Category: Georgian Era (1714-1837)

The Georgian era is a period in British history 1714 to 1830. The kings were all named George: George I, George II, George III and George IV. The sub-period of the Regency is defined by the Regency of George IV as Prince of Wales during the illness of his father George III. The definition of the Georgian era is often extended to include the short reign of William IV, which ended with his death in 1837.
Preceded by: Restoration
Including: Regency era
Followed by: Victorian era

The Duke of Diamonds by Emily Windsor

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The Duke of Diamonds (The Games of Gentlemen, #1)The Duke of Diamonds by Emily Windsor

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Games of Gentlemen, #1

Release Date: April 2, 2020

Evelyn “Evie” Pearce is in trouble. When her father, Sir Henry Pearce, a painter of some renown died and left her and her sister Artemisia penniless, she did all she could to keep them off the streets. But when Artemisia became ill, Evie borrowed money from a moneylender and the debt has skyrocketed to a sum that she can’t possibly repay. When she meets with Filgrave to ask for more time, she is given her choices, repay the debt or Filgrave will force both Evie and her sister to work in his brothel until the money is repaid. This is unacceptable to Evie and she hatches a plan to defraud a duke and get enough money to pay her debt and leave London.

Known as the Duke of Diamonds, because he is cold, hard and rich, Casper Brook, the Duke of Rothwell, owns a painting by Sir Henry titled The Veiled Fall of Innocence – he is obsessed with the model in the painting and would love to see her face – so when a “Mrs. Swift” comes calling and claims to have the painting’s twin – The Fall of Innocence Unveiled – the one that is rumored to show the model’s face – Casper is interested, but he knows Mrs. Swift is lying to him. He should be disgusted by her, but he can’t seem to forget her. When they meet again at a ball (Thanks to Evie’s friend Matilda) Casper decides to play along – he agrees to meet her to view the painting, where he plans to reveal her lies and get back to his life.

But things do not go as planned and when he views the painting he is confused – it looks like Sir Henry’s work, but the face is wrong – Casper doesn’t immediately buy the painting, but tells her he will let her know his decision. When Evie doesn’t hear from the Duke, she is beyond desperate, she plans to bolt with her sister but is caught by Filgrave – things look dire, but they are saved by Casper. Casper takes them back to his house and from there, things get very interesting…

This was a well written, fast paced, very entertaining story with delightful characters, witty banter, secrets, lies, fabulous secondary characters, warm love scenes and very sweet HEA. I did feel like the final confrontation with the villain was a bit rushed and somewhat anticlimactic – but overall, I really enjoyed the story and I would be happy to recommend the book. This is the first book in the series, so this is the perfect place to start if this author is new to you and I’m sure you will be hooked and like me, eagerly awaiting the next installment!

The Making of a Marquess by Lynne Connolly

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The Making of a Marquess (The Society for Single Ladies, #2)The Making of a Marquess by Lynne Connolly

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Society for Single Ladies, #2

Release Date: March 31, 2020

As a member of the Society for Single Ladies, a crime solving club headed by Angela Childers, Dorothea Rowland is thrilled to be assigned a case. She is currently at a house party at Cressbrook House, being given by Louis Thorpe. Louis is planning on having Benedict Thorpe, Lord Brocklebank declared dead and have himself declared the successor to the title of Marquess of Belstead. Ben disappeared after he and Louis dueled over Lady Honoria. Thinking he had mortally wounded Louis, Ben fled to the colonies and hasn’t been heard from in years.

Dorothea is sadden to learn that Ben is to be declared dead, once upon a time, Ben and Dorothea’s families had proposed a match and Ben was happy to oblige, until he met and fell in love with Honoria. Dorothea had loved Ben, but she was gracious when he proposed to Honoria without even telling her and she was heartbroken when he fought the duel and disappeared. So she is shocked and is not sure how to feel now that he has returned from the dead.

Ben is not the same man Dorothea loved, he has matured and has become a successful business man in the years he had been away. He would have been content to let Louis inherit, but his friend Hal, who has been the only person he stayed in touch with has told him of the decline in the estate and the debts Louis has amassed, draining the estate and endangering the livelihoods of his tenants. Despite his desire to stay in the colonies, duty to the title has been ingrained deeply in Ben and he couldn’t let the estate suffer. When he returns Louis tries to claim he is an imposter and that the title belongs to Louis. Ben turns to Dorothea for help proving he is in fact who he claims to be.

Dorothea agrees to help him and they both begin to develop stronger feelings and Ben decides that Dorothea would make a perfect partner for him, but it is soon clear that someone doesn’t want Ben to inherit and they are willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that he doesn’t!

This was a good story, albeit wordy and stuffed with random facts that did nothing to move the story along. I enjoyed the relationship between Dorothea and Ben, it was not “instalust” and developed in a believable fashion, the mystery was decent and not immediately obvious (but the villain didn’t really come as a surprise), the love scenes were on the warmer side and the epilogue is very heartwarming. As I mentioned, I did find the book a bit wordy, it also dragged a bit and then the ending was rushed and anticlimactic. I didn’t love the book, but I didn’t hate it either – it was an “OK” read and I will definitely continue with the series.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provide to me by NetGalley and the Publisher.*