As the daughter of an Austenite, I feel compelled to read all queer Pride and Prejudice retellings. The heroine of Just as You Are was one of the most annoying versions of Elizabeth Bennet that I’ve read–anxious, judgmental, and self-absorbed at times. But I enjoyed Just as You Are once I let go of expecting this to align in any real way with the emotional world of Pride and Prejudice, and rode the wave of … Continue reading Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg →
Devil in Disguise is a fun, hot romance that tells the story of Lady Merritt Sterling, the widowed daughter of the Earl of Westcliff, and Keir MacRae, a whisky distiller from Scotland. It’s very much fanservice for readers who enjoyed the Wallflower series, with Lillian, Westcliff and Evie all appearing in the story, and Sebastian, who is now the Duke of Kingston, playing a particularly prominent role. I am honestly not quite sure how well … Continue reading Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas →
The Nature of a Lady is a gorgeous story full of secrets and treasure hunts and mysteries and adventure, with a very sweet central romance and a strong sense of place. It is also that rare gem, an Inspirational romance that really works for me both as a romance and on a theological level, while also being just a really good read. Lady Elizabeth Sinclair has never been good at fitting in where she is … Continue reading The Nature of a Lady by Roseanna M. White →
Content warning: attempted sexual assault of the heroine Heiress in Red Silk is a book that hooked right into my emotions and gave me what I wanted and needed from a story right now. While it was by no means a flawless romance, I adored the heroine, and there was one scene that hit me straight in the heart. This is the second book in the Duke’s Heiress series, but you really don’t need to … Continue reading Heiress in Red Silk by Madeline Hunter →
Usually when I fall in love with a book, I devour it in one giant gulp and at one sitting, and only come back to savour it on a second reading. So Book of Love was unusual for me, in that I loved it, but also kept putting it down because I wanted to make it last longer. The quality of the writing and the sweetness not just of the central relationship, but of the … Continue reading Book of Love by Erin Satie →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Content warnings: Everyone in this book is reacting, one way or another, to the death of Susan’s mother at the start of the book. There is a character with disordered eating and she plays a large role in the book. Another character has untreated anxiety which manifests itself as hypochondria. There is also an enormous amount of snobbery and classism. 2020 seems to be the year for food-themed, contemporary re-tellings of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and … Continue reading All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore →
Content warning: Torture of a main character. I’m pretty sure that if I start by saying ‘genderswapped Princess Bride where the Princess rescues the stable boy’, about half of you won’t read any further in this review because you will be too busy one-clicking the book. Certainly, that was my reaction when I saw this title appear on NetGalley. And if genderswapped Princess Bride is what you are looking for in a book, you will … Continue reading The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning →
