Month: July 2022

A Duchess by Midnight by Charis Michaels

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

A Duchess by Midnight (Awakened by a Kiss, #3)A Duchess by Midnight by Charis Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Awakened by a Kiss, #3

Release Date: July 26, 2022

After years of being the “evil stepsister”, Drewsmina Trelayne has turned over a new leaf and has even begun to tutor young ladies who are getting ready to debut. At 28, she believes that love is not in the cards for her and she hopes to turn tutoring into a business and finally move out of her sister’s house. Thanks to her stepsister Princess Cynde, she might actually have a paying client. She is to meet with Cynde and her husband at the palace to be introduced to the duke, who is a bit notorious and apparently has twins that will require her services. She reports to the palace and is in the anteroom with the other people hoping to meet with the Prince and Princess when all hell breaks loose and a gift of birds for the Princess are accidentally released in the room! She tries to calm the crowd and find a way to capture the birds, when a man she noticed earlier in the corner, tries opening the door to release them, she stops him, explaining the birds would die in the palace, so he breaks a window and the birds fly out. She thanks him and starts chatting, nervous about her meeting she shares more than she should, telling the man of the duke and his twins, only to find out that he is in fact the duke!

Ian Clayback, the Duke of Lachlan is notorious, his name is linked with the Luddite riot and it is said that he conspired with his tenants and then turned on them by alerting the military of their intent to riot. And for the most part, this is true, but his intentions have been misinterpreted and the damage is done, his tenants don’t trust him and his peers think he is trouble. He has worked hard to rebuild the trust and has come to London to try and gather support to get rid of the levies on small craftsmen’s products as they are not able to compete with the mills. He has also decided to launch his twin nieces into society but admits they might need some help, even still, he is not thrilled when the Prince blackmails him into hiring Drew.

Drew meets the twins, Imogene and Ivy, and their mother Lady Tribble, and is shocked to learn that have had no preparation for a season at all, and then she learns that they have been with their mother in a cult/commune for the last five years – something that even Ian didn’t know. Impressed that the girls have opened up to Drew, he begs her to stay. Things are going well and the more Ian sees Drew, the more he likes her and is attracted to her, but his nieces need her and he has to concentrate on helping his tenants, so he will resist her! Until after dinner one night when he meets with her to talk about his niece Imogene and one thing leads to another and they are caught in a passionate embrace and are forced to marry! Can this forced marriage become a love match or are they doomed to a life of unhappiness?

I really enjoyed this story, it was well written and paced nicely, and had a lightness that made it entertaining and very easy to read. Drew and Ian share an almost instant chemistry, but that doesn’t mean they fall in love instantly, the romance develops at a slower pace, making it much more believable. This book has secrets, cults, familiar faces from previous books, including a very odd merchant, great secondary characters, steamyish love scenes, laugh-out-loud moments, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. This is the third book in the series, but the books are very loosely connected and can easily be read as standalone titles. I highly recommend this title, I think it might be my favorite in the series and a book I would happily read again.

*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.*

The Pursuit of Mrs. Pennyworth by Callie Hutton

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

The Pursuit of Mrs. PennyworthBarbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: A Victorian Romantic Suspense #1
Publication Date: Current 7/15/22 – First 3/28/18
Period: Victorian London
Number of Pages: 322

With the growing popularity of Romantic Suspense/Mysteries, Callie Hutton decided she’d try her hand at writing in that genre. Goodness, I am sure glad she did and I hope she continues with it as it is one of my favorites. Some intuition usually has me identifying the villain almost as soon as they grace the page – but it took me close to fifty percent of the book before the villain dawned on me this time. Even then I wasn’t sure. So – well done in the mystery department! Then, as for the romance side of the story – goodness – there was tension from the first of the story and it continued through the entire steamy story. But it was more than just the steam – we also got to see the characters come to know each other and care for each other, even though neither wanted a romance.

Mrs. Charlotte Pennyworth is just coming out of mourning for her husband, Gabriel. They were only married about a month before he was killed in a reckless racing accident. She has come to understand that men cannot be trusted or relied upon. The son of her former employer tried to coerce her into becoming his mistress by threatening her with bringing false charges of theft against her. He was powerful and devious enough to make those stick too. Rather than submit, she packed her belongings and stole away even though she knew he’d still go forward with his false accusations. Then, a few months after arriving in London she met and married Gabriel who promptly died because of his recklessness. No, men cannot be counted upon because the ones who should have protected her did not. Now, as a comfortably-off widow, she has the freedom and independence to live her life as she wants. Or she did until things, some of them horrible, began to be left upon her doorstep. Scotland Yard didn’t have time to deal with it because all of its manpower was focused on Jack-the-Ripper. They suggested she hire Elliot Baker as a private investigator to solve the mystery.

Elliot Baker, private investigator, solicitor, and former inspector at Scotland Yard absolutely does not trust women. He left his career at Scotland Yard under a cloud because of being played false by a woman. He fell for her whole scam hook-line-and-sinker and it caused the permanent injury of a young officer who had a wife and two children. No, he’ll never, ever, trust another woman. He’s shocked when a woman walks into his office without an appointment and asks him to take on a case for her – his clients are always men. He absolutely does not trust her or her story and is sure she has some scheme going. Reluctantly, he ends up taking the case. Still, he doesn’t trust her – and he never will – but maybe he can unearth her scheme and thwart it.

Elliot is surprised by the things that are left on Charlotte’s doorstep and is determined to ferret out the villain. Things get scarier and scarier and Elliot is nearly killed, but still, they have no proof. Suspects, but no proof. Will they identify the villain before it is too late for Charlotte? Excitement and shivers run down the spine.

I can definitely recommend this exciting, romantic book and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. I do think Charlotte was much too quick to forgive in the end. Groveling was required, but forgiveness happened pretty quickly.

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