[Review] The Princess And The Rogue, by Kate Bateman

Title: The Princesss and The Rogue
Series: Bow Street Bachelors #3
Author: Kate Bateman
Publisher: St. Martins's Paperbacks
Number of pages: 304
Publication date: December 29th 2020

Synopsis:

A princess in disguise is forced to live with a rogue in order to protect her from danger in this fun, sexy regency romance.

Bow Street agent Sebastien Wolff, Earl of Mowbray, doesn't believe in love―until a passionate kiss with a beautiful stranger in a brothel forces him to reconsider. When the mysterious woman is linked to an intrigue involving a missing Russian princess, however, Seb realizes her air of innocence was too good to be true. Princess Anastasia Denisova has been hiding in London as plain 'Anna Brown'. With a dangerous traitor hot on her trail, her best option is to accept Wolff's offer of protection―and accommodation―at his gambling hell. But living in such close quarters, and aiding Wolff in his Bow Street cases, fans the flames of their mutual attraction. If Anya's true identity is revealed, does their romance stand a chance? Could a princess ever marry a rogue?

Review:

I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

A Russian Princess and a Bow Street agent – the perfect recipe for a different story!

Anna and Seb didn’t hit it off in the beginning, especially considering that Seb believed that Anna was fooling and endangering his grandmother.

This forced proximity story ticks all the boxes for a romance from… maybe not completely enemies (but close enough) to lovers, with lots of danger, history, and sexy times in between.

Although I haven’t read the previous books in the series, I really enjoyed meeting the characters that formed the original owners/lodgers of the gambling hell where our hero currently lives. It was very interesting to read about Sebastian’s feeling regarding the changes in his life, and how he was dealing with it, which not the most common situation in romances. You might have the teasing between friends saying “you’re the last one, it’s your time to find a partner”, but here we had the hero actually working through his own feelings of, in a way, losing his best friends, even though they are still around.

I really liked Anna, she was very fierce, very determined, very loyal, and very resilient. Not everyone would be able to change lives the way she did. And she took control of what she could!

As they slowly fall in love, we see some romantic gestures, and how each of them pays close attention to one another. The writing was compelling, and the book had a good pacing. An enjoyable read.

[Review] Hiring Mr.Darcy, by Valerie Bowman

Title: Hiring Mr.Darcy
Series: Austen Hunks #1
Author: Valerie Bowman
Publisher: June Third Enterprises, LLC
Number of pages: 266
Publication date: September 25th 2020

Synopsis:

She ’s hiring…

Meg Knightley is a history professor with a little OCD and a lot of competitive spirit. When her similarly nerdy history professor boyfriend tosses her over for a starlet on the eve of the Jane Austen Festival and Games, she needs a new Mr. Darcy STAT.

He’s the man for the job…

Jeremy Remington left a lucrative tech job to follow his dreams—but getting his custom woodworking business off the ground isn’t cheap. When his best friend’s sister offers good money for little more than acting the gentleman, he jumps at the chance. After all, how hard could it be to fly over to England and wear a cravat for a few days?

Until things get real.

She hired him to play the part of a proper gentleman, so why can’t she stop thinking about what’s underneath his waistcoat?
And when Meg finds out Jeremy has had a crush on her for years, will she toss him out on his ear…or will the job turn into a permanent gig?

Review:

I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

Any Pride and Prejudice fans out there? This contemporary romance will fill all your dreams of a modern Mr. Darcy.

I spent the whole time with a mostly happy grin on my face while reading this book, the exception being hen Harrison, Meg’s boyfriend showed up. He never stood for her, defended her, or even made it known how he felt about her being treated unfairly. He didn’t have anything to redeem him. He wasn’t a bad guy… He just wasn’t the right guy.

Meg was supposed to go to the Jane Asuten Festival in Bath, with Harrison. However, he was now going with a Hollywood actress, at the request of the University both him and Meg work at. He didn’t even make a comment about how hard Meg had worked for the competition of the festival, and right away we can tell that Harrison really has no backbone.

