Can I have a marquess. Honestly though, this book makes me hope that tomorrow I'll wake up several hundred years ago and meet one I can take home with me. Bronson Evans swept me away and had me envying the heroine from the get go as she reeled in his lordship. The book was a fun read from the very beginning and kept me hooked until the end. I can only hope that if I ever go back in time a leading man like this one will be there waiting for me.

This was my first Bronwen Evans book and I really enjoyed this story. Both Steven and Penelope have their personal issues: Steven is losing his sight and Penelope is determined to never be under the rule of a husband after her first marriage to an abusive and controlling man. I liked the interactions between Penelope and Steven, especially as she wants nothing to do with him when they first meet. Over time though Penelope comes to rely on Steven being able to help her when it comes to the trouble her brother-in-law seems to be creating.

Widow Penelope Fisherton needs the help of someone with influence against the schemings of her brother-in-law. The man she turns to is Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon. Little does Penelope know but Stephen is slowly going blind. He agrees to help if only for the opportunity to seduce the beautiful widow.

I appreciated the story did not go as dark as it could have (no pun intended). I didn’t quite understand Penelope’s decision to keep her secret for so long. Stephen’s inner dialogue about not wanting to continue with life if he couldn’t see, got a bit redundant after awhile as well. Overall a good read, just not the best from this author.

I enjoyed this story, but I can't say there was anything incredibly remarkable about it. I had no problem finishing it and getting into the story. There was no profound love/lust going on in the story, but I thought it was interesting enough to finish fairly quickly. The characters were well matched and I stayed with the storyline of his sight being an issue and being the cause of much consternation between them. I did think they fell in love pretty quickly, but I think that the author prepped the story well enough whereas it was not completely out of the blue. I liked the fact that the author did not rely heavily on describing the sex in order to make the lust believable. That was a nice change of pace and a significant reason for the 4-star rating. I like the sex stuff, but unless you have some interesting new perspective on the tried and true, it's best not to overdo it.

*3.5 Stars*

I really enjoyed how well Evans handled Stephen's issues with his sight and how he's dealing with his fear about what his future holds.  It's definitely an intimidating prospect and bleak for a man of his position & personality.  His emphasis on not getting married or having children got just a bit repetitive but as he started fighting his heart he was doing everything he could to remember why. 

Unfortunately I think that Penelope's situation with her husband was a bit weaker but it was still interesting.  She worked hard to get Stephen involved but didn't really want him to find out the complete truth.  I'm not sure what she expected him to do but I don't know that it was well thought out because he's not the type to let it go without finding out everything. 

I do think the two of them together are enjoyable and I really liked how supportive & understanding of Stephen she is.  She sees things about him, including his vision issues, that no one else does but she does what she can to help him understand that no matter what he has value.  It's sweet and a joy to read.

Thanks Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept and netgalley for this ARC.

A romance with two adults who want something from each other but fight their attraction til the end. Explosive, magnietic, and very sacy.

Penelope and Stephen both came from hard places with a lot of baggage, but wound up being just the right thing for each other. They fought, they talked, they loved, and a great story came out of it all.

As the daughter of a Duke, Lady Penelope was once considered the belle of the ton. That was until she married a scoundrel who she thought she loved, only to have her dreams crushed by a cruel husband. When he dies, her brother-in-law will do anything to get her convicted of killing her husband so he can have her fortune and estate.

Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon is the one man that Penelope knows can prove her innocence. Before he goes blind, Stephen is indulging in his greatest joy, watching a woman in the throes of passion. He meets Penelope and is determined to have her. Penelope has spurned Stephen based on his reputation as a rogue, but when she gets to know the man he is behind the reputation, can she continue to resist her.

This was simply an amazing book. Both Penelope and Stephen were strong characters. I like a flawed hero and Stephen was the perfect flawed hero with his degenerating eyesight. Penelope was a strong heroine that had been through a lot in her marriage to a man that crushed her dreams.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you!

