Weekly Reads: July 3 to 9, 2023

The Bad Luck Bride by Janna MacGregor (2017)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Cavensham Heiresses series. Alex is out to avenge his sister’s death by buying up a certain lord’s debts and having him jilt his fiancee. To save the fiancee Claire from ruin, he proposes to her himself. Claire has her own problems and is known for having a curse around her due to the losses of previous fiances to death, disease, and dismemberment. She’s wary of losing yet another one and feels pressured to go through with the marriage to Alex. She also has trauma and fears related to the death of her parents as a child and she tries to hide her unease from Alex to prevent him from thinking she’s insane. Alex meanwhile is still dealing with his vengeance plot and keeping that a secret from Claire. It’s a big huge mess of people hiding things from each other and waiting for it all to blow up. This story went a little longer than it probably needed to, but it was a good introduction to all the other key players in the series: Claire’s cousins and Alex’s surviving sister.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Recently widowed countess Eliza finds that her inheritance is dependent on her staying away from any scandal. The new earl, Lord Somerton, is the nephew of her late husband and happens to be a former suitor that was rejected when Eliza’s parents forced her to marry. As a widow, Eliza finally has a small taste of freedom when she spirits herself (and her cousin) away to Bath to visit before she makes her way back to her family’s home. Eliza ends up meeting the charming and scandalous Lord Melville and tries very hard to avoid him due to his reputation. Eventually Melville convinces Eliza to paint his portrait and she seizes this opportunity to utilize her artistic talent. Additionally, Somerton has renewed his acquaintance with Eliza and they confront their romantic past. We have a slowly building love triangle here, where you’re mostly rooting for Eliza to break free of her oppressive marriage and reunite with her long lost love, but then we start to see her friendship with Melville develop and wonder where that will lead. Since this book was a single POV (only Eliza’s), it wasn’t clear who the ultimate love interest is going to be, and I was intrigued to find out who she ended up with. There are also some delightful side pairings that we discover along the way as well. Despite this being a super low-steam book, the emotional build-up was really well done and it was an enjoyable book to read.

Advance ebook provided by Penguin Random House via NetGalley.

One Season with the Duke by Addy DuLac (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Standalone novel. Hettie is the niece of a marquess and suddenly being blackmailed by her slimy cousin (who I didn’t catch or remember how he’s related to her) into marriage. She doesn’t like him at all, but seems to go along with it because she doesn’t want to jeopardize her family’s reputation. Meanwhile, her childhood friend Finn is finally back in London having been away for many years taking care of his estates in Scotland. He’s disappointed to learn that Hettie is already engaged, but offers to rescue her from her dire circumstances. These two elope pretty early on in the book and I was really expecting a road trip romance with a big chase from the blackmailer, but we ended up with an overbearing mother-in-law story instead. Plus Hettie’s still keeping the secrets of what she was being blackmailed with, Finn is both arrogant and self-doubting and insecure, and really, the villain took way too long to catch up with them. The childhood friends to lovers romance was nice and I liked how Hettie stood up to her mother-in-law, but overall, this book was just ok. If you like stories where someone swoops in to save a lady from an unwanted marriage to a villain, I also recommend The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

The Make-Believe Widow by Darcy Burke (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Matchmaking Chronicles series. A matchmaking house party is afoot with eligible widows, widowers, and other single gentlemen. Charlotte is attending mostly to see her friend, the hostess, and is not interested in finding a match. She enjoys her position and independence as a widow in a small village, but is also hiding the fact that she is not truly a widow, as her fiance had died a few days before their wedding. At the house party, Charlotte makes a connection with Roth, a widowed earl looking to remarry and find a mother for his two daughters. He is purposely avoiding a love match because he had loved his first wife dearly and was shocked to learn that she never loved him at all. While Charlotte and Roth have different goals from this house party, they can’t resist starting an affair while they’re there. Short, steamy, easy read.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke via NetGalley.

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The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath (2001)

Historical romance. 1890s Texas. Book 1 of the Daughters of Fortune series. Second generation of characters from the Rogues in Texas series. Angela is out for a midnight stroll in Fortune, TX, when she accidentally interrupts a bank robbery. The robbers believe she’s seen their faces and can identify them, so they kidnap her, not realizing until they’re too far away that she’s blind. Lee Raven is the ringleader of the robberies, seeking revenge on a single man who ruined his family, and gaining a reputation as a wanted murderer. As Lee and Angela are stuck together, she starts to realize that he isn’t as cruel as she thought he would be, and it sounds as though he has the admiration of his brothers who ride with him. This was a book with so much plot going on and so much mystery to unravel that I had to keep reading to find out if my hunch was correct. And it was delightfully satisfying to know that I read all those clues correctly throughout. It was angsty and tragic and amazing to see it all tie together.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

