Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

The Silent Duke by Jess Michaels

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)3 Comments

The Silent Duke (The 1797 Club, #4)The Silent Duke by Jess Michaels

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The 1797 Club #4
Publication Date: 11/14/17

What a book! I absolutely loved it from beginning to end – and couldn’t put it down until I could see how it all worked out. Do you want a broken heart? If so, just read the Prologue to this excellent book. The unimaginable pain a heartless and mean-spirited parent can cause is just palpable. Then, if you want a smile in your heart – read the rest of the book. It is an excellently written, well-paced, story of life-long friends finding their own happily ever after. It isn’t one of those books where they were in denial of their feelings – no – both knew they deeply loved the other. However, one of them (you guess which one) is stubborn beyond belief and doesn’t feel worthy of the other. Now, for the purists among us (yes, I’m one), the author did use a couple of anachronistic words – for instance, she used the word ‘sex’ to refer to the act rather than the gender. See this Facebook post by Ella Quinn for information on the etymology for ‘sex’.

Ewan Hoffstead was born mute. He was a lovely child, but his father could not accept that his heir was less than perfect and tried to beat, berate and shame him into speaking. Picture a grown man standing above a cowering two-year-old child screaming at him that he was broken and worthless. Imagine the damage that treatment would cause to a young child’s psyche. When Ewan was ten-years-old, his father was going to finally put him in an asylum in order to keep him from inheriting the title. Luckily for Ewan, his aunt and uncle took him from his parents and raised him with love and acceptance. Ewan was actually a very intelligent man, but everyone else seemed to judge him on his lack of speech. Or did they? Maybe it was just his perception that everyone was judging him negatively – but, that poor abused little boy always came to the fore and thought that they did. You’ll just fall hopelessly in love with Ewan when you read this book. He’s sweet, thoughtful, considerate and honorable.

Charlotte Undercross was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl of seven when she helped Ewan through the worst day of his young life. Then, together, they developed a hand-signing language to make it easier for Ewan to communicate with others. It turned out to be much too complicated for others to learn, but Ewan and Charlotte used it all the time. Charlotte loves Ewan with all of her heart and she has told him so and asked him to love her in return. When he refused, she married another.

Charlotte is now a young widow and she’s determined to have one more shot at a life with Ewan. If he still refuses, she’ll have to go back on the marriage mart. Ewan is hosting a Christmas celebration at his estate and several friends and family will attend – Charlotte is among those. Fate intervenes and a winter storm causes rivers to flood and Charlotte’s coach is the last one to make it over the bridge leading to Ewan’s home. That gives Charlotte several days alone with Ewan. Can she convince him to let go of his past and embrace a future with her? We sure hope so. Then, there is the remainder of his hate-filled family to contend with. Will they manage to oust Ewan from his title and cause irreparable harm?

This is a quick and lovely read and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Please check-out our reviews of the other books in this series:
Book 1 – The Daring Duke
Book 2 – Her Favorite Duke
Book 3 – The Broken Duke

The Earl Who Loved Her by Sophie Barnes

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Christmas, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

The Earl Who Loved Her (The Honorable Scoundrels, #2)The Earl Who Loved Her by Sophie Barnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Honorable Scoundrels #2
Publication Date: 11/14/17

This second book in the Honorable Scoundrels is a great read. The series centers around three impoverished sisters. Their great-grandfather was a Viscount and they are the wards of the Duke of Snowden. However, they have never met the Duke and he has made no effort to contact them or provide for them in the year since their father passed away. They are totally on their own. Josephine, the oldest at twenty-six has employment as a bookkeeper. Louise, the middle sister left just yesterday to take employment as a governess (that was the first book in the series – see my review here). This novella features Eve, the youngest at twenty. The two older sisters want very much to give Eve the season they never got to have and are working hard to do just that.

Eve’s childhood friend, Margaret, has invited Eve to spend the Christmas holidays at Amberley Hall. Eve is hesitant to leave Josephine all alone during the holidays, but Josephine encourages her to go because of the contacts and exposure to eligible bachelors. Eve understands how very hard her sisters are working for her and how very much they want her to marry well, so she agrees to make the journey.

Eve’s mail coach made excellent time on the trip to Amberley Hall and arrived about half an hour early – before Margaret’s coach was to meet her. So, Eve decides to walk. It is dusk and Eve heads toward the lights in the distance. When she arrives – she finds she is at the wrong house. Her destination lies six miles in the other direction and the roadways have now turned to ice. Neither man nor beast can make the trip. This means she must spend the night in the home of the bachelor who lives there.

There is an instant attraction between Eve and Bryce Harlowe, the Earl of Ravenworth. He collects, books, coins and . . . . . . flowers. He is also rusticating at his estate – for the last three years – because he’s being shunned by society for a scandalous transgression. He’s really a kind and lovable man and you come to feel his pain as you get to know him. He and Eve make a great pair and their journey to an HEA isn’t a smooth or easy one.

The characters are fully developed and very robust and that is something that is hard to do in a novella. The book is interesting and filled with twists and turns. When you finish, you feel as if you have read a full-length novel rather than a shorter novella. It is excellently done. The plot is solid, the characters are full and the romance is convincing. Well done Sophie Barnes!

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”