Category: Part of a Series

Every Rogue Has His Charm by Susanna Craig

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

Every Rogue Has His Charm (Love and Let Spy, #4)Every Rogue Has His Charm by Susanna Craig

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Love and Let Spy, #4

Release Date: August 2, 2022

While attending a house party on the behest of his spymaster, General Scott, Maximilien “Maxim” Grant, Marquess of Chesleigh, and heir to the Duke of Hartwell, finds much more than incriminating evidence against his host, he finds a wife!

Lady Caroline Brent is in the library when Maxim comes in and they are accidentally trapped and then discovered alone in the room together by her parents and the hosts. To save her, Maxim immediately proposes. But when they wed, he makes it clear that he doesn’t like her family and will not give them a penny or lift a finger to help them. Their marriage starts well, Caro doesn’t seem bothered by Maxim’s scars or his foreboding demeanor, but when he fears his feelings, he bolts, leaving Caro alone in a strange house and at the mercy of her self-serving, controlling father. To put some distance between them, Caro moves to Brighton and settles into a quiet, albeit lonely life.

Six years later, Maxim, who has been working undercover in France, gets word that his grandfather has passed and he is now the new Duke of Hartwell and must return to England to sort out the estate. Maxim believes his time away from Caro has “cured” him of his unwanted feelings and decides to go see her before going to London, just to inform her of the death of his grandfather (that is his story and he is sticking to it!). But once he sees her again, he finds it impossible to just walk away and wonders if it is possible to win her heart? However, before they can, he must redeem himself with her as well as his fellow spies and his spymaster, not to mention, figure out who is trying to kill him!

I enjoyed this well-written, fast-paced, beauty and the beast themed conclusion to the series. The book has a bit of everything; intrigue, steamyish love scenes, spies, a matchmaking spymaster, a secondary love story, life and death moments, a hidden threat, a villainous father, and finally their long overdue HEA complete with an epilogue that includes everyone from the series. As much as I liked this book, I personally think Caro forgave Maxim too quickly and that he owed her some serious groveling, but overall, it was a very good read and I would happily recommend it. This is the fourth and final book in the series, but the series is loosely connected and 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. All opinions in this review are my own.*

Letter to a Duchess: A Duchess of Blackmoore Mystery by Nellie H. Steele

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Gothic Historical, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

Letter to a Duchess: A Duchess of Blackmoore Mystery (Duchess of Blackmoore Mysteries Book 2)Barbara’s rating: 3.7 of 5 Stars
Series: A Duchess of Blackmoore Mysteries #2
Publication Date: 7/19/22
Period: Regency or Victorian (hard to tell)
Number of Pages: 365

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I could have given each of them 5-stars except for the historical inaccuracies. The author teaches at a college, so I don’t understand why she couldn’t take the time to research something as simple as forms of address. I was jolted from the story each time someone addressed the Duke or Duchess as Duke (or Duchess) Blackmoore or worse yet introduces her as Mrs. Robert Fletcher. That is just so very wrong – and getting it correct would be so very easy. Even if it was correct, there was just so very much of it.

Lenora Hastings has had an unusual talent (or curse) her entire life. It has made her life miserable because nobody could deal with a child who could talk with the dead. Everyone left her, even the nuns at the convent couldn’t deal with it and turned her over to an orphanage. As an adult (barely) she married Robert Fletcher, the Duke of Blackmoore, and used her talent to solve the mystery of the death of Robert’s first wife.

The Duke’s ne’er do well brother, Edwin, has written Lenora a letter begging her to use her talent to get him out of trouble. He is in Glasgow and has been arrested for murder. He swears he didn’t do it and he believes all Lenora has to do is speak to the ghost of the murder victim and find out who really did do it. Nothing, of course, is ever that easy when one is speaking with the dead.

The Duke doesn’t want Lenora to have anything to do with his brother, but she convinces him to let her try. The main reason she believes Edwin is that her deceased friend Tillie insists he is innocent.

With uncommunicative ghosts, seedy locales, dangerous villains, and a worrywart husband, finding the true murderer isn’t easy. When there is another attack and they all come under suspicion, they know that they have to quickly find the real murderer. Will they all survive? Can they thwart the murderer and prove Edwin isn’t guilty? You’ll just have to read the book to see.

I enjoyed the mystery and thought it was well-plotted and well-delivered. Other than the forms of address, I thoroughly enjoyed the read. One thing that struck me as a bit humorous though – the ghosts kept coming to Lenora at night and sometimes literally pulling her from her bed. They lead her into the bowls of Glasgow – and always into trouble. Robert would rant – but – somehow it never occurred to him that he ought to sleep in the same bedroom so he’d know when she was dragged out into the night.

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