Let me begin by saying that this book can be read as a stand alone if you have not already read Addicted to the Duke. And while Alex and Hestia do make an appearance in this story, there will be nothing lost by not having read it beforehand.

There is much to be enjoyed by this story. Pen is a strong willed woman who knows what she wants (and more importantly what she doesn't want). The fact that Stephen had a genetic condition gave him a depth that isn't often seen in historical romances (usually its a war injury or a carriage accident, etc).

What kept me from fully enjoying this story however is the fact that there were just some things that did not make sense. Stephen worked for the crown - he was one of the best at what he did - and yet Pen didn't think to entrust him with the entire story? Instead she allowed herself to be made to look like she had a part in it. I also feel like there were too many loose threads left hanging (take the magistrate for instance - why was his inquiry missing so much important information? How could they turn a blind eye to what was happening)?

However, on the whole I do believe this story will be well received by those who enjoy this author as well as those who enjoy stories where things are not always as they appear to be.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon knows he’s going blind the same as his father so his whole goal in life is to see every exquisite thing he can before he goes blind. He’s living with going blind, like his father before him, living his own private hell and when he sees a mysterious woman at the auction house he becomes quite intrigued by her. He’s turned into quite the womanizer when one of his greatest joy is watching a woman shuddering in the throes of passion.
Lady Penelope Fisherton aka Pen, was married to a scoundrel and has no desire to ever marry again, she’s enjoying the freedom of being a widow. But she Stephen’s needs help to find out who murdered her husband. Pen’s brother-in-law is out to get her money and frame her for her husband's death. Stephen’s has a bargain of his own to make with her she must allow him to try and seduce her. Pen is not worried her passions have never been inflamed so she agrees to the bargain to gain his help. This is a captivating story of a man going blind wanting to enjoy the simple things in life, a beautiful painting, sunrise and sunset and most especially a beautiful woman and he’s captivated by Pen a woman who has never know passion with a caring giving man. This is my honest opinions after I voluntarily read a copy of this book that was provided to me with no requirements for a review.

Lord Stephen Hornsby, Marquess of Clevedon, is losing his sight. His father had the same problem and it is assumed it is genetic. He goes to Sotherby's auction house to purchase a painting. While there he sees a very beautiful woman who ignores him. He is a beautiful man and not use to being ignored, so he is intrigued. Lady Penelope Fisherton is a widow and she is afraid her dead husband's brother is going to make a lot of trouble for her. She needs someone to investigate the matter for her. Stephen was a spy and had fought the Turks and his credentials are what she feels she needs.
The storyline is a little complicated but Ms. Evans never disappoints with her books. They are always fresh and exciting and so full of love. The characters are delightful, his sister married a friend of his and he is glad to see how happy she is. I loved the whole story and found it is not usually written about the problem of blindness and if the children could inherit the problem. I highly recommend this tale, I know you will love it like I did.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

3.5 Stars
A historical, suspenseful romance with a leading male who has a slight disability and a leading lady who was mistreated by her former husband. I find it refreshing when characters feel real, flaws and all, but also because this author manages to incorporate social issues in her novels. The settings are always a plus too. The romance needs just a little better flow to it, but overall a good read. This is book two in a series, but it can also be read as a stand-alone.

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The topic of hereditary blindness is central to this romance, and unlike the vast majority of stories I've read where the heroine is blind and the hero is there to care for her and love her despite her disability, this book creates a hero with a degenerative eye condition that is slowly taking his sight away from him with each passing year. I found the research into macular degeneration to be quite interesting and, more importantly, it allows the author to explore themes of coping with disabilities that I found very compelling.