Cue my favourite trope, and the reason I was so happy to read this contemporary romance: Meg hires one of her brother’s friends to be her Mr.Darcy at the competition. Sibling’s best friend and fake relationships make my day! Although I should say, they don’t really have a fake relationship, as Meg still has her boyfriend during most of the book, and she makes a point to not cross that line, with a small exception at the end of the book (to be honest, I didn’t really like that, as I didn’t think it was very fair for our hero). The book also has a glow-up/ugly duckling turn swan situation with our hero!

Jeremy, Mr.Darcy at Bath, is a hunk. And most importantly, he’s a kind, funny, loyal gentleman, who can appreciate Meg for whom she really is.

I loved their banter, how they reconnected from their childhood, how Meg was confronted with her own prejudice, and how she evolved as an individual.

This book really is a love story, and it will make you giggle just at the right moments, and in the end you will feel like you’ve had a good time reading it.

[Review] A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby, by Vanessa Riley

Title A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby
Series: Rogues and Remarkable Women #1
Author: Vanessa Riley
Publisher: Zebra
Number of pages: 320
Publication date: June 30th 2020

Synopsis:

Created by a shrewd countess, The Widow’s Grace is a secret society with a mission: to help ill-treated widows regain their status, their families, and even find true love again—or perhaps for the very first time...

When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English husband's mysterious suicide, she lost everything: her newborn son, Lionel, her fortune—and her freedom. Falsely imprisoned, she risks her life to be near her child—until The Widow's Grace gets her hired as her own son’s nanny. But working for his unsuspecting new guardian, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, has perils of its own. Especially when Patience discovers his military strictness belies an ex-rake of unswerving honor—and unexpected passion...

A wounded military hero, Busick is determined to resolve his dead cousin’s dangerous financial dealings for Lionel’s sake. But his investigation is a minor skirmish compared to dealing with the forthright, courageous, and alluring Patience. Somehow, she's breaking his rules, and sweeping past his defenses. Soon, between formidable enemies and obstacles, they form a fragile trust—but will it be enough to save the future they long to dare together?

Review:

I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

This was my first book by Vanessa Riley and I was super excited to read this book, as it is a diverse historical romance, and I’ll admit right away: most authors I read are not diverse and/or do not write diverse stories/characters. However, I’m trying to improve myself and this was my first eARC of a historical romance that featured more diversity.

The heroine, Patience, is from an island in Demerara (currently Guyana, South America), and the hero, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington is a war-hero from England.

I really, really, really wanted to like this book. But I found it tasking to finish it, and it just didn’t really work for me.

First of all, the book is written in the 1st person AND in the 3rd person, which makes it confusing, and honestly, it started to give me headaches with its changing the whole time.

Patience, although I can understand her struggle, and her reasons, was just a bit annoying sometimes, and in the end I just didn’t like her.

Busick was okay, not a great hero either. He’s an amputee, a war hero, a very strict, very protective, very organized man. My favourite part about him was the love he had for his ward, Lionel – Patience’s baby.

For me… we don’t actually see a romance develop between the main characters, we are simply told they started to fall in love, and there is no chemistry between them.

The mystery in the whole book just was too much, and yet left questions unanswered at the end.

I liked and respect that the author explored difficult themes (such as war wounds, mental health, the injustices in England during the 19th, particularly regarding women, and even more regarding POC, amongst other) but for me it wasn't enough to make me enjoy the book, sadly. I did enjoy the female friendships, and the best part for me was Lionel (the baby), and moments he was with his family.

[Review] My Fake Rake, by Eva Leigh

Title My Fake Rake
Series: Union of the Rakes #1
Author: Eva Leigh
Publisher: Avon
Number of pages: 384
Publication date: November 26th 2019

Synopsis:

In the first book in Eva Leigh's new Union of the Rakes series, a bluestocking hires a faux suitor to help her land an ideal husband only to be blindsided by real desire…

Lady Grace Wyatt is content as a wallflower, focusing on scientific pursuits rather than the complications of society matches. But when a handsome, celebrated naturalist returns from abroad, Grace wishes, for once, to be noticed. Her solution: to "build" the perfect man, who will court her publicly and help her catch his eye. Grace's colleague, anthropologist Sebastian Holloway, is just the blank slate she requires.

