Month: September 2018

Last Night with the Earl by Kelly Bowen

On By TracyIn Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

Last Night with the Earl (The Devils of Dover, #2)Last Night with the Earl by Kelly Bowen
Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Devils of Dover, #2

Release Date: September 25, 2018

It has been 5 years since Eli Dawes left for war with Rose Hayward’s betrothed Anthony and she believed they both died at Waterloo. But the man standing in her studio is not the same handsome rake who she remembers, because that man truly did die at Waterloo.

Eli Dawes, the new Earl of Rivers had never planned to return to England. Injured and left for dead at Waterloo, he has spent the last 5 years in Belgium, first recovering from the horrible burns that left him disfigured and then hiding. When he learns of his father’s death, his inbreed sense of duty compels him to return home. But he won’t stay in London, instead he goes to his Dover estate, Avondale House. He is shocked to find Rose in residence, apparently her sister leased the house for a summer term for her school, the Haverhall School for Young Ladies and Rose teaches painting.

Rose and Eli shared a unique friendship before he left and once he was gone, she believed he, along with his friend (and her fiancée) betrayed her. She is still hurt and angry and wants nothing to do with him. Rose has not had an easy time in the years since Eli left, she has changed. She is a gifted artist and after learning the truth of their loss of fortune after her parents died, has used that talent to help support her family. But Rose has other reasons for staying away from the ton and she believes Eli played a big part in that. The morning after he arrives, she has it out with him and shows him some of the cruel caricatures that Anthony published, caricatures she thought Eli knew about and helped Anthony with. When his shock is apparent, she realizes that he truly didn’t know what Anthony had done and apologizes.

Rose is the only woman Eli has never forgotten, he was falling in love with her and tried to get over her with other women and a wild life, when that failed, he decided to leave and went to war. But seeing her again, brings him right back to where he was before he left – he still loves her and still wants her. She pushes him to move out of hiding, to be a better man. When she introduces him to Lady Anne, he gets an idea of how he can help the families of fallen soldiers and Rose supports him 100%. They grow closer and finally become lovers. Rose convinces him that he needs to return to London and stake his claim on the earldom. He asks her to go with him and she agrees.

They arrive in London and Eli gets several surprises and has high hopes for the future, but instead of the HEA he envisioned, Rose breaks his heart and returns to Dover. Eli is crushed and throws himself into his project to try and forget his pain, but when the Duke of Holloway comes to see him and Eli learns why Rose wouldn’t stay in London, he is resolved to win back the only woman he has ever loved.

This is a very emotional story about two broken people, with lots of angst, secrets and the healing power of love. It is well written, flows nicely, has wonderful characters, steamy love scenes, some surprises and an ending that brought tears to my eyes. This is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand alone title. I am happy to recommend this book, but make sure you have a tissue handy!!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Interwar Period (Nov 1918 - Sep 1939)Leave a comment

Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent, #2)Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Verity Kent #2
Publication Date: 9/25/18

This is a captivating, suspenseful and beautifully written tale set in the aftermath of WWI. It moves quickly and is filled with twists and turns. There is so much rich period detail that is so well done that you feel as if you are there. This author does a lot of research and I always learn something new when I read her work. The characters are so well written that you would like to introduce yourself and make them your friend. I particularly like Max and can’t wait for him to get his HEA. Once I began my read, I couldn’t put it down!

If you read the first book in the series, This Side of Murder, you saw Verity’s reaction to a séance. So, just imagine her reaction when her best friend, Daphne, asks her to attend a séance with her. Verity did her best to decline the request, but Daphne is a very persuasive lady, and Verity ends up at the séance. Two big surprises await her there – (1) is the fact that Max is attending with his aunt and (2) the medium ‘channels’ one of Verity’s contacts from her days as an operative during the war. Verity doesn’t believe for a minute that the reading is true, but how could that medium possibly know about Emelie. Verity is very shaken when she leaves the séance – and even more shaken when she returns to the medium’s home the next morning to find the house burning and the medium dead.

Verity immediately begins to dig into the matter and finds a trail of breadcrumbs. As she and Sidney follow them, the danger increases. They leave England and head across the channel to some of the more horrific scenes of the war – and to the areas where Verity spent a lot of time acting for the crown. The crumbs are sparse and it takes Verity a lot of effort to follow them and find the solution to the mystery – and the madman at the end of the journey.

With the backdrop of the mystery and its solution, Verity and Sidney are still trying to figure out how to make their marriage work. Their fifth anniversary is approaching, but they’ve not spent more than a couple of months of that time together. Sidney was shipped off the war three days after they married and he had very few leaves where he could come home. Then, the unthinkable happened – Sidney died – and Verity went into deep, deep mourning for him. She didn’t care whether she lived or died and she took some big risks – some of them in her spying. She is keeping secrets from Sidney and until they clear the air, they’ll never come together. She’s afraid he’ll hate her if she tells him all. So, it is really nice to see them forgive each other and get back to that love you just knew they always had for each other. Although – I still think Sidney got off a bit easy for what he put her through. All in all, I loved the character development between Verity and Sidney and Verity’s struggle with reconciling her wartime work and settling into a normal life.

I loved the mystery with Emelie because it was really well done and kept me guessing until the end. There are just so many things that I loved about this book that there is no way I can mention all of them here. I can say, however, if you want to be thoroughly entertained and learn something in the process, this book is for you! I can hardly wait for their next adventure!

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”