Weekly Reads: May 20 to 26, 2024

Uncovering the Lord by Lexi Post (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Courting a Curious Lady series. Lady Elsbeth is more interested in rocks than gentlemen, but has promised her friends that she’ll find a husband to marry this season so that they will be allowed to continue to go to their shared school. On her last expedition to some Spanish caves, Elsbeth runs into her old friend and rejected suitor Teddy, who is now a single father trying to convince his superstitious wet nurse to get on a ship. These two end up reconnecting on the ship back to England and Elsbeth is especially impressed by Teddy’s newfound maturity. The problem here is that she had rejected him once before so she thinks she doesn’t have a chance of catching his attention again, not realizing that he’s still in love with her after all this time. It’s clearly a perfect match between these two and it’s fun reading their slow build of a relationship again.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (2016)

Fantasy romance. Book 2 of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Our girl Feyre has massive post-traumatic stress disorder after her ordeal Under the Mountain at the end of the last book. Her fiance Tamlin seems to not want to deal with it and leaves her to suffer her nightmares alone, while also keeping her locked up and protected all the time. She also has this leftover deal with Rhysand, the “bad guy” High Lord of the Night Court and he makes good on the bargain to spend a week out of each month with him. This book has way more action-adventure than the previous one and I was totally hooked and wanted to keep reading to find out more. We get to see a shift in alliances here when we learn a lot more about why Rhys presents himself the way he does. If you’re reading this one, you better have the next book queued up and ready to go because it ends on a cliffhanger.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Duke’s Mysterious Lover by Caroline Lee (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 6 of the Surprise! Dukes series. This one is the final book of the series where we will finally catch the big bad villain that’s been haunting all the main characters along the way. Thorne is the only unmarried friend left, so obviously this is his book. He’s also taken on much of the burden of catching the treasonous villain because he doesn’t have a wife or children to consider. He does however have a very handsome young footman who has caught his attention and who he has promoted to valet. Kit is not actually a young man but actually the daughter of a famous opera singer and some unknown nobleman, working as a footman so that she can get closer to the society where her father lives. She’s just trying to catch a glimpse of this absent father to make her own judgment about his character. However, being promoted to Thorne’s valet puts her in very close proximity to a very attractive man and she’s sorely tempted to give in. It’s a sweet sort of romance built on their personalities rather than their outward social appearance and Thorne is absolutely thrilled to learn that Kit is a woman (and possibly marriageable). We also get to reconvene with all the other Surprise! Dukes as they plot the final showdown. Super fun conclusion to the series.

Advance ebook provided by Caroline Lee.

The Heiress’s Daughter by Anne Gracie (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Brides of Bellaire Garden series. Wealthy heiress Clarissa is stuck tackling society on her own while her sister is on her honeymoon with her new husband, who is also Clarissa’s guardian, Leo. While they’re away, Leo asks his best friend Race to take Clarissa out riding every so often, knowing that she enjoys it and has no one else competent to do so. Clarissa thinks that Race is just spending time with her as an obligation to his friend, not knowing that he is truly courting her in earnest. We get to see these two spend more time together, and Clarissa showing an actual backbone and personality. It was fun to see Race having to bend over backwards to convince Clarissa of his true intentions.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Seasonal Habits of Husbands and Honeybees by Emmaline Warden (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Genus of Gentlemen series. We’ve got a marriage of convenience story here between Harrison, who is a heartbroken earl, and Phoebe who just wants a business arrangement that is clearly spelled out. Phoebe would rather avoid all of the anxiety-filled social obligations of the marriage mart and stay home and tend to her bees. Harrison is pretty quick to catch on to Phoebe’s desires and gives her pretty much everything she wants. He has his own hangups about rejection due to his upbringing and is very much a people pleaser. Lucky for him it doesn’t take much to impress Phoebe, especially when she realizes that he understands her better than anyone else in her life. This was a really charming slow burn romance and I enjoyed seeing these two get to know each other.

Advance ebook provided by Emmaline Warden.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (2017)

Fantasy romance. Book 3 of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. We continue from the events of the previous book where Feyre is playing spy and there’s a war brewing with some tyrant king who wants to enslave humans. We get lots of fun political drama in this one with alliances and spying and trying to figure out who is planning to double-cross the next person. Action-packed and it kept me hooked the whole time.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Seducing the Duchess by Sara Bennett (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Disgraceful Duchesses series. Widowed duchess Catherine gets stuck at an inn during a snowstorm and decides to take advantage of the situation by having a temporary affair with Sebastian. He is a viscount who is on his way home to visit his estranged father after being banished 10 years ago. He has a scandalous reputation as a rake, which will come in handy to provide comfort and satisfaction for Catherine. She had a horrible marriage and is finally out of mourning for her husband, but there are stipulations in his will that keep her bound to their country estate. Although this is a very quick affair for Catherine and Sebastian, they fall pretty quickly into a more emotional relationship.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

Ruin Me by Midnight by Ginny B Moore (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 4 of the Flower Sisters series. Violet is trying to dodge a proposal from a man she doesn’t want to marry and thinks that a ruination will get him to ditch her. While she’s at a house party, she makes a deal with Callum for a fake ruination that will leave him the good guy and her a scandalous wanton. Except that they’re truly attracted to each other and they never seem to get caught in all the situations they put themselves in. Both Violet and Callum are deeply broken by events of their respective pasts that make them wary of any lasting connections. They’ve both got to overcome their own fears before being able to move on. I loved seeing them actually open up to each other about their pasts and also all the steamy scenes between them.

Advance ebook provided by Ginny B. Moore.

All’s Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Miss Prentice’s Protegees series. Chaotic children and a stern and serious guardian make for a heartwarming set up in this one. Harry is a naval captain who is regimented and serious and is very busy with his work, but his flighty sister has left her three young children and dog in his care while she and her husband go off to Egypt. He needs a governess quite desperately to control the overactive (but lovable) kids. Lucky for him, there’s one available governess to hire who can start immediately. Georgie has been up to this point unemployable due to her outspoken nature and unconventional methods of teaching, but her mentor can smell the desperation from Harry, so it seems to be a perfect situation for her to finally get a job. The kids are totally rambunctious and have no sense of structure whatsoever, so it’s all delightful chaos. Harry and Georgie obviously disagree on methods of handling the kids, and Georgie assumes that Harry is rigid and heartless like her old stepfather. Except when she catches glimpses of him being wonderful with the kids. Harry is trying his best to focus on his career and not get distracted by the siren of a governess, but he’s not terribly successful at it. It was fun to see him bumbling along the way, in total opposition to his serious nature.

Advance ebook provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas (2018)

Fantasy romance. Book 3.5 of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. This novella is a bit of an interlude with our cast of characters recovering from the recent war. We get to see multiple points of view here as everyone prepares for the Winter Solstice. Not much in the way of action-adventure, but we get a check-in on the status of everyone we care about.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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