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

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.*

The Duke’s Desire by Erica Ridley

On By TracyIn Christmas, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews3 Comments

The Duke's Desire (12 Dukes of Christmas #8)The Duke’s Desire by Erica Ridley

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: 12 Dukes of Christmas, #8

Release Date: December 24, 2019

Margaret “Meg” Church is happy with her life, she lives with her cousin Jemima and her husband Allan (who own the local dairy farm), she has friends and spends most of her time at the castle surrounded by people. She is visiting her newly married friend Eve when she learns that Lucien le Duc is planning on returning to France. Meg is disappointed, she can’t imagine anyone wanting to leave Cressmouth and she has long harbored a tendre for Lucien. And even though the le Ducs have been saying they are leaving forever, she never actually thought he would go, especially now that his sister and brother have married and are staying in England.

For Lucien, the twelfth day of Christmas cannot come soon enough, he has been dreaming of returning to France and reclaiming his birthright since the day he and his siblings had at to flee 18 years ago. Lucien was raised as an aristocrat, he and his family lived in luxury, owned a fine home, vineyard and were distantly related to the King, but all that disappeared the day his parents were killed by an angry mob. Lucien, Sebastien and Desiree would have suffered the same fate if not for Jasper, an Englishman who saved them and brought them to Cressmouth. Lucien helped Jasper in the smithy and eventually took over, now that they have sold the smithy, there is nothing holding him back. Lucien has long resisted acclimating to England, even though he understands the language he refuses to speak English, but now that his sister has married and has stepchildren, Lucien agrees to try harder with his lessons. But his sister’s efforts to teach him have left him irritated and he needs a better teacher.

He is returning books to the castle library when he runs into Meg, literally. She flirts shamelessly with him and offers to help him learn to read, he is offended and leaves. Meg returns home and is dealt another blow, Jemima tells her that she is pregnant and needs the room that Meg uses for the baby. Meg is stunned, when she came to live with her cousin 8 years ago, it was a Godsend, Meg’s life had been filled with loss and heartache and she longed for a home, which she thought she had found, but now she doesn’t know what to do, she has nowhere to go, save a small plot of land in France and for her returning to France is not an option. She tells Jemima that she will be fine and starts planning her next move.

While in the park with Jemima, Meg learns that Lucien can read and realizes she insulted him, she tries to make amends and when he asks for her help in learning English, she readily agrees. They spend a lot of time together and the attraction between them grows, but with so many things potentially keeping them apart – most notably, his desire to return to France and her distain for the aristocracy, it seems like their relationship is doomed to end in heartbreak.

This installment was not as lighthearted as the previous books in the series, and while it is a well written, paced nicely, interesting and entertaining read, it is not my favorite in the series. I personally had a hard time with Meg’s very casual and frankly 21st century, cavalier attitude about intimate relations – I know that the author was trying to portray her as a woman who didn’t have to conform to “society” and therefore didn’t have to adhere to the rigid set of rules and restrictions that a debutant would have – but it just made her seem promiscuous and I can’t believe that she wouldn’t be shunned as loose woman, especially in such a small community. That said, I did enjoy the cameos with the other le Duc siblings and loved the epilogue. This is the eighth book in the series and it can easily be read as a standalone title – but you might want to read at least the two previous books – The Duke’s Bride and The Duke’s Embrace to get a bit more background on the le Duc family.

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