My review takes a quasi-newspaper article type format, with each section being worth a point. Who/Why Lady Miranda Hawthorne, our heroine, has been repressed all her young life by her mother’s well-intentioned “lady lessons.” The reader is reminded, frequently, how Miranda can’t do this or that thing because such behavior’s deemed unfitting of a lady. Quite a bit of Miranda’s internal monologue is dedicated to this theme, which is irritating, for one, but also kept … Continue reading A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter →
I have been waiting for this book for SO LONG and it was worth it. Every time Hoyt released a book in the Maiden Lane series I would gobble it up and then whine on Twitter “But when is Val’s book coming?” Well, it’s here now and it’s 100% what I was hoping for. Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt is one of those books that worked for me on all levels, but I can … Continue reading Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt →
It Started With A Scandal is the tenth in the Pennyroyal Green series. If you have read the previous nine books in the series, you will have no trouble with the references to Colin Eversea and the ballad featuring him (volume one) You will be familiar with the fact that there is a mystery attached to Olivia Eversea and Lyon Redmond, alluded to throughout several volumes of the series until it is all cleared up in … Continue reading It Started with a Scandal by Julie Anne Long →
I have so many mixed feelings about Unmasked Heart. This is a super melodramatic Regency romance that features a Cinderella plot with a mixed race heroine, a Duke with a Dark And Troubled Past, and two kids with learning disabilities. I’d eat it up with a spoon if the heroine would just quit crying all the damn time. The story has a lot of twists and reveals but at heart it’s very simple: the least … Continue reading Unmasked Heart by Vanessa Riley →
While I’ve always enjoyed romantic storylines (hey fellow fanfic readers: we read a lot of romance), I rarely read actual romance novels before 2014. Julia Quinn was one of the first authors people suggested I’d like and every last one of you wonderful recommenders were right. I devoured her entire back catalog over the past year and a half. I also jumped at the chance to read and review her RITA-nominated novel from 2015. The … Continue reading The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn →
I love Tessa Dare. I’ve read a lot of her books and loved them all. Years ago when I first picked up one of her books, she quickly went from the standard ‘author I would read if I like the tropes’ to ‘author I trust to make the tropes I don’t like work.’ Which is why I was so surprised when I found this book kind of…meh. It’s not a bad book. I’ve certainly read … Continue reading Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare →
After many season pass her by without the hint of actual love, the super wealthy Minerva Dodger embraces her spinsterhood. But the idea of a club called The Nightingale might be a way to blow off some steam. She can mask her identity while getting some much needed pleasure…based solely on desire, not her dowry. Meanwhile, the Duke of Ashebury (called Ashe), a worldly adventurer and photographer (read: sexy rake) is there. He will do … Continue reading Falling into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath →
I’ve enjoyed Ms. Linden’s Scandals series, but had fallen behind. Despite being a modest 176 pages, this short novel is a complete story and has inspired me to pick up the last volume in the series. This book is the third story in the series of five. For those who are just starting the series, the Scandal books whirl around the conceit of naughty pamphlets, “50 Ways to Sin,” which detail the sexcapades of certain … Continue reading All’s Fair in Love and Scandal by Caroline Linden →
I think almost everyone has felt to be the outsider at some point in their lives and I think everyone would love a second chance. In Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress, Theresa Romain brings together two outsiders who live in the shadows of the glittering ton during the Regency and gives them the opportunity for second chances. At the beginning of the story, heiress Augusta Meredith is posing as a cheerful and not wealthy widow … Continue reading Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress by Theresa Romain →
That shrill, high pitched noise you all heard on April 14 was me shrieking with joy as I read the back cover of I Thee Wed and realized that it involves not one but two scientists who fall in love in 1818 over arguments about Lamarckism while a six-year-old Charles Darwin periodically shows up and wreaks havoc. I could not have been more thrilled if someone had given me a pony (though I don’t have … Continue reading I Thee Wed by Celeste Bradley →
This book was nominated in two categories – Best First Book and Inspirational. I’ll admit that I signed up to review it in Best First Book before I realized it was an Inspirational. As I am not religious, and as I have had some unfortunate experiences with Inspirationals that were heavy-handed in force-feeding religion at every turn, I had my doubts. However, I decided that getting out of my comfort zone would be a good … Continue reading A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter →
