Weekly Reads: May 27 to June 2, 2024

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (2021)

Fantasy romance. Book 4 of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. After the events of A Court of Wings and Ruin, Nesta (Feyre’s sister) is all sorts of emotionally damaged and spends her time drinking, dancing, and bringing strangers to her bed. After months of giving her space and time, the Inner Circle have finally called an intervention. Nesta’s being banished to the House of Wind where she’s not allowed to drink, assigned to physically train with Cassian in the mornings, and work in the library in the afternoons. We get to read both Nesta and Cassian’s points of view in this book as they’re stuck in this forced proximity situation. Heavy on angry bickering and angry spice throughout this book.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Captain and the Duchess by Alexa Aston (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Strongs of Shadowcrest series. Widowed duchess Dinah is back out in the courting scene after the death of her husband, but she’s uninterested in any of the suitors she’s met this season. In the back of her mind, she’s still thinking about her stepson’s captain friend Drake, who had flirted with her upon first meeting. Back from his first journey as captain, Drake’s first stop is the call on Dinah and see if he can arrange a dalliance. Lucky for everyone involved, she’s very much interested. It’s a quick connection for these two, both physically and emotionally, even with their different social stations. This was a pretty quick low-angst steamy romance that was very fun to read.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Luna Sisters series. Due to French occupation of Mexico, Ana Maria and her sisters have been sent to England for their safety. Away from her overbearing father, Ana Maria has the opportunity to learn more about herself and her own desires, rather than just following the rules set out for her. She meets and is instantly attracted to the stern and serious Gideon, who seeks to make parliamentary changes to fight against slave trading. These two just keep running into each other at various social events and a romance seems doomed due to Ana Maria being already engaged to someone else and Gideon prioritizing his political career. I did enjoy seeing them admit their feelings for each other and the drama that forces them to act.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Wayward Bride by Anna Bradley (2019)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Besotted Scots series. We get a double romance here in this book. Isla is betrothed to Lord Sydney, even though she’s still pining over Hugh, the stuffy marquess who rejected her after she was involved in some scandal. During a massive snowstorm, Isla ends up stuck at Hugh’s estate and they finally talk out the reasons why their courtship didn’t work out. Meanwhile, Sydney got into a carriage accident during that same snowstorm and is rescued by Lucas, a local farmer. Sydney and Lucas get their own secondary romance here, despite their differences in social station. It was interesting to see the how these four work out how to be with the person they love.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

A Duke Changes Everything by Christy Carlyle (2018)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Duke’s Den series. Second son of a duke, Nick, was treated cruelly by his father and believed to be a result of his mother’s indiscretion, except for the fact that he looks just like his father. After making his way alone and being a co-owner of a gambling den, he’s suddenly the duke after his brother’s death. His only goal is to clear out the estate and rent it out to a tenant and never visit again. He finds an adversary in Mina, the estate steward who wants him to take his duties seriously and restore the estate and assist the tenants. She’s lived at the estate all her life, learning everything from her father (the former steward) and is reluctant to leave for any reason. It was fun seeing these two argue over what to do with the estate and then slowly come to an accord. Definitely a fun romance to read, with Nick being impressed by Mina’s competence, rather than put off that she’s a woman in a man’s role.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

To Wed a Wild Scot by Anna Bradley (2019)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Besotted Scots series. Lady Juliana needs a husband quickly to retain custody of her niece. She decides to find her childhood friend and neighbor Fitzwilliam in Scotland after he has neglected to return any of her letters. It turns out his younger twin brother Logan has been intercepting the letters so that Fitzwilliam will stay in Scotland and care for the tenants there. Unfortunately for Juliana, it turns out Fitz is engaged to someone else and can’t marry her after all. In a show of strength and wit, she demands Logan marry her instead. We get to see these two bicker and argue and reluctantly fall in love with each other despite the circumstances of their match. This one had a lot of drama involved with Juliana’s ill father, the care of her niece, and a dastardly villain.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Scot Who Made June Hot by Fenna Edgewood (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 6 of the Rake Review series. A dramatic house party reconnects June and Cameron, who were once handfasted, but separated due to various reasons. June is now married to a horrible terrible abusive earl who basically spent all her dowry money and is now throwing a house party to find investors in some sort of scheme. Cameron is invited to the party because he’s a duke now, and June had no idea that he was the same person as her long lost love. While they talk out how they were separated all those years ago, they’re still dealing with the horrible husband and his cousin/mistress that he’s been flaunting at the house party. We get loads of drama and chaos here as we uncover what’s going on. Super fun read, despite the emotional upheaval.

Advance ebook provided by Fenna Edgewood.

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For the Sake of a Scottish Rake by Anna Bradley (2020)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Besotted Scots series. Lucy and Ciaran meet on the beach at Brighton when he attempts to rescue her from the sea, even though she’s perfectly well and merely out for a swim. Over the next couple of weeks, they run into each other frequently, and then form a friendship. When Lucy suddenly leaves town without word, Ciaran believes she’s gone to London, so he goes there to find her. We slowly find out that her dastardly uncle and guardian is plotting to marry her off to a lord he owes many gambling debts to and she needs protection more than ever. Lucy and Ciaran embark on a fake courtship to throw off this other suitor and start to deal with their real feelings for each other. There’s a lot of drama in this story, plus a couple bonus side romances featuring Lucy’s cousin and her new friend.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Lady Scandal by Laura Lee Guhrke (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Scandal at the Savoy series. Thrice-widowed countess Delia works as a party and event planner at the illustrious Savoy hotel and she’s loyal to the manager who gave her a job here. Unfortunately, there’s a new boss in the hotel, Simon, who is looking to cut budgets and bring in actual profits to the shareholders. At least, that’s what he’s telling people. He’s really there as a cover for the investigation looking for evidence of much deeper fraud and theft of hotel funds. He’s not sure if Delia is part of the corruption, so he has to keep her at arms length and not tell her the truth about his work. These two start off arguing about the approach to running the hotel, but are mostly angrily attracted to each other. It seems they fall pretty quickly in love, despite not knowing each other that well, and Simon keeping a big secret. I was mostly more interested in seeing Delia realize that her hotel friends really were guilty of corruption and proving Simon right.

Advance ebook provided by Forever via NetGalley.