Weekly Reads: May 15 to 21, 2023

His Favorite Mistress by Tracy Anne Warren (2007)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Mistress Trilogy series. This one starts with the daughter of the villain from Book 1 trying to avenge the death of her father, but then realizing that her father really was a villain. Gabriella is the illegitimate daughter of a viscount and an actress and has been orphaned by both. Her uncle offers her a home and protection and while she’s hesitant to take him up on it, eventually she’s convinced by her friend to do so. She meets Tony, who is the duke best friend of her uncle and he is interested in seducing her, even though she is technically an innocent miss. With her entry into the Ton for the social season, Tony tries to stay away from her, but that doesn’t exactly work out and they eventually need to marry. Tony has a tragic backstory with a terrible mother, distrust of women, and an inability to love. Meanwhile Gabriella is young and idealistic and believes that Tony has proposed to her because he is in love, despite him being unable to declare it. Of course this will ultimately lead to heartbreak for one or both of them as they’re so different in their ability to confront true emotion.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Beast and the Bookseller by Eva Devon (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Elizabeth is the daughter of a bookshop owner and basically runs the shop while her father drowns himself in alcohol after the death of her mother. It turns out that her father has been shirking his duties to a cold and starchy duke who normally receives weekly deliveries of books at his home. The duke, Garrett, comes calling at the shop to demand the bookshop service that he pays for or else he will remove his patronage to the shop. Elizabeth agrees to start making the book deliveries herself and they both find that they have their love of reading in common. Garrett has his own issues with his crusade against treacherous mental asylums and he has been somewhat of a cold recluse. With Elizabeth’s visits, they grow closer and he wants very much to care for her. The romance part of the story progressed pretty quickly with some conflict related to Elizabeth’s father and Garrett’s general coldness. It was a relatively quick read and fairly light on the angst.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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Secrets and a Scandal by Jane Maguire (2022)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Inconveniently Wed series. An earl’s heir, Edward, has returned to England after staying away for 6 years and his ill father has informed him of the estate’s debts and that he’s secured a match to a wealthy merchant’s daughter, Eliza. After his father dies, Edward realizes the huge amount of debt he is in and decides to go through with the marriage. Edward is cold and aloof, mostly due to his past experience with a beautiful and fickle first wife, who he refuses to talk about. Eliza has grown up in the country and prefers her garden and herbal remedies to assist those who are ill; she got into some sort of scandal when she was in London for her first Season before being sent back to the country. She doesn’t have any interest in marrying, but understands that being Edward’s wife is preferable to being sent back to her aunt and uncle’s care. After they get married, there’s a lack of honest conversation between these two, mostly because Edward doesn’t want to share anything about his past. However, they’re both dedicated to the improvement of the estate and helping the people who live there, and slowly find common ground. Relatively quick read with somewhat predictable secrets that Eliza and Edward are hiding. Still an enjoyable read.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Someone to Care by Mary Balogh (2018)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Westcotts series. This one is not easy to describe by mere trope and that is the beauty of Mary Balogh’s creativity. Viola and her family found out after her husband’s death that their marriage was not legitimate, causing all sorts of calamity as the earl’s title passes to a cousin instead of her son, and her daughters cast out of society. Viola herself chooses to distance herself from her family and her in-laws since she is no longer (and has never been) a Westcott. Over the past three books, we’ve seen the Westcott family rally together and provide love and support for all its members, including Viola. But sometimes all this love and support can be smothering, and Viola decides to retreat on her own back home, taking a hired carriage with no servants or companions. When her carriage needs repair, she stays at a local inn, where she re-meets Marcel, a recently inherited marquess – though he doesn’t tell her that. Marcel has been a renowned rake and Viola had rejected his advances 14 years prior when her supposed husband was still alive. Marcel has not forgotten Viola and purposely strands himself at the inn to spend more time with her. He’s got his own tragic backstory with a wife who died many years ago and his nearly 18 year old children who he’s left in the care of their aunt and uncle, plus that whole rake and libertine reputation. These two end up spending their day (and night) together and escape from their reality for a bit. Things get more complicated once both of their families get involved, making for all sorts of angst and emotional revelations.