Category: Anthology

Mrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies by Theresa Romain and Shana Galan

On By TracyIn Anthology, Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Hi All! We are going to change things up a little bit with this review. Since both Barbara and I read this book and we both had differing views of the stories, we decided a joint review was in order!

Mrs. Brodie's Academy for Exceptional Young LadiesMrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies by Shana Galen

Release Date: September 18, 2018

Our Average Rating for the Collection: 4 of 5 stars

Barbara’s Review:

I hope that this anthology is a precursor to a series by one or both of these authors because this only whetted my appetite to learn more about Miss Brodie and her academy. How did her school come to have such diverse offerings in the curriculum? How did she come by instructors who could and would teach those diverse subjects? How did she even come to start a school?

The Way to a Gentleman’s Heart by Theresa Romain (4 out of 5 stars)

Marianne Redfern’s family wasn’t wealthy, but she was happy – after all, she loved Jack Grahame and he loved her in return. He wanted to marry her! Then, she learned the scoundrel was betrothed to a rich heiress when the banns were read in church. She could understand him needing to marry for money in order to save his family, but she couldn’t forgive that he didn’t even have the courage to tell her. Since she couldn’t stand to stay there, she just packed up and left for London. Since the skills she’d learned in the household of a gentleman didn’t really have any value in the employment market, she got desperate pretty fast. Luckily, she came across Miss Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies where Miss Brodie was willing to take a chance on her. She started in the kitchen as a kitchen maid and, over eight years, she worked her way up to cook. She was proud of herself for what she had accomplished. It was hard but very rewarding work and she was good at it.

Jack Grahame loved Marianne Redfern with all of his heart – and it broke that heart when he had to do as his father said and marry an heiress in order to save his family from ruin. It wasn’t the happiest of marriages because each of them was in love with someone else, but they did become friends of a sort. The money saved his family and the lands, but it didn’t save his heart. Then, he lost his father and his wife and had been in social mourning for the last two years. Now, it was time to find his heart again – if she’d forgive him and have him back.

Jack and Marianne have a bit of forgiving to do – on both sides. Their journey to their HEA isn’t smooth, but they each learn a lot about themselves during that journey. There is also a bit of humor – as in Marianne makes Jack a kitchen maid when she is short-handed in the kitchen.

Counterfeit Scandal by Shana Galen (4 out of 5 stars)

Bridget was working for the Home Office as a counterfeiter when she fell in love with Caleb who was a spy. Caleb left on a mission, a long and very dangerous mission – and he didn’t tell her he was going. Just as she learned she was expecting Caleb’s child, she was told that Caleb had died. She resigned from the Home Office and soon met a man who cared for her even though she didn’t love him in return. He was fine with her having Caleb’s child. So, she married him because she thought it would give her child a better life. Well – that was a mistake. Her husband was good to her and her son, James, but he was naïve when it came to money, so Bridget and her husband ended up in debtor’s prison. Rather than subject her young son (about 3 years old) to life inside the prison, she took him to a foundling home and told them she’d be back for him.

Several years later, her husband is dead and she’s out of prison with all debts paid. She’s been working at Miss Brodie’s Academy for a year and has saved up enough money to rent a room and to retrieve James from the orphanage. Except, the orphanage isn’t there anymore. It burned and nobody can tell her what happened to the orphans who lived there.

She rents the room with the intention of spending every spare minute looking for James. However, as she is leaving the home where she has rented the room, Caleb is entering the same home. She is absolutely and totally shocked. She tells him that he must find a new place to live and otherwise expresses her anger. Later, she realizes that she needs Caleb’s help to find James, so she tells him the whole story. He has also explained why he hasn’t contacted her and why they faked his death. They decide to work together even though it will put Caleb’s life in danger.

Their search takes them to Spitalfields and Mayfair and into a lot of danger. Quite an exciting search.

 

Tracy’s Review:

This was a sweet little novella duo by Theresa Romain and Shana Galen, both stories center around the school that the heroines work for – Mrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. Both stories are second chance at love stories and Ms. Galan’s has a tie in to her Survivor’s series!!

