Her First Desire by Cathy Maxwell
2nd book in the Logical Man’s Society series. Historical romance. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Gemma arrives in the village claiming ownership of a plot of land and building, displacing the local men’s club. Of course they are upset with her claim and her turning their play house into her home and healing business so pranks ensue.

I admired Gemma’s fortitude and strength. Her determination helps her succeed.
The hero needed waking up. Eventually he is worthy but he stumbles quite a bit to get there.

“She was seeing stars. He kissed her and she was seeing stars.”

🎧 I listened to the audio version narrated by Justine Eyre. Justine uses a British English accent in her performance for this audiobook. There was a distinct difference between Gemma and Ned’s voices which made for an excellent performance. I listened to the book at 1.3 which is my usual speed. 1.0 was wonderful but slower than actual conversation for me.
3.5 upped to 4 because of the audiobook performance. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through Edelweiss+. All opinions are my own. Her First Desire by Cathy Maxwell is the second book in the A Logical Man’s Guide to Dangerous Women series. The men in Gemma Estep’s life have not done right by her. Her father made no provisions in his will to protect her from her fortune-hunting gambler husband, and when that scoundrel died, his brother took what was left. She’s been leading a Cinderella-like existence as the poor relation in his household. The only thing she can claim as her own is the pub left by her uncle. Dr. Ned Thurlowe wants that pub for his Logical Man’s Club. Despite his instant attraction to Gemma, he’s going to grumble and moan and stomp about if he doesn’t get his way, not to mention he’s already engaged to another woman, whom he’s been stringing along for the past two years. I loved the heroine was meh on the hero, although he does improve eventually. Steam Level: Medium Publishing Date: April 27, 2021. #HerFirstDesire #CathyMaxwell #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalRomaceSeries #HarperCollnsCanada #AvonRomance #MyBookPledge #bookstagram #bookstagrammer ( )

Her First Desire is a fantastic, enjoyable story. The storyline and characters were well thought out. Looking forward to Maxwell's next book! Highly recommend! ( )

Widowed Gemma Estep has absolutely had it with men! She’s never met one she could trust and rely on – even her father who loved her left his fortune to her worthless husband rather than to her. When her husband died in a duel over another man’s wife, his brother inherited the fortune and ‘allowed’ her to live with his family – basically as a servant. Her final straw was when she discovered a letter in her brother-in-law’s desk. That letter – addressed to her – was months old – and it was the news that her beloved uncle, her only relative, had died. After a loud confrontation with her brother-in-law, she decided to leave because she had a letter that made her believe that her uncle had left her his establishment, The Garland. OMGoodness, the mess she found when she arrived to make her claim! That mess included the state of disrepair in which she found the Garland – and the animosity of the male population of the village – many of whom belonged to the Logical Men’s Society.

Doctor Ned Thurlowe is a well-respected physician and member of the village. He is of a scientific nature and really pays little attention to what is actually going on around him. People talk to him, but he pays almost no attention to what they are actually saying. He’s always thinking of something else entirely. He’s betrothed, but it is a pity betrothal that he was sort of shamed into. He is totally indifferent to the woman and has been putting off the wedding for over two years. He knows he’ll marry her someday – but not today. Then, that wicked, flame-haired harridan came to town, and he found he might actually have feelings. Who knew? Of course, they could never be friends because she is claiming the Garland – and worse yet – she plans to turn it into a tea garden where the Logical Men’s Society will not be allowed to meet! The nerve of her.

Ned’s character seems to be a caricature rather than a real person. He certainly needed to have a grand epiphany because he was not a particularly likable character for most of the book. Because of his background, he had a very insecure nature and wasn’t one for trusting – especially women.

I don’t care for infidelity in any book I read – and – while many of you will disagree with me – this book has infidelity in it. Ned is betrothed to a lovely young woman. He asked her to marry and she agreed – and then he never made any effort to get to know her or care about her – and then he has a relationship with Gemma. He should have dealt with the betrothal before he ever embarked on the relationship with Gemma. I’m not a believer in those ‘uncontrollable’ urges. I believe you always have a choice – even if you don’t like the available options.

I liked the IDEA of this story much better than I liked the execution. I thought it would be a bright, funny, entertaining romance, and for me personally, it just wasn’t. I have begun to wonder if all authors hate men or if it is just a wide swath of the Historical Romance authors. I’ve read several books within the last month whose common theme was that every female in the story was constantly referring to men as idiots, wastrels, untrustworthy, rakes, etc. To me, that sort of equates to thinking all blondes are dumb as in all of the blonde jokes. It isn’t true and it is insulting to my intelligence to try to make me think it is.

While I wouldn’t read this book a second time, I hope you’ll enjoy it if you choose to read it. I also think I’ll skip any remaining books in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )