Weekly Reads: December 25, 2023 to December 31, 2023

A Sure Duke by Christi Caldwell (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the McQuoids of Mayfair series. Alexandra is a stuffy marquess’ daughter who has been curious about the eccentric McQuoid family across the way. One chance meeting with Dallin has both Alexandra and Dallin looking forward to her debut into society where he can claim a dance with her. Unfortunately, Alexandra’s father dies and leaves the family without funds, forcing Alexandra to accept an arranged marriage to provide for her mother and sisters. When Alexandra and Dallin meet again, he believes that she is as haughty as he expected and she believes him to be cold and unfeeling. But it’s pretty much all due to her keeping secrets about her family circumstance and him being jealous that she’s already engaged. When Alexandra’s sister elopes with Dallin’s cousin, they both end up chasing after the couple to prevent scandal. And of course, as they travel together, they do finally kinda sorta communicate with each other.

Advance ebook provided by Montlake via NetGalley.

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Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Rooney is an artist who creates public installations under a pseudonym, trying to distance herself from her famous artist mother. She has a chance meeting with Jack one blustery day in New York and they spend an evening following fate around the city. Although he’s not a believer in fate, he is still enchanted by her and actually has a fun night. They lose contact for romance reasons and somehow reconnect on a work-related project months later. Turns out Jack is a NASA guy who has reinstated an artist-in-residence program and nominated Rooney’s art (not realizing it was her). When they meet again, they try to keep things professional, but it’s like fate keeps bringing them together.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org // Libro.fm

Accidentally His by Sabrina Jeffries (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Designing Debutantes series. Rafe is an army colonel and spy looking to identify the person responsible for shooting his uncle and selling secrets to the French. While he has been following the Harper family events for awhile, he’s decided to uplevel his spying by trying to court the youngest sister Verity. She suspects that Rafe is the Phantom person who has been crashing her events for the past year, but can’t seem to prove it. Add in the part where they are actually attracted to each other and seem to be distracted by each other. When Verity’s ex-fiancee starts causing trouble, Rafe ends up proposing marriage to prevent a scandal. She’s hesitant of course, knowing that he’s keeping secrets, but they soon realize they’ll need to team up to find out the identity of the traitor and villain. Loved seeing Verity’s sister and brothers-in-law come to her defense and I also enjoyed seeing Rafe’s respect and yearning for Verity’s family life.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.

Mrs. Milner Gets a Kitchen by Jane Hadley (2023)

Historical romance. 1950s Minnesota. Standalone novella. Marion is a divorced woman with two small kids looking to re-do her entire kitchen with the latest appliances with her divorce money. She aims to be the envy of all the other busybodies in the neighborhood when she hosts a Christmas dinner. Harry is the contractor assigned to work on her kitchen and they pretty much have an instant attraction to each other. He’s the sweetest most charming and thoughtful man ever, even bringing Marion a hot plate so that she has a place to cook while her kitchen is under construction. While he asks her on a proper date, she refuses due to the optics, but certainly enjoys a heated dalliance with the man. This one is a long-ish novella with steam and emotion.

Ebook free via author’s website.

Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath (2009)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 4 of the Scoundrels of St. James series. Eleanor is a viscount’s daughter in London to avenge her sister’s death by seeking revenge against the lord who ruined her. That lord believes he’s wrongfully being pursued, so he involves Scotland Yard for his protection. James Swindler is an investigator who grew up on the streets after his father was hanged for stealing and is tasked with following Eleanor around. When they meet, each is hiding their true reason for being out and about and they start a flirtation. James feels guilty for deceiving Eleanor, but Eleanor knows that James is following her and she aims to seduce him into protecting her. With the underlying lies forming the foundation of their relationship, it’ll be curious to see how they can have a lasting relationship. We get a massive plot twist halfway through the book that adds an another layer of complexity to the story, which is super fun to read.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Last Wicked Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath (2014)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 5 of the Scoundrels of St. James series. Widowed duchess Winnie thinks she might be going mad because she keeps losing track of her items and catches glimpses of her late husband’s scent around the house. When she confides this information to William, the physician who saved her life many years ago, he rallies his friends to protect her. Turns out her husband might not be so dead after all, since the scoundrels sent him away at the end of Book 1. Winnie and William have developed a longstanding attraction for each other over the years, and they finally make a move towards a physical relationship, even if William knows that he can’t marry someone so far above his station. This one was a pretty short and quick novella and it’s always good catching up with all the scoundrels.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Duchess by Design by Maya Rodale (2018)

Historical romance. Gilded Age New York. Book 1 of the Gilded Age Girls Club. Adeline is a seamstress with dreams of opening her own dress shop and has a meet cute with an impoverished duke in a hotel lobby. Brandon is in New York to seek a wealthy heiress to marry and is instantly smitten by Adeline and thinks that he’s super fortunate to find an heiress he likes in his hotel. Unfortunately, he realizes that she’s not wealthy and can’t really help him, so he’s got to begrudgingly meet and court other women. Meanwhile, Adeline is still working on her unique dress designs and finding ways to show them off. When Brandon suggests that Adeline help with inside scoop on the heiresses in exchange for her escort to the theater so she can show off her gowns, she agrees, but it’s painful pining for everyone involved. Brandon will have to work out how to deal with his money problem if he wants to end up with Adeline.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

When the Viscount Wanted Me by Lydia Lloyd (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Rake Chronicles series. Henrietta is a beautiful and sought after debutante who has a tryst with a man she believes to be her friend, but is now being pushy about marriage. Trem overhears the man lamenting over Henrietta’s rejection and suspects that the man is trying to ruin Henrietta’s reputation. Being Henrietta’s brother’s best friend, Trem tries to resolve the issue by questioning the lady. Turns out the pushy guy’s accusations were true and now Trem sees Henrietta in a new (and attractive) light. They pretty quickly start their own affair and end up engaged in the process. Henrietta has had a longstanding crush on Trem and is pleased that he desires her in return, but is keeping secrets about her parentage and worries over Trem’s reaction. This book was high on the steam, quick on the getting together, and also high in external drama. An entertaining adventure.

Advance ebook provided by Tule Publishing via NetGalley.

The Charmed Heir by Merry Farmer (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Secrets of Nedworth Hall series. We’re all at a matchmaking house party and wealthy heiress Charlotte is paired up with impoverished viscount Dante and pretty smitten with each other. Charlotte is concerned when she starts getting letters and notes suggesting that her mother is alive and working at the manor, not deceased as she always assumed, since she lives with her single father and his business partner. Dante is a comforting presence and listens to Charlotte’s concerns even though he has his own secrets and money problems. When Dante’s twin brother shows up, the flirtatious rogue causes a smidge of confusion before Dante tells Charlotte everything he’s hiding.

Advance ebook provided by Merry Farmer via BookSprout.

Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era. Caribbean Seas. Book 4 of the Daring Dukes series. Everyone is at sea in this one with danger and smuggling and covert spy operations. Lisbeth is all the things: countess, British spy, and dangerous sea captain. She’s deep undercover to bring down a smuggling ring on behalf of the American government. Somehow she gets entangled with Raphael, the son of a disgraced French duke, who is part of that smuggling ring, but really just seeking revenge against his uncle for betraying his father. These two bicker and fight and struggle for dominance, all while lusting after each other like crazy. High on the steam and high on the action-adventure in this one.

Advance ebook provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley.