Category: Victorian Era (1837-1901)

In the history of the United Kingdom, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe.
Preceded by: Regency era
Followed by: Edwardian era
Monarch: Victoria

Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard

On By TracyIn Movie / Story Retelling, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)2 Comments

Never Met a Duke Like You (Taming of the Dukes, #2)Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Taming of the Dukes, #2

Release Date: November 14, 2023

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst is pretty, popular and secretly nursing a broken heart. Once upon a time, she fell in love with her best friend and neighbor, Aspen Drake but a falling out when they were children and his shabby treatment of her during her debut, followed by his departure from England, effectively quashed any hope she might have still held for a happily ever after with him. But instead of turning her back on romance, she has embraced her love of love and plays matchmaker for her friends. She is happy with her lot in life, content to be a spinster, and dedicate herself to charitable works and match-making. But when Aspen returns and asks her help in finding a match for his ward, how can she say no, even if he is still an arrogant ass.

Aspen Drake, the Duke of Greydon has reluctantly returned to England after spending years in America leading archaeological digs. He knows he has neglected his duties for too long, but the loss of his father and his mother’s betrayal cut him deeply and kept him away. But upon learning the duchess planned to have him declared dead, he was finally forced to return and now he is on a mission, to find the proof of his mother’s evilness and to change the Lunacy Acts that made it too easy for her to carry out her dastardly plan. He has a plan, he has goals and he won’t be distracted, but when he finds himself trapped in an attic with her he realizes several things, she is even more beautiful than she had been the last time he saw her, she is even more annoying and he is in trouble.

Sigh, I had high hopes for this book, since Emma is my favorite Jane Austen book and I love a good retelling. Sadly, this book fell short for me. Personally, I felt that there was too much modern verbiage, too many contemporary ideals, and miscommunications to make this an enjoyable historical read. And don’t even get me started on the fact that the villainess wasn’t punished anywhere close to enough. But those things aside, I will give the author credit for taking on difficult issues and I found that part of the book to be well-researched and handled appropriately. I also enjoyed the snarky banter between Vesper and Aspen, the steamyish love scenes as well as the author’s notes. Overall, it wasn’t the story I hoped for and not a book I would read again, but I didn’t hate it and I’m sure it would appeal to many HR readers. And while this story didn’t really work for me, I would definitely read the next book. This is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title.

*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.*

Tales of a Society Nothing by Shana Galen

On By TracyIn Novella, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

Tales of a Society Nothing (The Royal Saboteurs Book #5)Tales of a Society Nothing by Shana Galen

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Royal Saboteurs, #5

Release Date: November 14, 2023

After eighteen months of intense training with the Royal Saboteurs, Margaret Vaugh is finally given a mission, but instead of working with another agent, she is sent to London to track down a missing agent, who also happens to be her estranged husband, Ambrose Holyoake, Viscount Holyoake. She hopes to find him quickly and return to the farm. But when she does find him it is clear that she won’t be returning to the farm anytime soon, because Ambrose is gravely injured and his would-be assassin is still on the loose. Margaret has not seen or heard from Ambrose since she left three years ago, and seeing him now brings back all the feelings she thought she had buried because despite leaving him to pursue her dream of becoming an agent for the Royal Saboteurs, she never stopped loving him. In fact, love was never a problem between them, but while Margaret longed to be his partner in all things, Ambrose couldn’t seem to accept that she was capable of protecting herself and unwittingly held her back. Walking away from him was the hardest thing she had ever done and she isn’t sure she can do it again.

Ambrose Holyoake has loved Margaret “Maggie” for most of his life and it nearly killed him when she left, but he let her go because he knew he was holding her back and honestly didn’t know how to change or if he even could. He invites her to work with him to track down the man who tried to kill him because he is sure that it is tied to the case he was working on and that finding the assassin will lead them to the man threatening to kill the Prime Minister’s son. But old habits die hard and try as he might, he can’t seem to quelch his need to protect her, even when she proves that she can take care of herself and even save him. He knows that if he can’t find a way to let her be his equal, he will lose her and she won’t give him a third chance.

This was a perfectly executed novella, the writing is impeccable and the story never feels rushed or skimpy which is often the case with novellas. The backstory between Margaret and Ambrose is perfectly woven into the story without the use of the much dreaded “flashback” and gives the reader a good understanding of what drove the lovers apart and what is still keeping them apart. The book is filled with emotion, second chances, longing, action, steamyish love scenes, heartache, acceptance, and a happy ending that includes an epilogue. This novella is closely tied to and runs concurrently with the previous book Must Love Scoundrels and I would recommend reading at least that book before this one, however, all the books in this series can be read and enjoyed as standalone titles. Overall, I think this is my favorite installment of the series, which is saying something because all the books were great and I highly recommend reading the entire series!

*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.*