Month: July 2021

The Viscount Made Me Do It by Diana Quincy

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Mystery, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Viscount Made Me Do It (Clandestine Affairs, #2)The Viscount Made Me Do It by Diana Quincy

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Clandestine Affairs, #2

Release Date: July 27, 2021

Fourteen years after the murder of his parents, Thomas “Griff” Ellis, the Viscount Griffin receives a package with a ring belonging to his late mother, a ring that was stolen the night she was killed. In an effort to track down the sender, he visits the post office, hoping for a lead, but is sent away empty-handed. He visits a nearby coffeehouse and is shocked when he sees a lovely woman enter, wearing his mother’s necklace. The woman stops at the table of some young noblemen who apparently requested her services as a bonesetter to mock her. Angry, the woman dislocates the man’s wrist, telling him to visit her office to get it fixed, and storms out.

Griff learns her name and due to a war injury, has an excuse to visit her offices, even though he doesn’t believe she will be able to help him, since his former guardian is a respected doctor and wasn’t able to alleviate his pain, nor had any of the specialists he has seen. So he is shocked when her treatments work. They form a friendship and he confesses his true reason for seeking her out and she offers to help any way she can.

Hanna Zaydan is the daughter of immigrants from the Levant, most of her family is involved in the cotton trade, but her father was a bonesetter and taught her the art, much to the dismay of her mother and grandmother, who hoped she would marry a nice Arab man and start a family. Hanna truly has a gift for bonesetting and will not give up her practice, therefore she believes marriage and a family are not a part of her future. Her attraction to Griff is inconvenient and impossible, even if he wanted to marry her, her family would never approve. But that doesn’t stop her from helping him solve the mystery of who murdered his parents and why.

Almost as soon as they start digging into the past, ugly truths begin to emerge and everything Griff has been told seems to be lies. Add to this, his former guardian seeming to have a vendetta against Hanna, and a secret he has kept for years coming out and forcing him to offer marriage to save a friend’s honor. All of these combined seem to ensure that there is no possibility for a HEA with the woman he has come to love.

This was a well-written, fast-paced story with wonderful characters and a fresh and original plot. The book is filled with secrets, lies, betrayal, murder, interesting facts on bonesetting, class/station differences, prejudice, warm love scenes, help from unexpected sources, and finally a HEA that seemed impossible. This book achieved the perfect balance of mystery and romance, with neither aspect overpowering or detracting from the other, resulting in a well-balanced and gripping read. There were some typos and title errors, but this was an uncorrected proof, so those errors may be corrected before publication. This is the second book in the series, but it can be read as a standalone title with no problems.

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

When A Duke Loves A Governess by Olivia Drake

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses, #3)When a Duke Loves a Governess by Olivia Drake
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Unlikely Duchesses #3
Publication Date: 7/27/21
Period: Regency, London
Number of Pages: 318

This book hits the ground running on the very first page and doesn’t stop until it crosses the finish line with a most satisfying HEA. Sandwiched in-between is a petulant 4-year-old, revengeful grandparents, a thief, a betrayer, and a murderer. OH! My!

Tessa James, orphan, hatmaker, and newly hired governess, has had a very hard life. She’s survived being base-born, losing her mother at six years old, living in a workhouse, and working ungodly long hours in a milliner’s shop. Now, she is absolutely determined to identify the aristocrat who sired her and then turned her mother out to fend for herself. When she does find him, she doesn’t want to berate him or punish him, she merely wants to ask him for a loan of enough money to start her own millinery shop. After all, he owes her at least that much in life. Her only clue to his identity is a necklace her mother gave her – a necklace with a coat of arms engraved on it. Tessa isn’t a dishonest person, but she knows she cannot find the person who has that crest while she’s working at the milliner’s shop because she only has one half day a week to search. Her solution is to talk the desperate Duke of Carlin into hiring her as a governess – and to manage that without a letter of reference or any experience. Can she con him into a position in his home? She’s sure she can deal with the wild-child Sophy because she’s spent her life caring for children in the workhouse. However, convincing the duke might be a challenge. You think???

Guy Whitby, the seventh Duke of Carlin, never wanted nor expected to be a duke. However, with a number of very unexpected deaths in the Whitby male line, here he is. He can manage the many estates and financial matters of the duchy, but there is one very small, very angry, very unhappy little girl that he isn’t sure he or anyone else can manage. That little termagant seems to run off a governess every other day. He loves his daughter and feels guilty over having left her to the devices of his former in-laws. However, he honestly felt Sophy would be better off if she was cared for by Annnabell’s parents. Annabell’s death in childbirth triggered Guy to outfit a ship and take off around the world cataloging the flora of the coastal regions – and he left the infant Sophy in the care of his in-laws for four years – until he inherited the title and had to return home. He’s a stranger to Sophy and she’s very much afraid of him. She’s also willful, stubborn, and is a master at pitching temper tantrums. Goodness does he ever need a solid, reliable governess for Sophy.

Guy and Tessa are wonderful characters and it was a real treat to watch them overcome their social differences and come to trust each other. That trust is sorely tested when Guy’s diaries of his travels are stolen and he thinks Tessa could surely be the thief. But, when Tessa’s life is at stake, the important things become very, very clear.

I can definitely recommend this read and I hope you will love these very likable and relatable characters as much as I did. The writing is excellent, the pacing is perfect, and the mystery might keep you guessing. I guessed the villain almost as soon as he graced the page, but I didn’t know why – so that was definitely enough to keep me intrigued. Happy reading!

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

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