Month: August 2024

Miss Morton and the Deadly Inheritance by Catherine Lloyd

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

Miss Morton and the Deadly Inheritance (A Miss Morton Mystery Book 3)

Barbara’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Miss Morton Mysteries #3
Publication Date: 8/20/24
Period: Victorian London – 1838
Number of Pages: 275

After the suicide of her spendthrift father, Lady Caroline Morton found herself orphaned, penniless, homeless, and with the care of her much younger sister. What is an intelligent, vibrant, and intrepid young lady to do in such a situation? She found herself a position as companion to an equally intelligent, intrepid, and boisterous woman. Mrs. Frogerton, a rich as Croesus mill owner, wanted Caroline’s help with guiding her daughter, Miss Dorothy Frogerton, through a London season with the hopes of landing an acceptable husband. Dorothy, you see, wanted a titled gentleman. Since Lady Caroline, as the daughter of an earl, had the manners and contacts to see they received invitations to all of the right events, it was a match made in heaven. Little did they know – they both had a knack for solving crimes – particularly murders!

This book finds us toward the end of the season when Dorothy decides on a beau who clearly seems to care about her. That means there are many things for Lady Caroline to worry about – the wedding, her sister, and what she will do after her employment with Mrs. Frogerton ends and Dorothy is married. She doesn’t need any more worries, so she ignores the first letter from their family solicitor. So what if her father had made a second will? There were NO assets, none, even their doweries were gone, so what difference could a second will make? Evidently, someone thought it made a lot of difference because people began to die, the will disappeared from the Lawyer’s office, and Lady Caroline was attacked and threatened. Who could possibly be interested in that second will? Now that it has disappeared, maybe things will just quiet down and go back to normal. Or not!

I have always liked romance in my mysteries, and so far, this series has none. We have some characters who could be potential suitors, but none who seem to stir Lady Caroline’s blood. We have Dr. Harris who has been in all three books, but I don’t care much for him – at least not for Caroline. Then there is Inspector Ross who chose to work at Scotland Yard much to the objections of his titled family. We were introduced to another potential suitor in this book – Mr. Samuel Frogerton – son of Lady Caroline’s employer. I liked him and I could see a match there because he isn’t the typical doting sycophant – he challenges and discusses with Lady Caroline. We did rule out one potential suitor though. I just need some romance – and soon. 😊

I enjoyed this book and the mystery was good, but it just wasn’t my favorite. Lady Caroline seemed to be ‘less’ in this book – less decisive, less vibrant, less intelligent – just less. Then, in the middle of the story, a sub-plot popped up with Lady Caroline’s sister, and that sort of bogged things down. I’m sure it was to move things along in Caroline’s relationship with her sister, but everything just seemed to go on hold. So, while I enjoyed the book, I wouldn’t care to read it a second time. I will, however, look forward to the next book and hope Caroline is back to her full vibrance and that we get some romance.

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

Good Duke Gone Wild by Bethany Bennett

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews1 Comment

Good Duke Gone Wild (Bluestocking Booksellers, #1)Good Duke Gone Wild by Bethany Bennett

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: Bluestocking Booksellers, #1

Release Date: August 20, 2024

After resigning herself to spinsterhood, Caroline “Caro” Danvers embarked on a secret career writing erotic novels under the pen name of Blanche Clementine. Her goal is to earn enough money to purchase a cottage and live independently, and she is close to her goal. But when her straightlaced vicar father finds her stash of cash along with her publishing contracts and her novels, he confiscates everything, kicks her out with nothing but clothes on her back and the manuscript she had with her and disowns her. She makes her way to London, to the home (and business) of her Aunt Mary and Uncle Owen and her cousins Hattie and Constance “Connie”, it is a grueling trip and she is exhausted, but she has the shop in her sites, when she is knocked into by a man, her manuscript goes flying, the man graciously helps her and apologizes for running into her, but she barely hears him, she is mesmerized by him. She soon learns he is Dorian Whitaker, the Duke of Holland, a widower and a patron of the shop. For the next year and a half, she stays out of his way but uses him as inspiration in her novels. It isn’t until he asks her to help him sell his late wife’s library that these two finally begin to interact. But when love letters to his late wife from secret lover turn up in the books she is selling, they will have to work together to find answers to help the duke put his past to rest. Caro can’t help falling for Dorian, but she is realistic, she knows that he needs to find a wife and she can be nothing more than an affair. But it seems like Dorian might want more, that is until her biggest secret is exposed and threatens to cost her everything.

Dorian loved his wife Juliet, but they married young and were separated when he was sent into diplomatic service, and she refused to join him on the continent. Sadly, Juliet died while he was away and upon his return, he learns of her affair. This knowledge crushes him, and he is consumed with learning why his marriage failed. He also wants to cut ties with his late wife’s no-good cousin Timothy, especially now that his mother is nagging him to remarry. He decides to sell Juliet’s library, one to give Timothy the proceeds as a final payment of sorts and to remove the trace of Juliet in his home as a courtesy to a new wife. He asks Caro to help him with the task and is overjoyed that he finally has a reason to spend time with the lovely bookseller that he has been dreaming of since the first day he met her. Things are going well between them, and Dorian decides that she is the woman he wants to spend his life with. But when he makes a mistake and hurts her after learning her secret, he will have to work very hard to regain the ground he lost. Will he be able to make things right or is he doomed to always lose the women he loves?

This was the start of a new series, and this book nicely sets it up without losing focus on the romance between Caro and Dorian. The book started out a bit slow, but around the halfway point, it picks up speed and doesn’t slow down until the very end. I enjoyed this book, but at times I was annoyed with Caro, I have no problem with a strong woman, but her morals and ideals are not in keeping with era the author chose to set her story in. It might be historical nitpicking, but what is the point of reading historical romance if the heroine is essentially a 21st century woman in period dress? That said, this was a very sweet romance with likable characters, great secondary characters, a bit of mystery, steamy love scenes, a cinnamon roll (beta) hero, an intelligent heroine, dreams, a bit of angst, and finally a lovely ending that includes their HEA and an epilogue. This is the first book in a new series that promises to be filled with strong women and the men who love them.

*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. *