A Lady Awakened

I adored this book. I was first lured by the novelty that I'd heard that it started out with rather unsexy sex (well, not *started* with; the need for the heroine to get pregnant has to be established and they have to meet and make their bargain first). The simultaneous use of a trope that depends on a great deal of sex and realism that the union of the Mighty Wang and Magic Hoo-Hah does *not* produce insta-love, or even insta-great sex, intrigued me.Since it was my reason for picking up the book, I'll start by saying that I was vastly entertained by how unsexily the sex starts, and also add that there was quite a bit of fade to black considering how central sex is to the plot- which is probably for the best, since the bargain is for "service" daily and the book would have to be massive or consist of nothing else to detail every encounter. Most of the encounters are skipped over, with the occasional more detailed scene to show improvement. The growing intimacy between the characters is mostly depicted in the scenes after their daily encounters and outside of bed.I enjoyed seeing both of the characters grow and learn from each other. Martha starts with noble intentions but is rather remote. Theo starts amiable but lacking in purpose. Together, she develops more of the human touch and he develops the desire to apply himself. She has lived a life that mostly consists of putting up with things for a greater good or a little security, and he is rather young; their faults and their ability to grow beyond them given a chance are quite human.The summary of the next book in the series probably would not make me pick it up if it were from an author I'd never read before, but on the strength of this book, I am eagerly looking forward to it.

AUTHOR: very talented with details.SYNOPSIS: Martha is still in her widow's clothes. She needs an heir to hold on to the estate. She is also a sexual "prude". Theo Mirkwood loves to spend his father's money. He has been banished to his father's working farm to learn responsibility. Martha needs his sperm and he needs her money.RATING: This book was very well written for those that like more of a plot and less romance. I found it a bit boring but once I start reading, I believe in giving a book a chance. I will admit that Theo came up with some very interesting ways to deal with Martha's lack of "sexual" interest.

I'll admit when I first got this book I figured it would be entertaining with some good sex scenes but not much else. Boy was I wrong. Granted, this is a scandal, and there's some suspense involved, but there was so much more to the book as well. The interactions between Martha and Theo are heartbreakingly honest. The character's themselves are honest; honest to themselves. There's no acting based on society and its rules. Because this is a scandal and strictly a business proposal, they can be honest and forthcoming. There's no weight to do or be what they're not. I enjoyed it immensely. I could relate so well to Martha that it was gratifying to see someone else with the same thoughts and feelings, even if that someone is a fictional character. This is no fluff. This is real. This is an amazing story. I could wish for more on the ending, but perhaps there will be a sequel? I hope. I'm sure regardless, I will be reading more from Grant in the future. Great debut!

too long. predictable.

I had never Ms. Grant's work before but received this book as an Early Reviewer novel from Library Thing . com. I really enjoyed this story. The characters were well developed and complex and not what is typical of these stories (of this era). The plot was interesting and romantic and erotic. The pace was good.Martha (not nearly as musical a name as the story makes it seem) and Theo developed a lovely relationship after an interesting start. While awkward at the start in places - due to the contrived relationship that was established - this developed into a heartwarming tale of two neighbors that ended up with much in common. Highly recommended.

Hands down in the top 5 romance reads ever! The angst, the tension, the sizzle! Also the audio is great and the dialogue darkly funny

I loved the story....it was so hilarious in the beginning that I couldn't stop laughing.!

The characters were in their own way a lot, which always tires me. *Repeatedly* a character acknowledged inwardly that they wanted something from another person, but when the other person offered or tried to give it they shut them down in no uncertain terms, and then inwardly sulked about not getting the thing, and then told themselves they had never really wanted it to begin with. And repeat. Ugh. Pull yourself together! =P

I would like to give this three and a half stars. Now here is a book with yearning. Unique, pleasant hero and rigid heroine--normally I don't think a character is nearly as still as reviews make them out to be, but in this case I was wrong. I do think this book could have been shorter, as by the time I reached the midway point I was starting to skim. Really hot sex scenes once they get into it.

I'm really not sure how to review this book between a cold, upstanding widow and a charismatic land management student, but I will say that it in its everyday approach to intimacy it really did wow me. There's this scene, when fondness of the part of the hero was building, that made my heart kick just right.

And here's a heroine I admire, working to do the right thing the only way she can. This book did not rely on sex, but a genuine friendship between the two main characters. Conversely, sex only served to alienate them from one another in the absolutely stiff and uncomfortable scenes.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this book felt weird realistic for the beginning of a relationship...and it was such a good read.

I do not usually read historical romances so I can't really compare this to other books in this category. I enjoyed reading the story. I liked Martha, and how she tried to do the right thing and truly cared for those around her. The gentleman next door, Theo, was charming and it was easy to see how Martha fell in love with him. The setting, on the county estate, was fascinating. I have not read much about this era, and they way people lived back then was very interesting to me. I think fans of romance stories will really like this one.

