Category: Historical Rom-Com

The Trouble with Inventing a Viscount by Vivienne Lorret

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Rom-Com, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

The Trouble with Inventing a Viscount (The Liars' Club, #2)The Trouble with Inventing a Viscount by Vivienne Lorret

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Liar’s Club, #2

Release Date: September 24, 24

For years Honoria Hartley has used her betrothal to Manford Fairfax, Viscount Vandemere to keep suitors at bay. Engaged to a missing Viscount has given her a freedom that most young women can’t even imagine, a freedom that she has no intention of giving up. Which means she needs a way to support herself, lucky for her, she is an exceptional card player and clever with disguises, thanks to her theater-loving family. But while visiting Paris, it would seem she has hustled the wrong man and gave away a bit too much information about herself, but as time passed, she thought that her narrow escape from him was ancient history, that is until he showed up at her parents’ home claiming to be her long-lost fiancé! Soon begins a game between sharps, each with their own agenda and a fierce desire to win. Too bad the rules changed mid-game and soon the love she never wanted became the only thing that matters.

Oscar Flint has lived the life of a grifter, he barely remembers his father, but swore to his mother on her deathbed that he would find him. He along with Ignatius Cardew, a friend of his mother, have been searching for him ever since. But a chance meeting in Paris with Honoria disguised as “Signor Cesario” will change his life forever. She cheated him out the winnings he needed to settle a debt incurred to Miguel Ladron, a dangerous man by Ignatius, that loss turned the attention of said dangerous man from Ignatius to Oscar. Which caused him the need to disappear, lucky for him, he found someone who told him the story of the long-lost viscount and his association with a certain swindler. Now all he has to do is convince everyone that he is the lost Viscount and lay low until Ladron gives up his pursuit of Oscar and then he can resume the search for his father, assuming he lives though this ruse. But he never anticipated that the attraction he felt for Honoria in Paris would last, or that he would long to be the man to finally win her heart. With nothing to offer what chance does he have? Good thing he is a gambling man…

Another well-written, lighthearted addition to the Liar’s Club series, this installment features the lovely middle sister Honoria and Oscar, the handsome gambler she bested in Paris. These two are clearly meant to be, it is obvious, from their first encounter, yet they have no intention of admitting that to anyone – especially themselves! This book has lies, secrets, deception, blackmail, a truly nasty villain, wonderful secondary characters, steamyish love scenes, a bit of angst, a lot of laughs, and some surprising twists and turns that will lead them to their HEA. I do wish there had been an epilogue, or at least an ending that cleaned up the loose ends. Overall, I enjoyed this story and would happily recommend it to my fellow historical romance fans. This is the second book in the series, but it could be read as a standalone title.

*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. *

Hot Earl Summer by Erica Ridley

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Rom-Com, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

Hot Earl Summer (The Wild Wynchesters, #5)Hot Earl Summer by Erica Ridley

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: The Wild Wynchesters, #5

Release Date: August 6, 2024

With the popularity (or maybe infamy) of the Wynchester family at an all-time high, the siblings have more cases than they can handle as a team. So, when they get a case to find a missing will and claim the castle from the Earl of Densmore (that may or may not have been lost to the Wynchester’s archenemy, Viscount Reddington), it is determined that Elizabeth, (the sword-wielding, pain-ridden Wynchester) will have to take this case on her own. She leaves for Castle Harbrook, intent on confronting her client’s nephew, the Earl of Densmore and demanding the deed to the castle to be given to his aunt as his mother wanted, so she can open an orphanage that they had planned for years. But instead of the earl, she finds the earl’s very handsome cousin, Stephen Lenox. After being refused entry, Elizabeth goes “Beth the Berserker” on the front door. When she finally gets in, she finds the castle filled with boobytraps and odd inventions, all thanks to Stephen, but he has no idea where the earl is and has been trying to keep Reddington from claiming the castle. With a only the late countess’s letters to provide vague clues to the will’s hiding place, Elizabeth sets out to solve this mystery and maybe even enjoy a tryst with Stephen.

Stephen Lenox, heir presumptive to his cousin the Earl of Densmore, is a reclusive inventor, who normally wouldn’t leave his estate, but felt obliged to help his cousin, one the few people to ever stick up for him. His cousin asked him to stay at the castle for a “few days” and make Reddington think that Stephen was him, but his cousin has been missing for weeks. In the time Densmore has been missing, Stephen has improved the earldom and reinforced the security of the castle. Until Elizabeth arrived, Stephen felt like a prisoner, but now leaving is the last thing on his mind, but it is clear that while Elizabeth is attracted to Stephen and would be open to an affair, it would seem that her plans for the future do not include him. But the more time he spends with her, the more he wants forever.

I thought I was going to like this book a lot more than I did. It was just too much – too wacky, too modern, too annoying, too wordy, too slow moving and too over-the-top. Additionally, I found Elizabeth hard to like, she is just too vicious and blood-thirsty to be truly likable, her aversion to children was also off-putting and she came across as very self-centered. I did find the fact that she battled chronic pain to be a fascinating plot point but sadly it seemed to get lost in the bizarreness of the story. I liked Stephen, but he too was a bit much. This entire series is just not my cuppa – it is silly, slap-stick humor, mixed with 21st century morals and ideals, thrown into a 19th century setting with no fear of consequence. I know there are a lot of readers who don’t mind that in historical romance, and those readers might well enjoy this book series, but I am not in that group.

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