Month: May 2022

Once Upon a Duke’s Wish by Lana Williams

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

Once Upon a Duke's Wish (The Duke’s Lost Treasures, #1)Once Upon a Duke’s Wish by Lana Williams

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke’s Lost Treasures, #1

Release Date: May 17, 2022

When Ella Wright’s father passed away, she made the decision to leave Oak Island in Nova Scotia and travel to London with her two sisters in the hope that their estranged grandfather, the Duke of Rothwood, would take them in and help her sisters find good matches. The Duke cut all ties with Ella’s mother when she jilted the Earl of Marbury and ran off with David Wright, a treasure hunter, and a commoner. Ella is not sure of their reception, but with no other options, she and her sisters set out with not much more than the clothes on their backs and their father’s most recent journal.

Leo Stanton, the Earl of Marbury has been friends with the duke for years, as was his father, they were all members of the Royal Geological Society and Leo is an expert in pirate lore. Leo knows that the duke is lonely and has never gotten over the loss of his daughter, so he is surprised to learn that not only has the duke let Ella and her sisters into his home but is asking Leo to help them find their father’s missing journal! At first, Leo wants to refuse, his father deeply loved Ella’s mother and never got over losing her to David Wright which made it impossible for him to be happy, something that trickled down to Leo and his mother, so there is no way he wants to help them, but out of loyalty to the duke he agrees. However, he refuses to let himself fall for Ella, no matter how lovely she is or how much he admires her! But when Ella is in danger, Leo will have to decide if holding on to old hurts is worth missing out on new joy.

This was a very well-written, slow-burning romance story with wonderful characters. The book has a decent mystery, a bit of drama, mild love scenes, great secondary characters, a nice ending, and an epilogue. I did like the story, but honestly, I never really understood the conflict keeping Ella and Leo apart – I understood why her grandfather felt as he did, but Leo’s reason didn’t really seem quite as compelling to me. So overall, this was a nice start to a new series and I will definitely read the next installment and hope that the future books delve a bit more into their father’s search for Captian Kidd’s treasure.

*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.*

A Most Unusual Duke by Susanna Allen

On By TracyIn Book Publicity, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

A Most Unusual Duke (Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde, #2)A Most Unusual Duke by Susanna Allen

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde, #2

Release Date: December 28, 2021

When Beatrice, the widow of the Marquess of Castleton sought to secure her independence by blackmailing the Prince Regent of England, things did not go as planned. Not only did she find herself married again, but her reluctant groom is also a Shifter. But unlike her first husband, Arthur Humphries, the Duke of Osborn is not a decrepit old man and neither is he a wolf.

When Arthur’s father was challenged and lost his life to the challenger, Arthur vowed to never claim his position as Alpha in his bear sleuth. But his cousin, Prince George (also a bear Shifter) demands that Arthur do his duty, if not he will make sure that Arthur’s brother and his young family will suffer. With no choice, Arthur agrees to marry Beatrice but insists theirs will be a white marriage. At the prince’s command, they retire to Arthur’s family estate, a place that Arthur hasn’t seen since the night he lost his father. He manages to keep his feelings for the sleuth and his new bride in check, that is until his brother and his family show up, making him long for things he has sworn to never have.

This was a very interesting, well-plotted, thoughtful story about second chances, love, and acceptance. Beatrice and Arthur are wonderful characters, both with painful pasts, yet they haven’t lost themselves to bitterness. I enjoyed watching their slow-burn romance unfold and loved the secondary characters who added lightness and levity to the story. I liked the story, but the reading was slow-going, the author has and utilizes an amazing (if somewhat obscure) vocabulary, which did break the flow for me, as I had to continually stop to look up a word, or foreign language phrase (which were not italicized) to understand the story and many times the author chose to use a very archaic/obscure word instead of a common word, and while I love to learn new words, I don’t need to learn one on just about every page. Overall, it was entertaining to read with a somewhat anti-climatic ending but did manage to set up the next book rather nicely. This is the second book in the series, but it can be read as a standalone title with no issue.

*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.*