I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I gave up at 33% on this one...
The gist: Darcy is personal assistant andI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I gave up at 33% on this one...
The gist: Darcy is personal assistant and house sitter for socialite Lydia. Chase is a major league pitcher. Lydia goes on a trip & tells Darcy to go in her place to a charity event. Darcy goes & she evidently closely resembles Lydia. She's mistaken for Lydia by everyone, even though she TRIES to correct them. She meets Chase there and he thinks she's Lydia, but Darcy doesn't really attempt to correct him. So she continues on pretending to be Lydia after the party... That's about where I left off. I assume there'll be some sort of explosion when Chase realizes he looks like an idiot...
I gave up on this one, for the most part, because I just didn't really care for the characters and the dialogue was off. Nothing about this particular story seemed genuine. I also don't like books written in present tense. It drives me crazy unless it's in first person... It also seemed like just a bunch of random scenes pasted together.
I wasn't feeling it, but you might enjoy it...
Merged review:
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I gave up at 33% on this one...
The gist: Darcy is personal assistant and house sitter for socialite Lydia. Chase is a major league pitcher. Lydia goes on a trip & tells Darcy to go in her place to a charity event. Darcy goes & she evidently closely resembles Lydia. She's mistaken for Lydia by everyone, even though she TRIES to correct them. She meets Chase there and he thinks she's Lydia, but Darcy doesn't really attempt to correct him. So she continues on pretending to be Lydia after the party... That's about where I left off. I assume there'll be some sort of explosion when Chase realizes he looks like an idiot...
I gave up on this one, for the most part, because I just didn't really care for the characters and the dialogue was off. Nothing about this particular story seemed genuine. I also don't like books written in present tense. It drives me crazy unless it's in first person... It also seemed like just a bunch of random scenes pasted together.
I wasn't feeling it, but you might enjoy it......more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was originally published under the title, Lady Delafont’s Dilemma.
The gI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was originally published under the title, Lady Delafont’s Dilemma.
The gist: Emily and Baxter have been married about fifteen years, but legally separated the last two. They had a love match and tremendous passion, but their inability to conceive a child and Baxter’s caustic mother drove a massive wedge between them. Now they’re both back in London and they can’t deny the love they both still harbor. Someone is trying to kill Baxter and Emily is trying to manage a young Frenchman set on becoming her lover. Can they figure out who is trying to kill Baxter and work toward a reconciliation they both desperately want before it’s too late?
I liked Emily and Baxter and was routing for them to reconcile. My gut clenched and tears pricked my eyes several times with their independent feelings of love and jealousy and desolation.
The story itself was decent. It was a good plot and it held my interest. My only complaint about the plot would be all the distractions that were going on. They were almost all tied in together in the end and buttoned up, but there was just an awful lot of things happening.
My biggest issue with the whole story would be the writing. It wasn’t awful, there were just some things that irritated me about the actual writing style. There were several instances where there were just too many details. For instance, they went to a masquerade ball at one point. The hosts’ family history was completely irrelevant to the story. Emily and Baxter have been separated for two years and Emily has been living in the country with Baxter’s elderly aunt. She’s put on some weight. In case I forgot she’s put on some weight, there was A LOT of talk about it. There was speculation about another character’s sexuality, but it was completely irrelevant to the story. There was talk about Baxter doing some secret work for the government, but it never says WHAT he was doing. I mean, I practically knew every time Emily took a crap, but I wasn’t told what Baxter’s job was.
All in all, it was a good story. I was interested in what would happen next. I would give the author at least one more chance and I would recommend this to anyone interested in a historical romance. It was far from my favorite, but also far from awful.
Merged review:
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was originally published under the title, Lady Delafont’s Dilemma.
The gist: Emily and Baxter have been married about fifteen years, but legally separated the last two. They had a love match and tremendous passion, but their inability to conceive a child and Baxter’s caustic mother drove a massive wedge between them. Now they’re both back in London and they can’t deny the love they both still harbor. Someone is trying to kill Baxter and Emily is trying to manage a young Frenchman set on becoming her lover. Can they figure out who is trying to kill Baxter and work toward a reconciliation they both desperately want before it’s too late?
I liked Emily and Baxter and was routing for them to reconcile. My gut clenched and tears pricked my eyes several times with their independent feelings of love and jealousy and desolation.
The story itself was decent. It was a good plot and it held my interest. My only complaint about the plot would be all the distractions that were going on. They were almost all tied in together in the end and buttoned up, but there was just an awful lot of things happening.
My biggest issue with the whole story would be the writing. It wasn’t awful, there were just some things that irritated me about the actual writing style. There were several instances where there were just too many details. For instance, they went to a masquerade ball at one point. The hosts’ family history was completely irrelevant to the story. Emily and Baxter have been separated for two years and Emily has been living in the country with Baxter’s elderly aunt. She’s put on some weight. In case I forgot she’s put on some weight, there was A LOT of talk about it. There was speculation about another character’s sexuality, but it was completely irrelevant to the story. There was talk about Baxter doing some secret work for the government, but it never says WHAT he was doing. I mean, I practically knew every time Emily took a crap, but I wasn’t told what Baxter’s job was.
All in all, it was a good story. I was interested in what would happen next. I would give the author at least one more chance and I would recommend this to anyone interested in a historical romance. It was far from my favorite, but also far from awful....more
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book five, the final one in the Titanium Security series.
When reading a sI received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book five, the final one in the Titanium Security series.
When reading a series, it’s hard to be as objective with each book in the series because no matter how hard I try not to, I’m comparing the books… I liked Rekindled better than Singed, Burned, and Extinguished but still not as much as I liked Ignited.
The gist: This is Alex’s book. Alex is the NSA guy who has been in charge of the investigation into the terror network that has been the ongoing plot of this series. He’s Claire and Zahra’s boss. Four years earlier, while working undercover in Mombasa, Alex met Grace. They had a whirlwind romance that ended abruptly and resulted in both of them having broken hearts. Now Claire works from the UN as a chemical weapons specialist. Alex spots her in Islamabad while he’s there investigating the terror network. His connection with her is brought to the attention of the bad guys and they attempt to use her as bait in order to take Alex and the Titanium team out.
I REALLY liked Grace. It’s pretty much impossible NOT to like her. Alex was alright. As a character, he was about like Sean for me – he didn’t really interest me. It WAS endearing how much he cared for Grace, though, and regretted the way they had ended things. Their romance is a second chance one and it’s sweet.
As with books two through four, the story itself is what appealed to me as opposed to the romance aspect of it. This one didn’t necessarily have my adrenaline pumping, but it was fairly intense. Quite a bit happens in it and it’s like a race against the clock in some ways.
There weren’t any discrepancies that jumped out at me in this one, so that was a plus. There was a scene in the SUV, however, that had me scratching my head. Grace and Alex are in the SUV and he’s just parked in his hotel’s parking garage. Instead of going up to his room to get it on, HE climbs over the console, reclines the passenger seat back and they dry hump and get all hot and bothered. When he pulls back because he suddenly realizes they’re in a car with a perfectly comfortable hotel room just a few floors above them, he leans up on his knees on the seat. Okay. Not only was like “Huh?” because they were groping in a car like teenagers in the parking lot of the hotel, the fact that it was in the front seat didn’t compute for me. Alex isn’t as big as Hunter and Gage, but he’s still a big man, powerfully built, yada yada. How big is this SUV??? He climbed over the console to get to her instead of pulling her to his side. Then the passenger seat must just be massive in order for him to kneel on his knees between her legs on it. And the roof must be incredibly high in order for him to kneel on his knees on the seat. CLEARLY I read too much into things like this, but it bothered me. It wasn’t a MAJOR annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
I did like the drama of the story in regards to the terrorist plot and all that. I skimmed most of the sex because the scenes literally went on for PAGES. I read on my iPhone with teeny tiny font. I’ve figured out that one page of a book spans about 2 screens on my phone. I’m not joking when I say that one sex scene was eleven screens long. Roughly five pages. For ONE SEX SCENE. Don’t get me wrong here, I like a good sex scene, but five pages for one scene is more than ‘a bit much’ for me. Then there is the equivalent of about five or six pages of story and then ANOTHER approximately five page sex scene.
I did like the resolution to the story. There was closure on all fronts of the story and each couple in the series. Overall, Rekindled was a good book and I enjoyed this whole series. Decent characters, the couples had plenty of passion, and the drama was intense and never ending. This is a good series to read if you like a romance novel with depth, intrigue, suspense or whatever. I, personally, am a fan of these kinds of romance novels.
Merged review:
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book five, the final one in the Titanium Security series.
When reading a series, it’s hard to be as objective with each book in the series because no matter how hard I try not to, I’m comparing the books… I liked Rekindled better than Singed, Burned, and Extinguished but still not as much as I liked Ignited.
The gist: This is Alex’s book. Alex is the NSA guy who has been in charge of the investigation into the terror network that has been the ongoing plot of this series. He’s Claire and Zahra’s boss. Four years earlier, while working undercover in Mombasa, Alex met Grace. They had a whirlwind romance that ended abruptly and resulted in both of them having broken hearts. Now Claire works from the UN as a chemical weapons specialist. Alex spots her in Islamabad while he’s there investigating the terror network. His connection with her is brought to the attention of the bad guys and they attempt to use her as bait in order to take Alex and the Titanium team out.
I REALLY liked Grace. It’s pretty much impossible NOT to like her. Alex was alright. As a character, he was about like Sean for me – he didn’t really interest me. It WAS endearing how much he cared for Grace, though, and regretted the way they had ended things. Their romance is a second chance one and it’s sweet.
As with books two through four, the story itself is what appealed to me as opposed to the romance aspect of it. This one didn’t necessarily have my adrenaline pumping, but it was fairly intense. Quite a bit happens in it and it’s like a race against the clock in some ways.
There weren’t any discrepancies that jumped out at me in this one, so that was a plus. There was a scene in the SUV, however, that had me scratching my head. Grace and Alex are in the SUV and he’s just parked in his hotel’s parking garage. Instead of going up to his room to get it on, HE climbs over the console, reclines the passenger seat back and they dry hump and get all hot and bothered. When he pulls back because he suddenly realizes they’re in a car with a perfectly comfortable hotel room just a few floors above them, he leans up on his knees on the seat. Okay. Not only was like “Huh?” because they were groping in a car like teenagers in the parking lot of the hotel, the fact that it was in the front seat didn’t compute for me. Alex isn’t as big as Hunter and Gage, but he’s still a big man, powerfully built, yada yada. How big is this SUV??? He climbed over the console to get to her instead of pulling her to his side. Then the passenger seat must just be massive in order for him to kneel on his knees between her legs on it. And the roof must be incredibly high in order for him to kneel on his knees on the seat. CLEARLY I read too much into things like this, but it bothered me. It wasn’t a MAJOR annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
I did like the drama of the story in regards to the terrorist plot and all that. I skimmed most of the sex because the scenes literally went on for PAGES. I read on my iPhone with teeny tiny font. I’ve figured out that one page of a book spans about 2 screens on my phone. I’m not joking when I say that one sex scene was eleven screens long. Roughly five pages. For ONE SEX SCENE. Don’t get me wrong here, I like a good sex scene, but five pages for one scene is more than ‘a bit much’ for me. Then there is the equivalent of about five or six pages of story and then ANOTHER approximately five page sex scene.
