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

Notorious by Minerva Spencer

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews1 Comment

Notorious (Rebels of the Ton, #1)Notorious by Minerva Spencer

Tracy’s rating: 3/3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Rebels of the Ton, #1

Release Date: November 24, 2020

****WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS OPINIONS AND REFERENCES THAT MIGHT BE SPOILERISH****

Drusilla “Dru” Clare is mistakenly caught up in a plot to call out Gabriel Marlington that results in them having to marry. Drusilla is best friends with his step-sister Lady Eva de Courtney and has harbored tender feeling for Gabriel for years. On the outside Dru is a sharp-tongued, non-nonsense feminist who has repeatedly voiced her distain for marriage and when she does speak to Gabriel, she is curt and tosses out veiled insults. But inside she is a lonely, insecure woman who doesn’t believe that Gabriel would ever be interested in a woman like her and is insulting to protect herself from being hurt. She is stunned when she realizes they will marry and is sure that she will be hurt when he breaks her heart.

Gabriel Marlington is the son of Mia, Marchioness of Exley, who was taken captive as a young woman and was a slave owned Sultan Abdul Hassan of Oran. After the sultan’s death and his brother Assad’s betrayal – Gabriel left the only home he ever knew and moved to England. He has done his best to acclimate to his new existence – giving up his family, culture and religion – and even giving up his loyalty to save others, but the cost was high and led to some startling discoveries. He is trying to figure out what to do with those discoveries, when it seems that someone in England has targeted him for vengeance. It is that vengeance that sees him married to Dru – a woman he can’t seem to figure out and who he desires beyond reason.

****WARNING – THE FOLLOWING MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY SPOILERISH****

After reading the Outcast series and meeting Gabriel (Jibril) in those books, I was incredibly excited to learn the first book in this new series would feature him, but as it has happened before, the likeable character I met in the previous books was barely recognizable when the focus was on him – I don’t know, maybe he was always a selfish, arrogant prick and I chose not to acknowledge it in the previous books – but in any case – I was really put off by his attitude – he forbids Dru to see her friend after seeing the man holding her hand the day before they are to marry – then trots off to see his mistresses – yes, plural – house to “break up” and engages in kissing and cuddling with one of them that day and the other one another day – he tells Dru that they are his friends and she has to accept that they will continue to be a part of his life – I don’t know about you – but I would not be cool with my husband continuing to spend time with and being “friends” with two women that he had a long term sexual relationship with that only ended because he married – yeah – that doesn’t work for me. Then when he springs his “secret” on her – again, she is told she has to accept it and if she doesn’t like it – too bad. You would think that all that would make me feel sorry for Dru and pick her side against him – WRONG – she is a complete shrew for 80% of the book – she has a lot of internal dialogue that is in complete contradiction to what actually comes out of her mouth – but sadly, what comes out of her mouth makes it almost impossible to sympathize with her. She is not an evil person and if you base your opinions on her internal musings, she is relatable and actually quite nice – but her insecurities are crippling and make her seem like a witch for most of the book. It seems like the only thing going for these two is that they rock it in bed – other than that – I really no idea why they fell in love.

This is the first book in a new series and while it is loosely tied to the Outcast series, you can easily read this as a standalone title. Honestly, I didn’t love certain aspects of this book, but overall, it is a well written, nicely paced story with interesting characters, steamy love scenes, surprises, villains that surprise you, cameos with Adam and Mia, a HEA and I really did like the way the author portrayed Gabriel’s transition from Oran to England – the good and the bad. There were some title errors, but nothing too egregious and the ending of this book really made me want to read the next one!

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

Blog Tour – The Formidable Earl by Sophie Barnes

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Blog Tour, Regency Era (1811-1820)5 Comments

Diamonds In The Rough, Book 6  

Regency Romance  

Release Date: November 17, 2020 

 

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He’s breaking the rules for one woman, and coming dangerously close to
falling in love…   

Simon Nugent, Earl of Fielding, knows he’s flawed. He’s arrogant, possessive, and haunted by a terrible choice he made long
ago. So when a former friend’s daughter gives him the chance to do a good
deed, he grabs it. Except he’d like to grab her as well and teach her a thing or two about kissing.
If only she weren’t so damn stubborn.  

Ida Strong wants one thing – justice on behalf of her father. She has no
room for anything else, in spite of her growing and (at times)
inexplicable attraction toward a certain earl. But for a woman who knows
what betrayal tastes like, placing her trust in others is hard. Risking
her heart, would be downright foolish. Until it’s the only thing that
seems to make sense. 

Other Books in the Diamonds In The Rough Series: 

    A Most Unlikely Duke  – Diamonds in the Rough, Book 1   

The Duke of Her Desire – Diamonds in the Rough, Book 2   

The Illegitimate Duke – Diamonds in the Rough, Book 3   

The Infamous Duchess – Diamonds in the Rough, Book 4 

The Forgotten Duke – Diamonds In The Rough, Book 5 

  Series Link 

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Barbara’s Review:

Wow! This was an exciting, page-turner of a book! I couldn’t put it down. Not only did we finally get to see Simon and Ida get their stories, but we also got wonderful visits with several former ‘rough diamonds’ as well. The writing is excellent, the story is well-plotted and well presented, and the characters – well – OMGoodness, the characters are wonderful. We originally met Simon in the first book of the series, A Most Unlikely Duke, and he definitely did not make a good impression. Then, we met the sweet and lovely Ida in the fifth book, The Forgotten Duke. You don’t have to have read those books to enjoy this one, but – goodness, they were GREAT books.

Simon Garrison Nugent, Earl of Fielding, is … boring, strait-laced, proper, judgmental, prideful, and has a sterling reputation among the ton. He’s never set a foot wrong – never done anything out of bounds. He’s definitely NOT a rogue – he doesn’t even visit brothels. Well, he hasn’t before, but after a visit with a couple of friends at White’s – when they told him he was boring – he decided he’d do something really daring and go to a brothel – just to show them. The brothel he chooses is Amourette’s and goodness is he in for a shock at just how non-boring his life is going to become. As he walks in, there is no one there to greet him, so he gets arrogant when he notices a woman standing, partially hidden, on the landing. He demands she come down and when she does, he thinks he recognizes her – and makes a loud, unmistakable utterance about her being Matthew’s daughter. GROAN…

Ida Veronica Strong’s father was convicted and hung for treason four years prior and Ida has been living in hiding at Amourette’s since then – she doesn’t work there, she just lives there with the owner who is her aunt. She’s been hidden away because attempts have been made on her life. She knows her father was innocent and she loudly vowed to find and punish the real traitor – and he took her seriously because attempts have been made on her life. Now, a boorish oaf has announced to all of the patrons just who she is and she has to flee – again.

Simon served with Ida’s father in the wars and he liked him very much. Matthew actually saved Simon’s life, and Simon deeply regrets that he didn’t speak up when Matthew was accused of treason – but it all happened so very fast. Now, it seems he’s failed Matthew’s daughter as well. It seems he just keeps failing people – but he’ll do whatever he can to make things right for Ida.

The book is action-packed, fast-paced, and exciting. You’ll enjoy solving the mystery and finding the real traitor, and you’ll absolutely love the romance. It takes Simon a while to work through all of his feelings and watching him get it is entertaining indeed.

About the Author

Born in Denmark, USA TODAY bestselling author Sophie Barnes spent her youth traveling with her parents to wonderful places all around the world. She’s lived in five different countries, on three different continents, and speaks Danish, English, French, Spanish, and Romanian. But, most impressive of all, she’s been married to the same man three times—in three different countries and in three different dresses.  

When she’s not busy dreaming up her next romance novel, Sophie enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, cooking, gardening, watching romantic comedies and, of course, reading.  

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