I received an ARC for free through the goodreads first read program.

I really enjoyed this read, there are many who didn't and this was a slow burn of a romance. No instant love or lust here, just a daring plan to save the estate and the estates' female servants from her ex-husband's brother, she has to conceive, so she hires a neighbour, Theophilus Mirkwood has a wicked reputation but both the proposition and the woman intrigues him, he goes with the plan, only to find that she regards sex as a duty, not a pleasure, he's determined to change her mind, but temporary may be a mistake.I liked the characters and the story and look forward to more by that author.

The most erotic book I've ever read about the enclosure act and dairy farming in Georgian England.There was a lot I loved about this book. The characters are incredibly well formed, their actions informed by their personalities, their histories, and their goals. Both hero and heroine underestimate their own potential. Martha's ignorance convinces her she is some kind of freak, while Theo's worldliness means he tends to live down to people's expectations of him.Grant's decision to make the seduction not about one trying to get the other into bed, but one trying to get the other to enjoy it, gives it a nuance and originality that makes Martha's gradual unbending much more erotic than the usual attempt to get someone into bed.My only issue with this book was the end, which seemed a little too neat and a little too rushed. It was nice to see Martha realise that she had made friends she didn't know she had, but after the plot has flowed so smoothly and made so much sense the final resolution feels awkward and knotty, like the ending was decided on separately to the rest of the plot and the book had to take a sharp turn to reach it. I suspect it's partly to make it more palatable to readers who expect a traditional happy ending (and to work with the other books in the series), but after the boldness of the rest of the work (that really does explore the impact of the enclosure act on tenant farmers) it's a bit of a let down.

This was good but it didn't reel me in as much as some others in this genre -- there were parts where I skimmed ahead.

This was a Good Reads First Read contest win.



This book is the author's first work, but I hope it will not be the last. This book is the first in the Blaskshear Family series.

I will admit that reading historical romance fiction is one of my favorite genre. This was a wonderful. I know several reviewers have complained about the sex scenes in the book, but I believe the author was keeping with the times.

I loved the character Martha and Theo. But my favorite character was Martha's lady maid Sheridan. She kept supporting her mistress through everything. But then during the time of this book a lady's mad usually supported the mistress no matter what.

My favorite part of the book Martha trying to befriend Theo's tenants. She has this never give up attitude. Martha was always trying to help others. She got enjoyment out of helping others.

I look forward to the next book in this series.

The bunnies and I give this book 4-Carrots.

This book was not what I expected, but in a good way. It was very different than the usual historical romance. The hero was likeable from the beginning, but the heroine was so reserved and proper that she wasn't particularly likeable at the beginning, but that made her transformation and the slow growing relationship between her and the hero all the sweeter.

Writing not too bad, but plot unbelievable.

This was nicely paced. They grow slowly as lovers. It's a quiet and satisfying romance. Martha blossoms and Theo charms and endears. Quite lovely.

This was a truly unique read for me. I'm sure others have written books with similar themes before, but I'm not sure anyone has written one quite like this. For the majority of the book the hero and heroine have bad sex. Yes, you heard me, bad sex in a romance. Not only did I find that surprising, I was also shocked by the fact that despite the bad sex I still enjoyed the book. Both Theo and Martha grow so much as people throughout the book and it was really nice to read about.

I enjoyed this historical fiction novel. There was plenty of intrigue and romance combined with three dimensional characters that had me eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that i got the rest of grant's books. I was not disappointed and was happy to have found a new author To read.

Typical pulp romance.

A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant was a pretty enjoyable quick read. I would probably read another of Cecilia Grants books.

While I do believe Ms. Grant has a great writing talent, I just could not get into this book. I picked it up and put it down several times and have been unable to finish reading it. I found the heroine to be very, very annoying and a hero would never go along with the crazy idea she hatched, he would find another way to "save" her, an honorable way. In all of the romance novels I have read and there have been many, no hero from the upper class who was titled would let his child knowingly be raised with another mans name. The whole idea for that time period is just wrong. I know many felt this was a new take on a historical romance, but I found it far fetched.

