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

A Rogue to Ruin by Darcy Burke

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

A Rogue to Ruin (The Pretenders #3)A Rogue to Ruin by Darcy Burke

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Pretenders, #3

Release Date: February 23, 2021

When Anne Pemberton and Rafe Blackwell meet by chance at Hatchard’s bookstore and though they do not reveal their true identities and instead call each other Lord Bodyguard and Mrs. Dazzling, a friendship forms. They spend several afternoons together before Anne doesn’t show up and it would appear their time together is over. But fate isn’t done with them yet and months later when their paths cross again and they will learn how intertwined their lives really are!

Anne, who lives with her sister Jane, Viscountess Colton, stopped meeting Rafe when she became betrothed, a mistake she deeply regrets that ended badly when her groom is arrested for extortion at their wedding. Since then Anne has been laying low and is beyond shocked and elated when she encounters Rafe in her sister’s home – apparently meeting with her brother-in-law Anthony. Rafe is just as surprised to see her – he had no idea she was Anthony’s sister-in-law. He had just come to call in a favor.

Rafe Blackwell is a man with a checkered past filled with heartbreak, violence, secrets, and lies. He is a man who has reinvented himself several times over, and a man desperate to learn the truth of his actual identity. Kidnapped at a young age, Rafe doesn’t remember where he lived before a fire claimed his parents and he ended up in London, living the life of a criminal, but he knows that is not the life he was born into. When he learns of an estate that is eerily similar to his memories, he calls in a favor from a former client of his moneylending days as the “Vicar”. When he asks Anthony to get him invited to the Earl of Stone’s estate, he has no idea how much this simple request is going to change his life.

As fate would have it, Anne is the Earl of Stone’s goddaughter and she attends the same picnic at the estate as Rafe does and finds a way to get him alone – Rafe warns her again, that he is not the man she thinks he is and that they have no future together. But Anne isn’t ready to give up on Rafe, and when the party is moved into the house and the housekeeper recognizes Rafe and his sister Selina as the children of the previous Earl of Stone – she is more determined than ever to help him take his rightful place, even though it will displace her beloved godfather. At first, Rafe tries to push Anne away but soon tells himself he needs her to help him claim his birthright, all the while, he still denies any deeper feelings and instead continues to cling to the memory of his love for his late wife. With his uncle admitting that Rafe is his long-lost nephew, it seems like things will be easily cut and dried, but claiming his birthright will not be simple, and many, many dark secrets from both sides of the claim will come to light and Anne will find herself caught in the middle of two men she loves.

This was a very well-written, fast-paced, entertaining, and interesting story. To readers of the series, the mystery of what happened to Rafe and Selina is finally solved, and the how and why of the dark tale are fascinating and well laid out. Readers of The Spitfire Society and The Untouchables series will be thrilled to catch up with several former characters and will be delighted with how neatly Ms. Burke was able to incorporate so many beloved characters into this story without detracting from Anne and Rafe. The book has a lot going for it; wonderful characters, a fascinating mystery, great secondary characters, very steamy love scenes, a villain getting his comeuppance, and finally a well-deserved HEA.

I enjoyed this story, but I did have a couple of things that kept this from being a 5 star read for me, for instance, I felt that Rafe was portrayed as actively “in love” with his late wife and I don’t mean as in he loved her (past tense) and always would, but like still in love with her and unable to love Anne, I felt that this depiction was dragged out for much of the book and then BOOM – he loves Anne. And then there is Anne herself, a wonderful character, but a bit too “Pollyanna” for my taste – I liked her, but she was just a bit too “perfect” to be relatable.

Overall, this was an excellent story and I would happily recommend this book. This book is the third book in the series, but it can be read as a standalone title with no problems.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions are my own *

Waiting For A Scot Like You By Eva Leigh

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Waiting for a Scot Like You (Union of the Rakes, #3)Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh
Barbara’s rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Union of Rakes #3
Publication Date: 2/23/21
Number of Pages: 368
** 2.5 Stars Rounded Up **

I loved our male lead, thirty-four-year-old Major Duncan McCameron. He is one of those strong, fearless, stoic men who are really marshmallows inside. After being raised by an uptight family and then spending twenty years in the military, Duncan is a rule follower. That is one of the reasons he did so well in the military. Yet, since he’s home from the wars, he feels restless and unsettled. What he had wanted – and still wanted really – was a wife and family, yet it seems beyond him to make that happen.

Beatrice Sloane, forty-six-year-old dowager countess of Farris, is finally free from her oppressive marriage and she fully intends to revel in absolutely every aspect of life from this point forward – and – she will absolutely never, under any circumstances, marry again. Frankly, I didn’t care for Beatrice – I really tried to like her, but I just couldn’t get there. Evidently, she didn’t care how much pain she caused Duncan – nor did she give the stigma her activities would cause her family any consideration at all. She didn’t seem to care – if she wanted to do it, she did it.

Beatrice intends to travel to Nottinghamshire to attend a week-long orgy at the home of Lord Gibbs. After having an inattentive husband, she was looking forward to a week of pleasure. Neither she nor Duncan was pleased when their mutual friend, the Duke of Rotherby, asked Duncan to escort Beatrice to assure she arrived safely. Rotherby convinces them and their adventure begins.

Along the way they have a lot of adventures – they stop to help deliver lambs, they have a coach accident, they encounter thieves – and they have lots and lots and lots and lots of intimate times together. I actually felt the ‘story’ part was just a way to stitch all of the intimate scenes together.

In all of the years I have been reading books and writing reviews, I have only given a 2.5-star rating a handful of times. I’m sad to say this is one of those times. I didn’t even get what I consider – for the period – to be a Happily Ever After. What we got would fit in today’s world perhaps, but would have caused so very many problems for other people in that time period. While the story was a well-written nod to – I believe – Ferris Bueler’s Day Off – I just couldn’t get myself to love it. For me, it wasn’t just a contemporary story in period dress, it was a story written in a completely alternate universe. It was filled with twenty-first-century “woke” characters who were totally accepting and approving of anything and everything.

An alternate universe where in the early 1800s …

• Gay men could live together openly and affectionately with no threat of the death penalty or social ostracizing. Where they could continue with public careers as barristers, etc. without any censure or loss of standing or income.

• A man and woman could live together without matrimony and the woman still be totally accepted within society. Where their families and friends would totally accept the relationship and not give them the cut direct. Where that relationship wouldn’t directly affect the social standing and social acceptance of her children – even the titled children.

This was a new-to-me author and I was looking forward to reading my first book written by her. However, I can’t say that I would read another. I know there are many readers out there who will read and love the book because they don’t mind that nothing about it represents any sort of historical reality. For me personally, I don’t understand why the author wouldn’t just write a contemporary story rather than trying to dress it in period clothing.

One more thought. If the roles were reversed and Duncan was the one who wouldn’t marry and he asked Beatrice to become his mistress instead, we’d all be incensed. How dare he, in that time period, do that to a respectable woman. Yet, we’re supposed to cheer them on when the reverse happens.

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