Month: August 2023

The Duke’s Best Friend by Jane Ashford

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

The Duke's Best Friend (The Duke's Estates, #5)The Duke’s Best Friend by Jane Ashford

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke’s Estates, #5

Release Date: September 5, 2023

Miss Kate Meacham has been at loose ends since the death of her grandfather, the late Sir Michael Meacham who was a legend in the Foreign Office. Sir Michael had included Kate in his work and she loved it. But since his death, doors are closed to her, and people she once considered friends have turned their backs on her and she has been reduced to sneaking into events. It is at once such an event that she encounters Henry Deeping, a new agent for the FO and nephew of Brinsley Gerard, a high-ranking member of the office. Kate and Henry have met before and unfortunately, it was not a pleasant experience. But when Kate sees a foreign agent she thought had been apprehended, she is hell-bent on getting answers and Henry is her “in”. She proposes a mutually beneficial partnership, she will help him by introducing him to everyone he needs to know and he will be her escort back into the diplomatic circles.

Henry Deeping is a younger son with no real interest in the family’s horse breeding business and takes advantage of his uncle’s connections to join the foreign office, but he has yet to figure out how he will make his mark. So when Kate suggests a partnership, he is happy to oblige, because she might be high-handed, arrogant, and a bit bossy, but she is well-connected and knowledgable about the “game”. Theirs is certainly not a case of love at first sight, but as they work together to uncover the new scheme the foreign agent is up to, Henry begins to realize, there is much more to Kate than he ever imagined and wonders how he can convince her to be his partner for life.

This book was OK. It has a decent mystery and I really liked Henry, and while he might be a bit of a beta hero, I loved that he wasn’t a rake or devastatingly handsome, he was just a decent-looking, smart, nice man who was very supportive of Kate, even when she was being difficult (which was more often than not). The book has a lot going on and a lot of secondary characters and at times that becomes distracting making it hard to really “get into” the story. I also think I might have enjoyed this book more if I had read the previous book where they first met. Overall, it was an okay book, but I wouldn’t read it again. This is the fifth book in the series and could be read as a standalone, but as I mentioned, I think it would be best to read at least the previous book before reading this one.

*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.*

Flora Flowerdew and the Mystery of the Purloined Papers by Amanda McCabe

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

Flora Flowerdew and the Mystery of the Purloined PapersBarbara’s rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Series: Flora Flowerdew #2
Publication Date: 9/12/23
Period: 1889 – Victorian
Number of Pages: 102

I picked up the first book in the series because it was a historical mystery and because with a name like Flora Flowerdew, it just had to be amusing. I was hoping for the same in this book, but it fell a bit short of meeting that goal. I still enjoyed both the main and supporting characters, but the story itself was a tad bland – not bad, just bland.

Flora’s business as a medium has really been busy since she helped Benedict, the Duke of Everton, solve the mystery of his family’s missing diamonds. However, she’s also grown a bit bored with the whole medium thing since that case as well. She’s just lamenting about that very fact to her maid/friend Mary when there is a knock on their door. It is after midnight – who could it be? It was the duke, of course, with his aunt Imogen in tow. It seems she’s had some very intimate letters stolen and she wants Flora to help her find them – at a country house party.

Since the duchy is in serious need of an influx of cash, Imogene will also be trying to pair the Duke with the daughter-of-the-house, Marianne. This is the strangest house party. You had to wonder why their host, Lord Windermere, would invite a group filled with so much animosity toward each other. Then, they were all having affairs with each other as well.

I really wanted to love this book so much, but I just couldn’t. I didn’t dislike it – I was more – meh. It wasn’t as exciting, suspenseful, or mysterious as I would hope for in a mystery. There were several places where there could have been some hold-your-breath scenes, but they just weren’t fleshed out. Perhaps that was due to the short length of the book. Then, there is the quasi-romance, between Flora and the Duke. There are hints that a romance is developing, but even that seems a bit tame.

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

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