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

Married by Moonlight by Heather Boyd

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Mystery, Tracy's Reviews4 Comments

Married by Moonlight (Distinguished Rogues, #9)Married by Moonlight by Heather Boyd

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Distinguished Rogues, #9

Release Date: May 8, 2018

The book opens with Gilbert Bowen, the Earl of Sorenson rushing into Lady Berry’s home to save his friend Price Wagstaff, the Earl of Carmichael from being officially charged with murder for the death of Angela Berry. Gilbert vows to find the killer and clear Carmichael’s name. Gilbert has a reputation of a being a brilliant investigator and before he inherited the earldom and was a simple country vicar, he helped Bow Street solve many crimes. But never has a case been more important to him, Carmichael is one of his oldest and dearest friends and only a very few people know that he was in love with Angela and had planned to announce their betrothal at the ball.

Anna Beasley is a very proper young lady, daughter of Carmichael’s godfather and good friend to Angela Berry, she is dancing with Viscount Wade at Almack’s when Carmichael enters. Carmichael is the bane of her existence, her father would love nothing more than for Carmichael and Anna to make a match, but she would rather die a spinster than marry a rake like Carmichael. He approaches her with a friend in tow – a very handsome friend and he teases her. Introductions are made and his friend, Gilbert, Lord Sorenson is charming and nothing like Carmichael. Anna asks if they have seen Angela and Carmichael seems upset and leaves, Gilbert too makes his excuses, he has promised the next set to Anna’s friend Portia. Anna is surprised that she is jealous and tries to ignore the attraction she feels for Gilbert.

The plot thickens when Gilbert’s investigation undercovers two more murdered women with ties to Carmichael, it seems Carmichael has kissed all the slain women. With no real leads, Gilbert forces Carmichael to remain in society and they keep Angela’s death secret while they investigate. They attend a ball on Friday night and Gilbert sees Anna again – Carmichael teases him about her and says he should pretend to court her, she was good friends with Angela and might have information that would help them. Gilbert refuses, he is attracted to Anna, but he won’t use her for information. He dances with her, but ignores her while they are dancing and then goes to dance with other ladies and chats with them, Anna is hurt and slips away to compose herself. But she finds more than she was bargaining for – Carmichael and Gilbert are in the room as well as the murdered body of Miss Goldwell, another friend of hers. She is understandably upset, but Gilbert asks her to keep quiet about what she has seen.

Over the course of the next few days, Anna wonders about Miss Goldwell’s death and when she runs into Gilbert, she asks about news of Miss Goldwell. Gilbert finally gives into his attraction and kisses her. When they are caught together, he announces that they are betrothed. Anna is shocked, but plays along. They say they haven’t spoken to her father yet and beg Lord Wade and Lady Winmere to not say anything.

Anna tells Gilbert he doesn’t need to marry her, but he finds that he wants her as his wife and asks for time to court her. She has doubts, but agrees.

When yet another murder is committed and this time is found out by the ton – Gilbert worries for Anna’s safety, especially when he learns Carmichael kissed her once – he insists that they marry.

This was a very fast paced murder mystery with a dash of romance. The writing is excellent and the story flows nicely, the mystery is well done and kept me guessing until almost the very end, the romance is sweet and understated, but it is not lost to the mystery.

This is the ninth book in the series, but can easily be read as a standalone title. I would happily recommend this book and look forward to more installments.

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

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Three Lessons in Seduction by Sofie Darling

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820)5 Comments

Three Lessons in Seduction (A Shadows and Silk Novel)Three Lessons in Seduction by Sofie Darling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: A Shadows and Silk Novel #1
Publication Date: 9/27/17

WOW! I can hardly believe this is the author’s first novel. I’ve seen many novels by very experienced writers who haven’t done nearly as well as Ms. Darling has with her first. It is excellently written and the characters are fully developed, likable, and they make you want to get to know them better. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.

The book is set in 1824 Paris, so what is not to love. The wars are over, but there is still a chance that civil war could happen because France’s king is at death’s door. Should the monarch expire and his successor is assassinated, chaos could reign supreme in France and then spread to the rest of the continent and even destabilize England. While the main story is set in 1824 Paris, there are flashbacks to England and the initial meeting, marriage and separation of Nick and Mariana. While I’m not a big fan of flashbacks, these were well done and didn’t bother me.

Lady Mariana Montfort Asquith has lived separately from her husband for over ten years. He lives in Paris and only comes home to see his children three or four times a year and Mariana has little, if any, contact with him in all that time. She’s spent those ten years hardening her heart and trying not to love him because he betrayed her and ripped her heart from her chest. Now, she has a letter saying that he is either missing or deceased in Paris as part of his service to the Crown. Service to the Crown? He haphazardly worked for some minor government agency there didn’t he? Whatever it is, she has to know, so she’ll go to Paris and either find him alive or bring his body home to be buried in England.

Lord Nicholas Asquith was raised by parents that were at war with each other. Their battles, at home and in public, were legendary. They had married for love, but Nick’s father was a philanderer. Nick had always felt that he was to blame for all of the governesses who came and quickly left, but later he learned why that was so. That made Nick very distrustful of love because it would blow up on you and cause you no end of pain. No, Nick would have a society marriage where there were no emotions involved. Then, he met Lady Mariana Montfort and he was lost – he loved her more and more each day and then when the twins were born his heart swelled with even more love. Then, panic set in – he knew that it was only a matter of time before the love would blow up and his work for the Home Office put his family in danger. So – what could he do to keep them safe? Yep – I didn’t like his answer either.

When Mariana arrives in Paris, Nick wonders what is going on, but he knows that he MUST keep her at arm’s length because he can’t control himself around her. He’s created a popinjay persona that he always uses around her because he knows she hates it and will stay away from him. Then, he realizes that someone is using Mariana to get to him. He needs to know who that is and to flush them out because they are most likely the person who is plotting an assassination to destabilize France. Nick can’t get Mariana to leave, so he has no choice other than to involve her in foiling the plot and unmasking the master-mind. That way, he can keep an eye on her and keep her safe. As they work together, they each discover that the love isn’t gone – but – they still have to guard themselves because they know they can’t have a life together.

I had a very hard time getting to like Nick – well – maybe that isn’t accurate. I liked him right away – but I didn’t, in the least, like what he did. He chose – very deliberately – to leave the wife and children he loved – and he deliberately hurt her very, very deeply in doing so. We come to know his reasons for that, but like most of those kinds of reasons, they are pretty flimsy and could have been resolved with some good conversations and loving support.

What didn’t I like about the book? Well – I absolutely, completely and totally hated that the villain in the story got absolutely no punishment. None. Nada. Zip. This person hurt his own family deeply – especially his two nieces and their husbands, he plotted an assassination, he used an injured man unmercifully and he was going to destabilize a country and maybe even a continent. Yes – he does all of that and he gets no punishment. No – and that dissatisfaction caused me to reduce the star-ratings for the book.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”