Tracy’s Reviews – Page 272 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

The Bachelor Bargain by
Maddison Michaels is now live!

Bachelors, beware. For those who keep secrets and prey on the innocent, you will be exposed, with all your dirty little secrets laid bare to one and all. You have been warned…

Lady Olivia Haliford has had enough. Tired of seeing women lose their reputations, futures, and sometimes even their lives to scandal while the men walk free, she is ready to take back power and stand up for women everywhere. Along with her two closest friends, she plans to start an anonymous publication dedicated to dishing the dirt and exposing the secrets of society’s most eligible bachelors. But in order to do so, she will have to make a deal with the devil…

Sebastian Colver, known as the Bastard of Baker Street, is feared throughout London as the city’s most notorious gambling den owner and undisputed king of the underground. His life is nothing but darkness and danger, so he is shocked when the petite lady gracing his doorstep seems anything but frightened of him. He agrees to be a silent partner in the publishing of the Gazette if she will use her connections to sponsor his sister and launch her into Society and away from his dark world.

But exposing the secrets of the rich and powerful can be dangerous. Almost as dangerous as a lady falling in love with the king of the underground.

Download today!
Amazon: http://mybook.to/bachbarg
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3aIsIAN
Nook: https://bit.ly/2R3XPzS
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3dOJ5xA

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3rU4b1l

Meet Maddison

Indoctrinated into a world of dashing rogues and feisty heroines when she was a teenager, Maddison Michaels is a bestselling, award-winning Australian romance author who loves to write sexy history with a dash of mystery! Her debut novel, The Devilish Duke, won the 2019 Romance Writers of Australia Historical Romance Book of the Year. Maddison lives in Sydney with her gorgeous hubby and daughter and always starts her day with a cup of liquid gold…coffee (just quietly, she’s addicted to the stuff)!

Maddison loves hearing from her readers.

Tracy’s Review:

The Bachelor Bargain-1600 The Bachelor Bargain by Maddison Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Secrets, Scandals, and Spies, #1

Release Date: May 17, 2021

Devastated by the death of her dear friend Alice, Lady Olivia “Livie” Haliford vows to find and punish the man responsible for ruining her and possibly murdering her. To achieve this goal and to protect other women from falling victim to the entitled scoundrels of the ton, Livie, and her two dearest friends, Lady Kaitlyn Montrose and Miss Henrietta Merriweather decide to start a newspaper that will target these men and expose them for the predators they are – but to start a publishing business will require more money than they have, but Livie has the perfect investor in mind – Sebastian Colver, the Bastard of Baker Street or as most of London call him, the King of the Rookeries.

Sebastian is intrigued by the lovely young woman with a cane who stormed his office and uses his biggest secret to try and coerce him into investing in her scandal sheet. He should send her on her way because he has more pressing matters to sort out – like finding out who is trying to take over the Rookeries, but her connections, namely her Godmother the Duchess of Calder, makes her the perfect person to convince the “Dragon Duchess” to sponsor his half-sister Charlotte. He makes a deal if she can convince her Godmother to introduce Charlotte to society, he will be her silent partner.

They strike a bargain, but as they spend time together, two things become clear; one they are attracted to each other, and two whoever is trying to take over the Rookeries has also been hired to kill Olivia. Despite his vow to never love anyone, Sebastian can’t seem to walk away from Livie and will stop at nothing to save her. Can these two let go of past hurts and open their hearts so they can find a way to have HEA or will they let their fears ruin their chance for a love of a lifetime?

This was a very well-written, fast-paced story with a great “whodunit” mystery incorporated into the romance of this unlikely couple. The book has a lot going on, murder, betrayal, revenge, steamy love scenes, some angst, great secondary characters, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I did enjoy this book, but there were some things that kept this from being a five-star read for me, such as formal address/title errors and modern-day idioms and verbiage, and a couple of historical inaccuracies that I simply had a hard time overlooking, that being said, I must stress, these things are personal pet peeves of mine and may not bother other readers. This is the first book in the series that I would happily recommend and will be looking forward to the future installments!

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

The Scot Who Loved Me by Gina Conkle

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Scottish Treasures, #1

Release Date: May 25, 2021

Years ago, twice widowed Anne Neville was tasked with finding and bringing back the Jacobite’s missing gold. And finally, after years of collecting information and meticulous preparation, Anne and her merry band of accomplices are ready to set their plan in motion, they just need one more thing – the help of William MacDonald – Anne’s first and only love, who she hasn’t spoken to since the uprising 8 years ago. But to finish her mission and finally be able to return home to Scotland, Anne will do what has to be done and convince Will to help them, but first, she has to break him out of prison.

Will MacDonald never stopped loving Anne, but insecurity and misassumptions tore them apart 8 years ago and their pride has kept them apart ever since. So when she shows up at the prison, his first reaction is to refuse to help, but his heart still wants her and he realizes he may never get another chance to win her back, so he agrees to at least meet with her partners and listen to their plan. But little does Anne know that Will has his own plan to woo her back into his life.

The plan is revealed to Will and he is stunned – the gold was stolen and is currently in the possession of the last person he ever wanted to see again – Ancilla, the widowed Countess of Denton – the woman who hired him as her “personal footman” five years ago and kept him in her “employ” for a year before he finally gathered the remnants of his pride and left. He wants to refuse but knows if he does, he will lose Anne forever. Anne knows of his past with the Countess, which is why he was necessary to the plan, she does feel bad about making him return to what he considers his greatest shame and if she is honest with herself (which she usually is) she will admit that she is jealous, but she can’t let her feelings get in the way of the mission, because the Countess is a worthy foe and Anne would be a fool to let her guard down around the woman. She promises herself that once her mission is complete, she will examine her feelings and consider her options for the future – and hopefully it won’t be too late!

This was a very interesting story, the plan to reclaim the gold was well done and was reminiscent of some great cinematic heists such as The Sting, The Italian Job, and Ocean’s 8 – but overall I felt that the story was a bit slow and the relationship between Anne and Will underdeveloped and stilted, it was clear they had a past and still loved each other, but Anne’s feelings and motivations regarding Will were kept from the reader for most of the book, in the end, everything that was kept from the reader was explained, but it was too little, too late for me to feel the connection. The book has some great secondary characters, a very mild love scene, secrets, surprises, a well-executed theft, and the promise of HEA. I did enjoy the story and am looking forward to future installments.

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

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