Month: November 2020

The Maiden and THe Mercenary by Nicole Locke #BlogTour #Giveaway

On By TracyIn Blog Tour, Medieval (1066-1540), Middle Ages / Medieval (476-1454), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Maiden and the Mercenary

 

The Maiden Cover

The Maiden and the Mercenary

Keep your friends close…
But your enemies closer?
In order to find a legendary treasure map, mercenary Louve of Mei Solis must infiltrate his enemy’s fortress under the guise of a servant. There, Louve meets beautiful maiden Biedeluue, a fellow servant with her own hidden agenda…to save her sister from the malevolent Lord’s clutches! Their high-stakes missions may be at odds with one other, but their attraction cannot be denied even in this most dangerous of situations…

Purchase Links
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The Maiden -Nicole Locke1a

Author Bio:

Nicole first discovered romance novels hidden in her grandmother’s closet. Convinced that hidden books must be better, Nicole greedily read them. It was only natural she should start writing them (but now not so secretly).

Social Media Links:

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Giveaway: 

Giveaway to Win a £20 / $20 Amazon Gift Card (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Tracy’s Review:

 

The Maiden and the MercenaryThe Maiden and the Mercenary by Nicole Locke

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Lovers and Legends, #10

Release Date: December 1, 2020

When we last saw Louve of Mei Solis, he had resigned his position as Usher to Nicholas and had joined Reynold of Warstone as a mercenary. And now he has been sent on a new mission – invade the holding of Reynold’s brother, Ian and find the parchment pertaining to the fabled Jewell of Kings. In addition to his mission, he has been tasked with protecting Reynold’s youngest brother – Balthus – who has recently reconciled with Reynold. Louve knows that dealing with the Warstones is tricky – they are a complex, deadly group who play games with peoples lives and seemingly have no consciences. He convinces Balthus to stay in hiding, while he enters the fortress and hopefully secures work. As luck would have it, the steward hires him on the spot and then bolts – leaving Louve to deal with a drunken free for all in the kitchens.

Biedeluue “Bied” is at the fortress to rescue her sister Margery, who is Ian’s mistress. She is trying to find a way to see her and after two weeks, has had no luck. She first meets Louve when he comes upon her and another servant in the middle of a drinking game. She can’t believe how handsome he is and even in her drunken state, knows that he is not who or what he claims to be.

She is drawn to him and he to her, but neither trusts easily and when in the company of Warstones, one cannot afford to lose focus. Ian soon makes it clear that he is on to both Louve and Bied and pulls them into his game and to complicate things even more, Balthus “arrives” with his evil parents. Now, not only does Louve have to complete his mission, but he also has to protect Balthus from his family and the woman he loves from becoming a pawn in Ian’s games.

This was a very complex and at times mystifying story. It is well written, but it is really not a story you can skim or read quickly there is A LOT going on and it is not always easy to keep track of who is the bad guy – the Warstones are a truly evil family – think the Borgias – and the brothers have been set against each other since birth – but at times you can’t help but feel sorry for them. I did enjoy the inactions between Louve and Bied, their banter was fun and their love scenes bordered on spicy. In addition to that, this book has murder, secrets, lies, betrayal, poison, villains galore, warm love scenes and a well deserved HEA. This is the 10th book in the series and I would recommend reading the books in order.

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

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers by Tessa Arlen

On By BarbaraIn Audiobook, Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, World War II Era (1939-1945), Yearly FavoritesLeave a comment

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers (A Woman of WWII Mystery #2)
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: A Woman of WW II Mystery #2
Publication Date: 12/1/20
Number of Pages: 320

This series is a delightful find! I have read other books by Tessa Arlen, but I missed out on the first of the Poppy Redfern books – and I’m so sorry about that! The writing is excellent, the mystery is well-formed and well-executed so you don’t guess who the villain is until the very end. There are lots of red herrings to keep you guessing. This book was so entertaining that I’ll now have to go back and read the first book in the series. Speaking of it being a series, this book can totally be read as a standalone – but I can promise you, you’ll want to go back and read the first book.

I listened to an ARC of the audiobook and I enjoyed the listen. The narrator, Madeleine Leslay, performed the narration with a tempo and voice that made me feel as if Poppy is a happy person who enjoys her life. She sounded very upbeat. I didn’t totally lose myself in the story because I did have a hard time differentiating among the speakers. They all sounded pretty much the same – every once in a while, the Scot would sound like a Scot, but the American never, ever, sounded like an American. So, I had to really concentrate to determine who was speaking. I’ll also mention that the American, who is also the masculine lead, was performed so that he sounded so prissy that I would have thought the part was female had the word ‘he’ not been used to describe him.

In late autumn of 1942, Poppy Redfern is settling into her new job as a scriptwriter at the London Crown Film Unit, which produces short films about valorous deeds performed by ordinary British citizens in wartime. She’s really excited to receive her first assignment, writing the script for a fifteen-minute film on a group of female pilots known as the Attagirls. These intrepid ladies fly every sort of aircraft to bases all over England. These ladies would much rather actually fly as part of the Royal Air Force, but England doesn’t allow female combat pilots – they barely allow these ladies to fly the planes around England. They perform a vital service – getting new planes from the manufacturer to the bases who need them as well as ferrying newly repaired planes back to their bases. Poppy cannot wait to meet these ladies.

Poppy’s gentleman friend, Griff, has seven days of leave and decides to go along with Poppy for a few days. Both Griff and Poppy quickly come to like and admire these brave ladies who fly in all sorts of adverse conditions without any of the basic safety devices regular combat pilots have. Their bravery and patriotism come through loud and clear. The six ladies they meet were the first recruited by the Air Transport Auxiliary and all of them are highly skilled and rated for most types of aircraft.

Poppy, Huntley (the producer), Keith (the cameraman), and Griff, all head for the ferry depot from which the Attagirls work. Poppy and Griff arrive first and Poppy sets about getting to know the ladies in order to begin the scriptwriting. She likes them very much and is excited to tell their tales. That excitement turns to horror when, one of the best pilots crashes and dies during a filming session. Everyone is immediately saying it was an accident and/or pilot error. Griff, who is a pilot, and Poppy don’t believe it to be an accident. They investigate more and more – they become more and more sure it wasn’t an accident. Without any proof, they cannot say anything – and when a second crash and death occur, they are sure both are related. When the powers-that-be decide that the crashes are ‘accidents’, and the filming session is drawing to a close, they know they have to quickly get some answers.

I absolutely adored Poppy and Griff – not to mention Bess, Poppy’s sweet little Corgi. Since I didn’t read the first book, I have no idea where Poppy and Griff left their relationship in that book. However, in this book, it is quite evident they care for each other. I’ll be so very happy to read the next book in order to see what mystery they get to solve and to see where their relationship goes next.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an Advance Audio Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.