These are the first Gothic stories I've read from Ms Ridley. They were quite wonderful. She does such a beautiful job of bringing the characters to life. I would highly recommend.

Another excellent set of stories by Ms. Ridley. Good plost and such an interesting assortment of characters. Enjoyed

Really enjoyed this collection of exciting adventures filled with danger, intriguing charters and thrilling emotional ups and downs..... excellent reading!

Positively addicting! A raving success in ravishing detail. Gothic horror? No. Gothic pleasure at its finest. 5/5 stars for a job well done.

I absolutely adored this set of books. The stories were all standalones but each one heaved you firmly and wouldn't let you go. If you enjoy romances with amazing characters and happy endings these books are for you

These are the first of Ms Ridley’s gothic stories that I have read and found them very different from my usual read. They had murder, mystery, paranormal and a full range of emotions. If you like Ms Ridley I am sure you will like these as well. They are something different but of course well read as you would expect from a great story teller. Well worth the read. I received these as an ARC and was happy to review.

Gothic Love Stories are a collection of an interesting mix of historical meets paranormal romance.

Too Wicked to Kiss- 3.5 stars

Evangeline Pemberton in a desperate chance to flee her abusive step-father runs off to the doorstep of one of her late mother's friend. Lady Stratford (said friend) is on her way to a house party at Blackberry Manor belonging to the reclusive Lord Lioncroft, who is rumored to have killed his parents in cold blood. Lady Stratford agrees to take in Evangeline as long as she agrees to help in her scheme to trap Lord Lioncroft into marrying her daughter, Susan. Evangeline has a secret that she desperately tries to keep hidden. The party suffers a sort of Clue-like death and a whodunnit ensues.

I enjoyed the dialogue between the two MCs. Erica Ridley has a way with words and discussion that is fun and exciting. The setting was very fun and spooky. And as always, the romance was quite fun!

Too Sinful to Deny- 3.25 stars

Smugglers, and pirates, and ghosts! Oh my!

Exiled socialite Susan Stanton just can't catch a break. First, she's exiled from society for tattling about a witnessed clandestine affair between two members of the ton, then she fails her mothers attempt to trap a Lord into marriage to cover up said scandal (see Too Wicked to Kiss). She was punished by being banished to her room. One night she escapes and goes out to an ice festival but on her way there the ice cracks and she falls in and carries the lasting effects of that night. Now, her family has banished her to a little seaside town steeped in mystery and secrets.

In all honesty, I was not really looking forward to reading any more about Susan. She kind of annoyed me in Too Wicked to Kiss but she also acted sometimes in a way that made me not really trust her. But I was pleasantly surprised and ended up liking her. I dug Evan and their interactions. As always, the back and forth banter between the two MCs was on point. While normally, I absolutely dig how Erica Ridley writes her smexy, romance times, but I just wasn't feeling this one too much. I did get a bit wearisome with the constant mistrust through nearly the entire book. There were a lot of twists and turns that maybe were a bit distracting. The mystery and all its layers made for quite a good whodunnit. But truthfully, at some point, you fully distrust almost every single character in the book. Like, Who do you believe? Who is the woman? Who is running the manor? Who killed Evan's brother? What is the... I could do this for a while, but you get the point. All in all, this was a good historical mystery/romance.

Too Tempting to Resist- 3.5 stars

After the death of her parents, Miss Rebecca Bond was sent to her only living relative, in a lonely castle. In an attempt to stay out of the way, she keeps to the shadows. Many of the castles occupants thing she is actually a ghost, When the new heir inherits the castle, he decides he must marry her off or be out on her ear. In an unexpected chance of fortune, she is reacquainted with Lord Stonebury, one of the ton’s greatest rakes. While he broke her heart many years ago, she decides he might be just the one to help in her mission to find a husband. Daniel's biggest regret is hurting the only girl he's ever cared about. In an attempt to make amends, he jumps at the chance to finally make up for his previous misdeeds, even if that means helping Rebecca get married to another man.

