Lords in Love Series by Darcy Burke and Erica Ridley / Historical Romance Book Series

Beguiling the Duke by Darcy Burke (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Lords in Love series. A duke’s carriage loses a wheel in a small village and he takes shelter in the small village of Marrywell. The village is completely pre-occupied with its annual matchmaking festival, so there’s no room at the inn and no workers to help fix the duke’s carriage. The local squire provides shelter for the week the the duke grows closer to the squire’s daughter. Sadie has been maintaining her father’s home and taking care of her four brothers for years and hopes that this year’s festival will prove fruitful for her marriage prospects. And this time, with the duke at her side, she’s actually getting the attention she deserves. But of course, Sadie and the duke are finding themselves drawn to each other instead. Relatively low on the angst and heartache scale here and a delightful read.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke via NetGalley.

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Taming the Rake by Erica Ridley (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Lords in Love series. Gladys the wallflower is at the Marrywell Matchmaking Festival for the fourth time and needs to find a marriage match before her dowry is given to her delightful younger sister. She finds herself kissed in a garden and expected a proposal from the handsome gentleman, but he never shows up, and she was spotted in a disheveled state, so now she’s publicly ruined as well. Her family cuts her off completely and she has to survive on her own. Five years later, she returns to Marrywell to find the man who ruined her and seek revenge. But he’s a lot less rakish than he seemed before and Gladys is at risk of falling in love. I really enjoyed Gladys’ transformation to a confident woman and the development of her relationship with Reuben.

Advance ebook provided by Erica Ridley via NetGalley.

Romancing the Heiress by Darcy Burke (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Lords in Love series. Leah is back in Marrywell for the annual matchmaking festival as a companion to a young debutante in search of a husband. Of course Leah is still enamored with her childhood friend Phineas, who is considering marrying an heiress to save his secretly impoverished estate. This one is a relatively quick read, with somewhat tragic backstories for everyone involved: Leah had an abusive childhood so she was desperate to escape the village of Marrywell; Phineas had a gambling father who left the estate in dire financial condition; and even the young debutante who is not at all who we’re concerned with has an overbearing managing mother. However, the attraction between Leah and Phineas was a delight to read and their shared history made for a stronger connection. And we get to see the couple from Book 1 of the series again for the festival.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke via NetGalley.

Defying the Earl by Erica Ridley (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Lords in Love series. Titus is the grumpiest earl you ever did meet, eschewing all social niceties and events. He’s tasked by his godmother to take on a twenty-year old ward and comes to the Marrywell festival to meet her. But before he can do that, he’s kissed a stranger behind the potted plants at the assembly, and is aghast to realize that he’s kissed his ward Matilda. She’s out of mourning from her parents, nearly reaching her majority and inheritance, and wants to socialize and make friends with people. This one is very much a grumpy-sunshine story, with tragic backstories for both Titus and Matilda, but they differ greatly in how they’ve moved from their respective tragedies. Another fun and quick read from this series!

Advance ebook provided by Erica Ridley via NetGalley.

Matching the Marquess by Darcy Burke (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Lords in Love series. A widow meets a rake at a house party late at night in the library. A potential bedding is interrupted and the two part ways. Months later, Rebecca has become a popular matchmaker and a marquess’ aunt has hired her services for her nephew. Unfortunately, that marquess is the man that Rebecca met in the library, but she needs to employment so sets out to meet with him prior to the Marrywell Matchmaking Festival. Nash has decided it’s time to remarry but he is looking for a business arrangement rather than a love match, after the devastation of his beloved first wife’s death. When he meets his matchmaker, he’s surprised to find the woman that he met before and that he is still very much attracted to her. Both Rebecca and Nash have their past troubles that get revealed while they’re in town for the festival and become more friendly and honest with each other as they spend more time together. This one connects well with Book 3 of the series, which features Rebecca’s younger sister.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Chasing the Bride by Erica Ridley (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 6 of the Lords in Love series. Tabitha has been betrothed to her father’s viscount friend since before she was born and with her father on his deathbed, the wedding shall be held in short order. Tabitha has no interest in marrying a lecherous old man, but feels that it is her role as dutiful daughter to comply. She spends some of her last few days of freedom at the Marrywell Matchmaking Festival, but her betrothed has assigned his man of business to watch over her. Hudson has worked for the old viscount for years and has been unwisely pining for Tabitha despite being at a much lower social standing. While he is competent at his assigned tasks, he is dreading the day when Tabitha must submit to marriage to the viscount. When she’s spending time with Hudson, Tabitha realizes true joy and companionship, making her dread her looming marriage even more. She ultimately runs from her wedding day, hoping to forestall her fate for just a little while longer. Hudson eventually catches up to her and she convinces him to spend a week with her before she has to meet her doom again, even though his job is to bring her back to his employer. This book was a lot of fun to read with our two people easily falling in love, but kept apart due to their external circumstances.

Advance ebook provided by Erica Ridley via NetGalley.

Undressing the Duke by Erica Ridley (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 7 of the Lords in Love series. Donovan is being pressured by his mother to fulfill his ducal duties to marry a young lady and sire an heir. He has no interest in doing so and only has eyes for his valet of twenty years, Geoffrey. Knowing that he would not want to be lusting after his valet when a wife is in residence, he dismisses Geoffrey as his valet. However, Donovan and Geoffrey must first make a visit to the Marrywell Matchmaking Festival so that Donovan can select a bride. While in Marrywell, they’ve agreed to act as friends instead of master and servant and find themselves finally giving into the attraction between them all these years. This one is a quick read with a nice resolution, especially since Donovan has a younger brother besotted with his wife an a bunch of children to take the role of heir.

Advance ebook provided by Erica Ridley via NetGalley.