TRAINING LADY TOWNSEND (A Properly Spanked Novel #1) by ANNABEL JOSEPH

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Reviewed by Gitte

✯✯✯✯ Stars

I’m an absolute huge fan of Annabel Joseph, I’ve enjoyed every single story I’ve read by her, some more than others sure, but I’ve never read one of her stories and not enjoyed it. So this time I was really worried going into Training Lady Townsend as I’ve not read many historical novels. I can probably count on one hand the total I’ve read. The synopsis intrigued me though and I was in the mood for something different so I attacked it with excited anticipation. Can I just say the cover does not do the story any justice, so if you’re a cover snob like me and don’t like people’s faces on your covers, don’t let that stop you from reading this one, you’d regret it. You’d be missing out on a funny, sexy and erotic historical. I haven’t read anything really in this genre to compare it to, but I don’t think there’s any need really. It was brilliantly written as I knew it would be; I loved the characters; one feisty and stubborn the other a complete cad. And the setting, well, I loved the aristocratic British-ness and I now see ginger root from a whole different perspective….ouch! Oh and Berkshire….very close to my heart!

‘Damn the Duke and his godforsaken moral compunction. Not only was he saddled with an ice cold wife, now he had no outlet for his more perverse desires. It was an impossible situation.’

I have to say I found Hunter absolutely lush; what a character. He was cheeky, controlling, sexy and arrogant. Beneath that though, he had a heart that just hadn’t found what it was completely looking for. It knew what it wanted and under what terms but it hadn’t found its match. I have to admit he had me in stitches of laughter at times; this over the top larger than life aristocratic toff who just didn’t give a toss about propriety and social standings.

‘This was a pathetic display of fellatio, but she was submitting to him in a way he never imagined she would.’

Hurrah, how refreshing to have an innocent virginal heroine who doesn’t seem to surprisingly excel and be the best ever at every sexual act in the book (pun intended). No ‘first timer’ best he ever had in this story. How original!

 ‘He’d spent a decade training a coterie of women to cater to his sexual tastes, and he wasn’t going to throw them all away because a forced marriage to an uptight prude.’

Lady Aurelia, bless her quiet strength, she did not have a clue what she was in for in this arranged marriage and I felt incredibly sorry for her during the ginger root scenes. Is this really a historical truth? If so, hurrah for modern inventions because, ouch….again! She was so sweet, delicate in nature and dare I say it, emotionally reserved. The way in which she’d been brought up she never stood a chance. But they do say you should always watch the quiet ones.

‘She didn’t know how to feel about him. She didn’t know how to feel at all.’

She was brilliant and fully came into her own once she went through a self-discovery and found what lay beneath her manipulated persona. Sure, at times I felt sorry for Hunter, hahaha yeah go figure, but I understood her reservations and incredulity at her situation.

‘She wanted to scream…but she’d never been allowed to scream so she didn’t know how.’

The way these two dealt with their arranged marriage was quite romantic, hot and humorous. It’s definitely the most light-hearted erotic read from Annabel Joseph in my opinion, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and will definitely continue with this series. Hunter’s ‘gang’ were brilliant too and I can’t wait for their stories. You’re in for a romp-tastic ride!

**Reviewed off an ARC copy provided by the author with thanks**

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