Stevie‘s review of The Taste of Temptation (The Matchmaker of Edinburgh, Book 2) by Julia Kelly
Historical Romance published by Pocket Star 05 Feb 18
I utterly adored the first Matchmaker of Edinburgh book and have been eagerly anticipating further instalments, as well greater challenges for Moira Sullivan, the matchmaker herself. This time, the lady in question has to find a husband for a woman who has been forced out of London by a scandal apparently of her own making, and who is anxious to make a suitable match before adverse publicity follows her to Edinburgh. It’s sheer bad luck that the man to whom she might be most suited is involved in newspapers – both high and lowbrow – himself.
Caroline Burkett’s long engagement to the second son of a viscount ended abruptly, when he became heir to the title and decided to seek a more elibible bride than the mere daughter of a successful solicitor. Coerced by her aspiring mother, Caroline sued her former fiancé for breach of promise, but while she won her case in the end, the front page headlines and high legal fees left her short of funds and unable to find a suitable husband in England. Forced to choose between impoverished spinsterhood as companion to an older, unmarried cousin or a visit to her brother and his new wife in Edinburgh, with the possibility of finding a husband unaware of – or unbothered by – Caroline’s past, Caroline decides to travel to Edinburgh and seek the help of the town’s famous matchmaker.
Moira Sullivan is never one to turn down a challenge and soon has a number of suitors lined up for Caroline, including Jonathan Moray, a self-made newspaper proprietor who is initially interested in Caroline’s story but soon becomes enamoured of the woman behind the story. Caroline, meanwhile, is drawn to Moray, even as she tells herself she would be better off with the least uninspiring of her other suitors. The rediscovery of old scandals and the uncovering of new ones by rival newspapers threatens both their reputations, and eventually both are forced to make difficult decisions as to where their futures really lie.
I liked this book, though not as much as I loved the first in the series. Moray isn’t as easy a man to like as the previous book’s hero, and I found Caroline’s initial attraction to him a little bemusing. Then again I also wanted to slap her other main suitor pretty much in every scene where he appeared. On the other hand, it was delightful to reacquaint myself with all the other characters from the previous book, and I hope to see more of all of them in the next adventure for Moira Sullivan and her proteges.
Grade: B
Summary:
Travel back in time to Scotland with bestselling author Julia Kelly for this delightful second installment in her latest historical romance series, The Matchmaker of Edinburgh series. Accomplished matchmaker Moira Sullivan knows that sometimes, the most unlikely pair can be the most entertaining.
Only desperation could have driven Caroline Burkett to her brother’s home in Scotland, but desperate is exactly what she is. After suing her former fiancé for breaking their engagement and causing a scandal in the papers, her only hope of starting over is to enlist the help of Edinburgh’s famous matchmaker, Moira Sullivan.
Born to a butler and maid, Jonathan Moray fought hard to find his place in Edinburgh society. Now a powerful newspaperman, he can make or break a person’s reputation with his headlines, but Jonathan knows his success isn’t guaranteed. He needs salacious stories to keep his readers enthralled, and Caroline’s story is just the sort to sell papers in droves.
When Moira introduces Jonathan and Caroline at a salon, Caroline knows the editor is exactly the wrong man to associate with if she wants to find a husband and restore her reputation, but even as another, more suitable suitor begins to court her, she can’t deny the power of her attraction to Jonathan. Now she must ask herself if she’s strong enough to choose between the man who can give her a secure, quiet life, or the one who promises her a passion she’s never known.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