At the start of the novel, Penelope positions herself in a public setting to catch the eye of the hero. She is in need of Stephen's keen sleuthing experiences as a former spy to help clear her name and reputation after the untimely and mysterious death of her abusive husband. Stephen is quick to agree to help Penelope, as he is drawn to beautiful things and relishes every last minute of life with eyesight to absorb the beauty around him. Despite Penelope's warning that their relationship is to be a business one only, Stephen assures her that seduction is a non-negotiable part of their agreement. He also assures her early in their relationship that love and marriage and children are not something he can ever undertake. All of these assurances quickly fly out the window though once the two set out to uncover the mystery of Penelope's dead husband.

Despite an auspicious start to this book, I grew rather tired of Stephen's repetitious musings on how he could never marry and produce an heir because his blindness would be a burden and his offspring would become blind. Penelope too is hiding something from Stephen and her repetitive internal dialogue about how Stephen would hate her once he discovered the truth grew tiresome. It was also confusing because she is the person who sought super-sleuth Stephen out to discover the truth, but apparently if he found out the truth, he would hate her. That issue never really was resolved well, but it did create an unfortunate impending sense of doom by the last quarter of the book as we await Stephen's discovery of Penelope's big secret. There was nothing subtle about the plotting of this book and Stephen's wrath when it arrives is a relief to just get it out of the way. Finally, I felt a annoyed by how quickly the couple jump into bed with each other, and how quickly the topic of love and marriage emerges. Stephen at the start of the book is a confirmed bachelor, but at the halfway mark he is debating marriage and children with Penelope.

I return in the end though to the treatment of disability in this book, which really was for me its saving grace. Once Stephen opens up to Penelope about his condition, suddenly everyone around them -- friends and family alike -- are informed and everyone has an opinion on what living with blindness could mean. I think more than any other disability, blindness seems so terrifying, and the author does a really nice job depicting Stephen's fears. He fears having to give up his freedom and independence, of having to rely on a partner to get through life, of not being able to appreciate the world around him, of not perceiving Penelope's love if he cannot literally view her expressions. All of Stephen's fears felt genuine and reasonable. Friends and loved ones offer good insights too on how in life we do our best to love our children and hope for good things for them, but that in the end, doing our best to love someone has to be enough. Controlling life's events is beyond human capacity. I enjoyed these conversations that are part optimism and part fatalism. Unfortunately, I just did not really enjoy the romance as much as I had hoped.

I love historical romance. Something about reading about love in Regency/Victorian England gets to me. I love reading about the ton and its many rules about how a woman in Society must act. I love reading about how some women chose to either toe the line or ignore the strict rules that were set in place. I love reading about rakes and how they become reformed. I loved everything about them. Of course, there are some historical romances that I don’t like. But for the most part, they are some of my favorite books to read.

I enjoyed reading Drawn to the Marquess. What I liked the most about this book was that the characters were damaged. Stephen was going blind. Penelope was a battered wife. The author was able to take what happened to these characters and turn them into strengths. This book was nowhere as dark as the earlier book, Addicted to the Duke but it was dark enough for me.

There were things that I didn’t like about Drawn to the Marquess. I didn’t like how no one knew that Stephen had issues with his eyes. He couldn’t see anything off to the side and couldn’t see in low light. Wouldn’t that have been an issue when he was at balls? Because electricity hadn’t been invented yet and candlelight is dim. But, Penelope figured it out soon after meeting him? Didn’t make sense to me. I am sure that his mother and sisters would have noticed something. Because of what their father went through years ago. The other main thing was Penelope not telling Stephen about her husband’s death until after the Frenchman hinted about it. While I could understand her reluctance and embarrassment. But still. Stephen was working to clear her name and he finds that out. I would have been furious too.

I did connect with Penelope. I understood what she went through after her husband died. I also understood her absolute horror and disgust when she found out what he was doing. I wouldn’t have been so….restrained….in my response to that. I wanted to hug her and tell her that it wasn’t her fault. That he hid it well. But, she also annoyed me a little. As I stated above, I thought she should have been more upfront about her husband’s death to Stephen.