In exchange for funding his passage on an expedition leaving London in a few months, Sebastian allows Grace to transform him from a bespectacled, bookish academic into a dashing—albeit fake—rake. Between secret lessons on how to be a rogue and exaggerated public flirtations, Grace's feelings for Sebastian grow from friendship into undeniable, inconvenient, real attraction. If only she hadn't hired him to help her marry someone else...

Sebastian is in love with brilliant, beautiful Grace, but their bargain is complete, and she desires another. Yet when he's faced with losing her forever, Sebastian will do whatever it takes to tell her the truth, even if it means risking his own future—and his heart.

Review:

I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

I really liked this book. This is a book for nerds, with nerds. Our couple is formed by Grace, a herpetologist (studies reptiles and amphibians), and Sebastian, an anthropologist. They’ve been friends for years, and they enjoy each other’s company. Sebastian has a huge crush on Grace, and Grace is slightly attracted to him, but neither one does anything about it.

Enter Mason Fredericks. He has money (which Seb doesn’t have), society loves him (Seb doesn’t do well in society), and he’s a fellow scholar with a similar field to Grace’s. She’s had a small crush on him for some time, and when her dad makes a request she can’t refuse, Grace asks Seb to help her get Mason’s attention.

Seb can’t say no to Grace. Even if it hurts him, he just wants to see her happy. And this is how he got himself in a situation where he’s helping the woman he loves, get another man.

Beta heroes, anyone? I have to say, each day I love them more and more. They are my kind of people.

I really liked how their relationship evolved from friends to lovers, which is one of my favourite tropes. Their relationship is based on love, friendship, and mutual respect – respect for each other, and their respective fields of study. It made me *swoon*.

It was interesting to see how they each dealt with their feelings, and how Sebastian sometimes was completely blind to how Grace was feeling, and vice-versa. There’s a lot of miscommunication in this book, which I’m not the biggest fan of, as this was pretty much the only thing stopping our couple of getting together, but we can overlook that for all the good stuff.

I also really enjoyed the companionship between the male characters of the Union of Rakes, as they support each other, no matter the circumstances. It’s the kind of friendship we all look up to. Which also means, I’m super excited to read the rest of the series!!!!

[Review] Bringing Down the Duke, by Evie Dunmore

Title: Bringing Down the Duke
Series: A League of Extraordinary Women #1
Author: Evie Dunmore
Publisher: Piatkus
Number of pages: 368
Publication date: September 3rd 2019

Synopsis:

A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford Rebels, in which a fiercely independent vicar's daughter takes on a powerful duke in a love story that threatens to upend the British social order.

England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can't deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for.

Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn't be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn't claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring...or could he? Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke....

Review:

I had high hopes for this book, after having read very good reviews.

When I started to read it, I didn’t get why I wasn’t feeling the same as everyone else. I went to look at a few more reviews and found some people whom I agreed with. I just thought “ah, these are exactly my feelings”. And what feelings are those?

Well, Bringing Down The Duke is a book about a woman that wants to go to study at Oxford, but for that she has to join a Suffragist Society so that they’ll pay the tuition. I would have liked if Annabelle was more invested in the cause, because she behaved like it was a hard task to be part of it, like she was just doing it for the support at Uni. To be honest, I did not connect with her. For me, she was a bit annoying.

I mostly liked Sebastian, although he’s definitely not on my top list of heroes.

I don’t even know what else to say about the book, because it took me quite a bit of time to read it, and yet even though I finished it yesterday, I barely remember the story.

All in all, the book did not do it for me. It was just a plain romance, nothing much. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great.