I have been reading what feels like a lot of historical romances and yet I still own a bunch I haven’t read!! Lovely!! So here is yet another historical romance mini review set for you all!
Also I am recovering from the flu/decided to do NaNoWriMo last minute so if there are more typos/things that don’t make sense I’m sorry in advance!
If you missed the first parts of this “series” you can read Part One here, Part Two here, & Part Three here, Part Four here, Part Five here, Part Six here, & Part Seven here, Part Eight here.
I also read and reviewed (almost) the entire Bridgerton series if you want to check that out here & the entire Scandal & Scoundrel series here.
Some Dukes Have All the Luck (Synneful Spinsters #1) by Christina Britton
Plot (from Goodreads): Ash Hawkins, Duke of Buckley, no more wants to marry than he wants a stick in his eye. As the owner of a gaming hell, he is all too aware the odds of a happy marriage are against him. But raising his three rebellious wards alone is proving more than he can handle. He needs to find someone who stands to benefit from a marriage of convenience as much as he does. Someone logical, clinical, and rational. And in a stroke of luck, he quite literally stumbles over just such a woman.
After years of ridicule for being more interested in bugs than boys, Bronwyn has accepted that she’ll never marry for love. Her parents, however, are threatening to find her a husband. Bronwyn doesn’t need any scientific research to show her Ash has secrets. But his proposal would give her the freedom to continue her entomology research and perhaps finally get published. Just as long as she can keep her mind on her work and off his piercing eyes, broad shoulders, and wicked, wicked tongue.
Thoughts: I normally think historical romances are a tad slow and yet this one was so fast?? I’m all for falling in love fast, but it was too quick in this case. I like my marriage of convenience moments to be a bit more of a slowburn or at least an emotional slowburn and this is just too fast.
I also found Britton’s writing to be a bit choppy or disjointed, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt and blame my weird reading mood.
I liked Bronwyn & Ash, but I couldn’t get over how fast they fell and it didn’t make sense in the narrative to me. It was cool that Bronwyn was so into bugs (yay for women in STEM) BUT I HATE BUGS and didn’t want to read about them.
Overall, this was a fine historical romance, but I didn’t love how the marriage of convenience trope was executed here. 3/5 stars
TW: death of a parent, domestic abuse,
*thanks to the publisher for an eARC; all thoughts are my own*
The Rake Gets Ravished (The Duke Hunt #2) by Sophie Jordan
Plot: Mercy’s brother has gambled away the deed to their home and lost it to Silas Masters, owner of a gambling hall. Mercy sneaks in to his private quarters to steal it back, but she is caught by Masters himself and she pretends that she was actually there to seduce him. And it works. For a little while.
Thoughts: This is such a quick historical. They bang super early into the book and the book reads really quick. I was having a fun time, but it slowed as the book went on. I wanted more from Mercy and Silas as characters as I felt they were a bit one dimensional and reduced to a few personality traits.
I would read more from Jordan and want to read more of this series because it was mostly a fun time, I just wanted more from the characters and the plot too tbh which is why I gave it between 3 – 3.5 stars. I will say, this cover is stunning. I love love love the pink dress.
~ Little interlude here ~
Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways #1) by Lisa Kleypas
I will be doing a series review as I read The Hathways by Lisa Kleypas! Also, this one was on kindle unlimited last I checked so get on that if you want to read it before I post my thoughts! (It’s going to be awhile since I have only read book one in this series)
The Governess Affair (Brothers Sinister #0.5) by Courtney Milan
See my thoughts in my Owned October Wrap Up!
But, also I believe this one is permanently free on amazon so check it out here. (*affiliate link)
~ interlude is now over; back to the reviews ~
A Lady’s Code of Misconduct (The Rules for the Reckless #5) by Meredith Duran
Plot (from Goodreads): A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL…
Trapped in the countryside, facing an unwanted marriage and the theft of her fortune, Jane Mason is done behaving nicely. To win her freedom, she’ll strike a deal with the most dangerous man she knows—a rising star in politics, whose dark good looks mask an even darker heart.
