Rarest Blooms Series, Book 1 - 4 - Madeline Hunter

Written by Madeline Hunter
Read by Polly Lee, Kate Reading
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

01 Ravishing in Red
Rarest Blooms Series, Book 1
Narrator: Polly Lee
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: August 2, 2010
Duration: 10:00:11

Armed with her cousin’s pistol, Audrianna travels to a coaching inn, to meet with a man who may have information that will clear her dead father’s name. She does not realize that the handsome man of commanding sensuality who shows up is not the person she expected, but instead Lord Sebastian Summerhays, one of her father’s persecutors, lured to the inn by the same advertisement that brought her there.

When the pistol accidentally fires, the situation becomes mortifyingly public, and thoroughly misunderstood. Audrianna is prepared to live with the scandal. Lord Sebastian has other ideas…

When Audrianna momentarily lets down her guard for a kiss with Lord Sebastian, a mysterious figure known as Domino appears; after shots are fired, the escalating controversy further threatens Audrianna’s family’s name.

A review…Hunter pays little attention to period custom and language, apparently more concerned with future storylines-taking special care to introduce Audriana’s three beautiful friends and Summerhays’s matching trio (an injured brother and two handsome friends). It should be no surprise, then, that the novel is most enjoyable in its leads’ moments of passion.

Another reader….This is a very strong, good read. It falls short of five star for me, because the passion seemed a bit muted, and it lacked a certain intensity that I like in a good historical. However, it’s a very well executed love story, with a captivating cast of secondary characters. I think it’s also very successful as a historical; one in which I never felt like I was reading a modern book with window-dressing. This is one of those books I want to read when I yearn for a good historical, and I’m glad that Ms. Hunter delivered that reading experience to me.

02 Provocative in Pearls
Narrator: Polly Lee
Rarest Blooms Series, Book 2
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: August 2, 2010
Duration: 10:09:03

The Earl of Hawkeswell has been living in limbo for two years, ever since his bride, heiress Verity Thompson, disappeared on their wedding day. As she hasn’t been declared deceased, Hawkeswell cannot legally remarry and cannot access his wife’s funds — either of which would settle his dire financial crisis.

Coerced into marrying Hawkeswell by her duplicitous cousin, Verity fled London for the countryside. With no interest in the earl’s title or status, she was willing to forfeit her inheritance in exchange for her freedom. Now that her ruse has been discovered, Verity is forced to return to a loveless marriage.

Hawkeswell strikes a bargain with Verity: In return for three kisses a day, he will not insist on his conjugal rights. But Verity discovers there are kisses … and then there are kisses … as she begins to learn the true meaning of seduction at the hands of a master.

03 Sinful in Satin
Narrator: Polly Lee
Rarest Blooms Series, Book 3
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: September 28, 2010
Duration: 10:55:30

Drawn from her peaceful country existence by the death of her celebrated courtesan mother, Celia Pennifold, who fled London’s demimonde lifestyle five years earlier, returns to an inherited mountain of debt, a small town house (complete with Jonathan Albrighton, an attractive, mysterious tenant). With the chance to build a new, independent life. When a villain (and money owed) from her past threatens Celia’s future, she begins considering her mother’s path, but she neglects to weigh Jonathan’s feelings for her and his fierce determination not to let that happen. Secrets, mystery, and scandal add intrigue to the plot of this dexterous adventure that reprises characters from the two previous entries in Hunter’s enthralling quartet.

VERDICT With searing sensuality, palpable sexual tension, and exquisitely rendered, complex characters, Hunter’s third series entry draws readers into her realistic Regency arena and provides them with a tantalizing glimpse of the uncommon, fascinating world that hovers just behind the facade of polite society. Sensitive, thoughtful, and beautifully done….Publishers Weekly

04 Dangerous in Diamonds
Rarest Blooms Series, Book 4
by Madeline Hunter
Kate Reading
Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc.
Release date: July 23, 2012
Duration: 10:43:56

The Duke of Castleford has been so bad for so long that scandal can’t be bothered to rise up around him anymore.

To alleviate the boredom of his privileged life, he occupies himself with drinking and whoring, not to mention the occasional duel. When something piques his interest, however, he has been known to emerge from his ennui and employ his considerable mental faculties to finding answers to the questions that fascinate him. When Daphne Joyes rejects this notorious hedonist’s seduction, she assumes that he will forget about her and continue on his path to hell. Instead her beauty, grace and formidable composure captivate him, and she becomes one of those fascinations to him. That he intends to have her, and soon, is actually the least of the dangers that his pursuit of her presents. More troublesome is his interest in her past and her history, and the way he keeps poking his nose into the secrets behind the distant relative’s bequest that gave him ownership of the property where she lives

“Hunter’s fourth Rarest Blooms Regency (after Sinful in Satin) masterfully weaves a sensual web ensnaring florist Daphne Joyes and Tristan, the scandalous duke of Castleford. Their paths cross when Daphne’s landlord dies and Tristan inherits the land on which she runs her modest flower business. Rarest Blooms secretly offers sanctuary to women who need it, no questions asked. Dukes always get what they want, and Tristan instantly wants Daphne, but she challenges him in arguments as passionate and provocative as their eventual lovemaking. The backdrop of spousal abuse and the millworkers’ riots is leavened by mishap as Tristan acts on erroneous assumptions that Daphne cheerfully refrains from correcting. Fans will be delighted to learn what the previous Rarest Blooms ladies and their husbands are up to, laugh at their chatter, and cheer their unwavering friendship”…..Publishers Weekly