Category: Barb’s Reviews

The Vixen by Christi Caldwell

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)8 Comments

The Vixen (Wicked Wallflowers, #2)The Vixen by Christi Caldwell

Barbara’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Wicked Wallflowers #2
Publication Date: 8/7/18

Normally, I zip right through the books that I love – quite often finishing them in one sitting. I couldn’t do that with this one. The story is so intensely emotional that I had to keep taking breaks from reading and toward the end – I had to be sure the tissues were near. The book is excellently written, well plotted and the characters will just rip your heart out and then reassemble it for you – but it won’t be quite the same when they are through with you.

Ophelia Killoran didn’t even have a name for many of her years. She was just – Girl. She was the Devil’s daughter. Her father was Diggory, who raped, murdered, pillaged, stole children from parents – if it was nasty and vile, he was responsible for it. Now, Diggory is dead and she and her siblings are trying to make a life for themselves as owners of the Devil’s Den gaming hell. Ophelia is obsessed with saving children who are in the same desperate situation she and her siblings were in, so she trolls St. Giles – often dressed as a man – and rescues the children she finds. She sends them to the Devil’s Den where she then provides them with work and an education.

Ophelia’s brother, Broderick, was determined to marry one of his sisters into the aristocracy. He sees it as a way to cement their safety. They have money, but it can all disappear, so a tie to the aristocracy would help protect them. In the last book, Broderick sent his sister Cleo out to have a season and marry into the aristocracy and that didn’t work out too well. She ended up married to his biggest rival. So, now he is trying it with Ophelia. Ophelia is not a happy camper!

Connor O’Rourke was a young boy who had been forced into Diggory’s gang but had no intention of staying. So, he escaped and Diggory had everyone in the gang looking for him. He was saved – more than once – by a young girl from the gang. Then, he sacrificed himself to save her. Except, that sacrifice actually saved him much more than her.

Connor is now an investigator and his name is Connor Steele. He doesn’t have to work – as a matter of fact, his aristocratic foster father doesn’t want him to work. But Connor just has to and he has made his own fortune.

When Connor accepts a case from a Marquess who is generally accepted as mad, it brings Connor back into St. Giles and into the world of Ophelia Killoran. It turns out, Ophelia is the girl who saved him. He wants her help with his case, locating the ‘lost’ son of the mad Marquess. Ophelia doesn’t trust him and refuses to help him or to give him access to those children she has working at the club.

Connor and Ophelia are thrown together during her season and they get to know and trust each other more and more. Still – she can’t marry him because he doesn’t have a title – and he can’t marry her because he is expected to marry his foster father’s goddaughter.

When you see the betrayal and heartache in his book you’ll understand why I had to keep taking breaks from reading. Some tolerant and open-minded people are not nearly as tolerant and open-minded as they think they are.

I highly recommend the read – but – be sure to read something lighthearted and funny before this and probably afterward as well.

Please check out my reviews at:
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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.”

Maura’s Special Spinster’s Society by Charlotte Stone

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)12 Comments

Maura's Special Spinster's SocietySeries: Spinster’s Society #10
Publication Date: 7/31/18

Just a note:  If you want to read this book, you will not find it on any vendor, Goodreads, Bookbub, etc. until the release date.  I have no clue why the author does this, but you cannot pre-order or read the blurb — nothing before release date! 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is the final book for the original ten members of the Men of Nashwood, and I had assumed the final book of the series. However, the author inducted five new members into the Nashwood group, so I assume we’ll either have five more books in this series or we’ll have a spin-off series. This author isn’t very communicative, so I have no idea of what might be next.

We’ve watched Maura and Julius bicker back-and-forth for a number of books, so we knew they’d be paired up. I’m glad we finally got to Julius’ story and I’m glad his story was the last one. The same goes for Maura. She’s been there since the beginning and they probably have the most interesting and disturbing backgrounds. We learned Julius’ big secret in the last book and now we learn Maura’s.

I’m still not sure what it is about these books that hold my attention – but they do. They are all totally improbable and totally period incorrect. These people, no matter their rank, would have been totally ostracized from polite society. I’m usually a stickler for toeing the line to be period correct – but for some mysterious reason – I just suspend my disbelief and enjoy the story. Maybe it is because they are so blatantly incorrect.

Maura has been visited by a ghost since she was eleven years old and she spent ten years in Bedlam because of it. In this book, we learn who her ghost is, how he visits her, and why. We also learn some of the horrendous ‘treatments’ she was subjected to in Bedlam – and she was treated kindly – God help those other poor souls.

After three years abroad, Maura’s father is coming home. He is the one who placed Maura in Bedlam – and as soon as he left the country, her mother went and got her. Three years of freedom has been a wonderful thing – but with her father on the way home, they all know she’ll soon be back in Bedlam. When the others find out about his return, they start looking for ways to keep her away from him and away from Bedlam.

At the same time, they are looking for ways to keep Maura out of Bedlam, they are also learning more about the Ghost. Can a man who has been dead for over ten years possibly have any bearing on the present? He sure can – read it to find out how and why.

Julius Hext, the Marquess of Darvess, had a horrible childhood that included his mother trying to murder him so that his uncle could inherit Julius’ title. Needless to say, Julius has serious, serious trust problems and he feels that he is unlovable. If his own mother couldn’t love him, who could. The ONLY people in the world he trusts are the Men of Nashwood because they saved his life and have bound themselves together to protect him and their secret ever since.

Julius is a flirt – but he’d never even think of marrying for love. Frankly, he’d never consider marrying at all. Well – unless he needed to do it to save Maura from her father. Then, he’d go for a marriage in name only with her living on her own in one residence and him in another. But then, he finds she has other options – there are other very eligible men willing to marry her. NO! He is the only one who can protect her.

There is a delightful epilogue set five-years out and I was so happy to see that. We get to catch up with all of the couples and their families and see how they are doing. We also learn that they are going to induct five new members to the Men of Nashwood.

This is a fun read and I hope you enjoy it!

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“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.”