Why I read it: I've been hearing about this book since way before it's release with big raps for it from Sarah Wendell (Smart Bitches Trashy Books) and Jane Litte (Dear Author) - initially on their DBSA podcasts. After it's release I bought it fairly quickly but it stayed on my TBR. I think I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype. Anyway, I recently decided to bite the bullet. Did it live up to the hype? Yes. Yes it did.What it's about: (blurb from Goodreads) Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes . . . for a fee.Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?What worked for me (and what didn't): This is a delightful book. The writing is tight, witty, at times beautiful, and spare in a way that is reminiscent of Mary Balogh, while being completely the author's own. Martha is uptight and somewhat cool. Theo is the one who's all open joie de vivre. He has quite low expectations of himself but it isn't really that difficult for Martha and Mr. Granville (Theo's steward) to get him interested in land and tenant management. He's young (26) and he's been idle and profligate but he's basically a kind person - he has a heart made of marshmallow. He falters a little in the delivery sometimes but he learns from his mistakes and he has the best of intentions once he's on the right track. His character growth felt entirely realistic to me. Theo is also very funny. He considered her words as she poured. Also, he considered the view down her bodice. and With an efficiency only to be gained through much practice, he shucked his clothes. "You may turn over again if you like." She did, and looked at him, and looked away, just as she would if she'd been foolish enough to gaze straight at the sun, or at one of those gods a mortal could not bear to behold. Apollo, or someone. Mercury. Whichever was the broadest-shouldered and most generously equipped.As you can see, Theo does not suffer from poor self esteem. :)Theo has a charisma which means that he can persuade almost anyone to do almost anything and he once he turns that charm on the challenges of good stewardship of his land instead of on getting laid, he's a force to be reckoned with. For example, Martha has a passion for education and is keen on getting the children of the district educated, including the girls. Consider Theo's sales pitch to a young shepherdess, which succeeds where Martha has spectacularly failed. "Very good," he nodded at the shepherdess. "You look like a reader of sturdy constitution. You must read this novel and tell me whether there's good story in between all the accurate and elevating parts. I'm afraid those virtues are a kind of poison to me, and I need some other reader to go before, like one of those fellows who tastes the king's suppers."Martha on the other hand is all about duty which made her seem, to me, to be much older than her 21 years. She read as about 30/35 in 'regency years" sometimes and I had to keep reminding myself that she was younger than Theo. At least in part I think this was deliberate on the author's part as there are times when Theo has to remind himself of the same thing. From Theo she learns to make friends (something she had not heretofore been able to do) and to relax and enjoy life a bit. When she combines the force of nature that is her will with a few smiles, she gets a lot further than she expects. She and Theo make a fairly awesome team in fact. The parts of the book where they are engaging with their respective tenants were very well done and somewhat surprisingly, very entertaining.From Martha, Theo learns about duty and responsibility but he also learns that pleasuring a woman can be done without sex and as he falls in love with Martha and as she will not accept physical pleasure (more on that later) from him, he longs to give Martha pleasure she will accept. He finds a strange joy in pleasing her with his business ideas. Her smile went through him like a fever-chill. What a strange, strange thing to give a woman such pleasure without touching her.and If only she'd inoculated him with more frequent smiles, he would not lose all his conversation. and later Such tricky business, being a husband. Knowing when to be your wife's champion, and when to stand back that she might be her own. So many large and small skills to master beyond simply pleasuring a woman in bed. Yet one more unexpected lesson from his time in Sussex.I only would have wanted a little more exposition at the end of the story. It's no surprise that Martha and Theo fall in love and want to be together. Martha has formed a plan so that she will get a baby one way or another even if she has to pay for one from a poor tenant. She can't be with Theo and say that the baby is her late husband's. She can't save Seton Park if she goes off with Theo and lives HEA. The dilemma is solved fairly neatly in that the specific problem is not who owns the land but that she doesn't want her evil brother-in-law anywhere near it (he's a rapist). Once that has occurred however, Martha is still newly widowed and for her to be with Theo creates its own uproar which didn't seem fully resolved to me. It was like, having solved one problem, the cat was amongst the pigeons and the book ended, while the brawl was still ongoing. I would have liked to have seen that bit resolved too.However, in the big scheme that is a fairly small niggle and I believe we will see more of Theo and Martha in future books and maybe, if we're lucky, a Christmas short or something (*hint Cecilia Grant hint*).What else? Martha does not enjoy (at least initially) and does not want to enjoy Theo's physical attentions. She feels to take pleasure in sex with Theo would make her actions worse than to 'suffer' them. There is some nobility in suffering for a cause (keeping the females on the estate safe from the attentions of the evil brother-in-law). Were she to enjoy their encounters, she feels she can make no claim to nobility. Of course, Martha is a woman and when she first has sex with Theo she doesn't know him at all. It is not to be expected that she would enjoy such attentions initially anyway. One of the things which struck me about the early part of Martha and Theo's physical relationship is that there is a certain role reversal present. By that, I mean it is Theo who, by virtue of regularly giving Martha "his seed" finds himself emotionally entangled - Martha herself is not wooed so much by the physical as by the man she comes to know and the man Theo comes to be. There is physical attraction on her part certainly, but I'm convinced she would have continued to find him eminently resistible if not for her growing attraction to the rest of him. Typically, a man can "love 'em and leave 'em" and typically physical intimacy breeds emotional intimacy in a woman. Martha and Theo however, are far from typical and this is just one of the ways they were not only engaging and fun, but interesting to read about.The contrast of Martha's dry wit and removed sensibility with Theo's open and lusty nature was also fun and these two certainly heat up the sheets as their relationship develops. "Always. Use me, Martha." His voice invited her into unspeakable things. "Ride me until you've got your seed, and then take your pleasure from my mouth." Well. Apparently not unspeakable, to him. and "But I find one man might differ in significant ways from another." "One might have a larger appendage, you mean." "That's not at all what I meant." The corners of her lips twitched nonetheless. "Though, I'm sure you'll be gratified to know you do best my late husband in that arena." "Darling, I best most men there." "My felicitations"*snort*Grade: A

