Best book ever.

So utterly delicious! The writing was beautiful, and wickedly sensual! Izzy was a thoroughly likable and determined heroine who wanted her own HEA after being immortalized as an innocent child in her fathers beloved writings. Ransom was the devilish, bad-tempered, scarred rake with a tender heart underneath all the rough and gruff. At first he wants to drive Izzy away by being rude, suggestive, and shocking. Little does he know that Izzy has dreamed of being debauched! The banter between Izzy and Ransom was so delightful and naughty, but the two ended up with more emotions shared between them than just passion. *sigh*The narration was sheer perfection! Carmen Rose definitely propelled this truly fun story into brilliance! Im pleased that the next book in the Castles Ever After series is also narrated by her. Yay!This review is also posted at The Readers Den.

This is such a funny, fanny book!I loved the main characters: Izzy and Ransom! Both of them were excellent in their own way!Izzy, with her disillusions, with her very derogatory view of herself. But with her wit and her smarness she's very able to face everything life throws at her.Why must this be so mortifying? Oh, that's right. Because its my life. She know what she wants: her castle and she's not afraid to go against a very angry duke. She challenges him at every turn, until he's forced to concede. It was so wonderful to read!Ransom is angry at life. At himslef, at his blindness. He wants to be left alone to brood. So when a little tenacious woman appears in his riuned castle he's furious. He tries to throw her out, but she won't have it. He's grumpy, he's offensive, he's rude. He let his eyes flitter over her. I dont see anything precisely. I can tell youre slender. I can see youre wearing white, or some light color. Your face is pale, your lips are reddish. And there appears to be a dark brown octopus attacking your head.Thats my hair.Ransom shrugged. You asked what I see. I see tentacles. He's ready to resort to violence but something is keeping him back...Her hair truly did look like an octopus. It was the way she wore it, he thought. Or maybe the way it wore her. It all sat perched atop her head in that big, inky blob. And no matter how strenuously she pinned it, dark, heavy curls worked loose on all sides, like tentacles. Of course, it was an entrancing, strangely erotic octopus. Ransom worried this might be how fetishes developed. Their attraction grows day bay day and Ransom's grumpiness slowly disappear."I don't know what to make of you this morning. Where's the surly man who greets the dawn with a curse? What about 'Good grief, Goodnight?' Where are those carming maritime endearments?"He pulled on a lock of her hair. "Octopus.""Well, that's all wrong. You said it so fondly."There were a lot of funny moments: the ermine, Snowdrop, the Moranglians, the vicar's daugther, the vallet...The romance is sweet and lovely and their moments together were hot, but I would have liked the book even if they were absent.It is not as good as her Spinder Cove series, but it is still worth 5 stars for me! :)