I did like the resolution to the story. There was closure on all fronts of the story and each couple in the series. Overall, Rekindled was a good book and I enjoyed this whole series. Decent characters, the couples had plenty of passion, and the drama was intense and never ending. This is a good series to read if you like a romance novel with depth, intrigue, suspense or whatever. I, personally, am a fan of these kinds of romance novels....more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book 4 in the Wardham series. Each book is a standalone.
The gist: Mari is I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book 4 in the Wardham series. Each book is a standalone.
The gist: Mari is a bartender and an aspiring songwriter. Chase is a hockey player whose career is over after a horrible car accident. Chase has moved back home to lick his wounds and recover from his injuries. He’s become a regular at the local pub where Mari tends bar. The two grow closer over the course of a year before starting a fake relationship that blooms into a deep love.
This one was short and fast-paced, such is the nature of novellas. I wish it had been longer so the story could have been a bit more developed and their histories laid out better. I wanted to know more about Chase’s accident. What happened and why? A nasty, false story is leaked about them and Chase has to squash it. I wanted more about the source of the story; was it his ex-girlfriend or her ex-boyfriend? Their relationship was awfully fast-paced, too. (Once they finally got together anyway…) Mari had all these walls up (WHY?) and then suddenly she’s open to a full-on relationship overnight. It just made it a bit unbelievable.
I liked both Mari and Chase and I was fully supportive of them as a couple, but I just wanted MORE. I enjoyed the story and will continue to read more from this author. ...more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Ryder is a billionaire cattle rancher. Lara is a vet. Ryder has wanted LI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Ryder is a billionaire cattle rancher. Lara is a vet. Ryder has wanted Lara but she’s repeatedly turned him down. In an attempt to get her to pay him some attention, he bought a thoroughbred horse he knew she was planning on buying. When Lara came to his ranch seeking to buy the horse from him, he proposed he stay the weekend with him in exchange.
First of all, this is a VERY short story; therefore, it’s ridiculously fast-paced. Due to the fast pace of the story, it wasn’t very realistic and parts of the story felt forced. They both have troubled pasts that they don’t talk about with ANYONE, but within 12 hours or spending time together, they’ve divulged their unpleasant life histories to each other. (Realistic? Not so much…) The climax of the story involves Lara’s ex-boyfriend and I thought, ‘Oh! So we’re really going here… Because THIS makes sense. Okaay…’ If you’re a fan of these ridiculously fast-paced stories, none of these things will bother you.
The story was well-written. It was as well-developed as a decent short story can be. The characters had histories and SOME depth, although you can’t have very much depth in a story this short. (That’s my biggest issue with short stories…) Some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy, as in Hallmark Movie Channel cheesy, but that’s kind of a pre-requisite for romance novels, yeah? The characters were likable enough. There was a bit of humor.
I gave this one two stars because three stars is the max I’m willing to give a story this short. I feel like four and five star ratings should be reserved for those stories that have more “substance”. That’s not to say short stories all suck. Some of them can be quite enjoyable. I don’t make a habit of reading them only because they’re too fast-paced, borderline ridiculous, and often leave me wanting more. I DID enjoy the story though and if you’re looking for a quick read, you probably won’t be disappointed. ...more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Lacey is a senior in high school and a baseball player. She and her dad I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Lacey is a senior in high school and a baseball player. She and her dad moved across the country in an effort to get a fresh start after Lacey’s mom and sister were brutally murdered in the family home. Lacey has hopes of making the boys’ baseball team in an effort to obtain a college scholarship. She’s dealt with animosity from the male players before, but she wasn’t fully prepared for the fierceness of the animosity she encounters, not only from the male ball players, but several of the female students as well. She also didn’t expect to lose her heart to a sexy boy. Kade is a dude with his share of personal drama and heartache. Lacey and Kade navigate their feelings for each other and their personal demons while trying to fight off the animosity from some of their peers.
