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

The Scoundrel Falls Hard by Sophie Jordan

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The Scoundrel Falls Hard (The Duke Hunt #3)The Scoundrel Falls Hard by Sophie Jordan

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke Hunt, #3

Release Date: August 23, 2022

The last thing Gwen Cully expected when she went to work in her smith that day was to save a conman from being hanged and then end up betrothed to him – but that’s exactly what happened! Gwen was working in her smith when the man she knew to be the scoundrel impersonating the Duke of Penning’s heir entered and begged her to hide him from the angry mob chasing him. She thought he was exaggerating, but when she sees the townsfolk baring down on them, she lets him hide. Unfortunately for him, someone comes into the smith and sees him and he is dragged away. With the townsfolk intent on hanging him!

Kellan Fox knows what he did was wrong and to be honest, he is tired of his nomadic life, but he made a deathbed promise to his mother to watch over his father and has felt duty-bound to keep his word. But this is the last straw, his father scammed the people of the town into believing that he was the long-lost Duke of Penning and that Kellan was his heir, but when his con was exposed, he took off, leaving Kellan to take the fall. And now with a rope around his neck, it seems like he will indeed pay the price for their sins. But to his surprise, the lovely blacksmith tries to stop the mob from killing him. Going as far as to proclaim her love for him. And it works, sort of…because they end up betrothed to prove that they really love each other.

Gwen and Kellan don’t want to marry, but she knows if she doesn’t marry him, she will be ruined and her business will suffer even more than it has since her father and uncle died. So she suggests a compromise, they marry and spend one year together, in an in-name-only platonic marriage – and then he will be free to leave. Kellan agrees, as he owes her his life, and even offers to help her around the house and the blacksmith shop. It seems like an ideal partnership until it becomes clear that the platonic part is going to be harder to adhere to than either of them thought. Is it possible that this relationship built on a lie could be a love match? Can Gwen trust him or is Kellan just playing her for a fool?

This was a fun, fast-paced story with extremely likable characters and a fresh twist on the marriage of convenience trope. This story has witty banter, believable character development, a marriage of convenience, lies, dodgy relatives, a bully, great secondary characters, trust issues, steamy love scenes, and finally a very lovely HEA complete with an epilogue. This is the third book in the series, but they are very loosely connected and can easily be read as standalone titles. I enjoyed this story and would happily recommend this 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.*

Beauty and the Thief by Shana Galen

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Beauty and the Thief (The Royal Saboteurs #1)Beauty and the Thief by Shana Galen

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Royal Saboteurs, #1

Release Date: August 9, 2022

Miss Bridget Murray is the secretary to “Baron” the head of a secret government agency known as the Royal Saboteurs, an agency sworn to protect the crown and country from threats. Bridget works closely with the Baron and specializes in decryption, but today she is charged with escorting several new recruits to the agency’s training facility, known as “The Farm”. With the train due to leave in minutes, she is still missing one man – Callahan “Cal” Kelly, and let’s just say their first meeting was memorable. Bridget can’t understand why the Baron would want the Irishman, in her experience, Irishmen are not trustworthy or dependable, at least her dad wasn’t.

Cal is a charming conman, plain and simple, he is also a thief, a recovering alcoholic, and a recovering gambling addict, who has no idea why the Baron thinks he could be useful to him, but the money he offered Cal could set him on a new path and since he needed to get out of London for a bit anyway, he accepted the invite. He even starts to enjoy the training and is doing very well, but what he especially likes is teasing the uptight Miss Murray, who is all that is prim and proper, but clearly has a fire burning in her that is as vibrant as her lovely hair!

After a few weeks of training, it becomes clear why the Baron sought out Cal, he needed an Irishman to infiltrate a group of anarchists in Ireland, intent on breaking the Act of Union and reclaiming the Kingdom of Ireland. At first, Cal is eager to get on with the mission and get paid. Add to that the fact that Bridget has been ordered to go with him, posing as his wife is a bonus, because it is clear to him, that she is not nearly as indifferent to him as she wants him to believe. But once they get to Dublin the danger becomes real and Cal will be tested at every turn and his loyalties questioned. Will he be the man he wants to be or will his demons cost him everything, including the woman he has come to love?

This was such a great story, in all honestly, it did start a bit slow, but that is to be expected with the first book in a series, as the author needs to set up the series, build the world, introduce characters, etc. But once they get to Dublin, the story takes off and is non-stop until the last page. Bridget started out uptight and a wee bit self-righteous, while Cal was shifty and self-serving, but they both embraced their destiny and evolved into truly wonderful characters. Their love story is filled with spies, secrets, murder, anarchists, steamyish love scenes, action, intrigue, and finally a hard-won HEA. I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait for the next installment! I can without hesitation, highly recommend this title to both Historical Romance and Historical Intrigue fans.

*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.*