Tag: #Greycourt

No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt

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No Ordinary Duchess (Greycourt, #3)No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Greycourt, #3

Release Date: December 10, 2024

Raised in Scotland by her Aunt, Lady Elspeth de Moray has come to England to find an ancient diary which she believes will reunited the Wise Women, a secret society sworn to help the women of Britian, trouble is the book is reported to be in the Duke of Windemere’s library, which puts her directly in the crosshairs of her brother Ranulf’s one time friend and now enemy, Julian Greycourt. And as fate would have it, she and Julian are thrown together at every turn. She isn’t sure what happened between Ranulf and Julian, but she knows she should stay away, too bad she finds him so intriguing and desirable! Can the bad blood between their families be laid to rest or is she doomed to love the one man she can’t have.

Julian Greycourt, the heir to his uncle, the Duke of Windemere, is sure that the duke killed his mother and believes she left proof in a book, but which one? Julian is determined to find the truth, but didn’t anticipate meeting Elspeth or falling for her. Dark and brooding, Julian has secrets that he is sure will repulse any woman, but with Elspeth his proclivities don’t seem to matter, in fact, being with her is a dream come true, too bad he thinks her brother killed his sister. Will they each find what they are looking for and find a way to be together or is the past just too much for them to overcome?

Sigh, this series isn’t what I was hoping for, but then the Maiden Lane series is a hard act to follow and left me with very high expectations. Expectations that sadly this series isn’t quite living up to. The book is well written, interesting, intriguing and different, which should make it a hit, but instead it is just OK. The story features a grumpy/sunshine couple, which is always fun, and Julian has some desires that make for interesting love scenes, but it just isn’t Maiden Lane caliber. In addition to that, the Wise Women story line is just not working for me and while I liked Elspeth and Julian as characters, I wasn’t really invested in their romance. Overall, I liked the book, but I wouldn’t read it again. This is the third book in the series and it could be read as a standalone title, but 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 the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

When A Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt

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When a Rogue Meets His Match (Greycourt, #2)When a Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Greycourt, #2

Release Date: December 1, 2020

Gideon Hawthorne was born on the streets and clawed his way out of the rookeries, his break came when the Duke of Windemere hired him as a henchman. But after years of servitude and clever investments, Gideon wants his freedom. He is ready to break with the duke when he is offered a reward he can’t pass up – marriage to Messalina Greycourt, Windemere’s niece, that will give him the connection to society he needs to advance his businesses along with her substantial dowry – the catch? He must kill her brother Julian, the duke’s heir.

Messalina is shocked that her uncle plans to marry her off to Gideon and refuses, but soon changes her mind after learning that Windemere will let Gideon marry her younger sister, Lucretia if she refuses. She makes a deal with Gideon, she will marry him, but wants a portion of her dowry and stipulates that her sister must live with them. She plans to use the money to run away and take Lucretia with her. But from the first she is surprised by Gideon and slowly begins to fall for him. Things are progressing and Messalina is reconsidering her plans, but any chance for a HEA is shattered when she learns the truth.

Gideon has also reconsidered his plans and to win his wife back he will have to thwart the duke, figure out who is trying to kill him and prove to Messalina that he is capable of love. Easier said than done…

This was a well written, fast paced book with an interesting mix of characters and a lot of surprising twists. The book has a little bit of everything; steamy love scenes, action, mystery, vile villains, betrayal, cameos from former characters, surprising twists and turns and finally a HEA. I did feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions and I still don’t understand why the duke wanted Julian dead. I also didn’t care for Messalina’s reaction to learning the truth – I expected better of her. Overall, I liked this book and would be happy to recommend it. This is the second book in the series, but it is very loosely connected to the first book and can easily be read as standalone title.

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