If you’re looking for an historical romance with a complex plot, serious characters and a bucket-load of angst, then move right along, because Alexis Hall’s Something Fabulous isn’t it. If, however, you’re up for a frivolous romp through Regency England bubbling with wit and brilliant comic timing that, for all its ridiculous trope-y-ness, contains an…
It’s sometimes hard to turn your antagonist into a protagonist. I have to give Joanna Lowell credit for not drastically changing the character of her heroine here, but there’s only one thing wrong with The Runaway Duchess – and it’s the heroine. I know, this book is all about a girl growing up and becoming…
Lauri Robinson’s Marriage or Ruin for the Heiress is the first in her new miniseries The Osterlund Saga. This book is set in Chicago during the Great Depression and features a hero and heroine who are both determined never to fall in love. This is a delightful and easy read, with the tiniest bit of…
Mimi Matthews tops herself with the first novel in what appears to be a fresh and brilliant new series with The Siren of Sussex, the tale of an independent horsewoman and the tailor who vows to make her the most talked about equestrienne in all of England – both of whom suddenly discover love in…
Juliana Ross’s set of interconnected Victorian erotic stories starts out a bit shaky but gets better with each tale. Improper Relations Grade: B- Hannah witnesses her late husband’s cousin Leo in an encounter with a maid and falls into sexual education with him. There are a lot of tropes here, from the ‘teach me’ to…
The Redemption of Philip Thane is Groundhog Day meets historical romance, and brings a supernatural element to the established Penhallow series. Philip Thane is your average rake. He’s an unrepentant gambler, drinker, and wencher, with no money to call his own. In the past, Philip has called upon his high connections to various aristocrats to…
Susanna Craig’s Better off Wed is delightful if slightly imperfect. With a smart and strong heroine and a stiff-spined hero, it’s warm and strongly written, and the best book in the Love and Let Spy series thus far. Impoverished spy, codebreaker and ex-army Captain Jeremy Addison, Viscount Sterling, has been assigned to the case of…
I’ve categorised Rachel Ember’s Burning Season as an historical romance – although it feels utterly weird to use the word ‘historical’ to describe a story that takes place during my lifetime! Set in 1972 (when I was eight!) it’s the third published book in the author’s Wild Ones series, but is the first chronologically; I…
Regency Christmas Liaisons is an anthology featuring novellas from Christine Merrill, Sophia James, and Marguerite Kaye. Each is a new-to-me author, and I enjoyed all three stories, although Merrill’s was my favorite of the three. Unwrapped Under the Mistletoe by Christine Merrill Grade: B+ Sensuality: Warm Daphne Bingham…
Julie Anne Long is one of my favorite romance authors, and books like this are exactly why. After Dark with the Duke is a classic Long – she has paired two interesting, disparate characters, added loads of chemistry and just enough conflict to keep things interesting but not outrageous. As another standalone in the Palace…