I REALLY enjoyed this book! I’m not usually into books with teens just because I can’t handle the immaturity of the characters. While the characters in this book weren’t exactly mature, they weren’t obnoxiously immature either. There were a couple moments when I wanted to scream at Lacey to stop being a friggin brat and to “get over it” but it wasn’t so annoying that it turned me away from the story.
I was enraptured virtually from the get-go with this story. I didn’t want to put it down and it’s been awhile since I could thankfully say that! Lacey is dealing with PTSD and it’s a daily struggle for her. Kade quickly becomes a safe haven and a rock for her. (Almost too quickly, but then again I had to remind myself these are teens and they do tend to quickly attach themselves to others…) I was really pulling for them as a couple. I did have those somewhat angsty moments when they ran into bumps in the road.
Now to what annoyed me and made this a 4 star review instead of a 5 star review:
I REALLY don’t like repetition. Kade’s scent is described as “cedar” and the word “cedar” is used 16 times in this story. I don’t need to be told 16 times that he smells like cedar. It was roughly once every 18 pages or so… Also, Lacey has PTSD. PTSD is said 25 times! It got to the point where I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, I get it. You’ve got issues.’ The story is written in first person, so it sort of felt like she was using it as a crutch to excuse her behavior. (I realize it’s a major issue and it dramatically affected her life, but DAMN! I didn’t need to be told roughly every 12 pages that she had PTSD! I. GOT. IT!!!) It was also repeatedly several times that a fellow ball player, Aaron, was a pain in the ass. His dialogue and actions showed it. I didn’t need to be TOLD he was a pain in the ass…
It also annoys the crap out of me when a story seems to try too hard to explain mental illness. I can handle characters with mental illness and I can understand them because I’ve battled my own issues with mental illness. What bothers me is when I feel like I’m reading a WebMD forum on the topic. When it’s being explained to me listing symptoms and causes and effects and whatnot. I realize not all readers can relate from some personal experience or they’ve never known anyone who has struggled with something like a mental illness. But sometimes the story seems to try too hard to explain the daily struggles. Or listing the various stages of grief and giving examples. As if I’m reading a psychology text book or something. This is just another personal pet peeve of mine that other readers might not mind in the slightest.
Something else that bothers me (and it’s just a personal pet peeve of mine) is when the hero is extraordinarily cheesy. Sometimes this comes in the form of a ridiculous nickname for the heroine (i.e. Penguin, Sunshine, Lollipop, etc.). In this case, it was Kade telling Lacey she his “polar bear”. He explained his reasoning, but it didn’t make any sense to me and was just a tad too cheesy for me. Other readers may think that’s “adorable”. I didn’t. Again, that’s just a little pet peeve of mine and didn’t really affect my rating at all…
The writing seemed a smidge juvenile, but considering it was written in first person from a teen’s POV, it wasn’t as annoying as it would’ve been otherwise. It was written in the way MOST teen girls would THINK or talk, so it made sense. If Lacey had been an adult character, I would have been seriously annoyed by this.
Anyway, the story was GREAT. It held my attention and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the next book in this series in order to find out what happens next with Lacey and Kade’s story! ...more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Brooke and Jace had a summer romance when they were teens. At the end ofI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Brooke and Jace had a summer romance when they were teens. At the end of that summer, Brooke declared her love for him, but Jace left to go to college. Now, Brooke is the wedding planner at Jace’s family’s island resort and the resort is in trouble. Brooke and Jace agree to enter into a marriage of convenience for the sake of saving the resort. As these things do, the marriage evolves into one of love.