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George (2021)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Gilded Age Heiresses series. A semi-tragic prologue starts the series with Camille, an American heiress, being married off to a much older and impoverished duke in England against her wishes. August is one of Camille’s friends who sees how awful the whole situation is and is thankful that her own parents would never do such a thing to her or her sister. Fast forward to a few months later, when August visits England with her parents and younger sister, and her parents are doing exactly what she feared. They attempt to set up a match between younger sister Violet and impoverished duke Evan, but August intends to thwart it. It doesn’t much matter since Evan prefers the fiesty August instead and tries to convince her to marry him. He needs the money because his father’s antiquated ideals have left the estate in much debt and the tenants on his lands are suffering. August refuses because she would prefer to stay working for her father’s company and has no interest in becoming a duchess. There’s a lot of cajoling involved here, even though these two are very clearly attracted to each other. The romance was great here and I enjoyed seeing August’s family dynamic. We also get to meet all the key players in future books of the series.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St. George (2021)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Gilded Age Heiresses series. This book deals with August’s younger sister Violet and Evan’s best friend Christian in a road trip escape from the suitor that Violet’s parents have selected for her. Believing that she is safe from her parents’ meddling now that her sister has settled with the duke in Book 1, Violet is caught off guard when she realizes that her father has agreed to a match with a viscount. She plans to run away and is aided by an earl, Christian, who has his own designs on her and hopes to force a marriage when they’re caught together. Of course, during the trip, these two actually talk and get to know each other, so Christian feels guilty for his planned betrayal. Violet is also opening up to the idea of marriage, since she feels so connected to Christian. In the background, Violet is working on writing a novel and has based her main hero on Christian without him realizing it. This book has all the calamities you would expect in a road trip novel plus the added dread of uncovering Christian’s deception. We also introduce the pairing on Violet’s brother Maxwell with her friend Lady Helena when they team up to chase after the runaway pair.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. George (2022)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Gilded Age Heiresses series. Maxwell (older brother to August and Violet) is called back to England from America after his father suffers from heart problems; he’s tasked with marrying and siring the next generation to take over the company or else his sister August loses her business deal. When he crosses paths again with widowed Lady Helena, the attraction he feels for her is reignited. Knowing that they don’t really have a future together on opposite sides of the ocean, he proposes a fake courtship and subsequent fake engagement so that he can appease his father long enough to not jeopardize his sister’s project. Lady Helena is facing her own parental pressure to marry in order to continue her charity work with abandoned women. She agrees to Maxwell’s proposal since she cares about his sister as well, but Helena does not want to marry in truth because she knows that she is unable to have children. But of course these two are highly attracted to each other and cannot seem to keep from being heartbroken. Add a subplot with some property dispute and Maxwell not understanding Helena’s mission and purpose, we have a high amount of angst here. It was really fun to read Helena and Maxwell’s flirting and banter here and we continue to see the rift between Maxwell and his siblings versus their parents.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Desert Island Duke by Kate Bateman (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era. Novella-length story part of the Ruthless Rivals series. Caroline and Max get stranded together alone on an island when their ship crashes. Not to worry too much, they’ve spotted the rest of her family in the distance at a neighboring island. Caro and Max have had a bantering relationship up to this point, with Max being friends with Caro’s brother. Max has seemingly lost his memory, so Caro decides to tease him by saying that he is a groom (rather than the duke that he actually is). We find out pretty soon that Max is faking his amnesia and knows exactly who he is and using this opportunity to woo Caro, who he wishes to court and marry. It’s a fun quick read with pretty low angst.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Scandal at the Savoy series. Max is doing a favor for his cousin by collecting research and plans for a dinner party from bookseller Evie; when he meets her, he’s tailed by a few boisterous younger men who disparage Evie’s plain and bookish demeanor. He ends up wagering that with a bit of polish, she’ll be able to fill her dance card at a ball in six weeks time. Max tries to enlist Evie to be part of his wager, but she refuses at first, until a boiler bursts in her bookshop, closing it down and leaving her without a place to stay. Evie has basically been alone in running her shop and barely making ends meet and has never experienced any balls or parties, so Max’s offer forces her to experience new things. Meanwhile, as a duke with no heirs, Max is seeking the perfect society wife and trying to learn from the mistakes he made with his first wife, who was ostracized in society. While Max and Evie grow closer with their talking and banter, they both know that the social class differences between them would be unrealistic to try to overcome. This was a fun book to read and I liked reading about Evie gaining more self-confidence through the book.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley. Advance print book provided by Forever Books.