Weekly Reads: March 10 to 16, 2025

The Trouble with Anna by Rachel Griffiths (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. I almost missed out on reading this book because I did not realize it was a historical romance. The cover design is fresh and fun but kind of confusing for which genre the book belongs in. Anyway, we have Anna, a socially awkward daughter of an earl who lives with her maternal grandfather and pretty much hates going to balls and parties. And then her grandfather dies and turns out he only leaves her the house, horses, and stables if she marries the earl next door. Julian is doing his best to do his duty and fulfill his obligation but he certainly does not want to marry Anna and thinks that the whole thing is a trap. But then he actually spends time with her and is honestly intrigued and a little bit smitten. And he’s terrible at communicating and she thinks he’s just courting her for duty-bound reasons, even though he kisses her every chance he gets. It’s basically all chaos in a book with an inheritance clause, a somewhat arranged match, and lack of communication. I enjoyed this book a lot and couldn’t wait to see how they resolved their issues.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Topaz by Beverly Jenkins (1997)

Historical romance. Post-Civil War Old West America. Standalone novel. I love the chaos and villainy of a Beverly Jenkins book. Katherine is a newspaper woman who’s investigating a stock fraud crime, gets caught, and needs rescuing by Dix. He’s a deputy marshall who was originally looking for Katherine’s father for his crimes, but then the old swindler promises Katherine’s hand in marriage to Dix since that’s the only thing he has of value. We start pretty early with an arranged marriage for Katherine and Dix and the slow wagon trail to Indian territory as they make their way to Dix’s home, while avoiding the crooks that are after Katherine. It’s danger around every corner and a slow burn romance rolled into one. So much happening in this book and I loved all of it.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

A Midsummer Night’s Duke by Colleen Kelly (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novella. Steamy and emotional one-night stand romance between a duke and an actress. Basically, Bitty and Rex meet each other on the road at an inn, have a wonderful night together, and go their separate ways. But of course they can’t stop thinking about each other, even though Bitty is about to be a respectable teacher at a girls’ school and Rex needs to get on with business as a duke. Neither of them know who the other person is, so are totally shocked when Rex shows up to visit his sister at school and finds Bitty there as her teacher. Awkward. But also, fortunate because they can rekindle their relationship, despite it being a terrible idea. Full of steam and sweetness and longing. Loved it.

Advance ebook provided by Colleen Kelly.

Scot and Bothered by Alexandra Kiley (2025)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Be prepared for lots of angst here. Brooke is a ghostwriter after being unable to graduate school for reasons we will find out later in the book. She’s co-writing her mentor’s memoir and decides to go out on the hiking trail the mentor founded to get some more perspective for her next revisions. Problem is that her ex-boyfriend Jack is also on the trip as a the photographer. The book is told from both Brooke and Jack’s POV, with chapters switching between present-day and the past development (and dissolution) of their relationship. I liked reading about their adventures on the hiking trail and all the elements that they had to overcome. There was a lot of time for Brooke and Jack to each self-reflect on their goals and dreams in life and how they might be able to make a relationship work this time around. It was also interesting to read the chapters from the past and how their relationship was both fated and doomed from the start. The story also gets a bit teary as we deal with the mentor’s illness and how that is shared (or not shared) with our main characters. Great story, but you have to be in the mood for it.

Advance ebook provided by Harlequin Books via NetGalley.