Category: Tracy’s Reviews

King of Hearts by Eileen Putman

On By TracyIn Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews4 Comments

King of Hearts (League of Rogues, #1)King of Hearts by Eileen Putman
Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: League of Rogues, #1

Release Date: September 28, 2017

After a drunken bet goes horribly wrong, Gabriel Sinclair finds himself with a noose around his neck and in his last moments contemplates his life and wishes for a second chance. His second chance comes in the form of Louisa Peabody…

Louisa Peabody is a woman who has been grossly wronged by the men in her life and has made it her mission to save other women from the injustices heaped on them by men. Scarred inside by the events leading up to and her incredibly brief marriage, Louisa believes that love is not for her and turns all her passion into helping other women. When her latest rescue mission goes wrong and she ends up with Gabriel instead of the woman she planned to save from the gallows, Louisa reluctantly takes Gabriel back to her home and nurses him back to health.

Once Gabriel recovers and is ready to leave, Louisa makes him an offer, help her break the woman she originally meant to save out of prison and she will pay him a small fortune for his help. Tempted by the money and the lovely repressed woman making the offer, Gabriel agrees to her mad scheme.

Gabriel and Louisa are wonderful leads that have both had more than their fair share of pain and heartache. Gabriel finds himself drawn to Louisa and fights his reaction to her – he will leave and forget he ever met her – he really will! And Louisa needs no man in her life, she will be happy to see the last of Gabriel – she really will! Ah, the lies we tell ourselves 🙂

This is a truly lovely story of second chances and the healing power of love. I thought it was really well written and paced well. The dialogue is both amusing and heartfelt. The secondary characters aka “The Flowers” are a wonderful addition to the story and add several additional storylines to this book without pulling the focus from Louisa and Gabriel. The love scenes are warm and well placed, there are some tender moments, some tense moments and moments of joy. Happily, the villains get their comeuppance and everyone gets a HEA.

I really enjoyed this book and would be happy to recommend it.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*

An Earl in Wolf’s Clothing by Emily Windsor

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

An Earl in Wolf's Clothing (Rules of the Rogue)An Earl in Wolf’s Clothing by Emily Windsor
Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Rules of the Rogue, #1

Release Date: September 28, 2017

When I first read the blurb for this book, I thought that this was going to be a typical lovers separated by a misunderstanding story, and to a certain extent it was, but it was also so much more!

The opens with Sophie Beckford searching for her betrothed, Bram, the Earl of Kelmarsh. They are to supposed to be in the ballroom announcing their betrothal but he has gone missing and when Sophie finally locates him – he is with another woman! Sophie overhears their conversation and is heartbroken, she rips off her betrothal ring and leaves the ball without speaking to him. Days later, her family leaves for Ireland with Bram in hot pursuit.

Bram just misses the boat taking them to Ireland and for reasons unknown to the reader, he is not able to follow her. He has secrets that he cannot share with Sophie, he is a spy for the crown and the meeting she overheard was not what it seemed, but sworn to secrecy and unable to explain, it appears that he will lose his lady love, but he is not willing to give her up without a fight – he is unable to go to Ireland, but he writes to her and sends gifts, hoping to win her back. Now almost a year later, she is back in London, but she is not the Sophie that he remembers.

Armed with a new wardrobe and her feisty Irish cousin, Sophie is back and determined to forget Bram and his betrayal. She makes her intentions painfully clear to Bram when he corners her at Almack’s and tries to explain the misunderstanding without revealing his secrets.

With the “help” of his fellow agents, Bram sets out to complete a final mission for the crown, retire and win back his lady. Ah, the best laid plans………

This story is both amusing and heartfelt. I loved that Sophie didn’t immediately forgive Bram, she made him work for her forgiveness. And I loved that Bram never gave up, he knew he hurt her (unintentionally) and owned it, while I wouldn’t say he groveled, he did work hard for her forgiveness. The book has both amusing and tense moments, a great cast of secondary characters, secrets, revelations, kidnapping, some warmish love scenes and finally a very hard earned HEA.

I had not read any of Ms. Windsor’s previous books, but after reading this book I am definitely going to be checking out her backlist while I wait for the next book in this series!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an copy that was provided to me by the author – all opinions in this review are my own*