The Duke’s Wife by Jess Michaels

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Duke’s Wife (The Three Mrs, #3)The Duke’s Wife by Jess Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Three Mrs, #3

Release Date: May 11, 2021

After the death of her bigamist husband, Abigail Montgomery’s mourning is finally over and she is ready to pick up the pieces of her life and hopefully start anew. She is not sure where life will take her, but she is sure of one thing – she is done with love! Now if she could just stop her inconvenient attraction to Nathan, the Duke of Gilmore, the man who exposed her husband’s bigamy to the ton and who seems to be everywhere she goes! And the more she tries to ignore him, the more he seems bent on confronting her.

Nathan is frustrated, he is attracted to a woman who actively despises him and he is not sure why. He should just let her be and find another woman, but he can’t seem to stop himself from engaging with her at every opportunity. Their contentious relationship seems to take a turn when they make a wager while attending a dinner with their mutual friends. A wager he loses and proposes another to recoup his loss. With each new wager, they begin to form a friendship of sorts and soon they begin to succumb to the attraction that neither wants, yet neither can deny. An attraction that will lead to a compromising situation and a marriage of convenience that seems to be anything but convenient.

This was a well-written, nicely paced, fun enemies to lovers story. Nathan and Abigail are wonderful characters and their road to HEA is filled with witty banter, wagers, steamy love scenes, and cameos from the “other Mrs. Montgomerys”. This is the third book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone title, I would recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.

*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. *

Entrancing The Earl by Patricia Rice

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

Entrancing the Earl (School of Magic, #5)Entrancing the Earl by Patricia Rice
Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: School of Magic
Publication Date: 5/18/21
Period: Victorian
Number of Pages: 300

As a through-and-through, logical, unemotional Ives male, Gerard, Earl of Ives and Wystan, avoids Wystan Castle as much as he possibly can. Why? Well, because it is filled to the brim with those lovely but pesky Malcolm women who like to manage him. It is his responsibility to care for and provide for the dears, but his coffers are all but drained and he has absolutely no idea how he’ll manage to keep the castle and lands going. If only he could find the treasure that the voice from the old Roman coin keeps talking about, he could do the necessary repairs and preserve Wystan – but if he can’t … Maybe he should just find an heiress to marry. He could do that – as long as she isn’t a Malcolm – he couldn’t do that. He just isn’t ready for marriage yet and since his father isn’t pushing him – well – he can wait.

Lady Iona Malcolm Ross and her twin sister Isobel have fled Craigmore, their home in Scotland because their debauched and evil step-father has usurped the title Earl of Craigmore. That title rightly belongs to Iona, but since she is a young female, nobody questions him. He has gone through all of their funds and is now planning to sell Iona to an American who wants a title. That American has more money than sense and has absolutely no idea how their Scottish title works. The American thinks he is buying a title for himself. Iona and Isobel have assumed new names and are well hidden within different Malcolm households – they should be safe. They were, safe that is, until their nasty step-father – using the American’s money – goes public with a tale of woe about his daughters having run away and offering a large reward for anybody finding them.

I always love all of the quirky ‘talents’ that manifest themselves in the Malcolms. Iona’s talent is that she talks to bees. That might not sound like much of a talent – but when it is needed to save the day – well – we find it might be more valuable than we realized.

The Malcolm I most appreciated in this book was Gerard. Poor man – can you imagine how conflicted he is? Yes – he is both a Malcolm and an Ives – and that pretty much puts him at war within himself. His logical, scientific, Ives mind absolutely cannot fathom that he has a voice talking to him in his head – so he often thinks he must be insane. Can he come to accept and embrace his Malcolm gifts as well as his Ives brilliance?

I really enjoyed Gerard! His conflicts within himself are really well done. Iona, on the other hand, wasn’t my favorite Malcolm. I loved that she calmed Gerard and seemed to amplify and focus his emerging gifts – but I just didn’t love her personally. She was strong and independent but didn’t trust anybody and I can understand that given her life over the last few years. Still, she was much too headstrong and often put herself – and perhaps others – at risk. Even when she was presented with logical alternatives, she still went her own way without caring a whit about what her decisions did to others – particularly Gerard. So, I liked Iona – and I liked Iona and Gerard together – but I didn’t love Iona.

I can definitely recommend this book and this series. I hope you’ll give it a try and will love it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.