…NEVER GOES TO PLAN.
The bitter past has taught Crispin Burke to trust no one. He’ll gladly help a lovely young heiress, provided she pays a price. Yet when a single mistake shatters his life, it is Jane who holds the key to his salvation. And in a world that no longer makes sense, Crispin slowly realizes that she may be the only thing worth fighting for…
Thoughts: So this started strong!! I was so curious how Duran was going to be able to give these characters an HEA because Burke is not a nice man!! Jane needs to marry to get away from her Uncle who is trying to force her to marry her cousin so he can keep her fortune. When Burke has a life threatening injury Jane sees her chance and pretends they got married before her injury. No one expects him to survive. And then he does and does not remember Jane.
My critique of this one was all the politics. And I love politics (I hate them, but I studied political science so I love a good political convo), but I don’t know anything about British politics from the 1800s so all of this went over my head. There were also a lot of in depth conversations about bills which was not it for me. I did like seeing Burke and Jane connect over politics and how he actually gives her credit for influencing him, but I just got bored.
The Duke Gets Even (The Fifth Avenue Rebels #4) by Joanna Shupe
Plot: The Duke of Lockwood has been rejected a lot lately, but he really needs to marry a wealthy heiress to save his family’s estate. Nellie Young doesn’t want to get married, but when all her friends start partnering off she starts to worry what will happen to her. After a chance encounter the Duke and Nellie try their best to stay away from each other, but it does not go well!
Thoughts: First of all THIS COVER THOUGH!!! Second, all of the books in this series follow a house party that basically is the entire plot of book one and I never read that one so it’s been a time piecing together what happened at that party from the other books. Okay business it out of the way.
Keep in mind I read this while I had the flu so my thoughts were impacted by that for sure. But, I loved this one like a lot. No notes. The fact that I was able to read this like two days after I had a terrible fever is a testament to how fun this book is. I loved the Duke of Lockwood (poor dude has been rejected two and a half times) and Nellie was just a delight. The scene they meet was iconic and I loved it.
I’m a sucker for a historical where what the two characters want is at odd with each other. The Duke needs a rich wife and Nellie is rich, but she doesn’t want to get married. Aside from that this book does not have much of a plot, but I didn’t mind because it was a fun time and that is what I wanted.
The only think I wish had been a bit more on page throughout was Nellie’s activism because it popped up towards the end and impacted the last third of the novel, but I think, should’ve been on page more for that to make sense. Do I think that Shupe maybe increased this part now that Roe is overturned? It’s possible! I loved seeing Nellie advocate for women (it’s very cis) and help them take control of their decision to have children. I just think it would’ve worked a bit better just being on page more.
*thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC copy; all thoughts are my own*
Amazon Affliate Link If you want to preorder – Click Here!
Scoundrel of My Heart (Once Upon a Dukedom #1) by Lorraine Heath
Plot: A Duke has decided that to find a wife he will have all the women in the ton write to him and say why he should marry them. Lady Kathryn is struggling coming up with anything that makes her stand out and ends up receiving some advice from her best friend’s brother Griffith. Despite sparks flying between the two of them nothing can happen between then because to receive her inheritance she must married a titled gentleman and Griffith is a second son.
Thoughts: I picked this one up because I wanted to read the second in the series and it turns out I actually own this book? Anyways. It was a fun time. This is my second Lorraine Heath book and wow she likes a bonkers plot. I don’t want to say too much about it, but it has something happen in the middle that I was texting my friend about because it was wild!!
This is a best friend’s brother and I haven’t read this trope in a historical before and it was a fun time. I will say it was a bit too much of a slow burn for me and I didn’t always feel the chemistry between the two of them, but I did enjoy the ride!! 3.5/5 stars.
TW: parental death, hanging, injury,
Thanks for reading & if you have any historical recommendations please leave them in the comments!
xoxo, Tree
Words About Words 