Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Series: The Kent’s Row Duchesses, #3

Release Date: November 14, 2023

Bernadette “Etta”, the widowed Duchess of Tunbridge is feeling a bit out of sorts after her two dearest friends marry. She is happy for them, but can’t help but feel a little jealous and maybe even sorry for herself. Her marriage was by no means a love match, for the most part, he ignored her, just as her parents had always done, but after his death, she moved to Kent Row and made friends, but now they are married and leaving and she wonders what is her next step. She considers taking a lover and even mentions it to her childhood friend Theodore “Theo” Tinsley, the Duke of Lightmorrow, who by all accounts is a rake of the first order. But that conversation doesn’t go well and she is embarrassed. Later she finds a letter addressed to her late husband from Donville Masquerade, a pleasure club, and her curiosity is piqued. She visits the club and decides to join, hoping to find a lover. But instead of an anonymous lover, it is Theo who finds her. He gives her a taste of pleasure, but immediately takes her home. She presses him and he agrees to engage in an affair but makes it clear that it is only about pleasure, nothing more. She agrees to his terms, but wonders if she will be able to keep her word, as Theo has always held a part of her heart.

Theo is and always has been attracted to Bernadette and considers her a friend, a friend he doesn’t want to lose. They embark on their affair and it is clear that they are perfectly matched in bed. Theo is amazed that her late husband didn’t want her, not only is she passionate, but she is clever, kind, and considerate – what more could a man want? As his feelings deepen, he begins to long for more from their relationship and wonders if Etta feels the same. But before he can declare his love and desire to marry her, a hurtful secret from his past will crush any hope he has of HEA with the woman he now knows he can’t live without.

In my opinion, this is the best book in the series. I loved Bernadette and Theo together, I felt their chemistry right from the beginning of the series and couldn’t wait for their story and it was well worth the wait! This book is filled with emotion, insecurity, friendship, a near-death experience, steamy love scenes, vindictive family members, a little heartache, forgiveness, and finally a lovely declaration scene leading to the start of their HEA and as if that wasn’t enough, there is also a very sweet epilogue featuring all the couples. I liked the previous books, but I LOVED this one and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy steamy friends-to-lovers stories. This is the third and final book in the series, but it could definitely be read as a standalone title.
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*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

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.*

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