ARC REVIEW Lady Be Good by Heather Hiestand

Lady Be Good is book three in Heather Hiestand's The Grand Russe Hotel series. We finally get Olga's story, we knew from the first book that she was a princess, several generations removed from the Royal family but still a decedent nonetheless. We learn in this book how she got to be where she is now, after her fiance was murdered she separated from her sister and was picked up and brought to England with the Grand Duchess, but it soon became evident that she wouldn't be welcome for long and never one for charity looked up an old friend, Peter Eyre, she then went to work with his sister in her hotel in Bath where she trained to be a chambermaid. Peter brought her to The Grand Russe to be the manager in charge of housecleaning but Olga isn't happy now unless she's doing something.
Douglas Childers was the youngest of four boys to a Duke unfortunately his older brothers all died in the war, Douglas' father is now after him to settle down and give him an heir. Douglas however in knees deep in the investigation of the Russian uprise and is currently trying to discover the location of the Russian bomber Konstantin who previously set off a bomb in the Grand Russe Hotel  and spy on the Russian delegation that has been staying at the hotel too.

Peter put Olga in charge of an art exhibit in the hotel spotlighting some of the art they have at the hotel. One of the painting she wants is in Childers' room hiding the spy equipment that is what first brings Olga and Douglas together. Douglas is immediately taken with the statuesque beauty of Olga and then he finds out her last name is the same as Konstantin. Douglas decides it's beneficial to find out as much as he can about Olga, really he just needed an excuse. He enjoys his time with her and he wants her to trust him even though he's not being truthful to her until it is absolutely necessary. Olga and Konstantin are cousins but it's not a healthy relationship. Olga is loyal to a fault and foolishly believes he can change but when he gets mean and violent with her she finally tells Douglas everything and after Konstantin blows up another location Douglas finally reveals why he's really at the hotel.

Olga agrees to go under Douglas' protection, she is falling in love with him and him with her, she's met his father and his father approves of the match. But when more of Douglas' secrets come out Olga starts to doubt him and his motives and when it all goes down Olga is left feeling betrayed and she doesn't know if she can marry Douglas after all. Even before it all went down Douglas knows unequivocally that he loves her, and the thought of losing her cuts him deep.

Overall, it was a good read. Olga broke my heart a little bit there at the end. I really hope Peter's story is next, it is revealed (I don't remember if it said previously) is part of the Redcake family, a tie in to her other series. I can just picture Olga's newly returned sister going head to head with Emmaline. (makes me giddy)

ARC REVIEW I Wanna Be Loved By You by Heather Hiestand

I swear reading Heather Hiestand's The Grand Russe Hotel series puts me in the mood to watch BBC's The House of Eliott or dig out my silent movie collection. Not to mention that I  have have this internal jazz soundtrack playing in my head as I read them. I didn't like this one as much as I liked the first book, I rated them the same but I liked Alecia and Ivan more than I liked Sadie and Les. Sadie was a bit more of a flake at first it wasn't until later in the book she really blossomed. Les was pretty much a cad throughout the whole book, constantly lying to Sadie and even though he thought he was doing it to protect her, he was just being a cad and she was just so eager for attention. As much as I didn't like her attitude and how things played out between them I understand that it was how it was back then. The story was good I liked the spy aspect it was nice to get back to the Russian problems happening in England and on the inside of problem.

Sadie dreams of something more, she left her grandfather's home in search of it and until she does find it she content to being a chambermaid. Until she's knocked down by a Russian brute and is picked up by a swave and good looking salesman. Les is drawn to Sadie and even though he knows he shouldn't he brings her into his world of covert operations. Well he brings her in but doesn't tell her what he's really doing, she is his cover. Sadie agrees to playact as Les' wife, she doesn't really know why but when he gets injured and she's stranded with him at the hospital until his release she knows she needs to keep with him or else ruin her reputation. Les likes Sadie and hates that he brought her in on this but it's too late to back out now, not to mention he really is getting attached to her and while he doesn't want to admit it he's falling in love with her. Les and Sadie get married, fake married he was ordered to by his boss to marry her and try and move into the Grand Russe to spy on the Russian diplomat who lives there. But things get complicated when Sadie finds out the truth not just the fake marriage but also the reason he married her and why they are at the Grand Russe. Can Sadie overlook all of Les' lies?

Overall, the spy bit was the best part of the book. Sadie and Les were just not really a good couple for me. I can't wait for the next one though.