And Then He Kissed Her

This is my first by this author and I will try more by her. The characters were interesting and somewhat entertaining. Not much new in the way of plot, and the overall interest level did deteriorate over the last few chapters, but I did make it through ( and will not consign to the donation bag!). Recommend.

Ms. Guhrke's wonderfully engaging style tells a captivating story about the rakish, but devastatingly charming publisher, Harry and his seemingly obedient and steadfast secretary Emma. Both characters are well-developed, intelligent and likeable. This is a very believable story about two people struggling within the strict confines of society and their own self-imposed boundaries. The story is well-paced and the writing is consistent throughout. It's a charming, romantic and sexy read without the heavy sugar coating, the over-wrought phrases and flowery prose that is all too prevalent in historical romance. Well done!

I really thought Carla Kelly's "Beau Crusoe" was going to be the best and most original book I read this month, but "And Then He Kissed Her" is a strong contender. Somehow Laura Lee Guhrke has taken a handful of elements I dislike and turned them into something sublime. Her heroine is not an independent lady in the 'I don't need men, oh my goodness I'm in trouble, help me!' mold. She's a real person. She does her best at her job, works toward her goals, lets her mind wander when the boss' girlfriend rattles on, and lives her life. She's in the rut of office routine while dreaming of success as an author. She likes her apartment, she likes her cat, (and so do I, which was shocking enough) she's content. Until realizing how undervalued she is by her employer shakes her loose from her routine. Suddenly, like many of us have, she's reevalutating her choices and making new ones. She's not dissatisfied with herself, she doesn't doubt her capabilities, she realizes she needs to seek employment where she's valued, so she does. There's no grand plan to seduce the boss - she walks away without a backward glance. I love her. When he runs after her with promises of obscene salaries, she chooses self respect and her new employer. When he doubts her abilities, she ignores him. Making me love her even more, she's able to see her own work clearly. She's not spunky or overconfident, she's just assured. She's good at what she does and she knows it. If he never figures that out, it's fine with her. His loss. Did I mention I loved her? You will too.

This book is a must-have for historical romance fans! If we had any question about her staying power, Laura Lee Guhrke proves herself for good in this latest, refreshing read. With just enough smolder and sexual tension, this book keeps you riveted and makes those pages turn. Both characters are an utter delight, completely dynamic and wonderfully original. You'll fall in love with the charming Harry and as for Emma--you'll be cheering her on, all while admiring her spunk and wit. Double A+ for plot on this one. Guhrke takes us out of the same old Regency setting we've read 1,999 times before and brings us instead to late 19th century England, where Harry is a publisher and Emma an aspiring writer. Both Harry and Emma learn quite a bit about themselves on their journey, and their gradual redefinitions of who they are is masterfully done. In all, this book is fresh and delightful, and you'll fall in love again every time you read it. Thank heavens there's still a romance writer out there we can count on!

Viscount Harrison Marlowe has caused a scandal among the peers of the realm: first with his divorce from his American wife, second with his decision to go into trade and work as a publisher, and third with his assertions that women should be treated equally to men and, accordingly, his employment of a female secretary. With the editorials he publishes in his newspapers that widely discredit the institution of marriage, and his firm proclamations that he will never wed again, Harry does not seem like the sort of gentleman that a lady would go after. To the contrary, however, the women of the ton see him as a challenge and each believes that she will be the one to finally bring this stray dog to heel. Miss Emmaline Dove, Harry's female secretary, is usually the one who winds up being the bearer of bad news to the string of mistresses and broken hearts that Harry tends to leave in his wake. She organizes his schedule, runs a good deal of his business, as well as shops for the presents that he will eventually send his lady friends when he no longer requires their company. Though she is a lady in the truest sense of the word, and her propriety is her pride and joy, Emma continues to work for Harry in the hopes that he will eventually publish the line of etiquette books that she writes under the pseudonym of Mrs. Bartleby. When it becomes clear that he will never do so, and that he has in fact never even read her work and instead rejects it without review, Emma quits her position and throws Harry's entire world into a tailspin. And Then He Kissed Her is one of the best romances I've read this year and had all of the elements that will keep me coming back to more of Guhrke's work. First of all, the novel flowed in an easy-to-read, quick-paced, and well plotted format which is more rare than you would imagine. Everything seemed to happen in a logical order, and even though it was more than 200 pages before Emma and Harry even had their first kiss, the entire wait was fraught with sexual tension and heightened arousal so much that I couldn't wait for them to finally touch each other. Harry and Emma were both well thought out characters who developed over the course of the novel. Emma starts off as a pious, on-the-shelf spinster who puts propriety before her own happiness and is so consumed with keeping up appearances she cannot stop to think about what she wants for her own life. Meeting Harry, and falling in love with him, allows her to let go of the defenses she's erected and to realize that she does deserve happiness, even at the expense of her own reputation. Similarly, though Harry starts off as the worst sort of cad, a man who will send a woman a bracelet when he's done with her and just say good riddance when she wants him back, he eventually becomes the sort of man who would be worthy of a woman of Emma's style and grace. The relationship between these two and the way they teach one another to grow and become better people is a perfect example