To Marry an Heiress by Lorraine Heath (2002)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Daughters of Fortune series. We’re in England for this story, with Georgina visiting her friend Lauren (stepdaughter to the Earl of Ravenleigh) for the Season and her wealthy father setting up a match for her with Devon, another earl and cousin to Ravenleigh. Devon’s impoverished estate needs the cash and he agrees to Georgina’s father’s terms for courtship and the appearance of a love match. Upon meeting Georgina at a ball, she sees through him immediately and insists that he not lie to her if they are to marry. We see a quick wedding very early on in the book, followed by a surprising tragedy that sets off resentment and animosity between Devon and Georgina through the rest of the book. It was most interesting to see how Georgina could be sweet and accommodating, but also have strength in her convictions throughout the book. Devon thought he would be getting himself a demure and grateful wife, but instead finds a strong courageous partner worth falling in love with.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Bride Who Got Lucky by Janna MacGregor (2017)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Cavensham Heiresses series. Nick is an earl who has been treated horribly and financially cut off from his ducal father, so he prioritizes business and avoids all emotional entanglements. However, he seems to always be drawn to Emma, a duke’s daughter and cousin-by-marriage to Nick’s only friend. Emma has been distraught over the loss of her friend and is attempting to prove that her friend’s husband is responsible for her death. This all involves some reckless and dangerous action that worries Nick when he finds out about it. These two people are clearly in love with each other, but neither of them know it. Emma doesn’t want marriage since she’s seen how horrible the institution is for women; Nick doesn’t want to crack open all the walls he’s built around his cold and lonely heart. However, all of the external conflict somehow pushes them together since Emma is constantly in danger and Nick swoops in to rescue her. Both of these very stubborn folks need to learn to compromise a bit and let the other person in and they definitely both need prodding from outside counsel to make it all work out.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Love with a Scandalous Lord by Lorraine Heath (2003)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Daughters of Fortune series. Slightly shallow and naive Lydia is visiting England because her stepfather’s dear old ducal dad is dying. We’ve met Lydia’s family in A Rogue in Texas (Book 1 of the Rogues in Texas series) and learned a bit about some complicated family dynamics. We add another layer here with Rhys, the second legitimate son of the duke is now the marquess and soon to take over the dukedom in pretty short order. He has his own sordid past as the Gentleman Seducer and knows he won’t be able to show his face in society with his new title, since many of the ladies of the ton would recognize him. How he had ended up in this position is a bit of a mystery and slowly gets revealed over the course of the book (hang on though, it’s a juicy story when we finally learn it all). When we start the book, Lydia is in awe of the glitter of the estate and wants to comport herself as a proper lady and believing that the aristocratic lifestyle is superior to her own life in Texas. (Super annoying, really) She’s easily flustered around the very handsome and polished Rhys and he’s drawn to her beauty and innocence, even though he knows he shouldn’t be tarnishing her with his presence. We do eventually get to see Lydia realize that there are more important things than Society rules and frivolity, so she doesn’t stay shallow for too long. This book introduces us to key players in future books, so it’s not one to skip if you’re going to continue reading Heath’s backlist.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Fashioning the Duke by Alexa Aston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Suddenly a Duke series. Fox is the much younger second son of a duke, never expecting to inherit, when he receives word that his older brother has died, leaving two nieces in his care. At the solicitor’s office, he has a chance meeting with Delaney who is there to sell off her millinery shop after her half-brother has basically barred polite society from shopping there. Delaney is the illegitimate daughter of an earl who was always favored and adored by her father. Fox decides to hire Delaney to assist in outfitting his nieces for the upcoming Season and also pretty much instantly decides that he wants her as his duchess. She doesn’t want to give up her independence or marry, so he’s got some work cut out for him in wooing her. Enjoyable to read and I love how well Fox takes to his responsibilities and his nieces.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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Not That Duke by Eloisa James (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Would-Be Wallflowers series. Half of this book takes place in the same timeline as Book 2 of the series, so there are a lot of overlapping events in both books. Stella is bookish and clumsy and awkward and the mean girls make fun of her, but she is definitely attracted to Silvester, even though he will never see her as a potential bride. Silvester grew up with eccentric parents and wants to conform more to social standards, so ignores the possibility of Stella as a wife, even though his mother suggests he. He’s busy pining over another lady for half the book, to the point where Stella knows she definitely has no chance at all with him, even though they’re sort of friends and spend a lot of time together. Poor Stella is just getting the short end of the stick for the whole book and is incredibly insecure, while Silvester is constantly doing and saying the wrong thing and oh so very slow to realize that Stella is worthy of his love and adoration. So much angst over this idiot and you just want to wrap Stella up and choose her first.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

The Duke’s Virgin Sister by Caroline Lee (2021)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Those Kilted Bastards series. Keith, the illegitimate son of an earl, is tasked with escorting Carlotta, the duke’s sister to Scotland for her sister-in-law’s birthday celebration. Carlotta is engaged to a baron who is an arrogant pompous asshole and we all just want to see him go away; he does make for some comedic lines with everyone around him calling him names behind his back. Keith is a boxer and now owner of his very own castle in Scotland and doesn’t really want to play escort here, but the duke offers him the money he will need to repair his castle. Keith and Carlotta fall for each other pretty quickly here, but he pushes her away, thinking that he will never be good enough for her due to their differences in social station. We get a little bit of road trip hijinks here with travel delays and bandits, and we do eventually learn the reason why Carlotta cannot take the train. Humor and steam in a quick and easy read.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.