Make Me Yours

Make Me Yours was one of those books that pulled me in from the first page and never let me go until the last one. It is fun, funny, sensual and just a little touching. This book opens with a truly original scene. The Squire's young widow, Mrs. Mariah Eller, has a bunch of rowdy guests staying at her small Inn and harassing her employees. She calms these men down with drink, music and charm in equal measure. In doing this she catches the attention of one very special man of the party; the Prince of Wales. Not willing to let her go after just one night, the Prince devises a plan to make her his mistress. His method is simple; get his responsible right hand man, Jack St. Laurence, to find her a husband who won't mind letting the Prince have Mariah first. He gives Jack a list of men willing to enter into this arrangement. Mariah is understandably upset by this but refusing the Prince could easily mean losing her Inn and home. She goes forth with the idea that she will prolong the process of husband hunting and eventually the Prince will lose interest in her. The problem with her plan is that Mariah and the straitlaced, responsible Jack make for one hot pair and he just may turn out to be the perfect husband for her. This is a truly delightful little gem of a romance with great characters. Mariah is a confident, forward, open hearted and loving woman. The utterly respectable and even tempered Jack makes the perfect foil for her character. When they are together the sparks fly and the humor is high. Not just in their interactions and banter, which are wonderful, but also in their dealings with the sparkling cast of secondary characters. I could not put Make Me Yours down and it was the kind of book that actually made me excited to go back to and read. That is a rare occurrence for me but with the great characters and plot found in this novel it happened effortlessly.

In 1887 English widow Mariah Eller owns and runs the Eller-Stapleton Inn. When nobles to include Bertie the Prince of Wales get drunk at her inn and start causing problems, Mariah calmly outsmarts them. Bertie is hooked by the brave intelligent tavern owner and orders her to be his royal mistress. The only way for her to avoid Bertie is with a husband. She once gain outwits the male aristocracy when she decides to go after Bertie's loyal friend Jack St. Lawrence. He wants her, but fears the reprcussions of stealing the Prince's propsed next mistress and worse worries how his family will react to her occupation. He underestimated the force of his Mariah. MAKE ME YOURS will be on the best of the year list of historical romances as this is a great jocular late Victorian with a great fresh concept. Mariah is fantastic as all she wants is preventing the drunks from wrecking her tavern, but consequently must deal with the unwanted adulation of the royal; as one thing leads to another and another, etc. Jack is caught between a hard place and an even harder place as he is in love with the tavern owner who is supposed to be the prince's woman not his; and of course he expects the scorn of his aristocratic family if he chooses Mariah. However soon the prince, Jack who knows nothing, and even a pauper will learn not to mess with the wind they call Mariah. Harriet Klausner