The Way to a Gentleman’s Heart by Theresa Romain (3/3.5 out of 5 stars)

Marianne Redfern is the head cook at the Academy, she arrived 8 years ago, with no skills, no money and a broken heart. Her love married another woman and she couldn’t bear to stay. She began as a kitchen maid and worked her way up to head cook. She is content, but she is still heartsore. When Jack Grahame reappears in her life, she is not sure what to feel – elation? Anger? Betrayal? Love? Jack made a choice years ago and sacrificed love for the greater good. Now widowed, he has to know, is it too late? This was a sweet second chance at love story, featuring two people with a lot of pride and a love that never died.

Counterfeit Scandal by Shana Galan  (4/4.5 out of 5 stars)

Bridget Lavery gave up her son 5 years ago when she and her husband were sent to debtor’s prison. Her husband died in prison and when she was freed, she got a job at the Academy teaching art and other less proper skills. She has finally saved enough money to get a room of her own and find her son. The orphanage she left him at burned down and no one seems to know what happened to the children. When she is leaving the boarding house, she runs into a ghost from her past, Caleb Harris, her former love, father of her son and a man she believed dead. Caleb is in hiding, he left Bridget years ago without a word and let her believe he was dead, he worked for the Foreign Office and left to be a spy. Now years later, he is back, but he has a price on his head. He is shocked to see Bridget, the only woman he ever love and the woman he had hoped to marry. He manages to follow her and tries to explain. She wants nothing to do with him and tells him to leave. The next day she is glad to learn he didn’t – she tells him about their son and asks for his help finding him. He agrees, but warns that there is a bounty out on him. They work together and the love they had is still alive, but will they find their son before Caleb is discovered? This was a great novella with steamy love scenes and a nice little tie into the Survivors Series, but it did end rather abruptly and I would have liked a better glimpse of their HEA.

While I enjoyed both stories, I finished the book not really knowing anything about Mrs. Brodie’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies other than it is a school for girls and that besides traditional classes, they are taught self defense and some other questionable skills. I think I would have enjoyed a collaborative short story at the beginning of the book about Mrs. Brodie and why she started her school, I think it would have really added to the novellas if I understood the true goal and motivation for the Academy.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me.*

 

Christmas Revels V by Anna D. Allen, Kate Parker, Hannah Meredith, and Louisa Cornell

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

Christmas Revels V: Four Regency NovellasChristmas Revels V: Four Regency Novellas by Hannah Meredith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Christmas Revels #4
Publication Date: 9/18/18

Mr. Hunt’s Christmas Caller by Anna D. Allen

I really liked this well-written novella and it was the first time I’ve read anything by Anna D. Allen. I liked that both the hero and heroine were both older – in their thirties and both of them were flawed – as in not the most handsome man alive or a diamond of the first water. They were just regular people – NOT the ton. Add in that it was also a Christmas story and it was really nice.

Mr. Matthias Hunt of Oakwood Hall wasn’t looking forward to the Christmas celebrations. Once again, he had been unlucky in finding a wife. He’d proposed and she’d said she needed to think – then – in church – the bans were read announcing her engagement to another man. Well – what did he expect – she was half his age! So, all Matthias wanted to do this Christmas was to sit by his own fire and sulk in misery.

Miss Constance Blackwell was a very poor relation living in her aunt’s home as not much more than a servant. She wasn’t beautiful, but she had a sweet gentle spirit that drew people to her. She had also been in love with Matthias Hunt for almost the entire seven years he had lived in their village. He never really noticed her as a candidate for his wife – he seemed to look toward the young and beautiful debutantes. So, she’d always wish him the best and love him from afar.

Then, finally, he notices her – had he always been so blind that he hadn’t seen her – really seen her. People try to put obstacles in the way of their HEA, but it is a fun read to see how and what they overcome.

The Christmas Gamble by Kate Parker

My favorite stories are those that have both a mystery to solve and a lovely romance and that is just what this story has. Kate Parker writes one of my favorite series, Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, so I always know I’ll enjoy her contribution to any work.

Lizzie Hancock is very hopeful as she travels with her guardian to meet her betrothed – George Waters, Earl of Stonebrook. As she approaches, the house takes her breath away. She can’t wait to meet him – he certainly can’t be much worse than her guardian. However, when she arrives, something seems just a little off. She’s not sure what it is – maybe it is just the fact that her betrothed isn’t there, he’s gone to London on business.

The same afternoon, George’s long-lost brother, Gabriel, arrives and is amazed that his brother isn’t there. George sent for him and he’s come from the middle east to see him.

