His Favorite Mistress, by Tracy Anne Warren

You may have noticed that I don't use images that often in my blog. I figure most of my readers are handy enough to find links to the books I talk about on their own.

In this case though, the cover is important, because I wouldn't have read the book otherwise, despite the famous admonition about judging and covers and so forth.

Actually, I didn't judge this book by its cover, my three-year-old, Nadia, did. She often comes with me on my weekend jaunt to the library & UBS, and last time we went, she picked this one out for me. "I think you should read this one, Mama, it looks like a good one." I haven't read this author before, but that's the beauty of the used book store -- you can try new things without an $8 investment. So, I shrugged and indulged my girl. "What do you like about this one, honey?" I asked. "The picture," she said, indicating the gilt flourishes around the keyhole-shaped portrait.

Works for me.

And actually, it did. Solid characters & some great love scenes elevate His Favorite Mistress above a somewhat uninspired plot. I enjoyed Gabriella's rags-to-riches story and the hunky duke of Wyvern is a perfectly satisfactory alpha hero. I give it a solid B+.

Thanks, Nadia!