Author: Tracy

Avid reader (and reviewer) of historical romance.

Kissing Under the Mistletoe, an anthology by Suzanne Enoch, Amelia Grey & Anna Bennett

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Kissing Under the MistletoeKissing Under the Mistletoe by Suzanne Enoch

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Anthology

Release Date: September 28, 2021

In this fun, new Christmas anthology readers are treated to three wonderful new novellas by some of the brightest stars in the Historical Romance genre!

GREAT SCOT by Suzanne Enoch, 5 stars: Fans of the Wild Wicked Highlanders series will be thrilled to revisit the MacTaggerts! While visiting the highlands for the holidays, Lady Aldriss’ companion, Jane Bansil finds the love of her life in the MacTaggerts widower cousin Brennan Andrews. This was a sweet love story with just a dash of spice, lots of MacTaggerts, and ending with a HEA!

CHRISTMAS AT DEWBERRY HOLLOW by Amelia Grey, 4 stars: Isabelle Reed and John “Gate” Gatestone meet in the forest surrounding the Inn at Dewberry Hollow when Isabelle accidentally mistakes a member of his party for deer and shoot his guard. Thankfully, the man was only grazed and Isabelle treats his wound the best she can, causing Gate to assume she is a servant at the Inn. Gate is attracted, but won’t dally with maids, he sets his mind to his task – helping his grandfather, the Duke of Notsgrove, find a tree with the heart he carved for his wife many years ago. He is surprised and delighted to learn that Isabelle is not a servant, she is the owner’s daughter and the great-granddaughter of the Viscount Pailsworth. But Isabelle has been hurt before and refuses to let down her guard with Gate, luckily for her Gate isn’t willing to give up easily! This was a sweet story with warmish/vague love scenes and a HEA.

MY MISTLETOE BEAU by Anna Bennett, 4.5 stars: When her father loses the pocket watch her mother gifted him in a card game to Jack Hardwick, Earl of Frotstbrough, and heir to the Duke of Northcott and her letters to him go unanswered, Miss Eva Tiding breaks into the bachelor rooms to retrieve it, thinking she will sneak in, find it and escape unnoticed. But her plans are foiled by Jack and he proposes another way she can reclaim the watch – pretend to be the woman he is courting, a woman he made up to please his grandmother. At first, she refuses as she never plans to marry, but when her father suggests a match, she tells him she has already lost her heart to Jack. What starts as a ruse, quickly turns to more, but past hurts may prevent these two from ever finding their HEA. This was a delightful tale with a lot of witty banter and a dash of steam.

This was a great collection, each story is standalone, and the novellas are not connected, so it is a very quick and easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed each story and highly recommend the collection!

*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.*

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Infamous by Minerva Spencer

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

Infamous (Rebels of the Ton, #3)Infamous by Minerva Spencer

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Rebels of the Ton, #3

Release Date: September 28, 2021

What goes around comes around, or so it would seem – ten years ago mean girl and diamond of the first water, Miss Celia Trent seemingly had the world at her feet and was just hours away from being proposed to by Lucien Redvers, the Earl of Davenport when a mean spirited prank she and her partner in crime, Sebastian, the Duke of Dowden, played against his twin – studious Richard, went awry, leaving Lucien wed to wallflower Phyllida “Phil” Singleton, Celia being dubbed Lady Infamous and becoming a pariah and Richard slipping away completely unscathed.

Now ten years later, Sebastian is set to marry Lucien and Richard’s sister, Miss Antonia ”Toni” Redvers and a lavish Christmas wedding/house party is being prepared at Lucien’s country estate. It is at the house party that they will all be reunited, much to just about everyone’s dismay – except Richard, who is looking forward to exploring the attraction he still feels towards Celia!

Celia has changed, life dealt her a bad hand and yes, she was nasty, but once you learn more of her past, you begin to understand why she acted the way she did – not that it made her actions acceptable, but who can’t understand youthful insecurity, peer pressure, and jealousy? Celia knows she was awful to Phil and expects the woman to gloat as Celia is now a paid companion. But that doesn’t happen, Phil struggles with her own insecurities and the appearance of Celia in her home brings things that have been simmering for years to a full boil!

I was not a fan of the first two books in this series and almost passed on this title – Thank Goodness I didn’t! OMG – I loved this book! It is well-written and nicely paced with the dual love stories perfectly balanced, and neither couple being slighted. Throw into the mix a couple of parrots, geriatric canines, a vindictive groom, an insect obsessed hero, a heroine with secrets, cameos from Hugh and Daphne, conversations that were years in the making, long overdue apologies, a bride who can plant a perfect roundhouse punch, some steamy love scenes and a lot of witty banter and you have a nearly perfect read complete with two HEAs and an epilogue! This is the third book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title with no problem. I thoroughly enjoyed this uncorrected proof and would happily recommend it!

*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.*