The Arrival of Lily Curtis

Title: The Arrival of Lily Curtis

Author: Rachel Brimble

Sub-Genre(s): Romance, Contemporary, Historical

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Publication Date: June 24, 2010

ISBN #: 978-1601547927

Format: eBook from Author

Reviewer: Marika

Rating: 5 Cups

Blurb:*

At the mention of an arranged marriage, Elizabeth Caughley feels her life is over at the age of three and twenty...so she hatches an escape plan. She will reinvent herself as a housemaid. Overnight, Elizabeth becomes Lily - on the understanding if her attempt at independence fails, she will return home and marry a man of her parents' choosing. Viscount Westrop will ensure his legacy is passed to his own son one day. Even though he feels insurmountable pity for the unborn child already, he knows how much pain a broken promise can cause and will do what is right. But with the arrival of his new housemaid, his plans are thrown into disarray. Lily is funny and feisty and the most beautiful creature on earth - Andrew is thunderstruck. But if anyone suspects how much he wants to ravish her and endlessly love her, Andrew's lineage will undoubtedly be in peril.

Review:
Historical novels have been hit and miss with me lately. I’ve read both mainstream and erotica historicals and up until now, I lost faith in them. The Arrival of Lily Curtis restored my faith and excitement in historical novels.

Elizabeth is not your typical historical heroine. She is feisty, educated and knows what she wants out of life. She doesn’t like the “society image” that she is expected to live. She wants to live her own life on her terms and not by someone else’s. She wants to marry for love, not for duty or money. Her parents have reluctantly agreed to an arrangement of Elizabeth working as a maid on an estate to earn her own money so that she can live free of society in Paris, France. What drew me to Elizabeth/Lily were her spirit and her commitment to be true to herself and no one else. Ms. Brimble wrote Elizabeth/Lily will such passion that she would be a girlfriend to have in your corner.

Andrew is not your typical historical hero, either. He is a man that knows that he marry for duty and to produce the heir apparent but wants to marry for love instead. Unfortunately, he made a promise to his father and he will not break it. What Andrew didn’t factor in was Lily. She tempts him on a different level all together. She’s the maid but he senses something more in her. Once he gets to know her as a person and not a maid, he is hooked.

Ms. Brimble’s story could be set in any setting and the story would still be there for us to enjoy. What makes The Arrival of Lily Curtis set apart from other historical novels is the world that is created is described with fluidity and constant that I felt like I was there with them. She doesn’t describe a scene in such detail that you skip the showing of the scene just to get to the dialogue. The dialogue is sharp, funny and emotional. The secondary characters in the book are a big part of the story but don’t distract from Lily and Andrew. They enhance the story and add depth to each scene that they are in with them. While the bedroom scenes are sensual, they are not over the top and very appropriate for the time period.

I was sorry that this book ended. I felt like Lily and Andrew’s story could go on forever. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has lost faith in the historical genre; it will be restore with The Arrival of Lily Curtis.


Available at:
Amazon (Kindle Edition)
Barnes & Noble (Nook book)


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*Blurb Courtesy of Amazon

**Disclaimer: This book has been provided to Coffee Beans and Love Scenes Reviews free of charge by the author. No money has been exchanged for the review of this eBook. This review reflects the opinion of the individual reviewer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the other C&R reviewers or this blog’s administrator/editor.