I liked Stephen but I also pitied him. I couldn’t imagine knowing that I was going to go blind and seeing my vision go. I understood why he wanted to experience everything. He wanted those memories of what a sunset was like before he went blind. I even understood why he didn’t tell his family about going blind. He didn’t want to put his mother or sisters through that again.

While I figured out what role Penelope had in her husband’s death about halfway through, I was still surprised by it. It wasn’t exactly what I thought. As soon as she realized what a monster her husband was, she went out to take care of it. As she should have. Those people were her responsibility and she lived for 6 years without knowing what was going on. To me, that made her a hero.

The sex scenes were fantastic. Penelope was a wildcat in bed, once she realized that she could get pleasure from it. I loved the scene where she started describing what was going on while Stephen and she were having sex. That upped the hotness factor for me (and them).

The chemistry and sexual attraction between Penelope and Stephen didn’t go away after the first time. The author kept that amped up for the entire book. Even in the epilogue, all he had to do was look at her in a certain way and her toes curled. Loved it!!!

The end of the book was great. Stephen showed such courage when he went after Penelope. I thought the scenes after everything had happened was awesome. The author did a fantastic job at ending all the storylines. One storyline, which was a minor one, got wrapped up in the epilogue. I had tears in my eyes when I realized that both Penelope and Stephen had their HEA. I am also looking forward to book 3!!

What I liked about Drawn to the Marquess:

A) Characters were relatable

B) The connection I felt with both Stephen and Penelope

C) The sex scenes!!!

What I disliked about Drawn to the Marquess:

A) Stephen not letting people sooner about his eyesight issues

B) Penelope not being truthful about her role in her husband’s death

C) Penelope’s husband (what she found out he did).

I gave Drawn to the Marquess a 4-star rating. I enjoyed reading this book. I felt a strong connection to both characters. The storyline was great and easy to follow. I did have some issues with Penelope and Stephen but that didn’t factor into my rating.

I would give Drawn to the Marquess an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is violence. There is mild language. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Drawn to the Marquess. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Loveswept, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Drawn to the Marquess.

All opinions stated in this review of Drawn to the Marquess are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

This was a superb story. The serie is well written and I love the author. You don't want to put the book down! I hope there will be more books from her soon.

Good story about two secret-filled people who are afraid to love. Lady Penelope is in a tight spot. She has recently been widowed, and in a bid to steal her inheritance, her brother-in-law is attempting to prove that she murdered her husband. Lord Carmichael had been a cruel and abusive man, with a sideline in the kidnapping and smuggling of young girls. Pen has done her research and decided that war hero and former spy, Lord Clevedon, is the perfect man to help her. She has decided to bid on a painting that he wants in order to trade it for his help in clearing her name.

Stephen is a well-known rake and a connoisseur of beautiful things - especially beautiful women. He is also going blind and is desperate to commit to memory as many beautiful sights as he can before his sight is completely gone. He is surprised when a gorgeous woman attempts to outbid him on a painting he wants but is resolved to pay whatever necessary to buy that painting. He is also intrigued by the woman and determined to meet her.

I liked the first meeting between them. Pen is straightforward with Stephen about why she bid on the painting. She needs his help, and that was to be her hook to gain his assistance. He is attracted to Pen and agrees to help her if she allows him to try to seduce her. Pen has no intention of allowing him to succeed. She has been burned by passion before, allowing attraction to draw her into her marriage to Carmichael. She refuses to allow any man to have that kind of power over her ever again. She quickly discovers that she is not as immune to Stephen as she thought she was. Stephen also realizes that his feelings for Pen are more than just physical. But he has sworn never to marry, as he won't be a burden to any woman, nor will he risk passing the risk of blindness on to a child of his. It doesn't take long for the intelligent and observant Pen to discover Stephen's secret.

