Month: February 2022

The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. George

On By TracyIn America's Gilded Age (1870-1900), Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Lady Tempts an Heir (The Gilded Age Heiresses, #3)The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. George

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Gilded Age Heiresses, #3

Release Date: February 22, 2022

Lady Helena March and Maxwell “Max” Crenshaw met when Helena befriended his sisters, but their relationship took a turn when she helped him save his sister Violet from certain ruin. And while they shared a mutual attraction, nothing came of it and Maxwell returned to New York. Now a year later, Max is back in England to see his father who has had some serious health issues. Thankfully his father pulls through, but their relationship that was already strained by his father’s treatment of his sisters takes another hit when his father demands that Max marries by the new year or he will pull the funding for his sister August’s project. Unwilling to let his sister suffer or let his father win, Max hatches a plan – he just hopes that Helena is willing to play along.

Helena has been widowed and living independently for years, she loved her husband, but has decided that marriage is not for her. She spends her time working on her charitable projects, the newest being a home for unwed mothers and their children. At first, she gained a lot of support, but one by one her patrons are backing away. Apparently, her father has been poisoning the minds of her donors, he wants Helena to marry again and believes that her association with this project will ruin her chances. So when Max proposed that they fake a betrothal, just until August’s project is underway and Helena’s charity house is up and running, it seems like the perfect solution. As long as she guards her heart because, despite the passion that burns between them, Helena has a secret that she believes will prevent them from ever having a HEA…

This well-written book is a great addition to the series, Max and Helena have an undeniable on-page chemistry, making it very easy to root for their happy ending. The book does drag a bit in the middle and the come-and-go tension between them became a bit wearisome around the 70% mark, I also began to get annoyed with Helena’s insistence that she knew Max’s feelings better than he did and the solution that she came up with didn’t really work for me – I felt like she still didn’t believe that Max could unconditionally love her. That said, the book is filled with secrets, wonderful characters, great secondary characters, steamy love scenes, meddling parents, matchmaking sisters, and finally, an ending with a HEA that didn’t seem possible complete with an epilogue. I liked this book and I am looking forward to the next installment! This is the third book in the series, it can be read as a standalone title, but I would recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.

*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.*

Murder on an Irish Farm by Carlene O’Connor

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a Series4 Comments

Murder on an Irish Farm (Irish Village Mystery, #8)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Irish Village Mystery #8
Publication Date: 2/22/22
Period: Contemporary Kilbane village in County Cork, Ireland
Number of Pages: 304

Ah! What a delightfully satisfying read! We start with the wedding that wasn’t, end with the wedding that was, and everything between was absolutely wonderful. The mystery was interesting with a plethora of murder suspects for Dara and Siobhan to sort through and not one, but two murders to solve. Are the murders related even though they are fifty years apart? Who knows – you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan and Detective Sergeant Macdara Flannery are at the altar saying their vows when her older brother, James, flies through the door with news of a body having been found – on their new property. They postpone the wedding and the investigation begins and what a twisted mess it is. The body, it appears, has been in that pit for years – and that proves to be correct. Now, everybody knows what happened to Tommy Caffrey on his wedding day fifty years earlier. He didn’t skip out on the wedding; he was lying dead in a cow pit. Before Dara and Siobhan can get the first body cleared there is another body. This time it is Alan O’Leary, the man who would have become Tommy’s brother-in-law. Alan’s body was discovered directly on top of Tommy’s bones. Surely the two murders are connected – or are they?

I absolutely love the way Dara and Siobhan work together – their love and support for one another is very special and their complementary skills assure the villains will be caught. When you add in Siobhan’s brood of brothers and sisters, you have an absolutely delightful cast of characters to accompany an equally delightful mystery.

This is the eighth book in the series, and I have read and adored all eight of them. I highly recommend both the book and the series. You could read this as a standalone, but if you want to understand the complete dynamic of all of the relationships, you really need to read all of the books in order. The characters have grown so far and it was such a delight to see that growth happen from book to book.

I highly recommend this well-written mystery filled with delightful support characters and vile villains – and goodness, there are even trained hawks to pique your interest. Happy reading!

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

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