Okay, so I wasn’t real enthused about this book once I started reading it. The premise is good; I like a good marriage of convenience story. The writing, however, got on my last nerve and led to me skimming A LOT. It was just very juvenile and elementary feeling to me. The story is short, so it’s fast-paced which I get. I don’t like being TOLD a story though. I want to EXPERIENCE the story. It’s a gift to be able to do this and there are few authors, in my opinion, who are successful at it. This one tells you how the character feels (sad, happy, confused, etc.), and then gives a long series of useless/unnecessary information. ‘Jane was sad because her dog died. She cried for what felt like hours and then she blew her nose. She put the dirty tissue in the wastebasket and noticing the wastebasket was full, she emptied it. She had to walk outside to put the garbage bag in the dumpster at the corner of her building. She walked back inside and made chicken soup because her mom always made her chicken soup when she was sad and it used to make her feel better.’ (That’s NOT an excerpt and not even a character or event, just an example of what I mean in general.)
It also irritates me when the character names are repeated obnoxiously, especially in conversation. (Again, this is NOT an excerpt…) “Jane looked across the room at John. John looked up just as Jane was staring at him and John caught Jane’s eye. John then set his empty glass on the tray of an passing waiter, waited for another guest to walk in front of him, and then John walked slowly across the large room to where Jane stood. Jane looked up into John’s eyes and they seemed darker, with desire, maybe? Jane swallowed while John cleared his throat.” Not only is it obnoxious that the character names are repeated CONSTANTLY, but the writing is LITERALLY that elementary. I felt like I was listening to my young daughter recap a movie she watched or something. I just wanted to say, “Yeah, I got it. MOVE ON!”
Brooke had a textbook tragic past. Her parents died in a tragic car accident. Now Brooke has nightmares when it’s storming, reliving the accident, but these nightmares are a deep, dark secret she’s never to ANYONE about. Well, alrighty then. Maybe my idea of what is embarrassing or “shame” worthy is different than other people’s…??? That’s not much of a “big secret”. She also had a miscarriage that she is somehow ashamed of so her grandmother and doctor are the only ones who know about that. I don’t know, but again, I don’t see the shame in this “big secret”. Maybe I’m just more open.
I really have no feelings toward Jace whatsoever. I don’t know that much about him as a character. He had a fling with Brooke, went to college, works for his family’s business, is evidently a known “player”, and now he’s back at the family resort to try and save it. I don’t have much of an impression about WHO HE IS though. Just a very few things he’s done.
When they had their “angsty” moments, I should’ve been moved or something. I literally had no reaction to these moments, though. The story was just to “blah” for me. It was overly cheesy in the “romantic” department though. It felt like there was a checklist of things a man should do to show he cares or something and the author made sure all the items on the list were covered. I don’t need my hero to be an asshole, but he should at least have a spine… This one just wasn’t my cup o’ tea. I’m sure there are plenty others who will just adore it, though. ...more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Tegan lost her boyfriend and spiraled into a deep depression, landing herI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Tegan lost her boyfriend and spiraled into a deep depression, landing herself in a posh rehab facility. She's in recovery now and she's looking for a quiet, stable life. Ryland has had a rough life and for the last few years, he's been working as hired muscle for a ruthless man. He wants out so he can return to his quiet hometown and live a peaceful, respectable life. When these two cross paths, sparks ignite. He's not what she's looking for; she's exactly what he's looking for. Their chemistry is too powerful to stay apart.
Tegan was alright, I guess. I didn't feel any connection with her, though. She'd OD'd and nearly died at in her darkest moment. Now, she struggles daily to battle her demons. As far as her depression goes, she seemed too clinical to me, if that makes any sense. She had all the textbook struggles and whatnot, but her reason for the spiral didn't seem very well developed. It just didn't jive for me.
Ryland was a mass of contradictions for me. He had a rough childhood, but he had all this anger that didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. He left home when he was a teenager and sort of floated around for awhile before crossing paths with the guy who ends up controlling his life. His backstory didn't seem very well developed. It seemed almost too clinical, too.
Their stories were just too perfectly fucked up for me. Their struggles, their recoveries, they just seemed too 'by-the-book', if that makes any sense. There was plenty of psychological and addiction research, but I didn't feel like their histories really coincided with the actual struggles.