This was a quick little novella that, gratefully, lacked the constant twists and constant mistrust of Too Sinful to Deny. There were no side plots and unfortunately not much of a gothic or paranormal twist other than the beginning misconceptions that Rebecca was thought to be a ghost living in the castle. I really did enjoy the romance aspect and the brevity. I'm not gonna lie, the Gothic Love Stories collection/bundle was quite wordy. All in all, Too Tempting to Resist was a short and sweet romance.

Too Wanton to Wed- 3.0 stars

Violet Whitechapel, is a woman on the run. In the defense of an innocent child, she accidentally murdered two men. In an attempt to save her own life, she ran as far and as fast as she could and found herself at the doorstep of a broken down Abbey. Its owner is a desperate recluse in search of a cure. Alistair Waldegrave, the owner of Waldegrave Abbey, is desperate to find a cure for the deadly disease that afflicts his daughter and forces him to keep her imprisoned in her own home. Lilian suffers horribly and is incapable of tolerating any sunlight. Alistair must keep his daughter's life a secret from superstitious townsfolk who think him and his wildly misbehaving daughter are--- vampires.

This was a good read and I enjoyed the overall story and mostly enjoyed the characters. I know this is bad to say... and I'm a mom, so I feel super horrible about it but I really disliked Lilly. OMG, that girl needed something! I know the whole story progression was supposed to come from Violet helping to tame the wild-feral child and help Alistair wake up from his super-indulgent, super-obsessive cure researching coma and bring life back into them. I know, I know that but... ugh, there is not such a fine line between overindulgence and unconditional love that you can't see the difference. (channeling Veruca Salt anyone?) No one ever disciplined her or even said "you were wrong to throw paint all over those paintings that took Violet days, weeks to paint FOR YOU", no one ever made her apologize. Nothing! And could Violet have been more disrespectful? I mean she was about to jump his bones right on top of his wife's grave. My goodness, could they not have moved further away? And the whole chemistry/relationship build-up was just not there for me.

Ok, so I'm just going to chalk this one up to a miss for me. On the whole, the story was good and the overall love relationship worked out, but it just didn't click for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this generously provided ARC!

For lovers of gothic romance this is the perfect escape. These stories will give you hours of nail biting suspense and intrigue. Dark mansions with unending and confusing corridors lend just the right eerie touch to these stories. Some are a bit humorous, others poignant, but all are intriguing and compelling?

An enjoyable selection of Gothic Romance stories and they all are great for light, fun reads; perfect to jump out of reality for a while and into these. A couple are much more gothic than the others, and I enjoyed these more as I like a gothic setting, and of course it provides a rich, dark and dramatic backdrop to a period romance.
Overall, I'd recommend this selection of romance reads, perfect for a cold winter night by the fire.

Absolutely fabulous kept me gripped throughout, I’m not even sure where to start. They were fun to read with the right amount sinister suspense for me a great balance of sexual tension and I loved all the characters who were very believable and you had a great connection with.
I love the brooding heroes the feisty heroines and altogether fabulous read, that was a different read for me but one that I totally enjoyed and would happily recommend.

I'm a huge historical romance reader but not many of those have been Gothic love stories. I found the dark castles, ghosts, secrets, second chances and romances a lot of fun to read. Something different from my usual reads.
I love reading Erica Ridley books when I need a little break from my norm. They are shorter in length but not short on humour, love and happenstance. I highly recommend her books.
I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Each book in this set was fantastic. They were intriguing and romantic and I couldn’t wait to see how they unfolded. They each had a ghostly storyline that left me guessing and a black guard that left me guessing too, in a good way. Book provided by NetGalley.

Too wicked to wed: 4 stars
I enjoyed this book with Evangeline and Lioncroft. The supernatural aspect was entertaining as well. The story line kept me engaged and I couldn’t wait for The Who dun it reveal! The romance was at a good pace and I enjoyed all the characters! Would recommend this book.

Too sinful to deny: 4 stars
This story is Susan Stanton’s story. She was a side character in book one. Susan has been ostracized from London and is now in a small smuggling town. Evan Bothwick is our hero in this story. He just discovered his brother is dead and his cargo is gone. Susan and Evan are entertaining together. Again, I felt their romance grew at a good pace. The story line was interesting and once again I couldn’t wait to see who the culprit was. The supernatural edge of this story was entertaining. I would recommend this book.

Too tempting to resist: 3 stars
This was a short novella. I found the characters engaging but there was no edge to this story like there was in the first book. There was no supernatural aspect either. I felt this book was okay but wasn’t what I expected. I would still recommend reading since it is part of the series.

Too wanton to wed: 3 Stars
This story is about Violet and Alistair. I enjoyed both of the characters, but I found the story to be just a little off to me. The writing is good, the story just wasn't really for me.

Too Wicked to Kiss

While I have read this author’s work before Too Wicked to Kiss is a departure from her usual style of writing. It did take me a while to get into it, maybe because for some reason I kept imagining Jane Eyre as I was reading it - I’ve no idea why. Perhaps Gavin Lioncroft reminded of Mr Rochester minus the mad wife in the attic of course. It was a bit darker than her other books and is without the customary humour I’ve come to expect from an Erica Ridley novel. She set a believably sinister scene complete with the requisite dark and brooding scarred hero. The heroine Evangeline, well I have to say I preferred Susan as a character to her but the story itself was filled with suspense with a slight paranormal element which I really enjoyed. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.


Too Sinful to Deny

Too Sinful to Deny is the second book in the Gothic Love stories series and I was looking forward to this book as Susan was one of my favourite characters from the first book but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. There is plenty to grab a reader’s attention with smugglers, ghosts and pirates and an atmospheric, sinister setting but for some reason I kept having to go back and re-read parts because I just wasn’t taking in. Maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll give this one another go.


Too Tempting to Resist

Too Tempting to Resist is a second chance romance, more in keeping with Erica Ridley’s usual style of writing so I’m unsure why it’s been included as part of the Gothic Love Stories series. There wasn’t the suspense/mystery event I’ve come to expect with this series so even though I enjoyed this book I can’t help but feeling a little disappointed overall with the storyline.


Too Wanton to Wed

Violet is on the run from the hangman’s noose and has found refuge at a gothic abbey complete with catacombs as the governess of Alistair Waldegrave’s young daughter. A child who he keeps locked away as she has the misfortune of suffering from an illness that leaves her vulnerable to the superstitions of the villagers.

I can honestly say that Too Wanton to Wed is my favourite book in the Gothic Love Stories series. The characters are all well developed and the setting described so vividly I can visualise it in my mind as I read. The story moves at a steady pace making it easy to read. Definitely a book I’ll be happy to re-read at a later date.

I had a really hard time getting into these stories. Normally I am a huge fan of Ms. Ridley, I just wasn't so into these.

Easy-to-read Gothic love stories in a boxed set. Vampires, secret passages, smugglers, ghosts are just a few of the motives in these four books. The heroines are strong and have to work their way out of some very dire situations.

Book two is a little weak in comparison to the other three books, but still a solid 3-star read.

A great collection of gothic romances with a dark castle and no one does it better than Erica Ridley. Each books has some elements from paranormal, pirates, wounded souls needing love redemption and a mystery to solve as our hero and heroine learn to trust and fall in love in these captivating stories. I voluntarily read and reviewed this collection of exciting gothic mystery and romance.

It had been a while since I had read a good Gothic romance with them being what was the first kind years ago on what got me started on romance. In this one you get a great collection of her finest that sweeps you away without you having to stop if you do not have too. The settings alone are divine then put that together with the characters you are in for amazing. Mystery with it keeps you captivated with the romance ass the tales are spun.

I'm a big fan of Erica Ridley. And a big fan of romance stories. But to date, i haven't really read a lot of gothic love stories.
I'm not sure that's really going to change in the future. The style in general doesn't really do it for me.
However, having said that, I'd read anything Erica writes. Her books are just so much fun. The stories are so easy to get into and to get caught up in.

Overall, I really loved these four books. I thought they were really great Gothic Romances. My favourites were 'Too Wicked To Kiss' and 'Too Sinful To Deny'. I really loved the Gothicness of these two books and the mysteries in each of these two stories. 'Too Tempting To Resist' I felt as a little too short, it was an alright story but the focus was more on the romance than the Gothic. The Gothic elements in this story was more of a backdrop for the romance between the two characters. Lastly, 'Too Wanton To Wed' was my least favourite of the four stories. I felt that this book didn't move fast enough for me and I didn't really connect to or care for the characters in the same way as I did with the other three stories.

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'TOO WICKED TO KISS' - Rating 4/5

Evangeline Pemberton has been invited to a party at the sprawling estate of reclusive Gavin Lioncroft, who is rumored to have killed his own family in cold blood. First she is afraid of the towering, rude and brusque man. But finds that he might be the only innocent with nothing to hid when one of their parties is murdered in the night. Even when everyone else is convinced of his guilt Evangeline is the only one willing to look and investigate the many other suspects that have secrets to hide. But she is torn between believing that the man she is drawn to is innocent or a ruthless killer.

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I really liked that it wasn’t just romance, marriage and money that steered the plot. It was very much about finding the murderer who is hiding in plain sight and blaming a (for this crime) innocent man.

There was a large sized cast of characters in this book that made it even more interesting. As they all had something to hide and their own motivations for killing Lord Heartherbrook. Well, almost everyone. Some have no connection to the man or are children. There are a lot of theories and red herrings of who’s done it but so many of the people that Evangeline accuses end up being innocent. I remember thinking to myself that the next person that she accuses had better be the murderer or I’ll tear my hair out. Thankfully the next person was the murderer. Who I hadn’t suspected at all. I didn’t like the character but I hadn’t thought that they were a murderer so I was happily surprised.

Evangeline I thought was an interesting character but I was a little thrown off by her “Gift”. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting it. I liked that even though she could see and experience peoples’ secrets, memories and peeks into their future, it took a toll on her. She was left with headaches and feeling unwell after using her Gift, it wasn’t just ‘oh, wow, she can just do this amazing thing and there’s no affects on her in anyway’. It’s not something that she wants to use but she will to help people. The book would have been over a lot quicker if she had used it on everyone and swiftly figured out who the murderer was that way. The only person that it doesn’t work on is Gavin, aka Lioncroft/Lionkiller.

She sometimes acted holier-than-thou and was quick to judge often jumping to the wrong conclusions without enough evidence. I did think Evangeline was a very generous character that was mostly kindhearted but would often act as if she was, or knew, better than everyone else.

Gavin was a very dark, dangerous brooding character with a dark and violent past, perfect for a Gothic hero. At the start of the story he had shut himself off from his family or society for twenty years after being blamed for the death of his parents. And I think you can see it in his character because he just doesn’t know how to act around other people. Mainly because he doesn’t want other people in his house that aren’t family.

He’s the first one to be blamed for his brother-in-law’s death. And the only one that doesn’t is Evangeline. He is the very obvious suspect, especially after his parents’ death, his strong dislike of his brother-in-law and the fact that he threatened to kill him in front of everyone. So, yeah it wasn’t that surprising that he was blamed.

As the two of them end up working together to prove his innocence and find the real killer they end up growing closer and developing feelings for each other. There was a number of scenes with the two of them alone in empty rooms and corridors that would have caused a major scandal they had been discovered. Not to mention the night they spent together. Which is kind of funny considering how Evangeline was there to find Gavin and Susan in a comprising position so he’d be forced to marry Susan, when Evangeline and Gavin where more likely to be caught. And almost were a few times.

With it being a gothic love story I knew going into this book that it was going to be a dark story. Murder, violence, abuse and trauma. It wasn’t an idyllic tale of romance, there were many, many bumps in the road. I did think that the two of them might not even end up together and instead part ways. I wasn’t sure if there would be a happy ending for them. But I’m glad there was.
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TOO SINFUL TO DENY' - Rating 4/5

One look at the towering ocean-side manor that is to be her new home, and exiled socialite Susan Stanton knows: This is a place haunted by secrets, and riddled with menace.

For Susan, there is no escaping the most dangerous element of all—dark-haired smuggler Evan Bothwick, a man whose rakish countenance cannot hide his wicked intent.

But Susan has a secret of her own—a special gift that renders her privy to the darkest mysteries lurking within the walls of the manor and in the labyrinthine cellars beneath. And the only man who can help her is the very rogue she would do anything to be able to resist…

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I really enjoyed reading this story. I really loved the mystery and romance in this story. Also, pirates! Well, smugglers but similar enough. I love stories about pirates and I loved that several of the characters were smugglers/pirates. I also loved that the male hero/romantic lead was a smuggler. Especially as it meant that Susan and Evan had very different ways of life that clashed often.

This story was written in a dual perspective between Susan and Evan in third person. I would say that Susan was the main character of this story overall, with Evan being the second main character.

I loved the Gothic elements in this story. The dark manor, the wild landscape, ghosts, dark secrets, a woman trapped by her husband, a private grave site on the manor’s grounds. I loved it all.

This definitely was not a particularly happy tale . Much of the story revolved around the mystery of Moonseed Manor, what had happened to the late Lady and Lord Beaune and why was the lady haunting Susan. What was the new Lord of the house hiding and where was his wife, Susan’s cousin? And what did Evan Brothwick had to do with any of it?

Honestly Susan goes threw quiet a number of things over the course of the book. First she has to deal with being haunted by multiple ghosts. Some of which only want her complete a simply task before they can move on forever whereas other want her to finish bringing to justice the smuggling ring that operates in area. Then she also has to deal with having no way to return home without any money or friends in Bournemouth. And the people that could help her she either doesn’t trust or are fairly useless or don’t trust her. She also ends up trying to solve the murders that have happened. And finally, she doesn’t know how to fully process the fact that she finds a man attractive that she would never be allowed by her parents to marry.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Susan in the first book, Too Wicked to Kiss, where she was a side character that became friends with Evangeline (the main character of that book) who sadly is only mentioned in this story. I found Susan a bit annoying and bowed down to her mother too much and a busybody that knew little about life outside of Society. But in this book Susan really grew on me. She wasn’t under her mother’s watchful gaze and didn’t have to follow her every command. Susan had a lot of freedom in this story and was able to free to run around Bournemouth doing whatever she could to get out of town and back to London. All while trying to solve the mystery that surrounding the manor and trying to figure out her feelings for Evan.

I loved the journey and character development that Susan went on over the course of this story. She really grew on me and I really loved how strong minded she was and I do wish that there could have been more of this in the first book.

There was equal parts mystery and romance in this book, both moved the story forwards as more secrets came to light and the closer that Susan and Evan became.

I would say that you don’t have to have read the first book in the series as they are written as standalones with little overlap pf characters. But it does give you more of an understanding as to what Susan’s mother is like (as she features in Too Wicked to Kiss more than she is in this book).

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'TOO TEMPTING TO RESIST' - Rating 3/5

Rebecca Bond has been an orphan for five years, living like a ghost in her great-uncle’s home. Everyone has forgotten about her. Know remembers that she lives there. Which suits her just fine until she finds herself without her great-uncles hospitality and the new heir that inherits refuses to keep her. Forcing her to find a husband in three months otherwise she’ll be on her own with nowhere to go.

Daniel Godwin, Lord Stonebury, was the only man she ever loved. Summoned to hear the will of Rebecca’s late great-uncle. But they haven’t seen each other for nine year after their relationship ended in disaster. But he might be just that man that can help her find and charm a country gentleman.
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Unlike the past two books in this series there is no murder/mystery to be solved. As this is a much short book only being over 100 pages long I would have been surpirsed if there had been. Instead this short story focused on a romance between two once childhood friends that have not spoken or seen each other for nine years.

There was still elements of the Gothic in this story with wild, moody weather, a maze that one could easily get lost in, a haunted castle/estate. It was set tone of the story and was more of a backdrop to the romantic story.

I though that this was a somewhat heartbreaking short story. I thought that there would not be any happy ending for the two of them together. Because right up until the last chapter the two of them had resigned themselves to never being together. They were actually grieving for this lost relationship and the belief that the other would never want them.

