Welcome back to Lightning Reviews, where we give some quick and dirty thoughts on books in a mini-review format. We’ve been away from this feature for a while because of all the RITA reviews, but now we’re back into the swing of things. This trio features a historical romance, some historical fiction with romantic elements, and a thriller!
I mentioned this in a previous “Whatcha Reading” and I totally admit that the title and the cover got me interested. I like Boyle’s writing, and I enjoy her books, but it was the gorgeousness of the cover moved this one up the TBR pile. Marketing: it works! Rosalie Stratton’s father worked in the Home Office as a spymaster and diplomat. Of all his children, she is the one who inherited all his skills and his brains. Of course, … Continue reading Six Impossible Things by Elizabeth Boyle
Four Weddings and a Sixpence is super comforting. It’s a collection of four novellas, all Regency romances, all remarkably angst-free. Five minutes after reading each story I had already forgotten all about it, but I remembered my enjoyment while reading it. The novellas are held together by a framing story written by Julia Quinn. In 1817, four girls who are attending Madame Rochambeaux’s Gentle School for Girls find a sixpence in the mattress. The girls … Continue reading Four Weddings and a Sixpence by Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Boyle, Laura Lee Guhrke, and Stefanie Sloane
RECOMMENDED: Destiny’s Captive by Beverly Jenkins is $1.99! This is the third book in the Destiny series and Carrie gave it a B grade, who had an overall good experience with the book but advises reading the previous two:
I have a love/hate relationship with Destiny’s Captive. It’s a sheep in wolves’ clothing. It has all the accoutrements of a story with a warrior woman character who takes charge but it’s actually a story about domestication, and it made me kind of depressed.
This Rec League is from longtime commenter, Stefanie! It’s a good one: Have you done a rec league for those who like what I’ll call The Shop Around the Corner Trope. I can’t think of what else to call it, since it’s not quite enemies to lovers or friends to lovers. Apparently, I really like this trope whether it is played straight, using the plot points from that original movie, which I watch every Christmas, … Continue reading The Rec League: The Shop Around the Corner
From New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Boyle’s popular Rhymes with Love series, comes And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake, a fast-paced, sensual historical romance. Miss Daphne Dale isn’t looking for love, but when she reads an advertisement looking for a “sensible lady,” she can’t resist. The tender dialogue with the mysterious “Mr. Dishforth” is a welcome respite from the time she must spend with Lord Henry Seldon, an infuriating rogue she can’t … Continue reading And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake
We have reached November! Many of us at SBTB HQ have been groaning about reading slumps. Is something in the air? Let’s get into what we’re reading now! Shana: I just started a bunch of novels in a moment of book hangover desperation. The one I’m enjoying the most so far is White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter . It’s a marriage of convenience plot between two super sexy moonshine smugglers in contemporary Kentucky. Tara: … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? November 2019 Edition, Part One
In the fifth novel of the captivating Rhymes With Love series from New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Boyle, a young woman’s hopes of a match encounter a wickedly handsome complication . . . Lavinia Tempest has been eagerly anticipating a spectacular season. But one disastrous pile-up on the Almack’s dance floor derails all her plans. Add to that, the very stunning revelations about her mother’s scandalous past have become the ton’s latest on dits. … Continue reading The Knave of Hearts
It’s Whatcha Reading time! And that means it’s time to guard your book budget and gird your TBR pile, or else your cup shall runneth over with book recommendations! We hope you’ve been reading some really good books, but if not, this is definitely a safe space to do a little venting. Elyse: I’ve been in a pretty big reading slump, but I just finished All You Need is Love by Marie Force. It’s a … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? April 2017 Edition
In the sixth novel of the enchanting Rhymes With Love series from New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Boyle, a nobleman falls in love with a beautiful spy he must protect… Lord Rimswell is a man of honor and absolutes. If he says something is impossible, it is. Yet his life of right and wrong is turned upside down when he finds himself in a compromising situation with the most unyielding, yet maddeningly beautiful, woman … Continue reading Six Impossible Things
It’s the third night of Hanukkah, and the Smart Bitches are giving away… A whole bunch of knitting and booking and both from Elyse! If you’ve enjoyed Elyse’s knitting patterns inspired by everything she sees with her eyeballs, pretty much, she’s got a prize package of warm and fuzzy and lovely things. Ready? Take it away, Elyse! Elyse: For this prize pack we have… Yarn! Lots of Yarn! We’re giving away enough yarn to make two … Continue reading 2016 Smart Bitches Extrava-Hanukkah Giveaway, Part 3
