Weekly Reads: January 15 to 21, 2024

A Most Improper Duchess by Alivia Fleur (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Tales from Honeysuckle Street series. Arley is a serious and stuffy duke who doesn’t usually socialize, but is somehow roped into some travel research in Paris for his neighbor’s travel agency. To avoid being mobbed by young misses looking for an eligible duke, he’s dressed as a commoner during his trip. When he’s at a bar in Paris, he sets eyes on a beautiful woman, but he doesn’t have any money to pay for her evening company. Vivianne is a ballet dancer/courtesan who hasn’t had a steady patron in awhile, so she’s looking for someone who could provide more support than the seemingly penniless Arley. He bargains with a jeweled cravat pin that she show him some of the sights of Paris for his travel guide. In the course of spending time together, Arley is easily smitten and enjoys the carefree man he becomes when he’s with her. He very quickly proposes marriage and brings Vivianne back to London with him, with the surprise that he’s actually a very wealthy duke. Vivianne ends up needing a lot of tutoring and adjusting to cope with Arley’s position in society, which causes a bit of strife, but she is willing to make it work to stay with Arley.

Advance ebook provided by Alivia Fleur.

The Fake February Rake by Charlie Lane (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Rake Review series. Hades is a respectable doctor in London, until his greatcoat goes missing and is sighted on a man escorting women away at night time. This all gets reported upon in the gossip columns, ruining Hades’ reputation and causing his patients to seek medical care elsewhere. He’s out to confront the coat thief and reclaim his coat and finds Lady Ophelia wearing it to escort women away from their abusive situations and guide them to safety. They argue a bit and he eventually reports her actions to her father; who suggests that they marry each other to restore the good doctor’s reputation. Ophelia refuses at first since she’s totally untrusting of men, but he decides he’ll convince her to come around. As they spend more time together, she starts to see that Hades is not at all like the other men in her acquaintance and starts to admire him. In turn, he supports her acts in rescuing women in horrible conditions and admires her even more because of it. The romance here is relatively straightforward, with both parties communicating pretty directly about their stance and objectives.

Advance ebook provided by Charlie Lane.

Always Remember by Mary Balogh (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Ravenswood series. Ben Ellis is the illegitimate son of an earl who was raised in the earl’s family home after the death of his mother. While Ben has always been embraced as part of the family, he has had a sense of otherness about him. After a big family scandal, he went with his younger brother Devlin to war, where he met and married the woman carrying his child. After she died of illness, he came home as a single father to a young girl. Now that Ben has settled into his own seaside home, he’s considering remarrying, but is indecisive about which woman to court. He’s hoping that a visit to his family’s home for the summer will help him to make a decision. While he’s there, he meets Lady Jennifer again, the sister of a duke who had married his own sister. Jennifer is disabled after a childhood illness and gives off a cheery disposition. However, a chance conversation between Ben and Jennifer has both of them spilling their secrets to a near-stranger and becoming friends because of it. This book is a delightful slow build of friendship, trust, and love, despite their differences in social station. We get to see Ben be a doting father to his child and see the child grow attached to Jennifer as well. If you’re a fan of quiet slow-burn romances, this one is another great book from Mary Balogh.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming (2021)

Paranormal Fantasy Romance. Book 1 of the Mead Mishaps series. This book was the funniest thing I’ve read so far this year and it was an absolute delight. Cinnamon is a spice farmer leading a simple life in her quiet country village. Stumbling home drunk one night, she somehow saves a demon and frees him from a spell. Now, the dark and handsome demon Fallon needs her help in a mission to destroy a fake goddess who has imprisoned all the demons. Cinnamon is extremely hesitant for any sort of quest or adventure since her sister was snatched by a water monster years ago, but he threatens her family, so off she goes. Cinnamon and Fallon spend a whole lot of time together and of course grow closer as they spend their dangerous journey together. Along the way, they pick up more allies to join the fight against the fake goddess. This book was chaos and adventure and flirty fun the whole way through.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Hoopla.

That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming (2022)

Paranormal Fantasy Romance. Book 2 of the Mead Mishaps series. Brie is a farmer and cheesemonger who does not have high expectations of love, but she definitely wants to avoid her creepy neighbor Jack who cannot take a hint. When he hands her a drink, she throws it back at him and ends up hitting Felix in the back of the head instead. When Felix sets eyes on Brie, his werewolf instincts instantly imprint on her and he declares his love for his newfound mate. Unfortunately, that drink that Brie had was spiked with a love potion, so she doesn’t trust that Felix’s feelings are real. Whether his desires are due to the potion or not, he can’t stay away from her and tries very hard to impress her. It’s basically the sweetest cutest thing you’ve ever seen, and Brie eventually gives into the physical benefits of having such a vigorous mate. This whole thing gets more complicated when there have been kidnappings of single women in the village and Felix gets super protective of Brie. We get to revisit our demon friends from Book 1, who have now settled into this quiet village and band together to save the kidnapped victims. This book is just more chaos and adventure and humor and so much fun.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Ways to Be Wicked by Julie Anne Long (2006)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Holt Sisters Trilogy series. Ballet dancer Sylvie has run away from her home in France to England after she sees a mysterious letter hinting at a sister who might be hers. Except the sister isn’t at home and Sylvie has no money and nowhere to go. She ends up seeking help at the White Lily, a dance theater owned by the scandalous Tom, who she met on the mail coach on the way to London. He’s a charming sort of guy who all the dancers want for themselves, but he keeps himself professional and protective of his employees. He allows her to stay on as a dancer, even though she’s appalled at the type of dancing that is performed at this little theater. These two bicker and fight and flirt, and somehow manage to fall in love through all of that.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Secret to Seduction by Julie Anne Long (2007)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Holt Sisters Trilogy series. Sabrina is a vicar’s daughter who is possibly courting a curate and bound for a house party with her friend, where she hopes to spend more time with her suitor. However, that house party is at a scandalous earl’s house and Rhys intends to play a game at seduction with Sabrina to force her out of her own piety. It’s all secretive flirting, until they get caught in a compromising situation and need to marry. And then Rhys intends for them to live separate lives after they’ve married. Except that Sabrina is used to be helpful and productive, so she spends more time in the village seeing to the needs of the tenants. We also get to tie up the loose ends of the Holt family mystery, knowing that Sabrina is the third sister and that her family is looking for her. It was also interesting to see how Rhys is involved in the mystery as well. This book served as a satisfying conclusion to the overarching series.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Duchess Takes a Lover by Jillian Eaton (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Ladies of Seduction series. Lonely and abandoned duchess, Mara, is rumored to be planning on taking a lover this season, much to the anger and dismay of her husband Ambrose. He comes back to the castle where he left her alone to confront her on the issue and finds a stern and outspoken wife instead of the meek and quiet woman he’d known before. We get to see bits of flashbacks to their courtship, knowing that Ambrose purposely sought to marry a woman he would not love so that he can stay in control of his placid emotions. But of course, he’s been in love with her this whole time without realizing it and he’s intensely jealous of the idea that she might take another lover. Both of these people are unwilling to risk their own emotions due to past trauma and heartache, but it’s clear that they actually just want each other and not anyone else.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.