Tag: Sally Mackenzie

What Ales the Earl by Sally MacKenzie

On By TracyIn Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

What Ales the Earl (Widow's Brew, #1)What Ales the Earl by Sally MacKenzie
Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: Widow’s Brew, #1

Release Date: July 31, 2018

Harry Graham and Penelope Barnes were childhood friends and eventually lovers, they parted ways ten years ago when Harry went off to war. But unbeknownst to Harry, Pen gave birth to a daughter and moved away from Darrow.

Now Harry is back from the war and had unexpectedly inherited the earldom of Darrow from his wastrel brother. He has promised his mother he will marry and has chosen his bride – Lady Susan Palmer. The night he is going to propose, his friend the Duke of Grainger begs him to do an investigation for him. Grainger also inherited unexpectantly and has found a payment being made to someone identified as JSW in Little Puddleton. Harry delays proposing and sets off for Little Puddleton.

Pen has lived in the Benevolent Home for the Maintenance and Support of Spinsters, Widows and Abandoned Women and their Unfortunate Children since her daughter Harriet was just a baby. As the daughter of a tenant farmer, she never expected Harry to marry her and has no regrets, she loves Harriet and will do anything to protect her – even marry the vicar. She lived with her aunt while she was expecting and they came up with a story – Pen calls herself Mrs. Barnes and claims to be a war widow, she has made a life for them, with her knowledge of farming, she grows hops for the brewery they started – Widow’s brew. This story has held for years, but new comers to the home recognize the distinctive silver stripe in Harriet’s hair, that mark her as a Graham. They assume that she is the daughter of the former Earl (Walter) as he spread his seed far and wide. When Harriet confronts Pen about her birth, Pen feels rushed to marry the vicar before gossip spreads.

Harry comes across Harriet and when he sees her hair, makes the same assumption as everyone else. But when he finds Pen being assaulted, he knows the truth. Harriet is his! This begins the reunion of Harry and Pen – but there will be no happy ending – he is going to marry Lady Susan, Earls do not marry farmers daughters. They reconnect and it is clear that the passion and friendship they shared never died and now Harry wants Pen and Harriet in his life for good, but Pen is not sure, she has to do what is best for Harriet – she loves Harry, she always has and always will and she desires him, but she has doubts about how Harriet will be treated.

When Lady Susan, Letitia (Harry’s SIL) and his mother show up in town, Harry’s ideas for the future take a radical turn – but will Pen agree with his new plans?

This book was well written, fast paced read that had a little bit of angst, steamy love scenes, some amusing banter and a sweet second chance at love. And while I didn’t particularly care for Harry at the beginning (it had nothing to do with him not considering marriage to Pen), I did end up loving him by the end. I also thought that this book was one of the most historically accurate regarding the class differences that I have read in a long time, because let’s be honest, an Earl would not consider marrying a farmers daughter – it just wasn’t done. I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series and hope that we get a glimpse of Harry, Pen and Harriet’s future, since this book did not have an epilogue (Boo!).

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

When To Engage An Earl

On By BarbaraIn Barb's ReviewsLeave a comment

When to Engage an Earl (Spinster House #3)When to Engage an Earl by Sally MacKenzie

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Author: Sally McKenzie
Series: Spinster House #3

Publication Date:  May 30, 2017
WOW!! What a bang-up ending to this series!! The Spinster House goes to a bachelor — you just have to love it!! Sorry — you’ll just have to read it to see what I mean!

I have to say that I loved all of the characters in the entire series, but Poppy is the absolute best character you could want in a book!! Poppy is a reddish-orange cat that is the very definition of independent AND everybody truly believes that she is magical. After you read this series, you’ll think so too!

If you read the first two books, you’ll know that Miss Jane Wilkinson had some behind-the-scenes involvement in getting the first two couples together. She did that because she wanted the Spinster House for herself. Jane was determined to never marry and to live independently of her brother. However, she didn’t really bargain for how lonesome she might be – even though she’d never admit that. She had an attraction to our hero from the first time they met, but was determined to fight it.

Alex, Earl of Evans is feeling pretty insecure about himself since he was jilted. He doesn’t trust himself to know if he is in love or even to evaluate how someone feels about him at all. However, he feels continually drawn to Jane and finds himself turning up at the Spinster House when he doesn’t really intend to go there.

Alex and Jane don’t have a smooth path to their HEA – mostly because of Jane’s fears. Once Alex realizes how he feels, he’s ready to go – but not Jane. Takes a while and a lot of hurt before she gets where she needs to be.

I absolutely LOVED the epilogue. I always think a book – especially a romance – needs an epilogue, but this one was really, really good. It followed up on the previous couples and ended it all with a really sweet loving finish. Way to go Sally MacKenzie!

“I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”