Weekly Reads: October 9 to 15, 2023

Heiress in Red Silk by Madeline Hunter (2021)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Duke’s Heiresses series. Kevin is distressed and annoyed that his uncle gave partnership of his business to a stranger. When he finally discovers that Rosamund is a milliner in a country town, he sends his cousin-in-law to inform her of her inheritance. At first, Kevin is anxious to meet her so that he can convince her to sign away her decision-making rights to his enterprise, but she’s far savvier than that and wants to have an equal say in anything that happens. Rosamund has her own history of having worked as a maid, then becoming an milliner’s apprentice and ultimately opening her own shop for fine hats. She anticipates that her newfound fortune will help improve her and her sister’s station. Once Kevin realizes that Rosamund is not a total pushover, he tries to befriend her to gain influence instead. Along the way, there’s the meddling of his family, the mystery of his uncle’s death, and Rosamund’s attachment to a former love. I loved seeing Kevin and Rosamund interact with each other and Rosamund demand to have things her way. She’s clever and strong-willed and is delightful to read.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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A Duke’s Lesson in Charm by Sophie Barnes (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Gentlemen Authors series. Callum and Emily have known and avoided each other for years because they keep having physical mishaps and calamities with each other (trodden toes, ruined gowns, falling in water, and even a dress burn). It’s fairly obvious to the reader that Callum is clumsy because he’s nervous around Emily, though she has not seen it that way. One day at the park, Callum’s orphaned ward seems to perk up when coming across Emily’s dog, and Callum arranges for the boy to spend more time with the dog. Callum and Emily talk out their clumsiness and misunderstandings and slowly develop a friendship with each other. It’s nice seeing them interact and form a bit of a family unit around Callum’s ward, and when Emily’s grandmother is ill, she lies about a courtship with Callum to make her happy. We also get to catch up with the couples from the previous two books of the series and see the progress of the romance novel that the three gentlemen friends have written.

Advance ebook provided by Sophie Barnes via NetGalley.

The Daring Debutante by Tracy Sumner (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Part of the Christmas Belles Anthology and the Duchess Society series. We have the next generation of the Leighton cluster here with Nigel and Arabella. Nigel was a street orphan adopted by Tobias and Hildy and now runs the gambling hell owned by Arabella’s father. These two grew up together as close family friends and now Arabella is all grown up and going after the man she wants, despite his general feelings of unworthiness and the age difference between them. Super quick and steamy novella, where both people get the full support of their families in this relationship.

Advance ebook provided by Tracy Sumner.

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Drop It Like It’s Scot by Caroline Lee (2020)

Historical romance. Medieval Scotland. Book 5 of the Hots for Scots series. Alistair is too busy running the clan to find a bride. Even though his father has stated that the first son to marry and sire an heir will become the next laird, Alistair is still stuck being a workaholic. The housekeeper’s daughter, Lara, has had a crush on Alistair for ages even though he has never noticed her. She’s determined to assist Alistair in relaxing and finding pleasure and he is very happy to go along with it. It’s your classic oblivious male main character type of story with our gal finally being bold enough to go after what she wants.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

The Rake and the Rose by Eva Devon (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Once Upon a Wallflower Series. Many years ago, Alex’s father was a patron of an artist and then withdrew his support when that man behaved badly. This caused the entire family to end up in dire financial condition, including Alex’s childhood friends Harry and Rose. While Alex and Harry were able to continue their friendship as adults, Harry insisted that Alex stay away from Rose completely, as his rakish reputation would harm hers. Present day Rose works as a writer and is way too pious and self-righteous in my opinion. With her history of being let down by her father’s rakish behavior, she seeks to right the wrongs of humanity by exposing the harms of such behavior. When she needs access to a club, she ends up asking Alex for help, who does so with Rose in disguise as his mistress. This book has Rose being the morally uptight person needing to let go and let joy into her life, along with accepting that Alex is not the depraved soul that she thinks he is. Alex is mostly a charming positive sort of fellow who uses his money to support artisans to the best of his ability.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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The Heiress Bride by Madeline Hunter (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Duke’s Heiresses series. New duke Nicholas is still adjusting to his inherited status and feeling the stresses of his responsibilities. He’s surprised when he receives a visit from the last of the late duke’s heiresses, Iris. She is a rare book dealer and has come to inquire about a particular rare book that the late duke had said that he would assist her in finding. Iris had only recently learned that the duke had passed away and is completely surprised by her inheritance. Nicholas agrees to assist her in finding this book, but is also suspicious of Iris, so he intends to keep a close eye on her. This one is another book in the series where the two main characters really start on opposite sides of an argument but also can’t seem to stay away from each other. This book was super interesting in terms of Iris’s family history and scandal with her grandfather. We also re-open the investigation into the late duke’s death and wonder if Iris or Nicholas become targets for violence as well. And I also enjoyed the big reveal at the end when we start to dig into the attics.

Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Scot to the Touch by Caroline Lee (2020)

Historical romance. Medieval Scotland. Book 6 of the Hots for Scots series. Kiergan is the charming rake of the clan with no desire to marry or to inherit the lairdship, so he’s shocked to find that his father has arranged for him to marry a lady from another clan. But not to worry, Davina is not interested in marrying him either, so she’s disdainful and rude to Kiergan when she and her family arrive at the castle. However, Katlyn is the sister who catches Kiergan’s attention and affection, even though she believes she’s cursed and destined to not marry. Spending time with Katlyn is enough to cause Kiergan to change his tune on marriage, and support from Katlyn and his father boosts his confidence in his ability to serve a purpose to the clan. We get all sorts of humor and hijinks in the secret passages of the castle here, along with discovering the reason why Davina is so hesitant to marry.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Scot Under the Mistletoe by Caroline Lee (2020)

Historical romance. Medieval Scotland. Book 7 of the Hots for Scots series. Nessa is tired of her father setting up betrothals to Henrys who keep dying before she even gets a chance to meet them. She’s determined to convince the man she actually loves to stand up for himself and ask her father for her hand. Brohn is the son of the housekeeper and feels that he’s unworthy of marrying Nessa, so he shrinks back and allows her father to continue to arrange her betrothals. Luckily Nessa is super insistent and forces Brohn to realize the depths of her feelings. This was a quick novella with an easy resolution once everyone declares their feelings out loud.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Too Scot to Hold by Caroline Lee (2020)

Historical romance. Medieval Scotland. Book 8 of the Hots for Scots series. We get the conclusion of the great baby race for the lairdship in this book, with so many of the wives soon to give birth. Davina is back at the castle to assist her sister Katlyn, along with Graham, the man that her grandfather had disapproved of previously. Graham turns out to be a seventh son of the laird and is also a doctor, so having him around for all his sisters-in-law proves to be very useful. We get to see Davina and Graham reunited after a six month long separation (where their letters were intercepted) and they quickly reconnect and try to convince her grandfather to support their marriage. It was fun to catch up with all of the previous couples of the series with the wives in varying stages of pregnancy. And we do ultimately find out which couple bears a son first and will become the next laird.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Some Winter’s Evening by Erin Langston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Related to Forever Your Rogue. We get to see Cora’s barrister brother Gavin find his match in this holiday novella. Gavin is struggling with an ethical dilemma in whether or not to represent some unsavory client in attempts to boost his own chances at a promotion. While he is stressed and mulling this over, he is also on his way to his sister’s house for the holidays and ends up at an inn due to a snowstorm. Emilia is also stuck at the inn overnight on her way to her new governess position and meets Gavin. They share a lighthearted night together with no exchange of last names or contact information. Luckily though, Emilia is on her way to being the governess of Gavin’s very own nephew, so they meet again a couple days later when Gavin shows up at the house. They try to stay away from each other at first since she needs to keep her job and he needs to focus on being an upstanding gentleman, but that doesn’t last long, especially as Gavin’s brother-in-law (the ever-charming Nate) catches onto their obvious feelings for each other. From there, we get to see the uptight and serious Gavin learn to let loose and go with his emotions rather than strict adherence to the logical. His caretaking and worry for Emilia is delightful to read. It was also fun to see the boisterous family dynamics of the house and the affection between Gavin and his sister.

Advance ebook provided by Erin Langston.

The Lady Is Tempted by Cathy Maxwell (2002)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Deborah and Tony have a happenstance meeting at an inn during a rainstorm and have an instant attraction for each other. They fall into a tryst during their stay, but both have totally separate obligations that keep them apart. Deborah is a country widow who has also been responsible and cared for her younger sisters, while Tony is a somewhat disgraced earl with scandalous parents. Oh, and Tony is also already engaged to a proper young lady to improve his social station. It was interesting to see how these two end up together and work through their respective family issues.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.