Helpful Score: 2
(4.5 stars) GUILTY PLEASURES was an absolutely delightful read, just like all the other times I've read it. Having reread AND THEN HE KISSED HER recently - one of my all-time favorite historical romances - I noticed much more, this time around, the similarities between the two books. They both feature often-overlooked heroines, who are always very much in control of themselves and their desires, and who work in unusual female employment under male bosses who have heretofore ignored them when it comes to anything other than business (and even then, the heroines have kind of just been ... there, seen more as diligent worker bees than actual human beings).
One of the things that Guhrke does so well in both these books is that she doesn't have an "ugly duckling" heroine who is dressed in pretty clothes, gets a haircut, and turns into a beautiful swan, at whose feet the hero then falls. In this aspect, both women remain throughout the book the women they essentially were at the beginning, but how the men view them changes. The heroes are "awakened" - basically jolted into realizing that what they assumed was wrong and that they had dismissed/overlooked them when they shouldn't have.
Of course, through Daphne's relationship with Anthony and Emma's relationship with Harry, both women also have their own set of changes. They idealized/worshiped and generalized/stereotyped (respectively) their bosses, and through their respective relationships they begin to actually see the man beneath the facade, very human and having both virtues and vices. As Anthony and Harry's views change, Daphne and Emma also gain more confidence and learn to demand from others their due.
RECOMMENDATIONS
(1) AND THEN HE KISSED HER (Girl-Bachelor Series, Book 1) by Laura Lee Guhrke - 5 stars
(2) DREAMING OF YOU (Gamblers of Craven's, Book 2) by Lisa Kleypas - 5 stars
(3) ONE KISS FROM YOU (Switching Places, Book 2) by Christina Dodd - 5 stars
(4) BOUND BY YOUR TOUCH by Meredith Duran - 5 stars
(5) LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (The Hathaways, Book 5) by Lisa Kleypas - 5 stars
(6) THE PROPOSITION by Judith Ivory - 5 stars
(7) ROMANCING MISTER BRIDGERTON (Bridgerton Series, Book 4) by Julia Quinn - 5 stars
(8) SEVEN SECRETS OF SEDUCTION by Anne Mallory - 4.5 stars
(9) NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE (?, Book 1) by Sarah Maclean - 4.5 stars
One of the things that Guhrke does so well in both these books is that she doesn't have an "ugly duckling" heroine who is dressed in pretty clothes, gets a haircut, and turns into a beautiful swan, at whose feet the hero then falls. In this aspect, both women remain throughout the book the women they essentially were at the beginning, but how the men view them changes. The heroes are "awakened" - basically jolted into realizing that what they assumed was wrong and that they had dismissed/overlooked them when they shouldn't have.
Of course, through Daphne's relationship with Anthony and Emma's relationship with Harry, both women also have their own set of changes. They idealized/worshiped and generalized/stereotyped (respectively) their bosses, and through their respective relationships they begin to actually see the man beneath the facade, very human and having both virtues and vices. As Anthony and Harry's views change, Daphne and Emma also gain more confidence and learn to demand from others their due.
RECOMMENDATIONS
(1) AND THEN HE KISSED HER (Girl-Bachelor Series, Book 1) by Laura Lee Guhrke - 5 stars
(2) DREAMING OF YOU (Gamblers of Craven's, Book 2) by Lisa Kleypas - 5 stars
(3) ONE KISS FROM YOU (Switching Places, Book 2) by Christina Dodd - 5 stars
(4) BOUND BY YOUR TOUCH by Meredith Duran - 5 stars
(5) LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (The Hathaways, Book 5) by Lisa Kleypas - 5 stars
(6) THE PROPOSITION by Judith Ivory - 5 stars
(7) ROMANCING MISTER BRIDGERTON (Bridgerton Series, Book 4) by Julia Quinn - 5 stars
(8) SEVEN SECRETS OF SEDUCTION by Anne Mallory - 4.5 stars
(9) NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE (?, Book 1) by Sarah Maclean - 4.5 stars
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