Lightning Reviews: New Julia Quinn, New Lauren Layne, & Fantasy from Jacey Bedford

We have two upcoming releases in Lightning Reviews coming out this Tuesday, so if either of these books – Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn and Cuff Me by Lauren Lane – are on your TBR or to-buy list, look alive! Plus, Carrie reviews a book she picked for February’s Hide Your Wallet!

Because of Miss Bridgerton

author: Julia Quinn

The best thing and the worst thing about a Julia Quinn novel is that you know almost exactly what you are going to get – an enjoyable, light, funny Regency romance. Some Julia Quinn novels go the extra mile (I adored The Sum of All Kisses, and What Happens in London is one of my favorite books of all time). Some contain huge missteps (What the hell is going on in The Duke and I?). But most are pleasant and enjoyable and soothing. They are good, solid, predictable comfort reads.

Because of Miss Bridgerton fits squarely into the “solid but already written many times” category of Julia Quinn books. Neither as madcap as What Happens in London nor as angsty as Sum of All Kisses, it fits neatly in the middle of the Quinn highway.

The book is set in an earlier time than the other Bridgerton books (1779). Billie (Sybilla) Bridgerton has always been a tomboy who gets along great with all of neighboring children, with the exception of George, the oldest brother in the Rokesby family. George finds Billie to be too outrageous, and Billie thinks George is too prudish. Naturally they are thrown into close proximity and fall madly in love. That’s the whole plot – there’s a croquet game, which is delightful of course, and a subplot about George’s missing brother that fizzles out just as it become interesting.

It seems churlish to say, “Well, I like what the author does but she’s done it so many times that I’m bored,” but this was my experience. It’s a perfectly solid, if rather bland book that will appeal to readers who prefer drawing room romances to romances with a lot of intrigue or action. I was not fond of the hero, who is slightly jealous and overbearing, but for the most part I enjoyed his conversations with Billie. The matriarch of the family is delightful, as is the opening sequence on a house roof (it involves an evil cat).

If you like the other Bridgerton books, you will probably like this one just fine. Just don’t expect anything terribly new or different.

Carrie S

, ,
This book is available from:
  • Available at Amazon
  • Order this book from apple books

  • Order this book from Barnes & Noble
  • Order this book from Kobo
  • Order this book from Google Play
  • Order this book from Audible
  • Order this book from Audible

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

Read the book summary →

Cuff Me

author: Lauren Layne

Cuff Me by Lauren Layne is a friends to lovers romance with a tiny bit of suspense and (as promised by the title) some handcuff/bondage sex.

Vincent Moretti and Jill Henley are detectives and partners in the NYPD. Vince is taciturn and solemn, almost totally humorless, while Jill is more bubbly and friendly. They work well together, and over the years have secretly fallen in love with each other.

Jill thinks Vince doesn’t return her feelings at all and so she meets a nice guy and gets engaged all while convincing herself she’s in love with said nice-guy. Vince promptly has a litter of kittens because now he’ll never have her and she’ll be moving with her fiancé so he’ll never see her either.

The conflict in the book is genuine even if we never get a solid reason for Vince being a guy who doesn’t know how to Feels. Also he comes from a huge family and so there’s a lot family/friendship/giant get together scenes that I liked. Characters from the Moretti clan previously featured in the New York’s Finest series make cameos. What can I say,  I heart a hero with a Nonna.

There’s also a murder mystery but it’s more Castle than Criminal Minds. It functions as a nice subplot though.

Overall Layne delivers some great friends to lovers yearning, but I would have liked a teensy bit more development on Vince’s side.

Elyse

,
This book is available from:
  • Available at Amazon
  • Order this book from apple books

  • Order this book from Barnes & Noble
  • Order this book from Kobo
  • Order this book from Google Play
  • Order this book from Audible

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

Read the book summary →

Winterwood

author: Jacey Bedford

Winterwood is an alternate-history Regency fantasy novel with magic, elves, a werewolf, a ghost, and a heroine who is the captain of a privateer vessel (essentially a state-sanctioned pirate). The book is not a romance, although it has romance in it, and it’s the first book in a new series (thankfully, it does not end on a cliffhanger).

Rossalinde ran away from her abusive mother to marry privateer Will Tremayne. When he died, she adopted men’s clothing and the name Ross Tremayne and took Will’s place as captain. It’s been three years since Will’s death, and she’s still haunted by his ghost. When Ross visits her dying mother, her mom gives her a small wooden box. This box leads Ross on a quest that involves trying to save her estranged brother, getting to know a newly discovered half-brother, wrestling with difficult ethical decisions about the fate of her world, and finding a new romance with a werewolf.

There’s an awful lot happening in Winterwood and yet the book feels fairly slow. There are a lot of side trips and digressions and supporting characters whose lives need sorting out. Most of the book takes place on land, which is a pity because I very much enjoyed the parts that happened on Ross’s ship. The actions sequences are glorious but very spread out.

The romance is perfunctory. While the theme of having to move on from loss is powerful, there’s nothing about Ross and Corwen that really suggests that they are a couple for the ages. Ross’s relationship with her half-brother, David, is much more interesting. David is Rowankind, a race of people that are rumored to be part-elven and that live enslaved by humans. Ross has the opportunity to free the Rowankind from human domination, but in doing so she will unleash Fae magic on the world, with completely unpredictable consequences. While there are some unfortunate “white savior” implications in Ross being the Chosen One who can free everybody, the theme does give the book a real moral dilemma (the Fae aren’t particularly nice, so it’s an actual problem).

Unfortunately that dilemma doesn’t arise until pretty late in the book, so most of the time it’s just Ross and David wandering around and trying to figure out what to do with this box. The world building is fascinating and the characters compelling, but I do hope the sequel will have more even pacing.

Carrie S

,
This book is available from:
  • Available at Amazon
  • Order this book from apple books

  • Order this book from Barnes & Noble
  • Order this book from Kobo
  • Order this book from Google Play
  • Order this book from Audible

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

Read the book summary →

Comments are Closed

  1. LML says:

    Love these mini-reviews.
    Interesting how this sentence fragment: “Vince promptly has a litter of kittens” requires that I read the book.

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top