Category: Novella

One Night for Seduction by Erica Ridley

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

One Night for Seduction (Wicked Dukes Club #1)One Night for Seduction by Erica Ridley

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Wicked Dukes Club #1

Release Date: April 16, 2019

Chandler Sutton, the Duke of Colehaven “Cole” loves a good wager and is currently boasting a 10-year winning streak, so when he joins his friends at the tavern he co-owns and is offered a wager to get Thaddeus Middleton’s “unmarriageable” ward married off – he happily accepts. Thad has some rules – Diana must be married before the end of the season, Cole can’t marry her himself or show any interest in her to provoke others to marry her and she must approve and want to marry the man.

Diana Middleton has no desire to marry, when her parents died, she needed a purpose and began “working” as a weights and measures inspector – not officially, she disguises herself and pretends to be in the employ of a barrister – she is passionate about this cause and wants the government to do more – but without resources, she settles for going to local businesses and checking their scales and reports her findings to a clerk who really does work for a barrister. She has no desire to marry, she is sure that she would have to give up her freedom and that is unacceptable. She doesn’t refuse to attend ton events, but she has perfected being a wallflower because she doesn’t want anyone to notice or recognize her and jeopardize her “work”. So when the handsome Duke of Colehaven comes to her home and makes it clear that he plans to help her find a husband – Diana holds her ground and makes it clear that she will never marry.

Cole will not concede defeat, and when he sees her at a ball, he enlists his sister to help him. Felicity tells Diana of Cole’s plan and Diana is livid – the man must be stopped. She doesn’t care about her own reputation, but she will not let him expose her and possibly ruin Thad!

Val, Duke of Eastleigh is at the ball and mentions to Cole that two committee chairs in Parliament will be up for vote as the Earl currently holding the seats has been injured. Cole wants to chair a committee – desperately – he doesn’t feel worthy of the title and works ten times as hard as other peers to prove he deserves his title – he feels like being in charge of a committee would do that. Later he meets Diana in the Library and they have words – she then learns that he was responsible for the 1815 Weights and Measures act – she still doesn’t want to marry – but maybe Cole could help her stop the corruption!

These two go back and forth – neither willing to back down or give up. They are each attracted to the other, but it can never be – she doesn’t want to give up her “freedom” and he wants to prove himself worthy. Can they compromise? Will love win? Will Cole’s 10-year streak come to an end?

This was a cute story with extremely likable leads, a lot of emotion, funny moments and great secondary characters. It is well written and flows nicely, the love scenes are mild and the ending is very sweet.

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

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A Spy’s Guide To Seduction

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

A Spy's Guide to Seduction (Husband Hunters, #3)A Spy’s Guide to Seduction by Kate Moore

Barbara’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Husband Hunters #3
Publication Date: 3/12/19
# of Pages: 180

*** 3.5 stars ***
This was my first book by this author and I was really looking forward to a steamy romance and confounding mystery. What I found was no steam, but a nice slow build of a romance – and I liked that. I liked that the characters didn’t jump into insta-lust, but they were definitely attracted to each other. I also love the way Lynley came to respect Emily’s intelligence and cleverness before he actually realized that he also loved her. The mystery was a good one as well with multiple villains and missing secrets that could plunge England into war.

Speaking of villains – there is one I just never figured out. I could not see his purpose nor could I see what he was trying to gain.  What was his plot?   Yes, he provided a misdirection for the storyline, but he could still have had some ulterior motives in mind instead of just being . . . I can’t explain more without telling you who he is and what he does, but I think his motives should have been plainer – otherwise, there is no reason for him to have done what he did or even to be in the story at all. Maybe he’ll play some villainous role in a future book.  I really wanted to see him get more punishment than a sock in the nose!

Sir Ajax Lynley (I love that name) has agreed to work for a spymaster for one year. So far his assignments have been exciting, but fairly minor. Now, he has a task that affects the fate of England. If he cannot retrieve certain documents, England will be forced into war with Russia. Since Lynley lived in Spain from the time he was a teenager and has only just returned to be a spy, he needs to reenter society. He’s been trying to think of the best way to do that when the perfect opportunity drops right into his lap.

Lady Emily Radstock is fast approaching her twenty-ninth birthday, she is still unmarried and sees no particular reason to change that. However, her mother has other ideas and presents Emily with a book, ‘The Husband Hunter’s Guide To London’. Since her mother is on her way out of town to care for Emily’s grandmother, Emily can’t rail at her, so she heads over to her younger sister’s house to rant. As she says that she ought to marry the first imbecile she meets, she hears this masculine voice say, “I accept”.

She is dumbstruck – surely he can’t mean it and surely can’t intend to hold her to that. Yet he does. She knows he has to be up to something and she fully intends to find out what it is. As they spend time together she comes to like him – and she starts to figure out what is going on. Then, suddenly it hits her – he is a SPY. Yum, adventure – and she sorely wants to have an adventure so she happily joins him in his mission. She is, however, annoyed that she is only a quasi-partner – he doesn’t share everything with her. Yet, the one time he takes off on his own because he wants to protect her, it doesn’t end well for him.

I enjoyed this book even though I thought that it could have been a bit longer and better fleshed out in both the mystery and the romance aspects of the story. I’ll look forward to the next one in the series – The Christmas Husband Hunt.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.