The story itself was just okay for me. At times, the dialogue seemed overly juvenile and the characters were overly angsty. There was a lot of repetition about '...when this happened...' or '...because I'd been through that...' Both MCs just dwelled WAY TOO MUCH on their pasts. And they opened up WAY TOO QUICKLY to each other. After only knowing him for a week, and been skeptical of him, Tegan opened up and confessed stuff she'd never told anyone, including her therapists. That just didn't ring true for the depth of her supposed trials and tribulations. It was the same for Ryland, although it did take him a few more days to open up to Tegan. And, really, his trials and tribulations didn't seem like they were such a big deal that they'd need to be these deep, dark secrets that he didn't want anyone to know.
It wasn't the worst story I've ever read, but this is the second book about the Callahan family (Tegan's family). I don't know if I'm really all that interested in reading anymore of their stories... I'm SURE plenty others will enjoy them, though. I keep trying to give these NA/YA books a shot, but I'm struggling with them. Maybe this sub-genre just isn't really my niche......more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Clarice was betrothed to Alex, but he publicly humiliated her (inadvertenI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The gist: Clarice was betrothed to Alex, but he publicly humiliated her (inadvertently) when he married someone else instead. David is Alex’s older brother. Clarice and David are in love with each other, but they can’t be together because her father won’t permit. Even though David is the son of a Duke, he’s a bastard by birth, and isn’t a suitable match for Clarice.
I liked Clarice and David well enough. Clarice didn’t think she was worthy of friendship or love because of something that happened a few years prior. Her feelings were really quite silly, in my opinion. She was likable, although I felt as though she was too much of a pushover; she was a people pleaser. David was very warm and sweet and genuine; he was a true gentleman. His bastard status was quite unfortunate, but he didn’t resent his younger brother Alex being the heir. He didn’t pity himself the way Clarice did, and I felt David had a better reason TO pity himself than Clarice did.
The story was good. It held my attention, even though some parts were a smidge boring. I enjoyed the story enough to want to read Alex and Millie’s story (I assume they have their own book). I assume David and Alex’s sister, Lucy, will have her own story next, and I’m definitely interested in reading it as well. I enjoyed the book and if you enjoy historical romances, you probably will also. ...more
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This novella was part of the Scandalous Summer Nights boxed set. This novella is bI received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This novella was part of the Scandalous Summer Nights boxed set. This novella is book 1 in The Highland Knights series.
The gist: Claire and Rob have been married for three years, but they’ve been estranged the last year. He’s a soldier and he’s been off fighting for England against Napoleon. Claire is determined to reunite with her husband, so she sets off to meet up with him at Waterloo. They are reunited, but rebuilding their marriage isn’t quite as easy as either of them hope it will be.
I enjoyed this story immensely!!! Claire and Rob are both GREAT characters! Claire is an English Earl’s daughter, but she’s not as prim and proper as her station in life would deem prudent. Rob is a Scottish highlander who was awarded a Baronetcy after saving the life a Duke. He was not born into the aristocracy and he’s definitely more comfortable with his fellow highlander soldiers than the English gentry. Rob is very much a masculine man who doesn’t show or talk about his feelings or emotions. When tragedy struck the couple, Rob didn’t react the way Claire thought he should, so she lashed out at him. Rob, being a man and very literal, takes her at her word and walks away from her even though it nearly killed him to do so. When she reappears on the battlefield, he’s afraid that she’ll crush him again.
When they FINALLY stop and talk about all that had happened to push them apart, my gut was clenching and my heart was breaking for them. That’s a feat for any author, as I’m not particularly prone to emotional connections with characters or stories and I don’t think it’s EVER happened in such a short story. It’s not generally in my nature to give a novella more than 3 stars due the shortness of the story, but I HAVE to give this one four because of the quality. I was quickly IN LOVE with both the hero and heroine. The story moved quickly due to its length, but it was chock full of goodness. I will DEFINITELY be reading more of the books in this series and by this author!...more
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