Dangerous Kisses (Guild of Hybrids, #1) by Alice Lake

Refreshing and hilarious new take on the roles of women in historical romances with strong female characters and a romance full of laughs, misunderstandings, and a little heartbreak.

**This book was provided by author in exchange for an honest review** 

It took me awhile to finish Dangerous Kisses but I finally did it! I thoroughly enjoyed my first novel by Alice Lake and am slightly intrigued by the next book since it will be about Larissa, Lavinia's trouble sister. I found the chemistry and romance between Lavinia Halls and Eric Yorke, Viscount Mathieson, to be the real star of the show even though I also found the Guild of Hybrids to be somewhat interesting as well. Heck, a society where women of means could use their talents in order to help other women from harm is pretty cool.

I wasn't exactly a fan of Lavinia's at first considering she literally set out to destroy an innocent man's reputation without confirming whether or not the information was true. Funny enough, her plan actually backfires because she's constantly dazed by Eric whenever he's around and acts like a complete idiot which of course, made me like her a little bit more. The same thing happens to Eric because every time Lavinia is around, he becomes completely enamored by her appearance, personality, and scheming ways. Let's just say these two made me laugh a lot because of their misunderstandings of one another and lack of trust. Thankfully however, the romance does develop and we get to see a more romantic side of their relationship besides their compatibleness in the bedroom. Although the heat factor wasn't very high, I was still shocked by the number of times Lavinia and Eric coupled! As for the evil woman who asked Lavinia to help with Eric's ruination in the first place, I'm still slightly bitter we never got to see her get the ending she deserves.

In the end, I wouldn't have known about this book without the author asking for my review so I would like to wholeheartedly thank Alice Lake for providing me with a copy. If you love historical romances, a feisty and stubborn heroine with a similar hero to boot, then this is your book! Their relationship was hilarious from the get-go and I just loved how Lavinia tried so hard to sabotage his reputation but it never seems to work out. I look forward to Larissa's story in the next book and who her male lead is!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Favorite Lisa Kleypas Books, Heroes, and Heroines

Lately, I've been taking a trip down memory lane by re-reading some of my favorite books by one of my all-time favorite authors, Lisa Kleypas. She was one of the first to introduce me to historical romance in 2010 and I would even go so far as to say that my love for British history and Victorian era stems from reading her books! From her strong and courageous heroines to her heartbreaking and passionate heroes, I've loved every single one of them. And so, I have decided to list some of my favorite books, heroes, and heroines from her in this blog post. Enjoy!

Evie Jenner and Sebastian St. Vincent

Sara Fielding and Derek Craven

Lillian Bowman and Marcus Marsden

Poppy Hathaway and Harry Rutledge

Lily Lawson and Alex Raiford

Livia Marsden and Gideon Shaw

Helen Ravenel and Rhys Winterborne

Holly Taylor and Zachary Bronson

Beatrix Hathaway and Christopher Phelan

Annabelle Peyton and Simon Hunt

Amelia Hathaway and Cam Rohan

Amanda Briars and Jack Delvin

Last Kiss by Laurelin Paige

Satisfying end to an intense, sexy, and thrilling story about two individuals who found love and each other in the most unexpected of places.

Hmm, where to start. I absolutely loved reading First Touch when it came out last year. The characters and story were both interesting and intriguing, the romance sexy and sometimes heartbreaking, and that cliffhanger ending? Just wow. It's been one wild ride and honestly, I felt like it would have made a lot more sense to read First Touch and Last Kiss back to back since the second book immediately takes place immediately after the the first one.

We're introduced to the shocking revelation of Amber and let's just say, I've had my own reservations about this girl from the get-go. From the moment Emily revealed her relationship and connections to Amber in First Touch to readers, I knew something was up. At times, I was personally confused about Emily's own feelings towards this woman. It was love, but at the same time, it was also hate and jealousy. Especially if we add Reeve Sallis into the mix! And oh boy, at times I became so frustrated with Emily's wishy-washy attitude and inability to relinquish Amber's control over her life and relationship with Reeve.

As for Reeve, I actually came to love him a lot in this book. He hasn't done a complete 180 change but he was a lot more... passionate and romantic to Emily this time around. Of course, Reeve still maintained his dark and dangerous persona, especially inside the bedroom with Emily, but he has become a lot more like-able in this book. I think my favorite part was around the 87% mark-- so definitely near the end, when he finally made his intentions clear to her.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its ending even though I would love an epilogue or a novella of some sort by Laurelin Paige (if she ever does decide to write one)! I did feel like the ending was sort of rushed and there were a lot of things that needed to be discussed, it was still satisfying to see Emily and Reeve finally realize what was truly best for one another.

Rating: ★★★★☆