In My Wildest Fantasies: Pembroke Palace Series, Book One

Lady Rebecca Newland was just seventeen when she first met Devon Sinclair as he came to her and her father's rescue. From that moment on she was irrevocably lost in love and during the next four years, tucked away with her reclusive father, Lord Devon became the lover of her most erotic fantasy dreams. Having left under devastatingly bad circumstances, Devon knew at some point he must come home having spent the last three years in America. It was more than time that he returned to assume the responsibilities as the heir to a Dukedom. What he was not expecting to find was that his father `around the bend' and had changed his will, demanding that Devon and his three brothers be married by Christmas or the duke would leave their inheritances to the London Horticultural Society. Luckily, Lady Rebecca had escaped the restrictive confines of her fathers home when he announced she would be married to his neighbor, Mr. Rushton, on her twenty-first birthday. With the help of her aunt, they attended the Pembroke Masquerade ball. Ancestral home of Devon, Rebecca is intent on Devon, once again, coming to her rescue. Little did Rebecca know that a marriage between them would be the answer to both their dilemmas. *** I've been impressed with Ms. MacLean since I first read, TO MARRY A DUKE, the beginning of her Wilson Sister series some years back. From that experience I've been hooked and know I can always expect a well-written and well-researched that embraces the period and provides sumptuous and emotional love scenes as well as some unusual characters. So one might ask themselves, how did Rebecca, this young genteel lady - who's lived with a reclusive father - know the ways of attracting such a man as Lord Hawthorne? Well, merely by having said genteel lady find a most shocking and explicitly detailed diary of two lusty lovers that left little to Rebecca's imagination and inspired her wicked fantasies of her hero, Devon Sinclair! This I thought was a wonderful inspiration and could relate implicitly, having once hidden away a well worn copy of Peyton Place that was passed along with my high school chums so very long ago! At the time Peyton Place was considered a rather racy novel though not as racy as some I later came to hide. Rebecca was real, with hopes and dreams of her hero saving her from the clutches of her mean and nasty neighbor. MacLean also did a wonderful job in showing how hurt and puzzled Rebecca was by her once loving father's insistence on a marriage to someone she abhorred, in which she expanded the plot point with intrigue, blackmail, and revenge that kept the novel moving. Likewise, I found Devon to be fashioned rather well, whereby the author revealed the scandalous reason for the break between his father and brother Vincent at just the right moment. Vincent's out and out hatred of Devon kept some very interesting scenario's running through my mind after the brothers discovered the possibility of disinheritance should they

Saved by a charismatic stranger from her runaway coach, Rebecca Newland has never forgotten her hero's invitation to visit his family's estate. Four years later, engaged to detestable man, Rebecca steals away from her father's house to take him up on his offer. Tortured by his past, Devon Sinclair, future Duke of Pembroke, has no desire to marry. When his father issues a dictate to wed or lose the family fortune, Devon begins the hunt for a bride. Seeing the lovely Rebecca again after rescuing her four years ago, Devon decides to pursue her with all of his passion. I adore tragic heroes. Mostly because when they realize they are not only worthy of being loved, they are loved, they are fiercely romantic. Although the quest for love takes Devon and Rebecca through a rocky but passion-filled course, their love is that much sweeter. In My Wildest Fantasies is a heartwarming blend of awakening, passion, and romance. Annmarie Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I have read 4 of Julianne's books and for me this was the best one so far. I won't go into a long drawn out review because others already have. I just wanted to get my two cents in. I enjoyed this book immensely and it is a keeper on my shelf to read over again sometime. No disappointment here. It was wonderful!

"Wed by Christmas or lose your inheritance to the London Horticultural Society." Devon Sinclair stared in shock at his father. While he madly and frantically told him about a family curse and how to end it. He and his 3 brothers had to get married and he must produce an heir. Three years ago Devon left his family after a scandal caused a irreparable rift between him and his brother Vincent. With tensions tight between the two brothers, Devon must set about procuring a bride starting at the costume ball and the introduction to Lady Letitia. A Duke's daughter and hopeful match striking one marriage off his fathers list. With this thought occupying his mind, his gaze his directed to the remarkable woman dressed as Helen of Troy. He feels he has met her before, recognizing a familiar spark of desire. The last time he felt this way was four years ago when one woman deemed him her hero... That woman was Lady Rebecca Newland. Four years ago he saved her and her father from their runaway carriage seeing them safely home, he never saw her again. In those years she's had some very erotic fantasies about Devon while reading a scandalous and shocking diary she found of two lovers buried in her families' barn. When her father announces that she is going to marry their neighbour Mr. Rushton on her twenty-first birthday, she concocts a scheme with her aunt to see her married to someone else before that ever happens. Starting at the ball held at Pembroke Castle, the home of her hero. She is hoping that Devon will recognize her and once again become her hero and protector by landing him as her husband. IN MY WILDEST FANTASIES is an exciting, evocative and a sensually absorbing read as Devon and Rebecca explore their feelings and sexual attraction to each other, something both were quite unprepared for. Devon is determined and set in his ways about not wanting any responsibility of another person. Marriage is simply a business, but when he finds out Rebecca had ulterior motives for marrying him, he is stunned for the very last thing he wanted is staring him the face, making him confront his scandalous past. Rebecca is more than angry at Devon for his cool cavalier attitude that it makes for some heated and electrifying moments between the two as she does the opposite of what he is expecting her to do. Julianne MacLean writes conflict well and resolves the conflict in a rational and mature manner between the characters that is refreshing and encouraging to the reader. As the debut novel in the Pembroke Palace series, IN MY WILDEST FANTASIES introduces the readers to a family of characters, secrets, scandals and surprises setting up for future novels about the remaining brothers who have yet to get married. I thought their father was an adorable character, Julianne laid the foundation of the Pembroke Palace series making all the characters appealing and mysterious enough to want to read more about them. I look forward to reading Vincent's story and the trouble

Lady Rebecca Newland has had a girlish fantasy of love for Devon Sinclair, Lord Hawthorne since he rescued her and her father from a carriage mishap on his property four years prior. Sensual sparks flew but since Lady Rebecca was only seventeen at the time, Devon knew nothing could come of their attraction and saw them safely to their destination. From that moment on Devon Sinclair, Lord Hawthorne and the future duke of Pembroke, was her hero and her heart's desire. Four years have passed and Lady Rebecca is in a terrible bind she will do anything to unravel. She has been betrothed to a cruel man she loathes against her will. With the help of her Aunt Grace, she sneaks from her father's house to masquerade given by the Duke and Duchess of Pembroke with the hope of enlisting Devon's help. He saved her once maybe he can save her again. Devon has just returned from three years abroad to discover his father is on a downward spiral and issued an outrageous proposition to him and his brothers. Marry or be disinherited. Devon has no intention of going along with this farce; his father has surely gone mad! However, past transgressions have never really healed and he will do almost anything to make amends. Then he sees a familiar face in his ballroom and is instantly captivated. I absolutely adored this book. The sensual tension was electric and I found the erotic diary entries only added to its appeal. This book had hero-jealousy and hot love scenes-which I found not at all gratuitous. I kept waiting for a "big misunderstanding" to happen and was so happy that there was NONE. This couple communicated. I was completely convinced of their love. The romance was emotional without being angsty and the mystery is a extremely small part of the book A definite KEEPER!!!