The Duke Who Knew Too Much blends Regency romance, mystery and kink–a formula that I expect will intrigue a lot of readers (especially those looking for more erotic historicals). There are a lot of things going on in this book–a lot– but the author weaves them all together well. The only thing that really irked me was the hero’s insistence that he’s incapable of feels, mostly because I’m sick of emotionally constipated dukes. Anyway, the … Continue reading The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway →
A Perilous Undertaking is book 2 in the Veronica Speedwell series. I advise that you start with book one, A Curious Beginning, to get a better sense of the world, and the characters. I read the two books one after the other, so my impressions are influenced by their proximity in my brain, but looking solely at book two and skipping book one leaves a wealth of motivation and development behind, and readers would miss out on … Continue reading A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn →
Awhile ago, Sarah interviewed Eva Leigh on a podcast, and Leigh said she was working on a book that involved a vicar hero and a heroine who wrote erotic novels. When I heard that I was like “OMG I need this thing in my hands right now!” Well, Temptations of a Wallflower is out now and it’s just as good as I’d hoped. It’s a very meta story–a romance novel about the importance of romance … Continue reading Temptations of a Wallflower by Eva Leigh →
Oftentimes the romance novel ends when the special license is procured and the vows are said, and the happily ever after is assured. This one begins when the very traditional courtship is over and the vows are said and the heroine goes, “Thank fucking god now I can be myself” and the hero goes “Wait what.” Nathaniel Gresham is a Viscount and the heir to a duke, and he has five rambunctious younger brothers. “And … Continue reading Heir to the Duke by Jane Ashford →
It took me awhile to really get into The Spinster’s Guide to Scandalous Behavior by Jennifer McQuiston. I’m not sure if that was totally the fault of the book or the fact that my brain is exhausted from my day job and I’m slowly crawling out of a reading slump. The book is brimming with awesome feminism and a beta-hero I loved, but it felt a little like the beginning dragged. Miss Lucy Westmore is a … Continue reading The Spinster’s Guide to Scandalous Behavior by Jennifer McQuiston →
Let me start by saying that The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean is my favorite book of hers to date. If you’ve read her, or know me, then you know that I just said a thing. I mean, there is a scene in this book where the hero sensually rubs honey on the heroine’s body while she dreamily describes the bookstore she’ll own one day. Damn. The Rogue Not Taken is the first in … Continue reading The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean →
Everybody calm down. Calm down. I know you’re all losing your shit because Lisa Kleypas released her first historical in five years. My shit, too, has been lost. I am here to answer all your questions, which I suspect are: Is it good? Yes, it is very, very good. I stayed up all night reading it even though I was so tired that I’d been craving sleep all day the way an addict craves heroin. When I … Continue reading Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas →
Everything about When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare worked for me. Everything. Bust out the squee mop, y’all because this review is just going to be a flappy-hands Good Book Noise® mess. Things this book has: 1. A sexy Scot hero I pictured as Sam Heughan. 2. A heroine who is a naturalist and illustrator. 3. Tons of UST. 4. A completely crazy sauce plot that Dare pulls off flawlessly. 5. A … Continue reading When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare →
Welcome to our reviews and recaps of BBC’s Poldark, starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson, based on the novels by Winston Graham! lets get started with the angst, shall we? It’s woods, in Virginia, 1781. A party of redcoats are camped in the woods, and two of them are playing cards. One, a ruggedly handsome Aidan Turner without his LoTR dwarf get-up, puts in a ring as his stake, and another man snarks “Gambling again? … Continue reading Poldark, Episode 1 →
Grave Phantoms is the latest book in Jenn Bennett’s “Roaring Twenties” paranormal series about the Magnusson family in San Francisco. I love this series for the ambiance and the heroines, although I’ve disliked the heroes in previous books (they tend to be morally murky). This time, Bo, a Chinese American man who works for the family, is the hero and it’s by far my favorite installment in the series. The Magnusson family is headed by … Continue reading Grave Phantoms by Jenn Bennett →
A new spring (FINALLY THANK GOD), a new Beauty and Beast book! Yay! This had so much going for it. Just barely pre-Victorian/tail end of the Georgian era! Non-nobles! Slums! Delightful references to the Disney animated B&B! Other references to La Belle et La Bete! Turning other references on their heads! An exploration of where the line between “victim” and “survivor” is! This is the second book in Erica Monroe’s Rookery Rogue series (and I … Continue reading Beauty and the Rake by Erica Monroe →
