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

Rake in Disguise by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Check Content Warning/Triggers, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Series Crossover, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Rake in Disguise (Wicked Widows' League)Rake in Disguise by Jane Charles

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Wicked Widows League #33 & Observations of a Wallflower #6

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Lady Blythe Clay nee Claxton has endured a lot since marrying Lieutenant John Clay, a man her father the Duke of Arscott did not approve of, but she believed they loved each other and eventually her father would come around. When the war started, Blythe followed John to France and has been done her best to be a good wife, but now after four years of marriage, John has realized that her father is never going to support them and has decided that he is done with Blythe and sells her in a public wife auction! Blythe is beyond mortified by the auction and isn’t sure what to expect when Dr. Orlando Valentine buys her. She has seen him before associating with the camp followers and thinks he is a rake. But she is surprised when he rents her a room at a local inn and treats her with respect. They become friends and soon deeper feelings develop, but Orlando will not dishonor her by committing adultery. After the battle of Waterloo, Blythe goes looking for Orlando and learns that her husband was killed. She is overwhelmed by the news and when she sees Orlando treating the injured, she knows she is not good enough for him and that is it time for her to return home. She leaves him a letter and hopes he will seek her out in England. But it will be almost three years before they meet again, can they rekindle the feelings they once had, or has too much time passed for a second chance?

Dr. Orlando Valentine fell in love with Blythe before he ever met her but kept his distance when he learned she was married. When he sees her being auctioned, he steps in and saves her. He takes her to the tent he shares with his sister Isabella but quickly realizes that she can’t stay there. He finds a room at an inn for her and visits her each night, so the innkeeper thinks they are married. Their friendship grows and he falls fast and hard for her and believes she cares for him too, but when she disappears without a word after Waterloo and he learns she is now a widow, he thinks she realized that she was too good for him and left. He doesn’t try to find her, thinking she wants nothing to do with him, but when their paths cross years later, Orlando decides he wants answers and won’t let her walk away again.

What a sweet, second chance romance this was! Blythe and Orlando are both characters that I knew and liked from previous Jane Charles books, and I was so happy to learn that this would be their love story! The book is basically written in two parts, before Waterloo and then three years later in England, and finally gives readers who have been following both families, some long awaited answers about Orlando’s love life! The story is packed with emotion, secrets, betrayal, hope, friendship, insecurities, warm love scenes, acceptance and finally a long-awaited HEA complete with a very sweet epilogue! I loved this book and would highly recommend it to my fellow HR readers, especially those who have been following the Valentine and Claxton family sagas!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Sea Witch by Eva Leigh

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Sea Witch (Salt & Sorcery, #1)The Sea Witch by Eva Leigh

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: Salt & Sorcery, #1

Release Date: August 26, 2025

In a small coastal Massachusetts village, men with magical powers are revered and trained in the magical arts as mages, but female witches are hunted and hanged. Widow Alys Tanner is a witch and has been careful not to be caught as her sister was hanged as a witch, but after her husband dies, she too is hunted. She manages to escape along with a handful of women, some witches and some not, from her village. They steal a ship and the witches among them use their powers to call the wind and escape. A year later, she is a pirate and is still captain of the ship which they renamed the Sea Witch, and she has amassed a large crew of women, both magical and not and they sail the Caribbean. When she attends the funeral of the pirate Little George Partridge, she learns that Little George had been working with the Navy and their mages to control mystical sea creatures, which the Navy has been using to fight pirates. But in true pirate fashion, Little George was double-crossing the Navy and created a way to break the spell the Navy is using to enslave the sea creatures, and he left a clue to the location of his “fail-safe”. But as she is reading the clue, the Navy attacks and she is chased by a sailor, narrowly escaping his clutches – or so she thinks. Once on board her ship, she discovers the man followed her and is now on her ship, but the tide has turned and now he is her prisoner.

Benjamin “Ben” Priestley, Sailing Master for the HMS Jupiter, the navy’s flagship, is on a quest to find the pirates that killed his father. When he sees Alys and realizes she has found the clue to the fail-safe, he pursues her. But when he boards her ship, he is taken prisoner. It isn’t long before he realizes that there is no way Alys could have been responsible for his father’s death, but she could lead him to the fail-safe, which he plans to destroy to prevent them from using it. But the more time spent with Alys, the more he likes her. When they form a bond through “dream walking”, Ben discovers things about himself and soon he will do whatever he can to help Alys find and destroy the fail-safe.

I was super excited for this book, I have read and loved Eva Leigh’s historical romances, so I had high expectations for her debut into Romantasy. For the most part I enjoyed the book, it had very strong “Pirates of Caribbean” vibe, with wonderful characters and a lot more magic. But I felt that the “world building” was not quite as thorough as I expected, the fact that this book is set in the early 1700s, barely 25 years after the Salem Witch trials, makes it hard to believe that magic of any sort would be accepted, so the whole “mage” thing was a big pill to swallow, then there is the magic itself, honestly, I am still not sure I understand it. The first half of the book dragged a bit and during that time, I wasn’t loving Alys’ character, I had a hard time believing that in ONE year, she not only masters sailing a large ship, but becomes a pirate that can hold her own with the brethren of the coast and has taught herself enough magic to battle with trained mages. Then there is her treatment of Ben, I understood her anger for the way she had been treated, but she came off as a bit of a hypocrite and a misandrist. Thankfully, her character does evolve and by the end of the book, I loved her. And speaking of endings, I was not expecting a cliffhanger, but there it was and now I am counting the days until the next book comes out! Overall, it was a well written, action-packed story with a bit of spice, lots of magic and pirates galore, and well worth the read!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *