ladies Embroidery #3) by Laney Hatcher
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 4, 2023

London Ladies Embroidery
1. Neanderthal Seeks Duchess
2. Well Acquainted
3. Love Matched - Paperback | Kindle

Laney Hatcher
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):
There are three things you need to know about Lady Cassandra Fields:
1. Despite being beloved, this diamond of the first water has yet to land a husband.
2. Her bold personality and giving heart help fuel her charitable endeavors.
3. She’s looking for adventure--something beyond ballgowns, drawing rooms, and her ladylike skill with needle and thread.

Thus far, Cassandra’s abysmal luck has kept her from reaching her goals. With no husband and no household, she’s beginning to wonder if she has a future at all. A surprising encounter with a cunning thief brings more to light than Cassandra is prepared to handle. But the lady has never backed down from a challenge, and it seems this mystery man might have finally met his match.

When circumstances, once again, threaten Lady Cassandra’s dreams, she must decide if she’s willing to risk her careful plans for the thief who has stolen her heart.
Thoughts on Love Matched: Oh, ho! It's Lady Cassandra's turn to find her special someone and he's a glower-y, intelligent, kinda-thief who is in a sticky situation. Fortunately for him, Cassandra pushes back when he gets a little snarky and doesn't let his every present glowers drive her away. Come to think of it, she also doesn't let him saying they're far too different to be together keep her away, either.

Look, the lady has strong opinions and a good sense of self (although that does get rattled a bit when she finds out how the gentlemen about town have been using her and the disastrous events that tend to occur around her as a stepping stone toward their own matches) and she's willing to stand strong for the things (and people) she believes in. As it turns out, Alexander is one of those people. Well, Alexander and her lady friends in her embroidery group and their husbands.

On Alexander's end, he's guarded and wary and RIGHTFULLY SO. He has a idea of how he believes Cassandra is, but the more time he spends with her, the more he realizes his idea of her is completely wrong. She's witty and kind and, against all odds, she wants to be with him. Which is all kinds of dangerous for her because of Alexander's past and the people he can't quite seem to get away from.

An encounter or two that get the blood flowing (not in a dirty way [until later], but in a "YOU!" sort of way), a group of friends who have each others' backs no matter what, a couple of outings that delight Cassandra, a dangerous past Alexander is trying to distance himself from, and a lady who realizes her big personality is something the right person will adore about her. Yesssssss.


Excerpt
The fire was banked but my bedchamber was warm. I wandered in the relative darkness over to my dressing table and deposited my elaborate mask. Folding my shawl, I placed it on the cushioned seat before hearing a quiet tap on my balcony doors.

Something instinctual within told me who I would find. My heart accelerated with expectation rather than fear.

Moving cautiously, I went to the closed window overlooking the garden and down into the mews. I peered sidelong at the dark form standing just outside my exterior doors, on the second floor of my home.

Anticipation bloomed eager and hopeful, and I threw open the latch. Alexander stood sentry on the small balcony, his hair slightly tousled, expression guarded. His eyes dipped once again to my bodice, but returned admirably after just a moment.

“I was not ready to say good night,” he admitted, finally acknowledging his presence here in my home.

“Somehow I don’t imagine the lock would have posed a challenge for you.”

“I thought it better to ask permission rather than forgiveness.”

“That doesn’t sound like you at all,” I quipped.

He smiled, a weak and wounded thing. “Perhaps I am trying to be more respectable.”

I reached forward and tugged the lapels of his jacket. “I wish you wouldn’t.”

As we moved within, I felt him smile against my lips before he reached low around my thighs and hoisted me up. His boot lifted and he pushed the balcony door gently shut. Then we were shuffling, in the dark, toward my bed. Alexander didn’t bother turning down the coverlet. My back landed softly and he followed, lips still caressing mine.

His weight was a delicious press in the darkness. I felt both bound and safely ensconced. My legs were wide but the bunch of my skirts inhibited full contact between us. I felt his tongue ease forward and lick into my mouth, the heat and movements slow and seductive. One large hand still clutched my outer thigh while the other supported his upper body where he hovered above me.

I broke away from his mouth and squirmed in his arms, reaching for a candle and a match on my bedside table.

“Leave it,” he begged, voice rough and strained. “If I clearly see your face, your body, I’ll come to my senses and climb down your trellis, calling myself every kind of fool for forgetting my place.”

“Your place,” I said, “is right here. With me.”


Grab your copy TODAY!


About Laney Hatcher
Laney Hatcher is a firm believer that there is a spreadsheet for every occasion and pie is always the answer. She is an author of stories that have a past, in a language of love that’s universal. Often too practical for her own good, Laney enjoys her life in the southern United States with her husband, children, and incredibly entitled cat.

Find Laney Online

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)