I liked the development of the relationship between Pen and Stephen. Pen is very good at showing Stephen that losing his sight doesn't mean that his life is over. I liked how she showed Stephen his importance to those around him. At the same time, Stephen brings passion and desire into Pen's life, opening her up to feeling again. I enjoyed the banter between them as each worked to advance their own plans. Neither one had any plans to marry, but they didn't count on the feelings that grew between them. I loved seeing Pen chip away at Stephen's fears, showing him his strengths would not be affected by his loss of vision. At the same time, Stephen showed Pen that opening herself up to the chance of love could get her everything her heart desired. All they had to do was see that what they needed was each other. But there are still obstacles to overcome before they can have that future they each hope for. The ending was good with all secrets finally out in the open. The epilogue was pretty sweet, and I liked seeing Pen and Stephen a couple of years down the road.

The suspense of the story was good. There were questions about the death of Lord Carmichael and those questions spawned other questions about what was really going on. The revelations about Carmichael's activities opened up several possibilities of who would want him dead. There was also the problem that Pen had kept some very important information from Stephen, information that could change everything. The final confrontation was intense, with Pen in extreme danger. I was glued to the pages as it all played out. I loved Pen's cleverness and Stephen's determination and how, together, they brought an end to Carmichael's evil.

3.5*
Lady Penelope Fisherton needs help. She’s about to loose everything she holds dear if she doesn’t convince Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon to help her. When she fails to win bid on a painting she hoped to us to sway him to help her she is lost as what to do.
Stephen is intrigued by the fair haired beauty that was set to win the painting. When they meet and he finds out what she wants they broker a deal. He helps her and she allows him to seduce her. After living six years with a vile man and finally free of him she’s vowed never to be tempted by a man again. Stephen can try, but Penelope will have no problem blocking his attempts at seductive, or so she thought. As their relationship grows and secrets are revealed its getting harder to deny their feelings. Stephen knows Penelope is hiding something, Penelope knows she needs to tell Stephen but will he believe her or think she was only using him?
Suspense, laughter and tears run through out this book and some really good sexy times.
This was not one of may favorite books that I’ve read of Ms. Evans. I had a hard time relating to the characters. Penelope was not likable in the beginning and I feared that this book was not going to be worth reading. I’m so glad I continued, Penelope and Stephen's relationship began and Penelope started to evolve and I began to see her in a new light. This book was a good read and I can’t wait for the next Bronwen Evans book.

I really enjoyed Stephen and Pen's story. It was a little slow in spots for me but it was well worth the read. I loved that Pen is able to show Stephen that there is life even if he looses his sight.

Drawn to the Marquess by Bronwen Evans

Drawn to the Marquess by Bronwen Evans is the next book in the series Imperfect Lords. In this particular novel, two people who have trust issues and do not want attachments are attracted to each other. Lady Penelope needs help. She has decided that Stephen Hornsby will be the perfect person to help her. Her dead husband’s brother is making noise that she murdered her husband and he deserves to have all of her monies and properties.

Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon is going blind. Not that he has told anyone or even gone to the doctor to discuss it. His father went blind and couldn’t handle it so killed himself. Stephen is determined to see everything and surround himself beauty until he cannot see anymore.

There seems to be some unknowns in this situation and definitely danger for both Stephen and Penelope. Bronwen Evans writes fun, romantic novels with suspense to keep the reader interested in the story line. Drawn to the Marquess by Bronwen Evans is a good read.

Stephen Hornsby, the Marqess of Clevedon, is going blind, just like his father before him. Unlike his father, he wants to live. He will watch the act of love making, procure beautiful women as well as art. A mad race for beautiful objects before his blindness takes over.

Lady Penelope Fisherton is a widow. Her former retrobate husband, left her, her property. The brother in law is accusing her of murder and seeks her property.

Lady Penelope needs someone to help her prove her innocene. She looks to the Marqess of Clevedon. He agrees to help. I always say I love the journey to HEA,and this book is no exception. Lots of twists and turns. It kept me going from the start.