Master of Love

by Catherine LaRoche

Overview

Available on eBook—a sexy historical romance featuring a genteel book dealer who is commissioned to organize an impressive personal library in the home of London’s most notoriously seductive lord.

Dominick Avery, Viscount Rexton, has a brilliant mind, yet is so intoxicatingly handsome no one ever takes him seriously as the philosopher he longs to be. He cultivates a wicked reputation as Lord Adonis, Master of Love, until his uncle sends him an irresistible bequest of books, on the condition he accept also the prim librarian who comes with them.

Miss Callista Higginbotham struggles to support her quirky household as a rare book dealer and librarian, while tottering on a dangerous edge of genteel poverty. But she quickly finds herself in greater danger yet, as her newfound desire flares for the infuriatingly flirtatious lord. Dominick wants nothing more than to unleash his luscious new librarian from her straight-laced propriety. He's learned, however, never to trust desire—let alone the consuming passion that soon bedevils him.

Both must learn not to judge a book by its cover. But when Callista discovers a plot against Dominick’s life and risks all to save him, they both learn that love is the one lesson that cannot be learned from books…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476709437
Publisher:	Pocket Star
Publication date:	12/03/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	336
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Catherine LaRoche is the romance pen name of Catherine Roach, who is a professor of cultural studies and gender studies in New College at the University of Alabama. Catherine won the Romance Writers of America Academic Research Grant in 2009 and is writing a book on how the story of romance—“find your one true love and live happily ever after”—is the most powerful narrative in popular culture. A lifelong reader of romance novels, she combines fiction writing of historical romance with academic writing about the romance genre for the best of both worlds.When not writing, reading, or teaching about romance, she enjoys hiking, cooking for friends, and spending family summers at a lake in her native Canada, where her loon call is known to sometimes fool the local loons.

Editorial Reviews

LaRoche's first romance takes a look at female hardship and flawed gender stereotypes in Victorian England. In 1847, unmarried librarian and rare book dealer Callista Higginbotham, smart and business-savvy, is hired to organize the massive library of Dominick Avery, the Viscount Rexton, a closeted reader and would-be scholar trapped in the guise of an "empty headed pretty boy." Callista, well-born and proper, is thrown off-balance by the handsome ladies' man and relentless flirt. Recently impoverished, Callista suffers additional misfortune when she falls victim to a vindictive landlord and two rude gentlemen who prey on her vulnerable status. Dominick, nicknamed "Master of Love" and "Lord Adonis", acts the part of a shallow rogue, yet he is frustrated by these labels that he hides behind, wishing only to be regarded as a serious philosopher. Objectified and increasingly feeling like a fraud, Dominick struggles with high society's rules and his increased longing for Callista, who is scorned by the upper class for being in "trade." Passions heat up, and like-minded book lovers Callista and Dominick fall in love. Though some of the steamier scenes push the boundaries of good taste, this historical romance provides a glimpse into a male-dominated society where, in later years, the status of women will be challenged.
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Publishers Weekly

Never judge a book or a person by her cover. Callista Higginbotham is used to the whispers and the subtle jabs to her reputation. As a gentlewoman in reduced circumstances, Callista strives to support her family as a librarian and rare-book dealer while holding herself upright in London’s socially conscious hierarchy. Financial salvation arrives with a commission to organize the sizable personal library of Dominick Avery, Viscount Rexton. Blessed with serious seductive skills and exceedingly good looks, Dominick devotes himself to the pleasures of the flesh while hiding his brilliant philosophical mind. Intrigued with the librarian in his home, Dominick finds himself at odds with his conscience and his long-neglected heart. As the couple form a deeper attachment, danger threatens them both, and Dominick finds himself questioning the life he’s always led and the desire to be the man he never knew he could be.

Verdict Wonderfully rich and displaying depth of characterization, debut novel Master of Love is a gorgeous historical romance. Stalwart heroine Callista shows an unexpected strength and depth of emotion, given her precarious position, while ardent seducer Dominick satisfyingly kindles sparks of affection into a full-blown flame. A potent mix of history, charm, and romance, this book is an excellent recommendation for romance fans.—Debra M. Dudek, Fountaindale P.L. Dist., Bolingbrook, IL

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