Category: Regency Era (1811-1820)

The Regency in Great Britain was a period when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent. On the death of George III in 1820, the Prince Regent became George IV. The term Regency can refer to various stretches of time; some are longer than the decade of the formal Regency which lasted from 1811–1820.
Preceded by: Georgian era
Followed by: Victorian era
Monarch: George III, George IV, William IV

Bewitched by a Miss by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Bewitched by a Miss (Magic and Mayhem Book 5)Bewitched by a Miss by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Magic and Mayhem, #5

Release Date: May 31, 2022

Born into a magical family, Damon Norcott, the third son of the Marquess of Chandos never expected to be his father’s heir, but with the death of his older brothers, he is now Viscount Bentford and the guardian of his late brother’s three young daughters, all of whom will at some point inherit powers, as do all the women in his family, just as the men are tasked with protecting them. Ever cautious of their welfare, especially when their parents were murdered because his sister-in-law was a witch, Damon has sworn off marriage until the last of his nieces is grown and then he will find a nice witch and beget an heir. That was the plan until his eldest niece, Ianthe comes into her powers and his mother moves them all to Nightshade Manor in Bocka Morrow.

Miss Cordelia Vail, sister to the Viscount Lynwood, was born and raised in the magical town of Bocka Morrow and maybe the only resident that has never witnessed anything magical! Her older siblings all met their true loves with ghostly help and her younger sister swears she was saved from drowning by a merman and sees ghosts from Castle Keyvnor and even her younger brother Edward has seen pixies! But that doesn’t mean she has given up hope and when Edward convinces her to climb a tree and watch as their neighbors in Nightshade Manor arrive, she finally witnesses a magical moment! This leads her to meet Damon for the first time, which strikes her as odd since their sisters are good friends, as were their brothers and Cordelia has even met his mother several times in London. The attraction between them is instant and the friendship that grows is strong, but despite his feelings, Damon knows nothing can come of this since he is destined to marry a witch, so he tries to keep his feelings in check. But when Madam Boswell, foretells of darkness around him, he worries for his nieces and accepts Cordelia’s help as he isn’t familiar with the village and finds himself falling more in love with her every day and it seems like fate – but why would fate bring them together when they can never be?

This was a fun story and if like me, you are a fan of the Castle Keyvnor stories, you are going to be delighted to revisit Bocka Morrow! Cordelia and Damon are wonderful characters and the chemistry between them is apparent from their first encounter. The book is filled with magic, witches (good and bad), long-buried secrets, cryptic warnings, riddle-filled prophecies, mild love scenes (kissing only), and finally a HEA that hints at more magic to come! I really enjoyed reading this story and while I prefer a bit more heat in the books I read, I really didn’t miss the steam in this story. This is the fifth book in the series and it is loosely tied to the Castle Keyvnor books, but it is easily read as a standalone title. If you like a bit of paranormal in your historical romances, I highly recommend this series and this title especially.

*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.*

Desperately Seeking a Duchess by Christi Caldwell

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

Desperately Seeking a Duchess (All the Duke's Sins, #2)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Series: All The Duke’s Sins #2
Publication Date: 5/31/22
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 336

Once upon a time, there was a very rogueish duke whose mistress bore him four children – three sons and a daughter. She never told him of the children’s existence, so he went through his life never knowing about them – until the youngest son showed up and asked him to provide funds for him to buy a military commission. That son told him it was the least he could do – and he agreed that it was. Thus began his quest to get to know his children, bring them to London, and fold them into the ton. Except those children had absolutely no intention of having anything to do with the man they felt abandoned them. He’d wear them down by sending person after person after person out to their mining community – sooner or later, one of them would succeed and get at least one or two of them to town. The first book of the series – Along Came A Lady – is the story of the one person who finally managed to coax some of them to London.

This book is about the duke’s daughter, Cailin, who begged her oldest brother, Rafe, to accompany her to London. Along with Cailin we also have Courtland Balfour, Duke of St. James, who was one of those who unsuccessfully tried to bring Cailin and her family to London. Well, it wasn’t supposed to be him – it was supposed to be his twin brother – but Courtland thought it would be a lark to take his brother’s place since his brother wasn’t at all good with people. After being shot at by Cailin and receiving a punch so strong it could have killed him, he decided maybe it wasn’t such a lark.

Courtland can never let Cailin find out that he was impersonating his twin brother because it could cost his brother his job – and they desperately needed the funds – not to mention that his brother loved his job. So, of course, it doesn’t take long for Courtland’s brother and Cailin to cross paths – and for it all to break loose and for Kier to lose his job.

I thought the chemistry between Cailin and Courtland was excellent – and I loved that she could tell the twins apart right away. Each of them had closed off their hearts and emotions, but for very different reasons and it was lovely to see them open up and learn to love. Each of them gave it their best fight – Cailin because she didn’t want to risk heartbreak a second time – and Courtland because he didn’t want to become his father and marry just for the money the dukedom so desperately needed.

I loved how protective Cailin’s brothers were of her – and what was even more delightful was how protective Courtland’s sisters were of him. The youngest sister, Ellie, was priceless and you should read the book just for the things she gets up to. However, I will note that the same youngest sister (14 years) has a not-quite-believable personality. She plays with toy swords like an 8-year-old – but she is also worldly-wise and gives advice to much older people. I liked parts of her character, but she just didn’t seem believable.

The reason I didn’t give the book more stars is two-fold. First, while I liked the story well enough, it didn’t just suck me in where I couldn’t turn loose. Second, and more importantly (to me at least), is the constant (ad nauseam) references to Courtland being a step away from debtors’ prison, being locked up, doing labor, etc. Since that would have been all but impossible, I just had a hard time buying into the story. There is a well-written article by Courtney Milan (who is an expert on these things) that explains about Peers and debtors prison, etc. If you are interested, you can read it in Courtney Milan’s Article – If you aren’t interested and it doesn’t bother you, then I’m sure you’ll love it.

I liked the story and thought it was well written. I liked the main characters and was rooting for their HEA throughout the story.

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

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