Category: Part of a Series

Dreaming of a Duke Like You by Sara Bennett

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Dreaming of a Duke Like You (Duke of Grantham #1)Dreaming of a Duke Like You by Sara Bennett

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Duke of Grantham, #1

Release Date: October 10, 2023

Gabriel Cadieux is a self-made man, raised in an orphanage after his mother died, he scraped by until at the age of 22 he won a gaming hell from the owner. In the five years since taking over the club, Gabriel, with the help of his two best friends, Charles and Freddie, has turned the club into a very profitable business. His life is going along just fine when he is confronted and if he is honest, intrigued by the sister of a young man who gambled himself into debt, but as intriguing as she was, meeting her was all but forgotten when minutes after sending her away he gets the shock of his life when he learns that his parents were married and he is now the new Duke of Grantham and is responsible for not only a debt-ridden estate, but six young half-sisters!

Vivienne Tremeer and her younger brother Sir William, came to London to escape the scandal she created at home in Cornwall. But Will is poised to create an even bigger scandal thanks to his reckless wagering. Vivienne tried to reason with the club owner, but was rejected and now she has been waiting months for Gabriel Cadieux to demand payment for her brother’s gambling debt, yet has heard nothing. So she is shocked to learn he is the new Duke of Grantham, and that he has a proposition, if she will teach his sisters the ways of the ton, he will forgive her brother’s debt. It seems like the answer to her prayers and really what could go wrong? Well, everything…

I liked the idea of the story and had no problem with the actual writing, but there were just so many things that didn’t make sense and things that were completely ridiculous and nonsensical, that I had a hard time getting into the book. I liked Gabriel and Vivienne and had no problem believing the attraction between them, but they don’t really interact until the second half of the book, which didn’t leave a lot of time to build the romance. I think my biggest problem was the fact that Vivienne’s “scandal” was so paltry compared to the fact that Gabriel’s father had committed bigamy, which rendered his six daughters illegitimate, and yet everyone was still calling them by their honorifics and planning come-outs for them – all the while warning Gabriel that associating with Vivienne will hurt his sister’s chances to make a good match – seriously? I really tried to keep an open mind, but I just couldn’t get past that. This is the first book in a new series, and despite my disappointment with this book, I would consider reading the next book in the series, as I have read and enjoyed this author’s other books.

*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.*

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a Series1 Comment

No Strangers Here (County Kerry Mystery, #1)

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: County Kerry Mystery #1
Publication Date: 10/25/22
Period: Contemporary – County Kerry, Ireland
Number of Pages: 320

Dr. Dimpna Wilde, a Veterinarian, has just lived through a horrendous year with the criminal charges against her husband and then his suicide. Now, it seems the horror is only going to continue because a murder has been committed in her small hometown of Dingle and her parents and brother are under serious suspicion. With nothing to hold her in Dublin, she sets out for Dingle to help put things right – if she can.

This is a complex, convoluted tale filled with twists and turns and more red herrings than you can shake a stick at. Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien has been sent from the Killarney station to handle this very high-profile murder in Dingle. The victim, Johnny O’Reilly, age sixty-nine, is a very rich and powerful racehorse owner who was found sitting propped up against a rock on the beach. He was wearing a designer suit and had a taro card showing the devil in his breast pocket – and nearby, on the ground, were sixty-nine shiny black stones spelling out Last Dance.

Cormac learns there is a long-running, complex enmity between the Wildes and the O’Reillys, and the evidence definitely points to the Wildes as the guilty party. However, something seems a bit ‘off’, just too perfect, for Cormac and though there is plenty of pressure from above, he doesn’t want to arrest someone he isn’t truly convinced is guilty. The more he learns of the two families, he wonders if perhaps he isn’t wrong – maybe one or more of the Wildes are guilty. Still, the daughter, Dempna, seems very straightforward, insightful, and honest. She’s sure it wasn’t her parents. If not them, who?

As Cormac tugs on thread after thread, some pull free and add nothing, while others lead him to new knowledge and more threads. How many threads will he be able to pull before he finds the guilty party – or the higher-ups take him off the case and declare their preferred guilty party?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it. You’ll enjoy the characters of Dempna and Cormac and a few others, but you’ll be scratching your head and wondering how others are still allowed to live and breathe. It will be interesting to see, in future books, how Dempna and Cormac each manage to deal with an aging, infirm parent and perhaps form a romantic relationship. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Some of Us Are Looking, releasing October 24, 2023. Also, as a sadly inept American, I must confess that I am sure I butchered the pronunciation of what I am sure are beautiful names – such as Saiorse. I most humbly apologize to anyone with that beautiful name and hope you’ll forgive me – even though the pronunciations were said only in my head.

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