Weekly Reads: April 15 to 21, 2024

Make Mine a Marquess by Tina Gabrielle (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Daring Ladies series. The newly returned Marquess of Landon is out for revenge against his cousin, who seems to have orchestrated the shipwreck that left him for dead five years ago. The gross cousin spends money recklessly and is draining the estate’s funds, while also neglecting the tenants and estate repairs. Landon hopes to find evidence of his cousin’s guilt while also seducing the man’s fiancee to add further injury. Phoebe is mostly the innocent victim here, but she was apathetic enough to become engaged to the villain of the story because she wanted to avoid any type of desire or passion. However, all those repressed feelings flare back to life when she meets Landon and is instantly intrigued and attracted to him. She tries and fails to stay away from him and sees that he really is an upstanding guy, for the most part, but she doesn’t yet know that she’s being used for revenge. This was your fairly typical revenge love story and it’ll take a bit of groveling on Landon’s part to get the girl.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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A Touch Wicked by Katrina Kendrick (2018)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 0.5 of the Private Arrangements series. Emma is looking for her sister who disappeared under mysterious circumstances and now she’s working as a lady’s maid to a stuffy earl’s sister to support herself. James is the stuffy earl who is pretty much instantly attracted to Emma and totally distracted by her, even though he says he’s looking for a proper society wife to keep his rebellious sister in line. James and Emma run into each other at a masquerade where he’s trying to put the maid out of his mind and she’s trying to find clues about her sisters whereabouts. Although James does not recognize Emma, she definitely recognizes him and tries to stay away. Except for that whole instant attraction business and they soon start a masked affair. It’s going to be a huge mess when he finds out the truth, but the mystery of Emma’s missing sister is super intriguing to read about.

Advance ebook provided by Katrina Kendrick via NetGalley.

Falling for the Marquess by Alexa Aston (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Strongs of Shadowcrest series. We start with August’s story as he’s injured at war and sent home, finding that his father died and his brother is on his deathbed, and leaving him the newly inherited marquess. He’s pretty frightened of his own physical scars and his new responsibilities, but makes his brother a deathbed promise to marry next Season and sire an heir. Meanwhile, Georgina is the daughter and sister of a duke getting ready for her debut into society with her sister and two cousins and hoping to hold out for a love match, like she’s seen her twin sister and older brother achieve. She has a chance meeting with August in a bookstore and instantly feels a connection to him and boldly introduces herself and invites him to tea with her family. She’s even more glad to find out that he’s their neighbor and that their two homes share a garden. He’s hesitant at the attention, believing himself to look like a monster, but she’s certainly charming and assertive. We find that the Strongs are a supportive family and show their approval of August quite publicly. He’s just got to get over his own insecurity if he wants to build a life with Georgina.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. This one is a relatively low-drama low-angst childhood friends to lovers story. Archie is on his way to his annual guys trip with his two best friends but is detoured when he needs to rescue family friends Clementine and Olive from a rogue. Olive is the younger sister who Archie only has brotherly feelings for. Meanwhile, the outspoken and outdoorsy Clementine is someone that Archie obliviously takes all book to realize he’s in love with. We get to see these two rekindle their friendship which drifted apart as they got older as well as see this bigger friend group form a connection. While Clementine has vehemently expressed her desire to never marry, it also takes her all book to realize that Archie would be a different kind of husband and that she would get to be true to herself when she’s with him. This was a quiet slow-burn type of romance which I really enjoyed.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via Edelweiss.

Because the Baron Broods by Darcy Burke (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Rogue Rules series. Grumpy baron Isaac meets sunshine cousin of a viscount Tamsin on the annual trip to a seaside town. They’re total opposites, but still drawn to each other, and no one in their friend circle seems to understand the connection. Isaac is mostly grumpy and serious because a youthful indiscretion left him feeling guilty and ashamed of his actions. Tamsin is just trying to stay happy and optimistic despite her aloof father and a mother who abandoned their family. They somehow end up getting engaged because a busybody lady catches him defending her from an over-persistent suitor. And then they go through with the arrangement even though Isaac insists on keeping his emotional distance from Tamsin. It takes a lot of persistence and kindness on Tamsin’s part to get Isaac to open up to her and to the possibility of happiness.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke.

The Scoundrel’s Daughter by Anne Gracie (2021)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Brides of Bellaire Gardens series. This one is a double romance, so don’t get confused when you get to read four different points of view. Alice is a widowed countess finally free of her horrible husband but it turns out that horrible husband had written scathing letters about her to his mistress and a blackmailer has gotten a hold of the letters. The blackmailer is forcing Alice to sponsor his daughter Lucy into society and find her a titled husband or else he’ll release the deeply embarrassing letters. Stuck together, Alice and Lucy need to learn to get along and muddle their way through society. It’s a slow build of trust between these two ladies, but soon they form a true connection. Alice’s nephew Gerald somehow gets involved and Alice asks him to help introduce Lucy to his friends, except he’s irritated that Lucy doesn’t pay him any attention and only introduces her to men who are annoying or unsuitable. Clearly, some resentment and jealousy on his part, though he’s not doing a great job of making a good impression on Lucy. Gerald has an older army friend James who’s newly returned to England and regaining custody of his three daughters; he hadn’t planned on marrying again but is instantly smitten with Alice on meeting her. He’s embarking on a very careful courtship of Alice, even though she’s not interested and pretty skittish when it comes to men. It seems that Alice and James’ relationship takes up most of this book, with him being patient and kind as she works out her demons from her previous marriage, with Gerald and Lucy’s cantankerous relationship taking place in the background. Overall, this was an entertaining story and I liked seeing these four band together.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Lady Plays with Fire by Susanna Craig (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Goode’s Guide to Misconduct series. One of our secret columnists, Julia, has made an enemy of a certain playwright for her scathing review of one of his plays. That playwright is the pseudonym of grumpy Scottish earl Graham who prefers solitude and sarcasm. On a chance meeting at the theater, Graham and Julia meet face-to-face without knowing that the other person is their secret rival. However, they continue to run into each other in London and then Julia is trying to find out more information and subsequently influence a play that Graham is a patron of. It’s kind of messy to follow, but things heat up once they realize their attraction for each other and Graham opens up about his history. While this book felt like a slow start for me, I enjoyed seeing these two come together and how the final drama was resolved.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.