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

A Reluctant Bride by Jess Michaels

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tudor Era (1485-1603)Leave a comment

A Reluctant Bride (The Shelley Sisters Book 1)A Reluctant Bride by Jess Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Shelley Sisters, #1

Release Date: January 7, 2020

Thomasina Shelly is hopelessly attracted to Jasper Kincaid, the Earl of Harcourt. Hopeless because Jasper is engaged to marry her sister Anne in a week.

Theirs is not a love match, Jasper contracted a marriage with her father to marry one of the Shelly sisters who happen to be identical triplets. He didn’t care which one he married, he just needed the dowry to right the wrongs to the estate made by his father and brother. But the more time he has spent with the girls, the more he wishes he had asked for Thomasina.

Thomasina would never betray her sisters, she is the “good one” and when Anne expresses unhappiness about the marriage, she tries to comfort her and assure her that it will all work out – even though she wishes she was the one marrying Jasper. Anne is so upset that when she begs Thomasina to pretend to be her at the engagement ball so she can have a quiet evening alone, Thomasina reluctantly agrees. The problem is Jasper can do what no other can – he can tell Thomasina from her sisters. He wonders why she is pretending to be Anne and goes as far as to try and kiss her. Shocked, Thomasina runs from him and decides to tell Anne that she can’t continue the ruse – but so learns why Anne wanted her to pretend to be her – Anne has eloped.

When he learns of Anne’s elopement, Jasper insists that Thomasina marry him in Anne’s place and she agrees. Jasper is upset that she tried to trick him and makes her promise to always be honest with him, and in the spirit of honesty, he tells her that he is not looking for a love match and probably won’t be able to love her, he is attracted to her and he likes her and tells her that he hopes she can accept that.

Jasper learns who Anne eloped with – one of his wastrel brother Solomon’s friends. He then learns that Ellis Maitland has not married Anne, he has passed her off to a relative Rook Maitland and will not return her until Jasper returns the “treasure” his brother took from him before he died. Jasper has no idea what the treasure is and keeps this information from Thomasina.

They marry and it seems like things are going well between them, Thomasina knows she is in love with Jasper and tries to forge a deeper relationship, but when she learns he has been keeping secrets from her, she is crushed and Jasper realizes too late what he has lost.

I thought this was a good story, it is well written and flows at a good pace, with likeable characters, steamy love scenes, a bit of mystery and a HEA with a nice lead into the next book. This is the first book in a new series and I am happy to recommend it.

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

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

My Darling Duke (Sinful Wallflowers, #1)My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Sinful Wallflowers, #1

Release Date: December 31, 2019

After three unsuccessful seasons, Katherine “Kitty” Danvers makes a bold and potentially scandalous decision, to save her family. Since she is not wed and has no prospects, she leaks a story to the scandal sheets – that she is betrothed to Alexander Masters, the reclusive and absent Duke of Thornton. Her logic is simple, the duke has been written about many times and yet, he never refutes the stories and he never comes to London. She thinks that pretending to be his fiancée will elevate her socially, thus giving her sisters a chance to make good matches, she hopes that by the time the ton figures out her ruse, her sisters will be taken care of and she can just fade into the background. She knows that by following this course, she will be ruined and any hope of a happy marriage and a family of her own will be lost. But since her father died and left them almost penniless, she feels it is her duty to care for her mother and sisters, no matter the personal cost.
Kitty is amazed how easily the ton believes her story and when one of the duke’s solicitors visits and begin to toady to her, she thinks that she may actually pull this off! What she doesn’t know is that Alexander has been made aware of her scam and has decided to play along – for now.

Left seriously injured and badly scarred after the fire that killed his parents ten years ago, Alexander spent years slowly healing and when he tried to return to society, a humiliating incident sent him scurrying back to his castle in Scotland. So when he learns that he is betrothed to Kitty, he does the unthinkable – he goes to London to meet her.

Kitty is shocked when the duke shows up in a wheeled chair and demands an audience with her. She had no idea he was crippled and scarred, she brazens the meeting out and is surprised when Alexander seems willing to play along. The next time they meet, she is shocked again to learn that he can walk and when they dance, she feels a connection that she never dreamed possible, but when he rushes away after their dance, she is left wondering if she imagined the connection, unwilling to let him walk away, she follows and learns even more about her faux fiancé and agrees to a very improper demand by the duke to keep her secret safe.

What follows is a sweet “beauty and the beast” type story with some interesting twists. Personally, I liked the story and enjoyed the retelling, but for me, the story did become a little repetitious and dragged a bit in the middle until almost the end of the book, making it really easy to put down and a bit of a chore to finish. This is one of those rare books that I really liked the story, but felt that I would have liked it better as a novella. Katherine and Alexander are both likable, the chemistry between them is a living, breathing thing, most of the love scenes were subdued but potent, the story touches on issues not usually broached in romance novels and the author does an amazing job dealing with those issues, there are several set ups for future installments that add to the story without detracting from Kitty and Alexander, the secondary characters are wonderful and the ending brought a tear to my eye. Overall, I did like the book, I would recommend it and I am looking forward to reading the adventures of the other “Sinful Wallflowers”

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