I’m Only Wicked with You by Julie Anne Long
The Palace of Rogues #3
Historical Romance
August 24, 2021, by Avon
ARC
I know that Julie Anne Long is an author with at least one long-running historical romance series under her belt, but I still think she is massively underrated and overlooked. Simply stated, she rocks my socks off, and every single time I open one of her new releases I can’t help but wonder why I don’t see people singing her praises all over blogs and social media.
I’m Only Wicked with You is the third book in The Palace of Rogues series and brings readers back to that quirky, wonderful hotel The Grand Palace on the Thames. This time readers are introduced to an enemies to lovers romance featuring the American Hugh Cassidy, who is in London to track down a runaway young woman for a friend, and Lady Lillias Vaughn, who along with her family is staying at The Palace while their estate is being desnaked. (Yes, you read that right.)
These two butt heads continuously and have this back and forth verbal sparring that I live for. BUT THEY ALSO CAN’T KEEP THEIR MOUTHS OFF EACH OTHER. Which eventually ends up in an engagement, which neither thinks they want and a plan to get Lillias the man she thinks she really desires.
There is just something about his author’s writing that sucks me in every single time. I just love the way her characters fall into this kind of desperate passion without realizing it. This couple is spitting mad at each other one minute and then embracing each other in fierce need the next. It made their journey to a HEA such a thrilling ride.
If you haven’t yet read this series I highly, HIGHLY recommend.
Final grade- B+
The Scoundrel’s Daughter by Anne Gracie
The Brides of Bellaire Gardens #1
Historical Romance
August 24, 2021, by Berkley
ARC
This was a slow start for me, but I kept telling myself to stick with it and see how it all wrapped up in the end.
The Scoundrel’s Daughter is really two romances in one. I’m not really sure which is meant to be the main one either. There is Lady Alice, a widow who is being blackmailed by a very bad man and is being forced to bring his daughter out in style and obtain her a rich, titled husband. And then there is Lucy, who is the young woman being taken under Alice’s wing. Each of them has their own shitty pasts because of the shitty men in their lives. Alice’s husband dies leaving her destitute and in debt after forcing her to live in an emotionally abusive marriage. Lucy’s father has moved her from school to school, house to house, all with the intent of using her to better his own financial situation over the years. She really has no friends and a pretty bleak outlook on love, marriage, and companionship.
Despite all of that backstory between the two main characters, this romance really was low angst. Like it kept plodding along and I kept expecting a whole lot more drama. Alice catches the eye of her nephew’s former commander, James, and they really were sweet together. Lucy and Gerald, Alice’s nephew, butt heads over and over because Lucy has no desire to wed a Lord, but their interactions were kind of funny, especially when she kept pushing him away and actively trying to avoid him at first. Each of these romances was lovely and I liked that this author gave readers an older, more experienced couple along with a younger, in the throes of first love match-up.
Despite the slow start I enjoyed A Scoundrel’s Daughter and feel like it was a solid start to a new series. I look forward to what comes next.
Grade- B-/C+
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