I had high hopes for this romance, but it just didn't win me over. The premise of why Martha wanted the baby was noble but unrealistic to me and I couldn't get into the storyline. It's just not my kind of romance, I guess. I liked the hero, Theo, but Martha was prickly and unlikeable for the majority of the book. She was too "good." Yes, I see how she is "awakened" but I found the love scenes awkward (as they were meant to be at first) but they actually made me uncomfortable. The ending was rushed as well, I would have liked to have seen them have their moment together, finally happy - an epilogue, at least? The fact she could not enjoy sex unless she admired and respected Theo as a person, explained a lot. Theirs was a quiet burgeoning of feelings between two people who find themselves thrown together in a highly unlikely situation. As a result, it took me a while to finish this. Martha was just too noble and driven in her quest, to the point where she was blind to see that what she was doing was wrong - until the end. The first part of the book was a bit dull with all her "goodness" interspersed with the daily grim business of getting her with child, but it did at least pick up in the second half as we see Theo's transformation into a responsible young man with a conscience. Still, much of it was about his estate matters and trying to win over Martha by being a concerned landowner. This had it's moments, but not as lascivious as the book blurb makes it sound. A quiet romance heavy with the theme of noblesse oblige.

This was a lovely book to read. I love the story line and the setting and the characters! 4 stars! :D

I got this book as an early reviewer. It took me awhile to get through the book. The beginning was a little slow to start and get into the characters. It was hard to see where the story line was going too. Things picked up over half way through the book and I enjoyed the last half of the story. I would recommend this book especially to someone who loves reading this particular time period in a romance book.

I was torn on how to rate A Lady Awakened. The unique premise easily deserved a 5 star rating. I'm a bit of a historical romance junkie and it was so refreshing to see an author bring something that actually stands out as one of a kind to a genre that can easily begin to feel tired. Cecilia Grant did an excellent job of crafting this unique premise with a cast of nicely developed characters and well written prose. My only issue was that the story did get bogged down at times and felt as if it was moving so very slow. I would have loved to see more interaction between Martha and Theo and a little less focus on the workings of their estates. I understand this was crucial to the plot, but during a few scenes I felt I was really struggling to maintain interest. I loved the moments the two main characters had together and found myself longing for more when I reached the end.I do believe this is quite a talented author who will only get better with experience. I'm eager to read her next novel which based on synopsis sounds like it will be another unique treasure.

I put off finishing this one for a long time: three months long, which is unheard of for me, especially when I am already 2/3 of the way through the book when I put it down. Now that I am finally removed enough from my rather visceral negative reaction to this book, let's talk about it: as a rape survivor, I found the semi-forced and entirely unwanted (on the part of the female main character) sex scenes to be toeing a line I wasn't comfortable with, and one which I certainly can't describe as in any way 'enjoyable'. Yes, okay, she EVENTUALLY comes around to enjoying herself, but chapters and chapters of uncomfortable, one sided, downright cringe-worthy sex scenes were not at all what I thought this book would be about. I did not enjoy this at all.

Although this book is marketed as a historical romance, it is heavy on the historical and confusing on the romance. The premise of the story - that a young, recent widow wants to get herself with child to pass off as her late husband's heir - while intriguing, is also far-fetched. Perhaps if her partner in crime were of the lower class or untitled it would be plausible, but he is a well-bred, eldest son himself who stands to inherit from his own father. The romance is slow to develop, the sex is frequent and un-hot, and there's very little sexual tension. What saves the novel is the characters. The hero is likable and the secondary characters are numerous and well-developed. The action taking place outside the bedroom is more interesting than the sex. Although the story drags a little in the middle and the ending feels a bit rushed, it is overall a satisfying read. If you are easily offended by crude language, you might want to take a pass on this one, but if you're looking for a historical romance that's outside the norm, give this one a try.