Tag: #Standalone

A Gentleman’s Offer by Emma Orchard

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

A Gentleman's OfferA Gentleman’s Offer by Emma Orchard

Tracy’s Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone Title

Release Date: March 22, 2025

When Miss Margaret “Meg” Nightingale, the estranged daughter of Baron Nightingale, receives notice from her aunt that her recently betrothed identical twin sister, Maria, has gone missing, she agrees to come to London to take her place until she is found. But Meg is not one to stand idly by and let someone else take charge, she makes it her mission to find Maria. She informs her sister’s betrothed, Sir Dominic De Lacy of the situation and demands that he assist her in finding her sister. She is attracted to Dominic and he to her, but until they find Maria and learn why she bolted, they won’t be able to act on that attraction. When they found Maria and learned why she left should make it easier for them to be together, but finding Maria only makes it harder.

Sir Dominic De Lacy, known to the ton as Beau De Lacy due to his manners and personality, has been a happy-go-lucky bachelor, but when his mother tells him of a promise his late father made to Baron Nightingale, he agrees to marry Maria Nightingale, and after just two supervised meetings, he proposes, and she accepts. He is not really attracted to her, but since he never expected to marry for love, he accepts that this will be a typical arranged marriage and only hopes they will get on better than his own parents did. However, when he sees his betrothed at their engagement ball, he is stunned at his reaction to her and a bit relieved when he learns the truth. He agrees to help Meg find her sister but makes it clear that he won’t be marrying Maria. The more time he spends with Meg, the more he knows that she is the woman he never expected to find and the only Nightingale he will marry.

The blurb for this book, hooked me hard and reeled me in, but sadly, it failed to deliver the story I was expecting. The story has a lot going on including a twin swap, estranged families, secrets, lies, blackmail, slow-burn romance, and finally a HEA for almost everyone. I wanted to love the book, but I found Meg annoying and Dominic a bit too beta for my taste, add to that the ridiculous plot and the very wordy dialogue that caused the story to drag, and unfortunately, this book just didn’t work for me.

*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. *

The Painted Lady by Avery Sterling

On By TracyIn American Historical, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Painted LadyThe Painted Lady by Avery Sterling

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: July 22, 2024

Delaney Harper sails to New Orleans eager to reunite with her mother, and receives one shock after another, starting with a passionate stolen kiss by a masked man and ending with learning that her mother is dead and owned a brothel, and it is now Delaney’s. Delaney’s passion is painting, so she plans to sell the brothel as soon as possible, and move on with her life. Unfortunately, the brothel is run down and needs to be fixed up before anyone would consider buying, which means Delaney is now a madame! Keeping her identity a secret shouldn’t be a problem as she uses the alias Madame Vanessa Cardui aka the Painted Lady, but when her masked stranger shows up, keeping her secrets and her heart intact might be a bigger problem than she anticipated!

Alderic Beaumont was once a French aristocrat and a corsair, but he is now a smuggler and partners with Nye Tarquin. While celebrating Nye’s marriage, Alderic crosses paths with Delaney and steals a kiss. Later he seeks her out and believes she is Vanessa, the new madame of the Bird House. They embark on an affair and Alderic falls hard for her and becomes her greatest ally, but when he learns that she isn’t who he thought she was, will his feelings change, or can they find their happily ever after?

This was not your run-of-the-mill historical romance; this book is well-written and has a fresh plot that I can honestly say I haven’t read before. I loved Delaney and Alderic, they are both survivors and despite the stigma of their professions, are extremely good people. You can’t help but root for their HEA! This book has a bit of everything, grief, taboos, secrets, great secondary characters, a really nasty villain, steamy love scenes and finally a hard-won HEA. As with the last book, I do wish there was an epilogue, as the author seems to draw out the final scene to the very last page and then ending the book rather abruptly. Overall, this was a good read, and it is loosely connected to the author’s previous book “Precious Burdens” but doesn’t seem to be part of a series. So, if you are looking for something a bit different that doesn’t follow the typical HR formula, I would recommend giving this story a try!

*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. *