Month: February 2023

Love a Lady at Midnight by Charlie Lane

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

Love a Lady at Midnight (Cavendish Family Series, #4)Love a Lady at Midnight by Charlie Lane

Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: The Cavendish Family, #4

Release Date: February 10, 2023

For six long years, Jackson Cavendish has loved Miss. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Smith, the woman who stowed away on the ship he and his uncle were on and became a vital part of their research team. But try as he might to win her, Gwen has always kept Jackson at a distance and refuses to drop her shields. Jackson refuses to give up and it seems like his perseverance has paid off when they attend a masked ball and share a night of passion that came straight from his dreams. But the next day, Gwen pretends as if nothing happened and now, months later, Jackson is at his wit’s end – can he break through the walls Gwen hides behind or is he wasting his time? He asks his cousins’ husbands and is advised to walk away and let her come to him. Jackson is not sure he can do that, but he will try, and where better to do that than at his family home? The home he hasn’t visited since his parents unexpectantly died in a carriage accident. Maybe is it time to walk away and time to face his loss. He tells his uncle that he is going home to work on the book his father was writing, but never finished, and to his surprise, his uncle decides to join him and wants to bring along with his wife, Jackson’s young twin brothers, his youngest daughter, and Gwen. Jackson steels himself to have her in his home, determined to ignore his desire to chase her. At least that is his plan.

Gwen has secrets and has been hiding with the Cavendishes for the past six years, and contrary to what he believes, she has deep feelings for Jackson, but marriage is out of the question because her past would ruin his family. She knows that giving in to the passion that is barely contained between them was a mistake, but she can’t regret it. She will cherish the memory of that night forever. When they return to London, she seeks out an old friend and learns that her past is catching up to her, in a panic, she tells Jackson’s Uncle Henry, Baron Eaden that she wants to leave his employ and asks for his help in finding a new position. He is surprised, but agrees to help and insists that she come with them to Jackson’s estate, Seastorm Manor. She is surprised by Jackson’s behavior and finds herself wanting to tell him why she can never be his wife. But when her secret becomes impossible to keep any longer, she will have to decide if she is willing to trust in the love Jackson claims to have for her and the promise of happily ever after or will she do what she has always done and run away?

This is a new author to me and I didn’t realize that this title is towards the end of the series, so these characters have an established past, and reading the series in order probably would have enhanced my reading experience. But the author did give a bit of backstory, so I didn’t feel completely lost. I loved Jackson, he is such a darling man, so kind, so patient, so willing to understand, and has so much love for a woman who has constantly held him at bay. Gwen was a bit harder for me to like and while I understood her scandal, I didn’t understand her fear of retribution – she was not to blame, so I cannot even comprehend why she was so scared of being found. Once she decided to let go of her fear and trust Jackson, she blossomed – I don’t know, maybe that was the author’s intent all along – but it worked and I finally began to believe she was worthy of the love Jackson had for her. The story has secrets, steamy love scenes, nasty neighbors, emotional healing, a cat, inquiring minds, surprising twists, and finally a very endearing HEA complete with an epilogue. I did enjoy this story, but I was disappointed that the author didn’t seem to know or understand honorific titles, nor did she seem to know how untitled married women were addressed, but to be fair; this is just a pet peeve of mine, and doesn’t really have any bearing on the story. I think this is the fourth book in the series and while I felt that I would have benefited from reading the books in order, I was able to follow the story without a problem.

*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.*

Earl Grafton and the Traitor by Angela Johnson

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

Earl Grafton and the Traitor (Fernley Family A Regency-Era Romance)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Fernley Family #1
Publication Date: 4/1/22
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 244

What a delightful surprise! I was about halfway through another book that was becoming more and more belabored and decided I needed a break from it. I went to Amazon to browse and something about this book’s description caught my attention. I purchased it and read it all in one day. I will admit that part of its appeal was the two protagonists dealing with grief and loss within their families as I am in that same process.

I don’t remember whether the book blurb tells you or not, but this is a very clean book – not even a kiss until almost the end. However, for some reason, that just seems exactly right for this book, this story, and these protagonists. Both lead characters had recently lost parents and it had left them lost, floundering, and unsure of themselves, the world, and their place in it. Their initial meeting went badly and both of them had their hackles raised with each other from that point forward. Baxter quickly learned Briar was appropriately named as she was very prickly and easily vexed – at least by him.

American Briar Kensington lost her whole world when her parents died. She was passed from uncaring distant relative to uncaring distant relative until her British grandfather could make arrangements for her to come to England and live with him. Now, deeply mourning and in a strange country, she has no idea how to fit into this new life. The rules of English society make no sense to her as they seem to value propriety above all else. So, when she literally runs into a man on a path she believes is on her grandfather’s property – and he refuses to give his name because they have not been introduced – and then proceeds to denigrate her being American – she takes an intense dislike to him. She fumes at what a lout he is!

Baxter Fernley, the Earl of Grafton, is still reeling from the sudden loss of his father. His father was everything that was good, decent, proper, and wise, and now Baxter has to step into those shoes. How can he do it? He spent his life at his father’s side learning to be the earl, but learning and observing are a far cry from being the earl. The responsibility for the earldom, his six brothers, and his mother sits heavily on his shoulders. So, when a hoydenish American literally runs into him and she ends up sitting in a mud puddle, his temper flares. How dare she be on his property, especially so dirty and unkempt. Her manners – goodness – how can she be so forward? She demanded to know his name though they’d never been introduced.

Every time Baxter and Briar are near each other, the tempers flare, and unkind words are hurled like spears into battle. Yet, beneath those tempers, there are kindred spirits that recognize each other and pull toward each other. It was delightful to watch these two battle it out until they each finally had the grand epiphany that they actually enjoyed those battles and they cared for each other.

I really enjoyed this read and this new-to-me author. The writing was good, the plot flowed well, and the characters were very relatable. I would assume there will be six more books in the series since there are six more brothers to marry. I suppose there could be seven should the author decide to provide a romance for Gigi, the mother of all those boys. Should you choose to read the book, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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