Genre: Historical: European
Book Review

Duchess If You Dare by Anabelle Bryant

Duchess If You Dare

I really wanted to like Duchess if You Dare. A historical with a fierce and street-wise heroine who all-too-frequently has to rescue the stuffy duke from his attempts to make things better? Yes, please. Alas, it really didn’t work for me. The relationship between Scarlett and Ambrose made absolutely no emotional sense, and I found the narrative’s treatment of sex workers to be quite distressing and dehumanising. Scarlett is the daughter of a sex worker … Continue reading Duchess If You Dare by Anabelle Bryant

Book Review

The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell

The Duke Undone

I seem to be on a bit of a roll reading romances between noble dukes and heroines who are impoverished commoners. The Duke Undone took this trope to some clever (and unexpectedly gothic) places. I enjoyed it quite a bit until the last quarter of the book, when the tone shifted substantially. Lucy Coover is a talented and aspiring artist, but as a woman, she is forbidden access to life drawing classes. So when she … Continue reading The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell

Lightning Review

An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

An Unexpected Peril

An Unexpected Peril was, as expected, perfect vacation reading. Veronica and Stoker are assisting with the preparations for an exhibit at the Curiosity Club commemorating a mountain climber, Alice Baker-Greene. Greene died in a climbing accident in the country of Alpenwald, and the princess of Alpenwald has arrived in England for the opening of the exhibit, which is as much about the country as it is about Greene’s climbing achievements. Then, in short order, they … Continue reading An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

Book Review

A Lady’s Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett

A Lady’s Formula for Love

Content warning: Discussion of a trans character who isn’t treated very well by the narrative. A Lady’s Formula for Love is a story about love, politics, science and the frustrations and difficulties of being a woman in 1840s England. It’s also a story about second chances, and reclaiming yourself after years of needing to be – or believing yourself to be – someone else. Perhaps most of all, it’s a story about claiming the right … Continue reading A Lady’s Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett

Lightning Review

Virginia and the Wolf by Lynne Connolly

Virginia and the Wolf

Virginia, Lady Dulverton is widowed and happy to be so. After an abusive childhood and an unsatisfactory marriage, she prefers to give her attention to the orphanages that were her husband’s passion. She has no intention of marrying again, which is a good thing, too, because the terms of her husband’s will are…complicated, and make remarriage difficult. Unfortunately, she is finding Francis, Lord Wolverstone hard to resist, and he is not particularly inclined to let … Continue reading Virginia and the Wolf by Lynne Connolly

Book Review

Earl’s Well That Ends Well by Jane Ashford

Earl’s Well That Ends Well

Content warning: Kidnapping, rape, violence against women. All off-screen, but you do see the results of it. Also, the heroine’s past contains, essentially, forced seduction by someone to whom she went for help. Earl’s Well that Ends Well is a romance with a fair bit of adventure and melodrama – it reminds me a little of some of Heyer’s early works in both good and frustrating ways. I liked the fact that both Arthur and … Continue reading Earl’s Well That Ends Well by Jane Ashford

Book Review

Ten Things I Hate About The Duke by Loretta Chase

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke

Ten Things I Hate About You is one of my favourite films and a truly great reimagining of a classic play. It takes Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and strips out the misogyny, the violence, and the straight up gaslighting and abuse, while keeping the banter and the chemistry between Kate and Petrucchio. Ten Things I Hate About the Duke takes Shrew in one hand and Ten Things in the other, stirs them together, adds … Continue reading Ten Things I Hate About The Duke by Loretta Chase

Book Review

When a Rogue Meets his Match by Elizabeth Hoyt

When a Rogue Meets His Match

About a quarter of the way into When a Rogue Meets His Match, I realized the book was probably not going to be a particularly successful villain redemption or enemies-to-lovers romance. About three-quarters of the way in, I started to wonder what, exactly, the intended message of this book was, because it was verging in a startlingly uncomfortable way on emotional abuse apologia. Everything after that felt like too little, too late in terms of … Continue reading When a Rogue Meets his Match by Elizabeth Hoyt

Lightning Review

Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews

Gentleman Jim

I love a good yarn (in all senses of the word) and this book delivers a belter. This is an historical romance that feels fresh, vibrant and made me sing the Good Book Noise. Margaret Honeywell is in love with Nicholas Seaton. But there are so many barriers that stand between them, not least of which is that Nicholas works in the stables on her father’s estate. Their love is pretty much doomed. Especially as … Continue reading Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews

Book Review

My Last Duchess by Eloisa James

My Last Duchess

My Last Duchess is pure, frothy, Georgian-era historical escapism. Reading it felt like being wrapped up in a warm blanket while watching a picturesque snowfall outside. I can’t say it was particularly substantial or thought-provoking, but for the most part, it was a pleasure. This book is a prequel to Eloisa James’ ongoing Wildes of Lindow Castle series about the numerous Wilde offspring and their exploits. My Last Duchess tells the tale of how the … Continue reading My Last Duchess by Eloisa James

Book Review

The Virgin who Ruined Lord Gray by Anna Bradley

The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray

I picked this ARC up for the title, which delighted me, and for the setting, which centres around a charity school for Wayward Girls in Georgian England that is in fact a secret training ground for young women on a mission to bring justice to corrupt aristocrats. The Virgin who Ruined Lord Gray straddles the line between traditional historical romance and romantic suspense, and I found it an enjoyable, but flawed read. This story centres … Continue reading The Virgin who Ruined Lord Gray by Anna Bradley

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