Month: November 2021

The Knight’s Convenient Alliance by Melissa Oliver #BlogTour

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

The Knights Convenient Alliance

The Knight’s Convenient Alliance

The Knights COVER- Mills and Boon The Knights Convenient Alliance

The only man who’s tempted her…Now poses as her husband!

When an injured knight arrives on Brida O’Conaill’s doorstep, the village assumes he’s her long-lost husband. But her only previous connection to Sir Thomas Lovent was an intense shared moment at a tournament years ago. Brida maintains the pretence while she nurses him, yet once he’s back to full, virile health, she cannot reveal Thomas is not her husband—or that she’s unmarried!—when everyone is expecting them to act like husband and wife…

Purchase Links:

MillsandBoon ~ HarlequinBooks ~  Amazon UK ~  Amazon US

The Knight - Melissa Oliver pic
Author Bio:

Melissa Oliver is from south-west London where she writes historical romance novels. She lives with her lovely husband and daughters, who share her passion for decrepit, old castles, palaces and all things historical.

Melissa is the WINNER of The Romantic Novelist Association’s Joan Hessayon Award for new writers 2020 for her debut, The Rebel Heiress and the Knight.

When she’s not writing she loves to travel for inspiration, paint, and visit museums & art galleries.

Social Media Links:

 Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram

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Giveaway:

For a chance to Win of 3 paperback copies of The Knight’s Convenient Alliance (Open INT)
*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 Knight's Convenient Alliance (Notorious Knights #4)The Knight’s Convenient Alliance by Melissa Oliver
Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Notorious Knights, #4

Release Date: November 30, 2021

Brida O’Conaill and Sir Thomas Lovent have a history, three years ago they shared a passionate kiss, and then Brida, who instigated the kiss, delivered a cutting setdown to Thomas and stormed off. She later felt bad, she lashed out at him in frustration – she wants him, but a curse on her family means she can never marry, so she took her disappointment out on him. She meant to apologize, but Thomas left the following morning without a word and she hasn’t seen him since. That is until he shows up half-dead on her doorstep and her neighbors assume he is her long-absent husband!

Thomas has been working as an agent on behalf of the crown and Hubert de Burgh, the Chief Justiciar of England, which thankfully meant that much of his time is spent in London – far from the tempting Brida. But when a mission goes wrong and Thomas is accused of murder – he will have to return to the Welsh border to clear his name and stop a plot against his liege. But his escape was not easy and he was wounded. He went first to his friend Ralph de Kinnerton, but when he learned Ralph was away, he ended up on Brida’s doorstep. When he awakes, he learns that Brida has made up a husband and all the villagers think he is that man. He plays along but plans to leave as soon as he is well, but when the men who attacked him come calling, he flees with Brida in tow.

Can these two figure out who is behind the sinister plot and thwart it? And more importantly, can they both let go of past hurts and doubts to find love beyond compare? Or will their fears doom them to a solitary, lonely life?

This was a good story, a bit slow-moving, but ultimately, the ending was worth the time invested. The book has strong leads, warm love scenes, a bit of intrigue, a little action, cameos from previous characters, and finally a very sweet HEA. This is the fourth book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title.

*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.*

Gentleman Seeks Bride by Megan Frampton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

Gentleman Seeks Bride (Hazards of Dukes, #4)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Series: Hazards of Dukes #4
Publication Date: 11/30/21
Number of Pages: 384

We met Lady Jane Chapel in the previous book in this series – and goodness – I think she had a personality transplant. What a difference two years can make. In that book, she was so meek, mild, and backward that her younger sister had to step in and save her from a very unwanted marriage. She mostly didn’t want the marriage because she was in love with someone else and they were secretly betrothed. That, of course, ended when her younger sister’s marriage caused a huge scandal. Somehow, after all of that chaos, she has grown a spine of steel, a will of iron, a longing for illicit events, and the temerity to state all of those things. The only part of her I recognized from the last book is how exceptionally beautiful she is.

Thomas Sharpe loves his family and will do whatever it takes to save them. Yes, they need saving. Thomas’s father lost all of his fortune because of a bad investment. I’m not sure why he’d invest money he couldn’t afford to lose – and certainly not enough to bankrupt them, but he did. The only way Thomas can save them is to marry an heiress who has enough money to support them all. He’s been looking for two years and hasn’t been successful because he is so very charming, witty, and handsome that none of the heiresses believe he’ll take a marriage commitment seriously. (I know, we all buy that one.)

Thomas is best friends with Jane’s illegitimate half-brother, Percy, but has spent very little time with Lady Jane who now lives with Percy. However, the two of them make a bargain – Jane will help Thomas find his bride IF Thomas will show her some of the more illicit things in society – those things she’d never normally be allowed to see. Of course, we all know where that is headed – toward a HEA – right!

The story blurb sounds good, doesn’t it? So, why didn’t I rate it 5-stars? While I generally enjoyed the story, there was a couple of things that just wore on me – but I will still read the next one.

• It was plainly and firmly established early on that Thomas had to save his family by marrying for money. Yet, we had to read it and re-read it and re-read it ad nauseum. Enough already.
• The writing often felt a bit choppy and repetitive.
• We heard over and over that Thomas was the most handsome and most charming man in London, yet I saw little of that exceptional charm demonstrated anywhere. He was charming and witty, but no more than anyone else.
• Many of the conversations and actions just had a very modern feel to me.
• It annoyed me that Thomas’s first thought to save his family was to marry for money instead of exploring all of the options that might have been available to him. His best friend is a whiz with numbers and accounting and works for the queen – so why wouldn’t Thomas seek advice from him? Why would Thomas not consider what sorts of other things he could do – especially since he was so very handsome and charming. Surely someone in his vast array of friends could offer some assistance. Thomas isn’t titled and it is the Victorian age – so – surely there was something else to at least consider.

This author is always hit-or-miss for me, so I always have to read the next book to see where it will fall. This book seems to fall into the ‘meh’ category, but the last one was a firm 5-star read. There is a fair amount of wit and steam in the book, so that isn’t ever a bad thing. Overall, I am happy to have met Thomas and Jane but wouldn’t read this book a second time.

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

View all my reviews