Month: November 2021

A Malevolent Connection by Lynn Messina

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

A Malevolent Connection (Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries #9)Barbara’s rating: 3.7 of 5 Stars
Series: Beatrice Hyde-Clare #9
Publication Date: 11/11/21
Period: Regency London
Number of Pages: 261

Although Beatrice (Bea) Hyde-Clare, still hasn’t managed to deal with her chef putting pineapple into everything she eats, she’s nicely settled into her month-long marriage to Damien Matlock, the sixth Duke of Kesgrave. The pineapple fiasco is her own fault though – and she knows it – and she’ll deal with it – just not today. She loves being married to a man she adores and who treats her as an equal partner – until she feels he doesn’t treat her that way. Oops.

When Bea’s archnemesis tries to weasel her way into Bea’s good graces by telling Bea about a plot on her life, Bea doesn’t know whether to believe the woman or not. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Mrs. Norton had born tales designed to hurt Bea in some way. This tale though, if true, will have major repercussions on both Bea and Damien. The plot, you see, is that Damien’s uncle, Lord Myles Matlock, is hiring a thug to murder Bea. That would allow his son, Mortimer, to become the duke’s heir.

Although Bea agrees to allow Damien to handle the situation, she manages to parse her agreement so she feels she can still investigate on her own. What does she find? She finds Damien, with a bloody silver candlestick in his hand, standing over the dead body of his uncle. Oops – again. Beatrice knows Damien didn’t murder his uncle – but who did? Their investigations lead them through many suspects from barristers to criminal kingpins and everything in between. It seems his uncle was a very unsavory character.

The only other book I’ve read in the series is A Sinister Establishment, and I did not enjoy this one as much as I did that one. The crime, the victim, the suspects, nor the motive intrigued me and I found the investigation to be slow and a bit plodding. I do love the wit and banter between Damien and Bea, but I’m not sure I like Bea much at all. In this book, she expects Damien to check with her and get her approval for every little thing he does. I expected to see a place where he asked if he had her permission to go to the restroom. Everything was about her expectations of him – and evidently, he wasn’t allowed to have expectations of her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for female rights, but Bea’s version seems to be that the female is the only one with rights. She chastises, thwarts, and dissembles all the time and I just find it difficult to believe that Damien could love that about her.

I did mostly enjoy the story and may try another one to see if this version of Bea is repeated. If so, I probably won’t continue with the series. However, if they BOTH become equal partners in the relationship, then I believe I would happily continue with the series.

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

View all my reviews

To Covet a Countess by Sapna Bhog

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

To Covet a CountessTo Covet a Countess by Sapna Bhog

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Elusive Lords, #2

Release Date: November 16, 2021

When the situation at their uncle’s home in India becomes unbearable, Sania Aaryan takes her younger sister Isha and flees to England, where she hopes to find sanctuary with her cousin Lara, the new Duchess of Wolverton. But when they arrive looking bedraggled, Lara is not home and her butler refuses to believe that they are related to the duchess and turns them out. With no money and near-freezing temperatures, Sania takes matters into her own hands and tries to break in.

The last thing Nicholas “Hawk” Delmore, the Earl of Hawksley expects to see while returning home is someone trying to break into his best friend Wolf’s house! He immediately intervenes and gets yet another shock when the small intruder turns out to be a woman, who threatens him with a dagger and then faints! Hawk takes Sania and Isha to his house and sends a letter to Wolf. He plans to keep them at his house until Wolf returns and either confirms or denies their relationship to his wife. What he doesn’t plan on doing is becoming infatuated with the lovely Indian woman, but that is exactly what happens.

Wolf and Lara return and are overjoyed to see Sania and Isha, they immediately move them into their house and get ready to launch them into society. Hawk tries to distance himself from Sania, sure that she would be better off with another man. Events from his past have convinced him that he doesn’t deserve a wife and children, so while he desires Sania, he goes out of his way to avoid her. It is a good plan, too bad Sania doesn’t agree. She refuses to give up on the attraction that is growing between them and eventually, she succeeds in making Hawk believe that they could have a future. All seems to be going well until their betrothal ball when the past comes calling and Hawk lets his insecurities destroy their chance for HEA. Can he convince Sania to give him another chance to prove his love or was his betrayal too much to overcome?

This was a good story, it was well-written and nicely paced, but some things just didn’t work for me. Things like: not stating when the book was set, I’m guessing late-Georgian, a lot of modern verbiages, title errors, and the villain’s name/title. What I did like is that the author accurately and subtly addressed the prejudices that Lara and Sania faced in society, she makes Hawk work for his forgiveness, she writes some steamyish love scenes, and she included a charming epilogue. Overall, it was a good read, and while I enjoyed the story, it is not one I would read again. This is the second book in the series, but I had not read the first book and had no trouble understanding the relationships in this book.

*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.*