A Good Debutante’s Guide to Ruin by Sophie Jordan (2014)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Debutante Files series. Stepbrother romance, but make it historical. Rosalie has overstayed her welcome at the girls’ school her mother sent her to, so the headmistress has dumped a 20-year old Rosalie in the care of her ducal stepbrother Declan, who she hasn’t seen in many years. She had idolized and adored him as a child, but knows that he’s the cold and distant rakish duke now. Declan’s plan is to offer a dowry for Rosalie and get her out of his house and hair as soon as possible, especially since he despises her mother. It’s not a very successful plan since Declan and Rosalie are very much attracted to each other, and then happen to run into each other at a scandalous club where Rosalie is in disguise. Loads of scandal and drama, especially when Rosalie’s horrible mother gets involved.
Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
An Heiress for All Seasons by Sophie Jordan (2014)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1.5 of the Debutante Files series. Quick, relatively low-angst novella. Violet is an American heiress being shown off around England by her title-seeking mother. She has no intention of marrying anyone in England, since she has a suitor back home, but goes along with her parents until they accept her other suitor. Will is an impoverished earl being set up by his mother to meet Violet, but has no interest in marrying until he actually does meet Violet and is intrigued by her. He spends most of his time trying to pursue her, even though she rebuffs him, and at some point they get stuck in a cabin together during a snowstorm. Easy peasy with fun flirty spice.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
In Which Winnie Halifax Is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti (2023)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Halifax Hellions series. Winnie just wants to rent a cottage and start a sheep farm but isn’t able to secure the lease as a single woman, so she makes up a fake estranged husband by the name of Spencer Halifax to secure her position. Ten years later, Spencer is notified by his solicitor-best friend of the possibility of actually being legally married to a conwoman using his name. He travels to her farm in Wales to find her and to bring her back to London to settle their annulment. Along the way, Spencer and Winnie find themselves attracted to each other and wanting more. However, Winnie is hesitant to overburden Spencer since she has already inconvenienced him with the fake marriage and she is wary of becoming selfish and manipulative like her mother was. Spencer is an all-around nice guy here and hungrily lusts after Winnie. This book is humorous and steamy in all the best ways and we get to hear about Margo and Matilda’s respective exploits from Spencer’s POV. An excellent addition to the Halifax Hellions series!
Advance ebook provided by Alexandra Vasti.
The Luck of the Bride by Janna MacGregor (2018)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Cavensham Heiresses series. Things are sad and tragic in the prologue for the Lawsom family who have lost their parents to influenza. It’s now up to oldest sister March to take care of two younger sisters and a baby brother. Eight years later and still destitute with no support from any appointed guardians, March forges the Marquess of McCalpin’s signature to withdraw funds from her own dowry to care for her home and family. McCalpin, heir to a duke, isn’t great with numbers, so it takes awhile for the embezzlement to be caught and identified. He and March meet and they’re instantly wary of each other (and attracted): she’s upset that he hasn’t been paying attention to his duties or correspondence, and he’s concerned that she might really be stealing money for nefarious purposes. Nevermind that March is friends with McCalpin’s sister Emma or that her clothing is very obviously threadbare. We do eventually see McCalpin’s family provide much needed food and assistance to the Lawson family and it’s all going fine until March’s horrible cousin stirs up more trouble. The romance between these two is a bit fraught since March in insecure about her station and does not want to accept pity or charity; plus McCalpin is hiding the fact that he’s bad at math and doesn’t want March to find out he’s an idiot. Luckily, McCalpin has a supportive family and pushes them together when necessary.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
Swipe Up for More by Stephanie McNeal (2023)
Nonfiction. This book was a look into influencer culture with in-depth interviews with three different influencers: a mom blogger, a fashion blogger, and a runner. It was slightly interesting to see how their businesses were monetized, but this wasn’t particularly instructional or entrepreneurial. If you already spend time in the influencer space, this book does not provide any additional insight on how to become an influencer or make money as a content creator. If you’re a casual consumer, it might be interesting to learn how your favorite internet stars make it work. I mostly skimmed it.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
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All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue by Sophie Jordan (2015)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Debutante Files series. Aurelia has been in love with her brother’s best friend Max since first setting eyes on him at the age of 9. However, at age 15, she witnesses him having a tryst with a maid in the greenhouse, and broken-heartedly draws a caricature of him which accidentally gets discovered and setting him up for humiliation. From that day on, they’ve endured a bickering and spiteful relationship. We are many years later, with Aurelia having been uninterested in the social season or finding a match, until she realizes that she will be a burden on her newly married brother’s household and attempts to find a husband before she and her mother move to Scotland. Max is critical of all of Aurelia’s suitors, even though he has no desire to marry her himself. Max has his own issues stemming from the death of his mother and sister and his father’s subsequent suicide and swears he will never fall in love and set himself up to be in such a vulnerable position. However, all those years of angry bickering has caught up to Max and Aurelia who can’t seem to keep their hands (and mouths) to themselves this year.
Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
The Enraptured Heir by Merry Farmer (2023)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Secrets of Nedworth Hall series. Lady Angeline has not been in society for a few years caring for her ill father and is shy and skittish at the matchmaking house party. She has an awkward first meeting with Rafe when she knocks a vase of flowers to the floor and onto him. Rafe is a very stern and serious marquess who is suffering rumors of his ruined ex-fiancee who ran off with another man. Angeline and Rafe are instantly smitten with each other and spend much of the book talking and getting to know each other, even though Rafe has trouble trusting women after the deceit of his ex-fiancee. Angeline is everything wholesome and good though and he easily falls in love with her. It’s a relatively low-angst story, despite Angeline’s brother’s disapproval and the surprise appearance of the ex-fiancee at the party.
Advance ebook provided by Merry Farmer via BookSprout.
The Duke’s Deceitful Governess by Caroline Lee (2022)
Historical romance. Victorian-era Scotland. Book 1 of the Surprise! Dukes series. Rourke has custody of his brother’s illegitimate twin children who are a crazy handful and have been kicked out of a bunch of schools and scared off many governesses. He’s giving them one last chance to behave for their latest governess, threatening to send them to school separately if they don’t behave. Sophia is the new governess, but she actually doesn’t have any experience with children and forged her recommendation letters so that she can come to Rourke’s estate to search for evidence that he is either complicit or innocent in her old boss’ crimes. Sophia is actually a surprisingly good governess though, connecting with the children, and helping Rourke to connect with them too. Rourke and Sophia are instantly attracted to each other and find ease and companionship with each other. This book is humorous and steamy but also has a bit of danger involved. Definitely recommended if you want to see a stern serious cold duke learn to love his niece and nephew along with their governess.
Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.
Dangerous Duke by Scarlett Scott (2019)
Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the League of Dukes series. Griffin is a secret agent duke in the special league, but he is currently being accused of treason and being kept locked up in another stuffy duke’s house. That duke’s sister Violet seems to have caught Griffin’s attention, while he has also ignited her passions. Unfortunately, Violet is engaged to someone boring and dull who prefers his botany and overbearing mother to Violet. She doesn’t actually think that Griffin and guilty of treason and proposes to work with him to clear his name. Griffin needs all the help he can get and enjoys Violet’s company, so he agrees to her offer. Both slowly start to open up to each other about their past traumas related to the deaths of their parents, and we see their dangerous scheme fall into place. Plus, the actually traitor is still out there making trouble, so we eventually see how that crime is solved.
Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.
Duke Seeks Bride by Christy Carlyle (2023)
Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Love on Holiday series. Our guy Alex is a new duke with a marriage stipulation in his father’s will, stating that he needs to marry in six months in order to keep his castle in Ireland. His annoyingly meddlesome aunt has tried to matchmake him with a wealthy widowed countess and invited her to the castle for a supposed equestrian charity event. The countess sends her secretary instead, mostly to avoid the matching making. Evie is the ultra-organized secretary who has been working with the countess for the past three years but also secretly pens romance novels in her spare time. When she shows up at the castle, she’s shocked to find that they were expecting the countess, even though a letter should have explained the switch. Alex and Evie have actually met briefly once before in the garden of a ball, but Evie is very much aware of her social status and that a romance between her and a duke is impossible. It’s not actually impossible, since this is a romance novel after all, but it takes some time for each person to realize that they really do want and need each other. This book is a relatively low-angst straightforward romance with a quick resolution to external conflict.
Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.
Earl of Passion by Shirley Shadow (2023)
Historical romance. Regency or Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Wicked Rakes series. This story is a pretty straightforward best friend’s brother romance. Helena has been in love with her best friend’s brother Alastor since forever but he has always seen her in a sisterly capacity until recently. After seeing Helena in translucent undergarments swimming in the pond, Alastor is starting to see Helena in a new light. Alastor gives in a little bit to Helena’s amorous advances but feels terribly guilty about it since he is meant to be her brother-like guardian and protector and he has no intentions of marrying her. Throw in a few society dances, Helena’s deadbeat father trying to marry her off to someone else, and now suddenly Alastor wants to marry her. The plot here is simple and predictable and the book is full of steamy scenes. However, I found the writing to be overly simplistic and that the characters experienced shifts in emotions very quickly.
Advance ebook provided by Shirley Shadow.
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