Month: December 2024

No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt

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

No Ordinary Duchess (Greycourt, #3)No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Greycourt, #3

Release Date: December 10, 2024

Raised in Scotland by her Aunt, Lady Elspeth de Moray has come to England to find an ancient diary which she believes will reunited the Wise Women, a secret society sworn to help the women of Britian, trouble is the book is reported to be in the Duke of Windemere’s library, which puts her directly in the crosshairs of her brother Ranulf’s one time friend and now enemy, Julian Greycourt. And as fate would have it, she and Julian are thrown together at every turn. She isn’t sure what happened between Ranulf and Julian, but she knows she should stay away, too bad she finds him so intriguing and desirable! Can the bad blood between their families be laid to rest or is she doomed to love the one man she can’t have.

Julian Greycourt, the heir to his uncle, the Duke of Windemere, is sure that the duke killed his mother and believes she left proof in a book, but which one? Julian is determined to find the truth, but didn’t anticipate meeting Elspeth or falling for her. Dark and brooding, Julian has secrets that he is sure will repulse any woman, but with Elspeth his proclivities don’t seem to matter, in fact, being with her is a dream come true, too bad he thinks her brother killed his sister. Will they each find what they are looking for and find a way to be together or is the past just too much for them to overcome?

Sigh, this series isn’t what I was hoping for, but then the Maiden Lane series is a hard act to follow and left me with very high expectations. Expectations that sadly this series isn’t quite living up to. The book is well written, interesting, intriguing and different, which should make it a hit, but instead it is just OK. The story features a grumpy/sunshine couple, which is always fun, and Julian has some desires that make for interesting love scenes, but it just isn’t Maiden Lane caliber. In addition to that, the Wise Women story line is just not working for me and while I liked Elspeth and Julian as characters, I wasn’t really invested in their romance. Overall, I liked the book, but I wouldn’t read it again. This is the third book in the series and it could be read as a standalone title, but I would recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Rake’s Convenient Bride by Madeline Martin

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

The Rake's Convenient Bride (Wedding a Wallflower #2)The Rake’s Convenient Bride by Madeline Martin

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Wedding a Wallflower, #2

Release Date: December 10, 2024

Years ago, Lady Elizabeth Ashbrook and her four dearest friends made a pact at school to never marry, but now that one of her friends has broken the pact, Elizabeth has been chosen as the next to break it. Elizabeth is sweet and lovely, but she is shy, bookish, and incredibly clumsy, and while she is not opposed to marriage, she is sure no man will want to tie himself to a klutz. When it becomes clear that her parents will not let her younger sister marry before her, she agrees to attend more events and make an effort to find a husband. At the first ball of the season, she is with her friends, trying to blend into the wall when she sees Lord Darlington, a man she accidently spilled lemonade on and tried to clean it up, but ended up touching inappropriately and humiliating herself. She tries to slip away unnoticed, but during her escape her stocking begins to fall, so she seeks out an empty room to repair it. She hikes up her skirts to fix her stocking and realizes she is not alone – Lord Darlington is in the room; she trips and lands in his arms. Before they can untangle themselves, the door opens, and they are caught alone together by some of the ton’s biggest gossips. Elizabeth blurts out that Lord Darlington proposed, and they are engaged, a claim he thankfully backs up. Elizabeth knows they could never marry, but if he is willing to play along so her sister can wed, she promises to break it off, even if that is the last thing she wants to do.

Jasper Fitzroy, the Earl of Darlington is contemplating his day when his Grandmother Bess arrives to announce that she is dying, and Jasper must marry and give her a great-grandchild as soon as possible. Jasper is horrified, he loves Bess more than any person in the world, she raised him when his mother died and during his misspent young, she loved him when it seemed no one else did. He agrees to find a bride and she is ecstatic and tells him she happens to have an invitation to a ball that evening. He arrives and once it is clear that he will be looking for a bride, he feels hunted and slips away for a moment of peace. When Elizabeth comes in, he recognizes her and teases her. He has always liked and admired her but believes that his past makes him unworthy of a woman like her. When they are caught alone together and she announces they are engaged, he is happy to go along, as she would make a wonderful bride and Bess will be overjoyed and maybe he will be able to prove to Elizabeth he can be worthy of her.

This installment of the Wedding a Wallflower series was definitely worth the wait! I loved Elizabeth and Jasper, they are both wonderfully flawed and incredibly likeable characters who you can’t help but root for. This book is filled with emotion, longing, insecurity, wonderful characters, great friends, a feisty grandmother, steamyish love scenes, a bit of misassumption, a little heartache and finally an extremely sweet ending complete with an epilogue! This is the second book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title with no issues. I loved this story and would happily recommend it to my fellow historical romance readers, especially those who love a reformed rake story and those who love to see “girl power” at its finest.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *