Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary galley. All opinions provided are my own.Cat Sebastian is a master at wrenching emotions out of some poor unsuspecting reader’s heart (joking) & it can be from romantic declarations but also little acts. From the first pages of We Could Be So Good I thought *swoon.* That’s when we meet news reporter Nick Russo who—against his very best efforts—immediately has feelings for Andy Fleming, the son of the publisher & a new employee at the paper. Nick wants to take care of Andy. He wants to keep him safe & smooth his way. He wants him to be happy. Friends & then best friends & then roommates & then lovers, the journey between these two is wonderful & a bit angstier than I’m used to from Cat Sebastian. It’s actually marketed as a rom dram on the back of the galley. There are external obstacles & a minute or two of miscommunication & this book very much deals with homophobia & police corruption & the dangers Queer people faced (/face) & how that fits with falling in love & choosing love in the face of it all. There’s a beautiful message here & one that I think will resonate with many readers who have been scared/are scared to love in a tumultuous world, particularly one where certain demographics continue to be discriminated against & targeted. Romantic & true & sad & soft & hopeful, this book is another Cat Sebastian hit for me. 5⭐️. Out 06/06.CWs: Homophobia; Nick’s previous arrest for “vagrancy”; blackmail attempt; fear & lingering trauma.
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Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. I’ve really been adoring the recently published Charis Michaels’ books I’ve been reading lately. Pretty low angst, good pacing (a lot of times with that I-shouldn’t-but-I-really-want-to), & yummy steam. The FMC of Say Yes to the Princess is an actual French Princess, Elise, who’s been living in England for close to a decade after her father was executed during the French Revolution. Believing that she’s spotted the brother she’s been separated from since they were exiled, she decides to do everything she can to find him again. But the British royals don’t like this & they get Royal Fixer Killian Crewes, who is also the second son of an Earl, to seduce her. The political situation in this one is interesting, as is the place of both leads within it. Elise & Killian are part of the royalty but they’re also limited & controlled & managed by the Royals. Her royal heritage adds some heat to the romance because boy does Killian love her orders . The feelings come fast for the MMC but everything’s complicated by that dreaded thing called duty & obligation—of course until our leads chase that HEA ;) . 4⭐️. Out 07/11.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the author for the complimentary book. All opinions provided are my own.Well well well what do we have here—it’s one of my fave types of historical heroes: stunning, virile, self-made, cunning, secretly kind, & also a freaking fool for the heroine from day 1!! Even if he is a bit of a dumb dumb about it for part of the book ;). I’ve heard so many great things about Tracy Sumner’s books & decided to start with The Brazen Bluestocking. Intriguing, not pulling any punches, steamy, & with a keen understanding of when to bring some drama, this book reminded me quite a lot of Kerrigan Byrne’s writing style—only less dark. Speaking of the steam--The Brazen Bluestocking does it so well. They are long-ish physical scenes, even a kiss & grind against a door, & yet they don’t feel stale. The writing is vivid and varied, the talk is often dirty, both leads have the other tied up in lusty knots (not literally—alas ;) ), & I felt the heat. There are some quick twists & turns with the relationship between the matchmaker & the Rogue King with architect aspirations & I think angst fans will be pleased—but the book never rests long & it’s pretty clear these two are enraptured. Though it took me a minute to really get into, soon after I was invested in the romance between Hildy (Hildy Girl) & Tobias (Toby) & ultimately found it emotionally satisfying & delightfully horny. Great book! 4.25⭐️. Out now!CWs: attempted murder, death, reference to abusive parent, reference to negligent parent. In one physical scene she says “stop” & he doesn’t—they have a small convo about it but I wish the consent were clearer.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. I kept putting To Swoon & To Spar by Martha Waters off because I wasn’t in the “right mood”—I finally read it the other day & it was adorable & funny & heartwarming & naturally I was like why didn’t I read this sooner. If you haven’t read Martha Waters’ books yet, I would compare them to Tessa Dare or India Holton. Maybe a mash-up of the two actually. In this book, viscount Peter Bourne agrees to marry Jane Spencer because she’s part of the deal that will get him his ancestral home back. But Jane is very tired of being at the mercy of men in her life, who have basically been neglectful or dismissive of her (in short: uncaring), & she decides to carry on with a ruse she started with Peter’s deplorable uncle months ago: she & the servants perform a series of tricks designed to make Peter think the house is haunted so he will leave & she can live in solitary bliss. Only, Peter is different than she thinks. & for Peter, Jane is more than the prickliness that meets the eye. Marriage of convenience + fake haunting + slowly falling in love with people who are secretly nicer than they seem = happiness to me. The dynamic between Jane & Peter’s sister is amazingly antagonistic (watch two strong, opinionated women clash ), it’s so cute watching Peter insist that he doesn’t need spectacles, & Jane is such a grump but in a great nuanced way that’s appreciated by Peter. Also Peter is a hero who knows how to apologize & I am here for that . This book is so much fun & I love how the Martha Waters’ books I’ve read so far (2) merge humor with sensitivity. 4.5⭐️. Out now!Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs:
Hi and welcome to my blog stop for India Holton's The Secret Service of Tea and Treason! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for making my dreams come true by giving me a complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Summary.Two rival spies must brave pirates, witches, and fake matrimony to save the Queen. Known as Agent A, Alice is the top operative within the Agency of Undercover Note Takers, a secret government intelligence group that is fortunately better at espionage than at naming itself. From managing deceptive witches to bored aristocratic ladies, nothing is beyond Alice’s capabilities. She has a steely composure and a plan always up her sleeve (alongside a dagger and an embroidered handkerchief). So when rumors of an assassination plot begin to circulate, she’s immediately assigned to the case. But she’s not working alone. Daniel Bixby, otherwise known as Agent B and Alice's greatest rival, is given the most challenging undercover assignment of his life— pretending to be Alice’s husband. Together they will assume the identity of a married couple, infiltrate a pirate house party, and foil their unpatriotic plans. Determined to remain consummate professionals, Alice and Daniel must ignore the growing attraction between them, especially since acting on it might prove more dangerous than their target. My Review.If you ever want to be just delighted by a book I recommend an India Holton fantastical historical romance. I don’t reread often but these are the kinds of books I think I could happily reread. Quips, dry wit, irony, literary allusions…not to mention the plots themselves, in which pirates fly houses & enjoy trying to assassinate each other in a friendly kind of way; reputation is everything (& so often cemented via dating thefts & the aforementioned assassination plots); & many of the leads are like “feelings, what feelings” (even as they’re thinking something that makes clear how soft their feelings for that one person actually are.) Fun doesn’t begin to cover it. In India Holton’s latest release, The Secret Service of Tea and Treason, out now, Daniel Bixby & Alice Dearlove are servant & spy leads who’ve been tasked with posing as married so they can foil a plot to kill the Queen. There are a lot of problems with that task though, like the fact that they are attracted to each other, that they feel understood, that for the first time something / someone means more than the job that’s the only thing they’ve really had… With neurodivergent rep, two leads grateful to find a home with each other, soooo much humor, so much book appreciation (but not Wordsworth, never Wordsworth!), lovely compatibility between leads, & a beautiful portrayal of strong female friendship at the end, this book shines. 5⭐️. Out now! please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs. An Excerpt.Three years Daniel Bixby had worked as a butler for the rogue pirate Rotten O’Riley. Three years flying a rickety, ensorcelled house at speeds one could only describe as improper, smuggling pennyroyal tea into Ireland, and washing O’Riley’s laundry. Yet after just one week in Dahlia Weekle’s service he was exhausted. Criminal life had nothing on the rigors of shopping with an aristocratic lady. This purse-snatching offered the best entertainment he'd had since his return to London (or, to be fair, second best, since nothing could surpass yesterday's discovery of a Utopia edition in the original Latin). Indeed, he might have stopped the hoodlum at once by using a phrase from the magical incantation that pirates employed to fly their battlehouses and witches to move small objects-O'Riley's witch wife had taught him how to bring down a man with just one enchanted word-but it was invigorating to give chase (not to mention that witchcraft was highly secret, highly illegal-and, according to pirates, highly, er, low behavior.) About three hundred feet along the street, he caught the thief. After a struggle, he twisted the man's arm behind his back, relieved him of the purse, and held it out of reach. "Thank you," said a woman's voice behind him. Daniel felt the purse removed efficiently from his grip. Glancing around, he was astonished to see the lady's maid. Time seemed oddly suspended as he stared, arrested by the sight of her. You, said something inside of him, like a memory or a dream. It had whispered to him in the dress shop but spoke louder now, as if she'd removed a mask and he could see her more clearly. Her delicate face was framed by a coiffure so severe it made him think of backboards and plain, starched undergarments- At which point, time dropped into the pit of his stomach with a crash that sent reverberations through his entire nervous system. "Ma'am," he said, taking refuge in politeness even while his nerves clamored and the thief swore and kicked in an effort to get free. "It was a pleasure to be of assistance." "You are too kind," she replied, her voice civil but her expression making it clear she was speaking literally. She turned and handed the purse to the thief. Daniel blinked, trying to comprehend the evidence before his eyes. He had not been so confused since hearing Wordsworth described as a poetic genius. And confusion was dangerous in his line of work (i.e., when he felt it, other people became endangered). He twisted the thief's arm further, causing the man to holler, and took the purse from him once more. "I beg your pardon," he reproved the lady's maid. At his somber tone she cringed, her big dark eyes filling with tears, her lashes trembling. Daniel felt like an utter cad. "Please don't cry," he said, holding out his hand in apology. And she grabbed the purse in it, tugged hard, and jabbed the fingers of her free hand up into his armpit. Daniel gasped at the sudden pain. His grip weakened, and the purse disappeared once more from his possession. The woman returned it to the thief, who took it with an attitude of bemused uncertainty. "For goodness' sake," Daniel muttered. Although years of piracy had presented little opportunity for heroics, he felt certain they did not usually involve the victim attacking her rescuer. Wrenching the thief about, he snatched the purse from him and- The woman grasped his wrist with both hands. Daniel attempted to shake her off, and she attempted to emasculate him with an upthrust of her knee, and he saved himself (and his future children) by quickly blocking her with his own knee, leading to her stomping down on his foot, and him twisting her arm, and both of them stopping abruptly to watch the thief escape along the street. "Is that your pearl necklace he's carrying?" Daniel asked mildly. "Yes," she replied. "Oh dear." She shrugged. "Hopefully he won't bite the pearls to see if they're real. They are in fact cyanide capsules." As the thief turned a corner and disappeared from the narrative, Daniel released the woman. She took a careful breath, her fingers twitching at her skirt, and he frowned with concern. "Are you hurt?" The look she gave him was such that Daniel immediately wanted to find a chalkboard and write I will not ask stupid questions one hundred times upon it. "Yes," she said in a quiet, terrifyingly precise voice. "I have a headache, my feet ache, and it has been six hours since my last cup of tea. Six hours! And now I even sound like her. Do you realize how much work went in to shepherding that woman into position so her purse could be stolen? How many boutiques I have endured this week? Do you realize how many conversations about penny-dreadful novels I have been forced to endure?" "I-" "One such conversation would be too many, but there in fact have been dozens, all mixing together into a ghastly, giggling blur. And yet there goes Putrid Pete back to his gang's headquarters without the tracking device in Miss Tewkes's purse, thanks to your dratted chivalry." "I-" "Furthermore, what were you thinking, bringing Miss Weekle shopping on Bond Street today? Her servants coordinate with Miss Tewkes's servants so as to ensure the ladies never meet. The last time they did, there was a fracas over a parasol, and Miss Weekle's footman ended up with his nose broken. You have disrupted everything. Therefore I say good afternoon, sir. This ends our acquaintance." And grabbing the purse from him, she turned and marched away. Daniel stared dazedly after her. His memory was shouting for attention . . . His body, however, drowned it out with a hot, uncomfortable throbbing. Perhaps he had strained something in his fight with the thief. He would have to consult a medical encyclopedia this evening. The woman took an unrelenting course along the footpath, obliging more genteel ladies to leap out of her way. She moved with the dangerous grace of someone entirely aware of her surroundings and entirely unafraid. He watched her, knowing she would know that he did. And for the first time in living memory, Daniel Bixby grinned. Excerpted from The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton Copyright © 2023 by India Holton. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. About the Author.India Holton lives in New Zealand, where she has enjoyed the typical Kiwi lifestyle of wandering around forests, living barefoot on islands, and messing about in boats. Now she lives in a cottage near the sea, writing books about uppity women and charming rogues, and drinking too much tea.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Am I destined to fall for every morally grey character named Lorcan? But seriously, it’s imperative that you understand how amazing Julie Anne Long’s How to Tame a Wild Rogue is. It’s total wish fulfillment for me, honestly. A class difference romance (she’s the lady, he’s a former smuggler turned privateer), with forced proximity and a fake marriage, all set in one of the best settings in literature as far as I’m concerned: the Grand Palace on the Thames, a congenial boardinghouse by the docks. Lorcan St. Leger has an earring & some gray in his hair, *lustful gasp.* Lady Daphne Worth is described as quietly lovely by him & he can see the mark of a survivor in her eyes, which no one else sees *appreciative heart swelling.* It is so so good to be back in this world—how is it so perfect?! Julie Anne Long’s facility with humor is tremendous—would I do grave things to protect Dot & the other residents of the home, yes. This book had me LOLing, it had me yearning, it had me thinking “wow, that’s a great insight into human nature,” it had me cheering. There are so many powerful moments in this book—including how Lorcan helps Daphne understand how she is being used by the man she’s doing everything to protect. The steam is wonderful, the yearning portrayed is A+, the return to old couples had me feeling even more emotions, it was so so good. The Palace of Rogues series is—I’m pretty sure—my fave historical romance series. Please read it if you haven’t yet, you will be so happy you did! 5⭐️. Out 07/25.Please consult a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher for the complimentary hardcopy & the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.In my opinion Diana Biller’s Hotel of Secrets is a perfect historical & the couple in it is now one of my faves & imagine every other superlative you can think of attached to the end of this sentence because the book is that good. The lovely & formidable Maria Wallner is doing everything she can to bring her family hotel back to its glory days. But someone is also trying to kill her, a fact which really arouses US Treasury Secret Service Agent Eli Whittaker’s ire…& he really doesn’t know why that would be, he is not one to form emotional attachments & he is in Vienna for a job etc etc. This book. The Vienna setting is richly rendered—I can picture the sounds & the sights even now—& it’s even more striking with the epigraph journal entries at the beginning of chapters, each written by the fierce Wallner women. Biller makes it easy to see that this couple belongs together, despite their surface differences. He comes across as uptight & reserved & she’s a dynamo & a charming & also extremely driven when it comes to her hotel but they have similar characters & values, not to mention incendiary chemistry that’s also communication-focused. I love love when a FMC in a historical romance is experienced & it’s just not a big deal & we get that here, along with a celibate MMC who decides not to be that anymore. Dear readers, he actually goes to an illicit bookstore to educate himself about female pleasure!!! If I haven’t convinced you yet, I will note that one of my fave things about this book is the subtlety & the power of the increasingly frequent moments when Eli has “urges” or “impulses” to actively show support or kindness to the people he is bewilderingly coming to care for… This book is an act of magic & I adored it. 5 BIG ⭐️. Out now![ID: Jess, a white woman, wears a dark green dress & stands against a yellow wall holding the book.]
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I don’t even really know where to start with my review of Vivienne Lorret’s Never Seduce a Duke. After reading the previous book in the series I knew this was going to be an accidental pregnancy book but I didn’t anticipate where the plot would start & go & end & wowie, it was pretty bonkers. This book features a broken-hearted heroine who wants to have a passionate affair before real spinsterhood & a glasses-wearing duke hero determined to find a missing book heirloom that he believes she has stolen. Quirky & charming, Never Seduce a Duke has its share of awww moments, including just how enticed the Duke is by the woman so many others have ignored. But as previously mentioned, I just don’t love the overall premise or all of the places the plot goes—& it goes a lot—& there’s an aspect of the plot that feels rushed. So is this book entertaining & adorable in moments? Yes. Is it bewildering or unbelievable in moments? Yes. I think there’s potential here but it just didn’t work for me. 3⭐️. Out 02/21.CWs: Previous death of all of their parents—the hero’s were murdered.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I can always count on Joanna Shupe to deliver the heat & the Gilded Age decadence & drama I’m looking for & The Duke Gets Even brought both of those…also an impoverished somewhat-uptight-but-not-really duke who *FINALLY* gets his happy ever after. The events at the beginning of this book overlap with some of the things we’ve seen in previous books in the series—namely how Duke Lockwood—Andrew Talbot—meets the beautiful, not-bound-by-convention Nellie Young & how she drives him a little bonkers with lust on the periphery of his various engagements/entanglements. This is a fast, lusty historical with another Shupe lead who is gone for the heroine. Nellie really shines for me as an unmarried woman pursuing her pleasure, no matter what society says. Though I wasn’t super enamored initially with the Duke—who annoyed me with what he was wanting to do with Nellie while also prepared to get engaged / be engaged to someone else—his desire for her was a welcome development. But while this book is sexy & fun & I really loved how Nellie’s dad just wants her to be happy & vice versa, I didn’t feel like Nellie’s change of heart regarding “conventional” HEAs is thoroughly set up & developed. Similarly, I wanted more set up for how their serious feelings develop so quickly—despite their antagonism for each other & how often he scandal-shames her. So this is another entertaining, hot read but also a bit superficial for me in terms of the relationship arc. 3.5⭐️. Out now!CWs: Heart defect. Previous one-time cocaine use. Death of mother. “Whore" remark. Sexual assault. Previous abortion.
Thanks to the author for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Cat Sebastian books make me so happy. Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots—Cat’s upcoming novella release out 11/15–is another soft, sweet, loving book that starts with mutual unspoken pining between friends & ends with them as lovers making a bigger life together. The 1970s New York vibes are strong, the communication is lovely (& so is the steam!), & there’s no third act breakup after they decide to be together (yes yes yes). If the thought of a pediatrician & music critic combo, neurodivergent rep, and so much care sound good to you, give this one a try. Thanks to the author for another lovely read. 4.5⭐️. Out 11/15. CW: please consult the author’s note for a detailed list of CWs.
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