Night of the Scoundrel by Kelly Bowen
Devil of Dover #3.5
Historical Romance
November 26, 2019 by Forever Yours
ARC

Honestly? I had no idea who the two main characters were in this novella when I requested it for review. I only knew that it was part of the Devil of Dover series and was by Kelly Bowen.

Turns out King, the hero of Night of the Scoundrel, was the mysterious bad guy smuggler from the third book in the series, A Rogue by Night. And he is exactly the kind of sexy, dangerous, competent anti-hero I live for in romance. But then again, the heroine is also sexy, dangerous, and competent as hell. I adored her. The page count is small, but this author does a fantastic job of fleshing out these characters enough so that readers can get to know them, their backstories, and their current motivations. Together they are dangerously sexy.

When I tell you I was captivated almost from the first word I’m not kidding. This book is a fast-paced, emotional read, probably the best novella I’ve read this year. Really well done.

Final Grade- B+

KINDLE

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard
Historical Romance
November 26, 2019 by Entangled Amara
ARC

I enjoyed this book so much.Take a scarred, grumpy, reclusive hero and pair him with a strongminded, smart heroine, throw in a few villainous relatives and one downright terrible Earl and you have a delightful historical romance.

I”m a sucker for beauty and the beast type stories, so as soon as I read the blurb I knew I would be hitting the request button. I’m sure there will be reviews out there talking about how it’s not quite realistic to the times, I’m here to tell you that they are correct, but I didn’t care one bit.

Astrid comes to Thane out of options and willing to do just about anything to save her sister from a forced marriage to a lecherous man. She suggests marriage, but ultimately ends up working for him cataloguing his father’s expensive vase collection. Nathaniel Harte, Duke of Beswick, better known as Thane, has zero time or inclination to take on a wife, but he is quite taken with Astrid’s no-nonsense personality. Their courtship is rather acrimonious at first and then it becomes kind of a sensual dance between them with each of them fighting an attraction and Thane believing he is not worthy of love or affection.

I enjoyed their journey to love and HEA. It was at times heartbreaking, especially when I realized how horribly society treated Thane because of his scars. The back and forth between Thane and Astrid was a delight and the chemistry sizzled. This was a quick, sexy read that I would definitely recommend to historical romance readers.

Final Grade- B

KINDLE