May 2021 – Page 7 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

The Bachelor Bargain by
Maddison Michaels is now live!

Bachelors, beware. For those who keep secrets and prey on the innocent, you will be exposed, with all your dirty little secrets laid bare to one and all. You have been warned…

Lady Olivia Haliford has had enough. Tired of seeing women lose their reputations, futures, and sometimes even their lives to scandal while the men walk free, she is ready to take back power and stand up for women everywhere. Along with her two closest friends, she plans to start an anonymous publication dedicated to dishing the dirt and exposing the secrets of society’s most eligible bachelors. But in order to do so, she will have to make a deal with the devil…

Sebastian Colver, known as the Bastard of Baker Street, is feared throughout London as the city’s most notorious gambling den owner and undisputed king of the underground. His life is nothing but darkness and danger, so he is shocked when the petite lady gracing his doorstep seems anything but frightened of him. He agrees to be a silent partner in the publishing of the Gazette if she will use her connections to sponsor his sister and launch her into Society and away from his dark world.

But exposing the secrets of the rich and powerful can be dangerous. Almost as dangerous as a lady falling in love with the king of the underground.

Download today!
Amazon: http://mybook.to/bachbarg
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Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3rU4b1l

Meet Maddison

Indoctrinated into a world of dashing rogues and feisty heroines when she was a teenager, Maddison Michaels is a bestselling, award-winning Australian romance author who loves to write sexy history with a dash of mystery! Her debut novel, The Devilish Duke, won the 2019 Romance Writers of Australia Historical Romance Book of the Year. Maddison lives in Sydney with her gorgeous hubby and daughter and always starts her day with a cup of liquid gold…coffee (just quietly, she’s addicted to the stuff)!

Maddison loves hearing from her readers.

Tracy’s Review:

The Bachelor Bargain-1600 The Bachelor Bargain by Maddison Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Secrets, Scandals, and Spies, #1

Release Date: May 17, 2021

Devastated by the death of her dear friend Alice, Lady Olivia “Livie” Haliford vows to find and punish the man responsible for ruining her and possibly murdering her. To achieve this goal and to protect other women from falling victim to the entitled scoundrels of the ton, Livie, and her two dearest friends, Lady Kaitlyn Montrose and Miss Henrietta Merriweather decide to start a newspaper that will target these men and expose them for the predators they are – but to start a publishing business will require more money than they have, but Livie has the perfect investor in mind – Sebastian Colver, the Bastard of Baker Street or as most of London call him, the King of the Rookeries.

Sebastian is intrigued by the lovely young woman with a cane who stormed his office and uses his biggest secret to try and coerce him into investing in her scandal sheet. He should send her on her way because he has more pressing matters to sort out – like finding out who is trying to take over the Rookeries, but her connections, namely her Godmother the Duchess of Calder, makes her the perfect person to convince the “Dragon Duchess” to sponsor his half-sister Charlotte. He makes a deal if she can convince her Godmother to introduce Charlotte to society, he will be her silent partner.

They strike a bargain, but as they spend time together, two things become clear; one they are attracted to each other, and two whoever is trying to take over the Rookeries has also been hired to kill Olivia. Despite his vow to never love anyone, Sebastian can’t seem to walk away from Livie and will stop at nothing to save her. Can these two let go of past hurts and open their hearts so they can find a way to have HEA or will they let their fears ruin their chance for a love of a lifetime?

This was a very well-written, fast-paced story with a great “whodunit” mystery incorporated into the romance of this unlikely couple. The book has a lot going on, murder, betrayal, revenge, steamy love scenes, some angst, great secondary characters, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I did enjoy this book, but there were some things that kept this from being a five-star read for me, such as formal address/title errors and modern-day idioms and verbiage, and a couple of historical inaccuracies that I simply had a hard time overlooking, that being said, I must stress, these things are personal pet peeves of mine and may not bother other readers. This is the first book in the series that I would happily recommend and will be looking forward to the future installments!

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

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Phoenix Club #1
Publication Date: 5/25/21
Period: Regency – 1815
Number of Pages: 326

Burke very nicely set up the premise for this series in the prequel (Invitation). There, we met the principal players as well as the reason behind the club, how it works, and why it is so very exclusive. In this lovely, well-plotted, witty and well-delivered book, we reacquaint ourselves with Tobias Powell who is now the Earl of Overton since his father died almost three months ago, and we meet his new ward Miss Fiona Wingate. There are some interesting and very likable secondary characters that I very much enjoyed and I’m sure we’ll meet several of them in future books. One I particularly liked was Lady Cassandra because she was always Fiona’s partner in crime – actually, she was the instigator more often than not. I also loved Prudence Lancaster and can’t wait to learn more about her. I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. Tucket – she was definitely an anomaly, but she was entertaining. Actually, the whole book was filled with little moments of humor that I enjoyed very much.

When Tobias’s very unloving and unkind father died, he left Tobias in a very untenable position. Tobias must marry within ninety days of the old earl’s death or forfeit the one thing that is nearest and dearest to his heart. It was really the only hurt that the old man could give after his death because it was the only unentailed item in the earldom. For the last couple of years, Tobias’s reputation has been much less than stellar, and now he needs to repair it as best he can and manage to find a lady who is willing to marry within just a few weeks. If you add having to prepare for a new ward and seeing to the requirements for her season, Tobias is taxed to the limit. He fully hopes to marry his ward off right away and be done with her so he can concentrate with his own needs – after all, she has a very sizable dowry.

Fiona was raised in a small cottage on her cousin’s property in a very small Shropshire village. She had no friends – hardly any acquaintances either. Her father was a cool and aloof academic her ignored her and her mother has been gone for a long time. The only constant person in her life is Mrs. Tucket, their maid-of-all-work. Fiona knows how lucky she is to be the ward of an earl and to be having a season in London. She’s puzzled about how that came to be, but she’s very grateful. Fiona is one of the most naïve, Pollyannaish people you will ever meet on the page. She has absolutely no clue about anything in society and is thrown in headfirst when she arrives. She is so filled with excitement and enthusiasm that it is hard to contain it – and – well – she doesn’t usually manage to do so. She doesn’t mean to cause trouble for Tobias – she likes him – very much – but he keeps trying to contain her and that is very much like herding cats.

If you are looking for a fun, witty, well-presented story, this might be the one for you. I enjoyed watching Tobias and Fiona come to terms with each other and finding their HEA. I loved both characters and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. Then, there is Mrs. Tucket – a maid-of-all-work for all of her life. But now, she is a suitable companion for Fiona, she is given a lovely guest room in an earl’s home and is treated as an equal with everyone in the home. She is fully capable of speaking and acting like a lady and is totally comfortable in speaking with a countess or any other titled person. I am quite sure none of that would have happened in reality. I actually loved Mrs. Tucket, but she was just totally period incorrect.

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

Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Month: May 2021

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Tracy’s Review:

Improper by Darcy Burke

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