Weekly Reads: February 17 to 23, 2025

Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Secret Society of Governess Spies series. Frankie is the outspoken and socially awkward governess sent to spy on gambling hell owner Jasper, who has a 15 year old niece living with him after his brother passed away. Everyone here is pure chaos and delight. Frankie is a mathematician and a terrible spy, so she keeps getting into trouble with Jasper. And Jasper cannot help but be totally intrigued by his new governess. Throw in the mischievous teenager, and we’ve got a really fun book.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley. Advance audiobook provided by Hachette Audio. Print book provided by Forever Books.

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I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming (2025)

Fantasy romance. Book 1 of the Cosmic Chaos series. Super funny and spicy, as expected from Kimberly Lemming. Dory is a wildlife biologist who gets attacked by a lion, then abducted by aliens, and then dropped on an alien planet with the dudes are horned and tailed, and dinosaurs roam free. It’s a fun series of discoveries here as we slowly learn why Dory is on this planet at all. It’s an insta-lust type of romance between Dory and her two alien suitors, Sol and Lok. Plus everyone is running from a pink T. Rex. It’s super funny and fast-paced and you really just need to read it to believe what chaotic things happen here.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.

A Simple Scandal by Janna MacGregor (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Millionaires of Mayfair series. Second chance romance here between Dane and Grace, a duke and an earl’s daughter who were childhood friends and previously betrothed. We get flashbacks throughout this book to let us know what happened between these two nine years ago to break their engagement. And we finally see these two talk through those issues are try to figure out how to make things work in the present day. After getting both his sisters married off to his best friends (in book 1 and 2 of the series), Dane is feeling lonely and wants to rekindle his association with Grace. Except he hires her to find him a suitable bride and it’s not clear if it’s just a plot to get close enough to her so that she will end up marrying him. Grace is in all sorts of financial insecurity after the death of her father, so she’s stuck taking the job, even though she doesn’t want to. We get some external players here with Grace’s matchmaking job, but really, I was just reading to uncover how Dane and Grace work out their issues. Overall, a solid second chance romance book.

Advance ebook provided by Janna MacGregor.

Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan (2025)

Fantasy romance. Standalone novel. Full of politics and fighting and things not exactly as they seem. Liyen is the granddaughter of the king of a mortal realm that is walled off from everywhere else and caught between two warring immortal factions. And when Liyen is poisoned and dying, her grandfather steals some sacred lotus to heal her. This angers the immortal queen and the God of War, as expected, since the precious lotus was to be preserved and given to the queen. The romance here is between Liyen and the God of War, Zhangwei, even though she’s adamant that she hates him for what he represents and his role in the death of her grandfather. It’s a lot of back and forth here as he tries to flirt with her and she’s trying to deny her attraction for him. And then we get tied up with a common enemy who wants to harm even more people and it’s a big old confusing mess of activity. Interesting read and kept me entertained, but I felt like Liyen was a bit of a weak character here.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Advance audiobook provided by Libro.fm.

The Runaway Heiress by Harper St. George (2025)

Historical romance. American West. Book 0 of the Gilded West series. Super short read here. Sophie is the niece of some unscrupulous miner and she’s being married off to some other shady character. She’s also got a crush on Gray, who works for her uncle as a gunslinger. Of course, Gray is actually working undercover to bring down the evil uncle for his crimes and he’s also got a crush on Sophie. She tries to run away from the wedding, but he catches her and needs to bring her back, but maybe not before spending a night in his rooms. Quick and steamy little novella.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.