Tag: Stacy Reid

An Earl to Remember by Stacy Reid

On By TracyIn Movie / Story Retelling, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

An Earl to Remember (Unforgettable Love #2)An Earl to Remember by Stacy Reid

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Unforgettable Love, #2

Release Date: August 22, 2023

Things have not been easy for the Heyford girls since the death of their father, but Georgianna Heyford is determined to keep the sisters together in the family home and she has a plan. She loves to cook and has been hired to cater a party for the Earl of Stannis, the payment for the job will shore up the family’s finances for the next year, but more importantly, she hopes the partygoers will love her food and hire her for future events. The job is going well and she is excited, but all that changes when a chance encounter with the earl ends with Georgianna being fired and sent away without being paid. Humiliated and angry Georgianna returns home, but fate seems to be playing with her when days later the earl is found washed up on the beach of her village. She goes to her cousin’s office, where he was taken, and learns that he has no memory of who he is, she is going to tell them who he is when he burst out that he knows her – intimately. Horrified and furious, Georgianna claims that he is her husband. Her cousin is sure that his memory will eventually return and demands that she take him with her. She resists at first, but then a new plan forms. She is going to make the earl work off his debt to her. What could possibly go wrong?

Daniel Rutherford, the Earl of Stannis, can’t believe that he has married Georgianna, but he also knows she is the other thing familiar to him. He knows something this wrong, but with no options, he goes along with Georgianna’s story. Soon he finds himself falling into his new life, and falling for his new “wife”. But when his memory returns, he is furious and burning for vengeance. He plans to make Georgianna pay for her deception, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans…

This was a well-written, fun Victorian twist on the movie “Overboard”. I love that movie and thoroughly enjoyed Stacy Reid’s retelling. The book is filled with lies, secrets, an arrogant hero who gets taken down a few pegs, an enterprising heroine, laugh-out-loud moments, steamy love scenes, great secondary characters, cameos from previous protagonists, a bit of heartache, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I feel like for the most part, the author stayed true to the original plot, however, I would have been happier if Georgianna had been a widow because Daniel’s actions after recalling his memories left me feeling like he hadn’t really changed from the man he was at the beginning of the book. This is the second book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title. Overall, this was a fun retelling with its own twist and hints to the next story, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my fellow HR readers.

*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.*

The Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid

On By TracyIn Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Wolf and the WildflowerThe Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: February 27, 2023

Until she was 12 years old, Jules Southby had no idea she was a girl, as she was raised as a boy since birth, a deception put forth by her mother and one Jules continues to uphold. Her mother suffered greatly giving birth to their first daughter and was warned not to have more children, but Jules’ father, a respected psychologist and the younger son of a viscount, desperately wanted a son and pressed his wife to try again. When Jules was born, her mother mistakenly thought she was a boy and told her father as much, only to learn the truth once he left the room. The midwife suggested that she pretend that the baby was a boy for a few years until she healed enough to try again. Her mother agreed, but as time passed, it became harder to admit her deception and she decided not to reveal it, forcing Jules to continue the deception. As time passes, Jules begins to appreciate the freedom being a man affords her and she follows in her father’s footsteps studying psychology. She is thrilled when her father suggests that she join him on an unusual case. A man who was lost in the Yukon and missing for ten years has returned to his family, but he is not the same man his family remembers and Dr. Southby is to meet with him and determine if he is sane.

That man is James Winters, the new Duke of Wulverton. He was mountain climbing in Canada when he fell and was lost. For ten years he survived the harsh Yukon territory with nothing but his wits. It was another fall that lead to him returning to his family, but sadly his father passed away before James returned. James is not insane, but neither is he the same genteel man this mother recalls. She insists that he needs to return to society and find a wife, she has decided that she will host a ball in a month and expects him to find a wife by that time. She contacts Dr. Southby to examine him and help ease him back into society. But it is not Dr. Southby that captures James’ attention, it is Jules. Because despite fooling everyone she has ever met – including her family, James immediately knows Jules is a woman and agrees to share his experiences with her, on the condition she does the same for him. What starts as an exchange of information, transforms into a love affair that could destroy everything Jules has worked for and potentially ruin her family. Walking away is the logical thing to do, but when was love ever logical?

I will be honest, to really enjoy this story, you will have to turn a blind eye to certain facts and just accept that he was not declared dead after being lost for ten years and that he can just take up his father’s title with no opposition, you will also have to accept that he can “smell” Jules through doors and crowded ballrooms and you will so have to believe that in 23 years no one figured out that Jules was a woman. If you can do that, you will be treated to a story, unlike any historical romance you have ever read. This was a bit of a “Tarzan” meets “Just One of the Guys” story and as corny as that sounds, it works – I was completely drawn into this book and invested in their HEA. I loved the chemistry between James and Jules and I was awed by the depth of emotion that Ms. Reid was able to evoke through her words. I devoured this book, reveling in the bond they formed, and dreading the moment that they would inevitably have to part. This book was so emotional, yet it wasn’t depressing, and did I mention the steamy love scenes or the sigh-worthy declaration? This was a unique and satisfying story that I am happy to recommend and hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

*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.*