Month: February 2021

The Duke is Wicked by Tracy Sumner

On By TracyIn Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Paranormal / Fantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Duke is Wicked (League of Lords Book 3)The Duke is Wicked by Tracy Sumner

Tracy’s rating: 3/3.5 of 5 stars

Series: League of Lords, #3

Release Date: March 2, 2021

When it becomes clear that the League’s scared book ~ The chronology has been accessed by someone outside the League, they want answers. Using their gifts, they determine the culprit is none other than Delaney Temple, one of the “Terrible Two”, she and her twin brother recently arrived from America, gossip has it that Delaney is a hellion, an heiress with no interest in marriage. Julian knows that she accessed the book when she came to his home and pretended to need help with her carriage, but they want to know why and more importantly how she was able to copy a book with more than a thousand pages when she had less than 10 minutes. These are questions that need answers and Sebastian Tremont, the Duke of Ashcroft is the man to get them!

But when Sebastian approaches Delaney, he is dumbstruck by her, and unfortunately, before he can regain his senses, he is stung by a bee and suffers an allergic reaction. Delaney jumps into action and saves his life by removing the stinger and giving him mouth to mouth – an act that parkgoers assume was a kiss. Delaney takes Sebastian back to her home and tends him and in doing so learns more about him and the League. Delaney doesn’t want to harm the members, she has a gift herself – she stores information in what she calls her “attic” which contains all the books and information she has collected – she enters and it is like a library and she can reread anything she has stored. But her gift isn’t the reason she is interested in the League, someone is blackmailing her and demanding information about The chronology and the League’s members – someone who followed her from America and will destroy not only her but her brother as well if she doesn’t comply.

When Sebastian recovers, he wants answers, but Delaney isn’t cooperating, so he whisks her and her brother away to his castle in Oxfordshire. Sebastian and Delaney try to figure out who is blackmailing her and soon realize that her blackmailer is not the threat they believed. Once the threat has passed, Sebastian finally has to confront his attraction to Delaney and attracted though he is and even though his feelings are engaged, Sebastian is sure Delaney is all wrong for him, he is a Firestarter and thinks he needs someone who will calm him and it is clear that Delaney inflames him. But the heart wants what the heart wants and once they give in to their passion, Sebastian decides that they will marry – too bad Delaney doesn’t agree to his terms.

This is the second book I have read by this author, and I am still not sure if I am a fan or not. The author’s writing style is at times almost secretive – like the author doesn’t want the reader to be privy to any of the character’s secrets or inner thoughts, but this book was less so than the first book I read. She also butchers formal address and nobility titles – again, not as bad in this book as the first -but still enough to be annoying to me. Personally, I found this story was much more engaging than the previous book I read and I found Sebastian and Delaney very easy to like, the chemistry between them was amazing (the author did a great job with their slow-burn romance) and Sebastian’s final proposal was magnificent. So while she nailed their interactions, I felt that the mystery of the blackmailer was completely anticlimactic and the storyline was dropped about the halfway point and seemed to be forgotten until the epilogue. Overall, it was a decent read, but still not something I would read again. This is the third book in the series and I would recommend reading the books in order as the author can be a bit stingy about sharing details.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions are my own *

The Knot of A Knight by Linda Rae Sande

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837)Leave a comment

The Knot of a Knight (The Holidays of the Aristocracy, #2)
Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Holidays of the Aristocracy #2
Publication Date: 3/2/21

This was first released as part of the Have Yourself A Merry Little Secret boxed set in October of 2020 and is now being released as a standalone. It is a lovely and fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed – especially when I get two romances within one book! The writing is excellent and the story is interesting and well-plotted. I’m hoping to see more books featuring the Marquess of Reading’s children – particularly the illegitimate ones – all I can say is that he is one fertile dude!

Randall Roderick, the Marquess of Reading has seven – soon to be eight – children. In his younger years, he was a rake extraordinaire. He dropped his seed anywhere and everywhere. While we may dislike him for his indiscriminate fathering of children, he always took responsibility for them, he gave them his name, he saw to their care and upkeep, and he always played a role in their lives as much as he could. He met and fell in love with his marchioness about seven years ago and has given up his rakish ways. Now, in addition to his four illegitimate sons and one illegitimate daughter, he has two legitimate sons and one child on the way.

Randolph Roderick is the oldest of the illegitimate children. He is the spitting image of his father in looks and the exact opposite in the way he conducts his life. He manages one of his father’s breeding/training stables and he also works for the Foreign Office – and that job got him a knighthood. He’s now Sir Randolph Roderick. He is also a widower with a baby. Luckily, he and his father are fairly close and the baby, Charlie, is sharing the nursery with his uncle Robert, who is 2 years old. Everyone except Randolph seems to know he needs a wife and Charlie needs a mother. Little does he know that Juliet Comber, the wife of one of his friends, has decided to do some matchmaking between several of her friends.

Xenobia Dunsworth is the widow of a baron. It wasn’t a love match, but they had been good friends all of their lives. Sadly, that friendship didn’t really translate well into the marriage. Xenobia is just days out of mourning when she is visited by her very good friends – Lady Julia Comber and Lady Caroline Chamberlain. Julia realizes how very lonely and sad Xenobia is – and she decides to do something about it.

Rachel Roderick is the younger illegitimate sister of Randolph, but neither of them knows about the other. Rachel attended finishing school in Zurich with Julia and Xenobia, but she stayed on longer than they did. Now, she is back. Her mother and, unbeknownst to Rachel, her father plan for her to have a season. Rachel has no hopes of finding a good match among the ton even though her father has fully acknowledged her. You see, her mother is a famed courtesan who now owns the very popular and successful gaming hell and brothel called the Queen of Hearts. If the ton ever found out who her mother is, they’d shun her totally. Rachel believes she’ll just remain unmarried and become a spinster. But then fate intervenes, in the guise of Julia Comber.

Mark Merriweather is the younger son of an earl and his older brother has already married and sired an heir. Mark doesn’t have to worry about inheriting the earldom and he plans to lead a productive life. He has an inheritance and doesn’t have to worry about working at anything if he doesn’t want to do so, but he does. He has purchased a public house, The Three Bells, in Westminster and fully plans to run it himself. It never occurs to him that he is in need of a wife – he only knows he’s in need of a bookkeeper and a cook for the public house. Then, there is a visit with Julia Comber and the rest is history.

It was fun to see these two couples come together. Each of them perfectly complemented their partner and filled the voids they each had. In this story, we got two romances, lots of found money, families who loved each other, and a bit of intrigue with counterfeiters. I hope you’ll read this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.