It is the Christmas season and there are balls and other festivities to participate in, so George squires Lizzie and her guardian around. Gabriel and Lizzie begin to really enjoy each other’s company, but Gabriel knows he’ll have to give her up when his brother returns.

Can’t tell you more – don’t want to spoil it – but there are some lovely twists to the story. After all – it is a Christmas story – and there are Christmas miracles.

The Gnome and the Christmas Star by Hannah Meredith

I really enjoyed this story. It was well written, excellently paced and had very relatable and likable characters. At first, I thought the story was going to be about the younger couple, but it turned out to be about their parents. YIPPEE! The hero was in his mid-forties and the heroine was in her late thirties, so not old, but mature. There is a really fun epilogue that I absolutely loved. To me, the only thing missing was what happened to the relationship between their two children because they seemed to be forming an attachment as well. Maybe it is in an upcoming book, but I couldn’t find it if that is the case.

Dowager Viscountess Sophia Lyndon married an older man with children because she needed security and had no dowry. She wasn’t unhappy, but now that he has passed on, she is going to savor her independence – just as soon as she gets all of her step-children settled. There is only one left, Henry, and he is turning out to be a problem. He lost his left arm in the war and just hasn’t adjusted well – he is temperamental, and can’t seem to find a purpose in life. She and her older step-son, Alexander, have come up with a plan – they just have to persuade Henry to follow it. They think being in the House of Commons and a political career would interest Henry and they present the idea to Henry. He scoffs at first, but then, the idea piques his interest. Once the idea takes root, Alexander mentions that he has the perfect location in mind – in a borough that Duncan Ashe, the Earl of Marle, heavily influences. All Henry has to do is travel to extreme northern England – in December – despite the weather – and attend a house party where he’ll interface with the Earl and perhaps receive his endorsement. All of Sophia’s step-children love her dearly and Alexander has a sub-plot that is all his own. So, he manipulates Sophia into accompanying Henry to the house party.

Duncan’s wife left him after ten years of marriage and four children. He’s felt insecure in his ability to ‘read’ the emotions and thoughts of the female gender from that point on. He thought all was well with their marriage until he came home and found her five-word farewell note. “I have always loved him.” He had kept that note for the last fifteen years and read it about once a week – just to remind him of his failure. He’d settled into a life where he wielded tremendous political influence and power and he held a yearly political house party where he could meet and endorse (or not) newer entries into the political arena. Females rarely attended the events. So, he was a little interested to see the young man who was bringing his mother with him to the house party – certainly an unprecedented thing.

Neither Duncan nor Sophia were looking for any kind of relationship and both were stunned at the instant and very strong attraction they felt for each other. I really liked both of them and I loved watching them realize that they could have more out of life – they could both have a love match. I enjoyed the story, but as I mentioned earlier there was a thread between Duncan’s daughter and Sophia’s step-son that was just left dangling. I would have liked to see that one tied up.

A Perfectly Ridiculous Christmas by Louisa Cornell

I enjoyed this happy little addition to the book, but I guess I didn’t think it was so much a farce as it was just three misguided men trying their best to protect three lovely little girls. It was bright and funny and the characters were engaging.

Valerian, Viscount Kenysham, William Collins, and Viscount Thynne had grown up together. They had spent all of their lives together wherever they had traveled and whatever they had done was always together– they were closer than brothers. Although he was the youngest, Valerian had always been the leader. So, when Thynne needed a new wife, a mother for his three mixed-race daughters, and an heiress, it was Valerian who went to Edinburgh to find just the right lady. Luckily, he did.

Lady Catherine Chastleton has come into a fortune left to her by her aunt. She already has much of the inheritance, but in order to receive all of it, she needs to marry. She doesn’t have a very high opinion of men, so she needs to find one who is weak enough to marry her for her money and still let her be in charge. Luckily, she has found just that man in Viscount Thynne.

The fun begins because the men don’t plan to tell Catherine about the daughters. They figure Thynne can have her “wedded and bedded” and they spring the news of her step-motherhood on her. They make an elaborate plan to keep Catherine away from the girls, but that quickly falls through. Then, they come up with a new scheme and work on that one for a while. Too bad none of them took into account the attraction that would develop between Valerian and Catherine.

The little girls are cute – and can plot on their own. They constantly refer to Catherine as The Hairless rather than The Heiress.

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“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.”