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

How to Capture a Duke by Tina Gabrielle

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How to Capture a DukeHow to Capture a Duke by Tina Gabrielle

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Raven Club #3

Release Date: 10/14/19

Lady Olivia Swift and Tristian Cameron, the Duke of Keswick met by chance when Olivia, who is attending his grandmother’s house party, escapes out the stables. She mistakes Tristian for a groom and he makes no attempt to correct her. When she comes back to the stables to ride, Tristian accompanies her and they share a kiss. Later when Olivia is accused of a crime, she names Tristian as her alibi. This leads to a hasty marriage of convenience.

Tristian has a speech impediment, he stutters and has been shamed and ridiculed for a good portion of his life. He keeps to himself and has refused to marry and have children. He is content to let his cousin Spencer inherit. He is enraged and believes that Olivia trapped him into marriage – he makes it clear on their wedding day that he will never be a true husband – he then proceeds to tell her she is to stay in the country and leaves for London.

At first Olivia is devastated, but his grandmother sets her straight and sends her off to London. Once there Olivia meets Spencer and learns that Tristian never plans to father children, she is stunned, especially after she saw him interact with her niece and nephew, she knew he was angry, but assumed eventually he would want an heir. When she confronts him, he confirms, he will not share her bed. Olivia doesn’t give up and enriches Tristian’s life in many ways. For his part, Tristian wants Olivia, but he is not willing to risk having a child, yet the more time he spends with her, the more he is falling under her spell and finally gives in to his desire, but almost immediately regrets it and stubbornly refrains from physical contact, but still spends time with her. Olivia is encouraged and is ready to tell him she loves him and to share her secret, but her hopes of a HEA are shattered when someone leaks a secret about Tristian to the papers and he immediately accuses her and her sister. It is the proverbial straw and leads her to leave him. Will he finally open his eyes and see Olivia is perfect for him or will he keep them closed and lose the love of a lifetime?

The idea of this story was good – mistaken identity, marriage of convenience and a hero who has to overcome emotional and physical impediments – but for me, it fell flat and I place that blame squarely on Tristian, he was such a jerk to her, always assuming the worst and pushing her away, right up until the last chapter and then he did a complete about-face about everything – I just didn’t believe it. There were also formal address issues and I was not happy that the reader never finds out what happened to the villain. Otherwise, it was well written and the story had a lot of potential and if I had been able to connect with Tristian, I might have felt differently, because Olivia was great and I LOVED Ellie in this book.

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

The Forgotten Marquess by Jane Charles

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The Forgotten Marquess (The Other Trents - Book 1)The Forgotten Marquess by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Other Trents, #1

Release Date: October 8, 2019

WARNING: Parts of this review might be spoilerish…

Elaina Trent, the Marchioness of Hopkins and her husband Tristian have been married for three years. Theirs was a love match and they are now the parents two children, life seems perfect. But today, Elaina and Tristian are having a fight, she wants to go to France to see her dying grandmother, Tristian refuses to even consider a trip because of the war, but Elaina refuses to listen and when Tristian leaves on estate business, she takes the children and leaves. When Tristian returns to find them gone, he is angry, but when his children are returned without Elaina, who was lost at sea, he is heartbroken.

Three years later, Tristian has been trapped into marriage and is forced to have Elaina declared dead. But Elaina is not dead, she is on the island of Alderney suffering from amnesia and on the brink of becoming betrothed herself – that is until Tristian’s brother Harrison finds her and returns her to England.

Tristian is overjoyed at her return and quickly has his marriage cancelled and Elaina’s life restored, while he is doing that Elaina is sent to stay with her brothers – small bits of her memory return and her brother Xavier, a doctor refuses to let anyone tell her anything, insisting that she has to remember in her own time. The problem is Elaina doesn’t remember Tristian or their children at all and even after reading her journals from her life before she married, no memories return, she does however begin to come to know Tristian and thinks she is falling in love with him all over again.
After weeks of staying at her brother’s house, Tristian insists that they return to their home, but for some reason, Elaina is terrified at the prospect. Tristian hopes going home will unleash the memories she can’t seem to grasp, but at the same time, he worries that seeing their children could destroy her.

This was a good story, but honestly there were just things that didn’t work – first and foremost, there was a man on the ship that saved her, he heard someone shout her name and his memory was intact – so he obviously knew where the ship was headed – why didn’t anyone try to find her family? Why didn’t Tristian hire investigators? Second, Tristian’s “secret” marriage, it was far-fetched and unbelievable – he was able to have her declared his wife who has been “missing” for three years declared dead in less than a week without any sort of investigation? And then when it turns out his dead wife is not dead – the marriage is just dissolved? Personally, I saw absolutely no point for the marriage to have taken place – betrothed, fine, but the marriage was unnecessary and pushed the limits of believability for no reason, at least nothing that furthered this story. I also found myself getting annoyed with Elaina, she would read something in her journals and then get angry at Tristian about it, it seemed incredibly immature. I thought the writing was good and the story did flow nicely and I liked watching them rediscover each other, but I don’t think I would read it again.

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