Tag: #WeddedbyScandal

A Duke of Her Own by Stacy Reid

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Novella, Part of a Series, Re-Release / Updated Edition, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

A Duke Of Her Own (Wedded By Scandal Companion Series Book 1)A Duke Of Her Own by Stacy Reid

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Wedding by Scandal Companion Series, #1 (Previously published in I Like Big Dukes and I Cannot Lie)

Released: December 16, 2023

After a scandal that ruined her reputation and nearly two years of exile, Lady Francie Walcott has finally been called back to London by her mother to marry the elderly Earl of Beresford, in the hopes that the marriage will salvage Francie’s reputation. But before she leaves, she wants to see her neighbor and friend, Alexander Crawford one last time and hopes she will have the courage to ask him for a very special favor. For the last year, Mr. Crawford has been a balm for her loneliness and she has come to care for him. But her past experience has made her wary of trusting her emotions and she fiercely guards her heart, especially since he doesn’t know who she really is or that she is ruined and is most likely not a suitable candidate for marriage (at least by her mother’s standards). But none of that stops her from seeking him out or secretly longing for him.

Alexander Crawford, the Duke of Merrick has been smitten with Francie from almost the first moment he met her when he fled to his father’s lake cottage to grieve his father’s passing. Francie was kind and compassionate, and a friendship blossomed, but it is clear that she is hiding something, but then, so is Alexander. Over the months they have known each other, he has come to believe that Francie is the woman for him and hopes she feels the same. When she tells him of her desire to experience true passion, he is overjoyed and is determined to win her over once and for all. But when her secrets are brought to light, their HEA may be over, before it ever began!

This novella was a delight to read! The story is well written, flows perfectly, and is filled with lots of emotion, secrets, wonderful characters, steamyish love scenes, a little heartache, and finally an ending that was everything I was hoping for! This novella was originally published in the I Like Big Dukes and I Cannot Lie anthology and is the first book in Ms. Reid’s Wedded by Scandal Companion series and has ties to Wicked in His Arms in the Wedded by Scandal series. I loved this novella and am happy to recommend it to Historical Romance lovers or anyone who enjoys a steamyish novella with a happy ending.

*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.*

When the Earl Met His Match by Stacy Reid

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

When the Earl Met His Match (Wedded by Scandal #4)When the Earl Met His Match by Stacy Reid

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Wedded by Scandal, #4

Release Date: September 14, 2020

When the man she loves betrays her, Lady Phoebe Maitland and her parents are trying to force her to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, she turns to the man she berated for advertising for a wife and asks him to save her and her unborn child.

Hugh Winthrop, Viscount Huxley and heir to the Earl of Albury, has a lot on his plate. His father is dying and expects Hugh to wed, but warns him never to love a woman, Hugh’s mother was never faithful to the earl and Hugh is most likely not his child, nor are his younger siblings, but the earl loved him without question and accepted him as his own – even though Hugh is a mute and has been since birth. Hugh decided to spare himself the inconvenience of a season and just advertise for a wife – his ad generated several plausible matches and an ongoing correspondence with Phoebe, who was outraged that Hugh would advertise for a wife. So when she shows up at his home and asks him to marry her – he has to check his emotions, he is wildly attracted to her and likes her, but his fathers warnings ring loud in his head – she will be just like his mother – unfaithful and inconsistent – but he figures if he expects her to behave that way and never loves her, it won’t matter.

They settle into a routine and when she gives birth to a daughter, he is thrilled, they grow even closer after the death of his father and Phoebe knows she is in love for the first time in her life, she knows that they agreed to a marriage of convenience, but now she has hope that they will have a love match. All the signs are pointing that way, but when Phoebe’s brother Richard interferes, thinking he is helping her, her dreams of HEA are crushed by Hugh’s indifference. Can Hugh let go of his pain and love her or is it too late?

Hmmm – this was an interesting book, well written, but filled with errors and inconsistencies – but, to be completely fair, this is an ARC and may have been an uncorrected proof that will have the errors fixed before publication – it also featured a hero with an unusual disability – muteness – while this is not the first historical romance I have read with a mute hero – it is the first one where that disability didn’t seem to be a detriment to the hero – no worries of fathering mute children, no prejudices against his disability and no one seems to find it odd – which in a society that judged everyone for everything comes across as completely unbelievable – the fact that her mother was more concerned about rumors that he was not the earl’s biological son than the fact that he was a mute – just didn’t ring true. Hugh is a complex character with deep seated pain that he refuses to acknowledge, he thinks he can just turn off his emotions and therefore will never feel pain but Phoebe forces him to face the pain and take the risk that not every woman is like his faithless mother. The book has meddling, well intentioned family, steamy love scenes, abduction, an ex that won’t take “No” for an answer, a lot of angst, some heartbreak, some groveling and finally a HEA. I thought this was an OK” book, neither great nor bad, I didn’t love it or hate and while I wouldn’t read it again, I am not sorry I read it. This is the fourth book in the series, but they are loosely connected and can each be read as stand-alone titles.

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