I really liked that what had happened in the past that had pushed them apart nine years ago was discussed and shown from both characters. All so a lot of the happier memories were brought back for the two of them and over the course of the story they began to become friends again.

If it wasn’t for the very uplifting ending and epilogue set four years later in 1815 then I would probably have been upset by the story.
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'TOO WANTON TO WED' - Rating 2.5/5

A young woman on the run, committed an unspeakable crime to save a child. To escape Violet uses what little money she has to put as much distance between her and the scene of the crime. She is given the chance to take refuge in a crumbling abbey with secrets darker than her own.

The master of the house must hide his daughter away from the outside world, hiding all evidence of her life behind the Gothic abbey walls. Searching for a cure that villagers call demonic, his new governess brings much need light and joy into their lives. But the outside is fast encroaching their sheltered walls, bringing to light secrets that they all would rather keep hidden.

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Now I did enjoy this story, it was pretty fun to read but this is my second least favourite of the series. I didn’t feel very much tension in this story. Unlike in the first two of the series where there was high stakes and there was a sense of tension and impending doom/disaster. Whereas with this story I didn’t feel the same when reading. There was a deadline, in a way, and some tension but there wasn’t enough to grip me completely.

I think that this might be because there wasn’t a strong a mystery to figure out. One of the main characters is accused of murder, runs away and ends up hiding under a false name. But this happens very quickly in the story. After that I felt like there wasn’t much tension or drama around this until the later half of the story. Until then it’s very monotone, being trapped inside Waldegrave Abbey means that very little of the outside world comes in as if it doesn’t exist. The characters are very cut off from the outside which means that there is a delay for news to reach them. So the story is very much centred around what happens inside the Abbey, which in all honesty isn’t very much.

Violet teaches Lily and gets her to make art and have some manners, Alistair is awkward and doesn’t know how to talk to his daughter, Lily hates her father, Violet and Alistair try not to let their feelings get the better of them (Alistair especially tries to act like a gentleman and put distance between them). This is repeated so much that it took me a while to get through the story. It just felt a bit too slow for me. I would have liked it to have moved at a faster pace earlier in the story as it picked up the pace towards the end.

I also think that the ending wrapped things a bit too quickly for my liking. Especially as so much of the story progressed slowly it felt so rush in the final chapter that I was felt feeling a bit disappointed and a bit like “is this it?”

I wasn’t a big fan of the romance, which might be why it took me so long to read this book, it just didn’t feel that strong to me and felt a little flat and forced.

Some things I did like about Violet and Alistair’s romance was that they helped each other move forwards and put their past behind them so they could be together. Alistair was still very much in mourning for his dead wife (even though it’s been almost a decade since she died) and needed to move on with his life. For Violet it was learning to actually trust a man and allow herself to trust her own feelings.

I really liked that it wasn’t a pure, virginal woman and an experience man. As that is a very common theme in Romance. So I liked that that was an important part of the story and Violet and Alistair’s relationship. As it makes Alistair realize that he very much idealizes the women in his life and often likens them to angels when they aren’t actually as angelic as he imagines.

The setting I thought was very interesting as Waldegrave Abbey is dark, creepy and filled with secrets. There is literally no natural light allowed inside, with all of the windows covered and every door with an automatic lock so only those with a key can get in and out. There are also catacombs that the characters travel between the main house and the sanctuary. Which just added to the creepiness. As well as a preserved bedchamber that belong to the late Mrs Waldegrave. I think that the only thing I didn’t like was that the house and sanctuary ended up feeling pretty homey and fairly familiar too quickly. I would have liked there to have been a longer duration of creepiness to be honest.

I did like that there was also some supernatural elements, accusations of vampirism and being the spawn of Satan. Which caused some violence and twists and turns in the story that kept it interesting.

I did find this interesting and an alright read but it was just a bit slow for me. I like slow burns but this wasn’t an exciting slow burn. I knew that in the end the two of them would end up together. Even though they were battling their feelings for one another it was pretty obvious that they would end up together in the end.