Month: July 2024

How the Wallflower Wins a Duke by Lucy Morris

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

How the Wallflower Wins a DukeHow the Wallflower Wins a Duke by Lucy Morris

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: July 23, 2024

After a humiliating experience during her first season, Miss Marina Fletcher, the daughter of a wealthy architect, has decided that marriage is not for her and has instead decided to dedicate her life to her true love; music. But her plan might be sidetracked when her very talented father, along with his greatest rival and their families, are invited by the Duchess of Framlingham to attend a house party, so she can get to know them better before deciding who to hire to design the family’s country estate, especially after meeting her son, the Duke. He is the most handsome man she has ever met and it is clear his mother wants him to marry, the problem is the Duke isn’t ready to marry and wants to travel, but his mother is relentless and soon Marina agrees to a fake betrothal with the Duke, that gives them both the freedom to pursue their own desires, it seems perfect, until it isn’t.

Brook Wyndham, the Duke of Framlingham, was never meant to be the duke, mocked by the ton as the Spare Heir Duke, he has been labeled a rake and a reckless gambler, but these smears to his reputation are lies. Brook joined the army at a young age and served in the wars, never planning on returning to his family. But when tragedy takes not only his father, but also his brother, he steps up to do his duty and lets the ton think the worst of him to spare his mother the humiliation. But he draws the line at marriage, Brook just wants to be free and longs to travel; to find himself, and his mother’s matchmaking attempts are getting annoying. He is ready to tell her off when he meets Marina. Though she is not classically beautiful, he is intrigued by her and forms a friendship with her. Then he comes up with an idea that will let them both have what they want, they will get engaged and have a long engagement, during which time, he will travel the world and she will pursue her musical ambitions without society’s censure. It is perfect, but that was before their feelings were involved and now Brook will have to decide if “finding” himself is worth losing the love of a lifetime.

I have read and enjoyed this author’s Viking romances and was eager to read her first Regency era romance. Sadly, this book didn’t captivate me as much as her previous books. The writing is good, but the story is not as smooth as her other offerings have been and I never really connected with her characters. The story has a lot of plot strings that honestly don’t really fit with the story and did nothing to advance the romance. Overall, it was a good read that I liked, but not a book I would 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. *

No Stone Unturned by Pam Lecky – Review

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

No Stone Unturned (The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries #1)Barbara’s rating: 4.4 out of 5 Stars
Series: The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries #1
Publication Date: 7/25/24
Period: Georgian
Number of Pages: 332

Oh! What a happy little accident! I discovered this lovely book and author while browsing around looking for something to read, and I think I am hooked. The writing was excellent, the plot was layered, nuanced, and multifaceted, and the characters were fully formed and three-dimensional. My favorite character was Phineas Stone, the handsome, intelligent investigator who was investigating a theft of rare, valuable sapphires. I also liked Lucy Lawrence, but, for me, she didn’t quite live up to the expectations set forth in the book. She leapt to the wrong conclusions much too often and often trusted or mistrusted the wrong people regularly. I’ll be looking forward to seeing whether those flaws continue or if she will become the strong, intelligent, wise, and intuitive person she is touted to be. I also discovered this book had been previously published in June of 2019 by Avon (I think) and is now being published by Storm Publishing. Evidently, it was a four-book deal – but I don’t think four books will be nearly enough for me – there must be more.

Lucy Somerville eloped with Charlie Lawrence ten years earlier because her family was dead-set against the match. They loved each other, but one cannot live on love alone and when her father and family disowned her and refused to provide her dowry, things got tight and tough because Charlie didn’t have money either. Lucy was just happy to escape a vile family. However, lately, Charlie had been away more, moody, withdrawn, and his temper more volatile. Lucy wants them to grow closer again, but doesn’t know how to make it happen – and then – there will be no chance for it to happen because Charlie lies in the morgue and a very bad man has begun to accost Lucy. What in the world had Charlie gotten himself into? There is also another man who makes an appearance at Charlie’s death. He SAYS Charlie was his only lead in the case he is investigating – but can she trust him? Time will tell.

Phineas (Phin) Stone is from a successful gentry family and doesn’t want to go into one of the traditional roles for ‘lesser’ sons. No military or clergy for him – so he read law – but found he liked investigating and was really good at it. With insurance companies paying large rewards for discovering the whereabouts of items they’ve insured and paid claims on – or for investigating and keeping them from paying out for fraudulent claims – Phin is quite a wealthy fellow.

For me, Lucy was all over the place in the book and I had to question her judgment. I know she came from a family that made her distrustful – I can see that – but – after all of the gosh-awful things they did to her, she trusts them again and begins to distrust Phin. Anyway, Phin is searching for 3 stolen sapphires and Charlie was his lead to finding them. As Phin and Lucy work together to find out what happened and where the sapphires might be, they draw closer – until Lucy, again, hares off on her own. Can they solve the case and find the sapphires? What will happen with that nasty villain who keeps cropping up? Is Phin trustworthy? Is her family trustworthy? You’ll just have to read this nail-biting book to find out.

I enjoyed the book and will tell you I am looking forward to the next one. I will also mention one thing that bothered me about Lucy and it probably didn’t bother anyone else, so take it for what it is worth. This may be a tad of a spoiler, so, if you don’t want to see it, stop reading here. (view spoiler)

This was a very enjoyable read and I would read it again. BTW – I loved the play on Phileas’s name in the title.