Anything But a Duke by Christy Carlyle

Anything But a Duke by Christy Carlyle

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall, I found this to be a good read and I loved Diana but I found a few things lacking.

As I said, I loved Diana. I love heroines that are more than just ladies waiting to get married. In fact, Diana was the opposite. She never wanted to get married. Ever. And I loved that she did more with her life than go to balls.

That being said, I felt like Aidan had very little personality. There was nothing really of interest about him for me except the mystery of where he came from. And that fell far short of expectations. It was wrapped up a little too easily/nicely. I found the rest of the plot with Diana’s invention to be of far greater interest and those were some of the best scenes to me.

I am enjoying this series and will definitely be reading the next title in it.

*I received an eARC from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

No Other Duke But You by Valerie Bowman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I highly enjoyed this title and it is now on my read again shelf!

Lady Delilah Montebank’s mother has given her an ultimatum: she either marries quickly, or she marries the odious man her mother has chosen. Delilah sets her sights on the Duke of Branville and acquired a love potion to make him notice her. Lord Thomas Hobbs has been in love with Delilah for years and is determined to make her see they’re perfect for each other. Her love potion is the perfect opportunity for him to profess his feelings.

I LOVE when the hero is in love with the heroine first. If they’re friends first, even better.  Thomas was such a sweet guy, too. He and Delilah were clearly made for each other.

I found the overall plot of the story to be fun, too. The love potion could’ve been more silly than it was, but it was handled well and I enjoyed it.

I will definitely be checking out the next title in this series!

*I received an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

One Night for Seduction by Erica Ridley

One Night for Seduction by Erica Ridley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Erica Ridley is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and this title continued that trend.

Ridley’s heroes and heroines are some of the best I’ve read and Diana and Cole fit into that category. I love a heroine that is someone other than a debutante and Diana is definitely that. Cole was a very sweet man and I thought they fit well together.

I enjoyed the plot of the story and felt like it was a fun take on She’s All That.  It was an easy read (as I’ve found all of Ridley’s books) and I found it hard to put down.

I’ve already received an eARC for the next book in the series and will be reading it soon!

*I received an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Never a Bride by Megan Frampton

⭐️⭐️

First of all, I love Megan Frampton’s writing style and have reread more than one of her books. That being said, I just did not enjoy this one. 

This title started out great and had my attention. I even loved the hero, Griffith, but it soon became apparent that Della was awful and there’s nothing worse than a good hero ended up with a terrible heroine. 

I wrote in my notes as I was reading that Della is a “selfish cow” after her daughter still hadn’t made an appearance in the book and Della’s main concern seemed to be the fact that she was no longer invited or accepted to parties. Oh, and I can’t forget that she wants to screw Griffith basically from the beginning of the book. Forgive me for thinking a heroine who admits her life was somewhat ruined by getting pregnant out of wedlock once would be so willing to risk it again (and I know they had some forms of birth control back then). 

All of that was incredibly disappointing because I really did love Griffith. I found him hilarious and couldn’t wait for his POV. He is honestly the main thing that kept me from all out hating this title. 

I feel like this title was the weakest of the series but I am looking forward to the novella about Pearl and will continue to read Ms. Frampton’s titles. 

*I received an eARC from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

To Wed an Heiress by Karen Ranney

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It makes me sad that out of my 22 books read so far this year, this is only my second 5 star title. But at the same time it makes me happy because I LOVED this title.

Anyone who reads a few of my reviews will quickly learn that I adore a grouchy hero (or “boorish” as Mercy called Lennox on their first meeting). This was true of Lennox, too. As is pretty typical with the Beauty and the Beast trope, Lennox is a grumpy hermit that secretly has a heart of gold and I loved him.

Mercy was a fantastic heroine, too. Lennox was truly the first person she’d ever stood up to or shown her true personality. I loved watching her progression and growth throughout the book.

Despite the setting being in northern Scotland with the characters being mostly secluded except for the two estates, a lot actually happens. I never found myself bored and wanting to do something besides reading.

The only drawback I really felt the book had was that we get very little of Lennox’s POV. The majority of the book was spent with Mercy’s thoughts and while I loved her, I wanted to know what Lennox was thinking more.

This title is not on my read again shelf and I can’t wait for the next in the series.

*I received an eARC from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

This was my first title by Cat Sebastian, and I highly enjoyed it!

John “Ash” Ashby has been friends with Verity Plum and her brother for years. He has also been attracted to Verity all of that time, but chooses to ignore it to keep their friendship from falling apart. Verity believes herself incapable of carrying on a relationship and also ignores her attraction to Ash. Whenever Ash’s circumstances suddenly change, all he wants is to be with Verity but has to convince her it will be worth it.

I like Ash well enough and thought he was a nice guy, but Verity certainly had more personality than him. I don’t feel like I got to know Ash nearly as well as I did Verity. Yes, we learn about his past, but that’s not the same as a personality. I found Verity’s sexual orientation to be very different from what a heroine in a historical romance usually is. And I found it refreshing and interesting.

The plot itself was good, if a little contrived in places. I found myself not caring too much about the brother and like what happened to him was mostly to get him out of the way. I still found the book very hard to put down, though. Verity and Ash’s relationship made up for any lapses in plot.

I will definitely be reading the next title in this series!!

*I received an eARC from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long

⭐️⭐️

Meh. I put this down a few days ago after getting halfway through and realized tonight that my life would continue just fine without me finishing it.

Tristan and Delilah were nice enough characters, but they paled in comparison to the colorful and fun secondary characters. Their romance was tepid at best and their first kiss was absolutely nothing special.

The big mystery didn’t keep my attention, either. I honestly could not care less who might be the smuggler.