Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Title:     Miss Molly Robbins Designs a Seduction [Sydney Dovedale, book 4]
Author:   Jayne Fresina
Rating:   ★★★
Availability: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | iTunes
*ARC received from Sourcebooks Casablanca via Netgalley

I'm a fan of dressmaker/dressmaking stories under the historical romance genre, so I instantly grabbed the chance to get a copy of the ARC via Netgalley. So how did this fare with this historical romance fan? Read on to find out.

Carver Danforthe, Earl of Everscham, has a reputation of being a wild rogue—not for indulging the ambitions of his sister's maid.

But Molly Robbins' unique dress designs have caught the eye of society's elite, and if it means her own dress shop, Molly will make a deal with the devil himself—or his proxy, the notoriously naughty earl.

But becoming his mistress is not a part of their arrangement. It's right there in the contract's small print: No Tomfoolery. Until he proposes a scandalous new addendum to their contract…

Miss Molly Robbins Designs a Seduction is light-hearted and entertaining romance. Carver Danforthe's thoughts and inner battles have been very fun to read. Molly Robbins is very admirable, being a determined young lass in London. She had a dream and she worked towards it, even if she had to create a little scandal along the way. The romance between the two has been a long time coming, and just like a typical male, Molly's physical absence from his presence suddenly made him realize that he actually wants her.

Between the two characters, only Carver Danforthe seemed to have character progression. From being a laid-back earl, with Molly's simple words, he transitioned to a more apparent caring individual. I wish there was a paragraph or two about the orphaned boys, especially if they eventually found employment in other households. Molly, on the other hand, is already an admirable character from start to finish.

The dresses described in the book, as designed by Molly, are so intriguing! I wish the book included some sketches to aid our imagination. It would have been interesting to see her deviation from the usual styles in that era, especially since I'm not really familiar with the dress styles during that era, except from what I have been reading in the books.

I was able to finish the book until the very end, but I cannot help compare the dressmaking and setting up shop angle to Loretta Chase's The Dressmakers series, only this time Molly handles it all by herself. Miss Molly Robbins Designs a Seduction was a great book to pass the time but it lacked a little more spice to make it a truly exciting, heart-racing story. That being said, I think I'm going to go back a little in time and read Jayne Fresina's other books in the Sydney Dovedale series because I enjoyed her writing style!

Ciao,

3 comments:

  1. thank you for the review! I wish I could have added sketches to the book - great idea! That would definitely have been fun to do.

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  2. You're welcome, Jayne! I hope you'll be able to feature the dresses on your blog, at least, or something fun like that. Have a nice 2014! cheer

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    Replies
    1. That is a fantastic idea for the blog! Hmm....

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