Category: Blog Tour

Lady Ludmilla’s Accidental Letter by Sofi Laporte – Blog Tour

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Blog Tour, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment
Published February 25th 2022 by Lapuerta Publishing

Lady Ludmilla’s Accidental Letter

A resolute spinster. An irresistible rake. One accidental letter… Can love triumph over this hopeless muddle in the middle of the London season?

Lady Ludmilla is mortified. Though the spinster extraordinaire knows it is foolish, she has fallen head-over-heels for the amiable man with whom she’s been secretly corresponding, and that cannot be. When she sets out to uncover his identity, her world shatters. For her best friend Addy turns out to be none other but London’s worst rogue—the man who has ruined her engagement to someone else ten years earlier.

Lord St.Addington is perturbed. The wicked Viscount is developing a marked tendre for a spinster, and that cannot be. She might be mistaking him for someone he is not, or, what is worse, know precisely who he is. As London’s worst hellrake, he has a role to maintain, a charade to play. A depraved heart like his surely can’t be falling in love…least of all with a plain, outspoken spinster.

Determined to discover the truth behind the man she loves, Lu does what she does best: she sits down and writes a letter…

If you crave a humorous romp with witty banter and surprising twists, you will love Sofi Laporte’s charming masquerade.

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MFQ1FKQ

US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MFQ1FKQ

Author Bio – Sofi was born in Vienna, grew up in Seoul, studied Comparative Literature in Maryland, U.S.A., and lived in Quito with her Ecuadorian husband. When not writing, she likes to scramble about the countryside exploring medieval castle ruins. She currently lives with her husband, 3 trilingual children, a sassy cat and a cheeky dog in Austria. Sofi writes sweetly simmering Regency Romance with mischievous, witty banter, and heart-throbbing happily-ever-after.

Social Media Links –
Visit Sofi’s website at www.sofilaporte.com,

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/sofilaporteauthor

Instagram @https://www.instagram.com/sofilaporteauthor/

Bookbub: @sofilaportebooks

https://twitter.com/Sofi_Laporte

Barbara’s Review

Lady Ludmilla's Accidental LetterBarbara’s rating: 3.7 of 5 Stars
Series: Merry Spinsters, Charming Rogues #1
Publication Date: 2/25/22
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 266

While this is not this author’s first book, it is the first book I’ve read by her. I enjoyed the read and am thoroughly looking forward to the next book in the series – but, unfortunately, we won’t get it for another year. The book was witty and humorous, but I didn’t ‘feel’ that strong attraction between the two main characters after they met face-to-face. Their letters definitely showed a connection, but it didn’t seem to carry through once they met – we were told it was there, but somehow, I just didn’t feel it. Golly – much of what I’ve just said sounds a bit negative, so, let me say again – I really enjoyed the read and will definitely read the next one.

Lady Ludmilla Windmere is a spinster at twenty-eight and believes herself to be the ugly duckling of the spectacularly attractive Windmere family. That belief was fostered by an unfortunate event that caused her to leave London during her first season and she hasn’t been back in the last ten years. Three years ago, she wrote a congratulatory letter to a friend, but was unaware the friend had moved. The letter she wrote was entertaining and witty – and gendered a response from the person who now lives at the residence. The reply Lady Ludmilla received was also witty and entertaining, so the two of them continued to correspond even though it turned out that the other person was a male and it was totally improper for them to write to each other. They don’t even know each other’s real names – she is Lu and he is Addy.

Adrian, Viscount Addington, is London’s most outstanding rake. He’s charming, witty, and the ladies fawn over him. Thanks to an experience in his teens, he has become an excellent actor and he only shows the world what he wants them to see. That persona isn’t the real him – but it is what everyone believes of him. The only person he trusts is his cousin Adam – because Adam is the only one in his family who stood by him when he needed it most.

Lu and Addy are each reluctant to meet the other because their friendship has become special to each of them and they are afraid actually meeting will spoil that. Yet, each is desperately curious about the other. They begin a dance around each other – enlisting the help of Adam and Ludmilla’s sister Juliet. With mishaps, mixups, and a bit of misleading each other, can they get together and find their HEA? You’ll just need to read the book to see.

I can certainly recommend this book as a fun and entertaining read. There are what I think are historical inaccuracies – as in Ludmilla purchasing and owning property in her own name. I don’t believe that was acceptable at the time – but I could be wrong there. What did keep throwing me out of the story though – was the use of the phrase ‘hell rake’. It could be a perfectly acceptable phrase for the time, but I have never seen it in the hundreds of historical romance books I’ve read. I’ve always seen the term ‘rakehell’, so when I see ‘hell rake’, it immediately sets my mind off wondering whether that is actually correct or not.

Regardless of owning property and hell rakes, I enjoyed the read and I hope you will as well. I’m looking forward to the next book, which I believe is titled Miss Ava’s Scandalous Secret.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest by Virginia Heath – Blog Tour

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Blog Tour, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment
February 22nd 2022 by Harlequin Historical

The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest

The earl she loved to hate…until she stayed in his mansion!

Sophie Gilbert has thwarted the standoffish new earl’s plans to sell his country estate and the quaint village which forms part of it. But when disaster strikes and he offers her refuge, she must reconsider everything about this vexing, determined man. After the heartbreak in her past, it’s a revelation to feel her pulse racing and her body yearning for his touch…

Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/veryvillage1   

When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty-two books and two Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

Social Media Links –

Giveaway to Win 2 x e-copies of The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest (Open INT)

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Barbara’s Review:

This was a delightfully entertaining, witty, romantic, heartwarming book and I loved every word of it. I loved these two flawed people who had endured so many hurts and now lived within an insular shell where nobody could reach them. If nobody could get past the shell, then nobody could hurt them. Neither Rafe nor Sophie could get past those past hurts and we almost missed out on our lovely HEA. Rafe’s walls were easier to break than Sophie’s because Rafe had a weakness – his brother Archie. If you won Archie over, then Rafe was soon to follow.

Rafe Peele definitely didn’t want to become an earl and surely never expected it. He had no idea whatsoever that he had a cousin who was an earl – now that cousin is dead and Rafe is left with all of those responsibilities. Rafe is a war hero – a loving brother – and all he wants is to buy some land in the middle of nowhere and raise horses. When he inherits the title, money, and estate that goes with it, he has no intention of keeping the unentailed estate and starts making arrangements to sell it to the highest bidder. Except, he visits the estate at Whittleston-On-The-Water only to be inundated by villagers who fight him at every turn – and they are led by one witch named Sophie Gilbert. She was like a General in battle and bested him at every turn.

I love that Rafe always refers to Sophie as a witch – and always refers to the village as ‘whinging Whittleston on the blasted Water’. I loved Rafe as soon as I discovered Archie, his brother. Rafe was so very loving and protective of him that I just knew immediately that he would be a wonderful husband and father.

Sophie has lived in the village for the last ten years – since she was disowned and thrown into the street by her cruel father. She lives with her aging aunt whose health is precarious. Sophie will do anything to protect her aunt – and the villagers who have all taken her in and loved her for all ten of those years. So, when it appears the upstart new earl is planning to sell their homes out from under them, she vows to do whatever it takes to protect them.

It was a delight to see Sophie and Rafe find their HEA. The only reason I didn’t give this book 5-stars is that it didn’t have an epilogue. To me, this story cried out for an epilogue and I just didn’t feel as if the story was finished without one. However, I still loved the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.