Barbara’s rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mystery #12
Publication Date: 11/3/23
Period: Regency

The adventure continues with this wonderfully entertaining twelfth entry in the Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery series. Often times a series with this many books begins to falter a bit and lose some of its edge, but not this one. There is full-on entertainment on every page and a murder to solve as well. As always, the pages are filled with lively banter between Bea and Kesgrave and the antics of other recurring characters. We make a delightful discovery – Kesgrave has a half-sister — and we are treated to the most delightfully improbable murder suspect you could ever want to meet. That suspect just happens to be Kesgrave’s former mistress, Penelope, and she is outrageous, entertaining, and over-the-top, but not vulgar. You are going to get a kick out of her!

This book begins just as A Lark’s Flight is ending. In case you didn’t know (I didn’t) there is a spin-off series, A Verity Lark Mystery, that features Kesgrave’s illegitimate half-sister. I was so excited to find out about the spinoff series that I went right out and bought both books in the series – and I’m hoping for many more of those as well. Should you think this is extraneous information and not pertinent to this book – you are incorrect, but you’ll need to read the book to see how.

Bea is in quite a pique! Kesgrave has lied to her and in typical insecure Bea fashion she has stewed, overanalyzed, and blown it into what she calls The Great Fabrication. Not only did he lie, he didn’t come to their bed. She’s up, dressed, and looking for a confrontation with him when she sees him in their entryway embracing a woman! Not just any woman either – it is his former mistress. Oops – now you’ve done it Kesgrave. Except – the woman is there to see Bea and not Kesgrave. Hmmmmm.

Mrs. Penelope Taylor, a breathtakingly beautiful, highly sought-after courtesan who happens to have been Kesgrave’s first mistress, is begging Bea to help her. Mrs. Taylor’s best frenemy was murdered – in Penelope’s own bed – and the magistrate is bound and determined to see Penelope convicted and hung. He may be Penelope’s dear friend, but he’ll see justice done. Only Bea can help her.

Did the murderer get the right victim or did he mean to kill Penelope instead – after all, it was her bed? With a number of suspects to sift through, very few clues, and the magistrate hot on their heels, can they solve the murder and keep Penelope from New Gate? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.

When you mix an indecorous, detecting duchess with an indulgent, helpful duke and then add an outrageous, entertaining, and over-the-top former mistress along with a determined magistrate, you have all the ingredients for a wonderfully entertaining tale. I have loved this series since the beginning and each new entry seems to be better than the last. I highly recommend this book – and this series. I love the characters, the banter, the irreverence, the humor, and the agility of Bea’s mind. I hope you will love it as much as I did.

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

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A Scot’s Pride by Eliza Knight

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Distinguished Scots, #1

Release Date: August 15, 2023

At his grandfather’s urging, Bryson Mackenzie Fraser, Baron Lovat goes to London to find an English wife. He relies on his aunt, Lady Daven for help, suggesting that while he will marry an Englishwoman to appease his grandfather, he would like a bride with some Scottish blood. His aunt agrees to help and supplies him with a list of eligible brides, but then she confuses him when she introduces him to Miss Freya Grysham, a lovely woman who is completely wrong for him and not on the list. Bryson who usually has no problem charming ladies, finds himself immediately at odds with Freya. He is happy to be done with her, but when he learns her sister is the love of his best friend’s life, he will try to get along with her to help his friend. Too bad she doesn’t seem willing to play nice.

Freya Grysham is the second daughter of Baron Grysham, she and her elder sister Riley are partaking in the London season with hopes of finding husbands. Riley is madly in love with Hugh Gray, the Earl of Ashbury, but they are both painfully shy and the courtship is not progressing. To make matters worse, their father makes it clear that they need to marry well or risk being left penniless when their father dies and their cousin inherits. There is also the suggestion that Riley marry him, but Freya knows her sister is in love and will do whatever is necessary to help her attain her HEA – even spend time with the earl’s obnoxious best friend, Lord Lovat. But the more time she spends with him, the more she finds herself drawn to him but is sure nothing will come of it, especially when her family abruptly leaves London. Leaving her to wonder if anyone will be getting a HEA!

What a great start to a new series! Featuring an enemies-to-lovers trope, the book is filled with likable characters, more than one romance, an elopement, a bit of drama, a nod to previous heroes in other series, highwaymen, lots of sisters, witty banter, some tears, a bit of steam and finally a HEA. This is the first book in a new series, but I didn’t really feel a lot of setup for the series, but I am assuming that her friends will be finding their HEAs in upcoming installments. Overall, I enjoyed this story and will certainly be looking forward to the next book.

*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.*