The Notorious Lord Knightly by Lorraine HeathThe Chessmen: Masters of Seduction #2Historical RomanceJune 27, 2023- Avon Review by Melanie I am a sucker for a second chance romance and for a revenge plot done well and Lorraine Heath’s newest achieves one of those very well and the other one to varying degrees of success. The FMC of the book, Miss Regina Leyland, has forever lived her life on the outskirts of the English nobility. Born as a result of the extramarital love affair Continue Reading
Review: Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin
Much Ado About Nada by Uzma JalaluddinContemporary RomanceJune 13, 2023 - Berkley Review by Melanie I’m not always super fond of Jane Austen retellings - they are usually a bit hit or miss for me - but I think I may be predisposed to loving Persuasion retellings since second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes. Much Ado About Nada tells the story of Nada and Baz, who have a very storied past. The book is mostly set in the present day but does occasionally take a detour to Continue Reading
Review: Keyed Up by Sarah Estep
Keyed Up by Sarah EstepContemporary RomanceMay 4, 2023 Self-published Review by Melanie I discovered this book by sheer stroke of luck while scrolling through Instagram which is extremely unusual since I don’t actually spend a lot of time on Instagram. Somehow, the universe must have known that this book would speak to my personal reading id and check all my boxes. The author had done one of those posts with multiple arrows around the book and labeled each one with specific micro tropes Continue Reading
Review: The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St. George
The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St. GeorgeHistorical RomanceMay 23, 2023 by Berkley Review by Melanie The Duchess Takes a Husband, which, I’m guessing is the fourth and final book in The Gilded Age Heiresses series, features the much-anticipated story of Camille, the widowed Duchess of Hereford. The first book in the series, The Heiress Gets a Duke, actually opens with the engagement party of Camille and the Duke of Hereford and it’s made immediately clear that this is nothing Continue Reading
Review: Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler
Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah AdlerContemporary RomanceMay 23, 2023 by Berkley Review by Melanie I’ve been leaning hard into historical romance this year as my primary source of escape. However, Sarah Adler and I follow each other on Twitter, and having seen her discuss her contemporary romance on several occasions piqued my interest. I thought the setup was fascinating and it involved tropes that I normally love - road trip romance, only one bed, and forced proximity. Cut to me reading Continue Reading
Review: The Scandalous Ladies of London: The Countess by Sophie Jordan
The Scandalous Ladies of London:The Countess by Sophie JordanHistorical Romantic FictionMarch 28, 2023 by Avon Review by Melanie I struggled to identify what this book was because it really did not feel like a standard historical romance. According to Netgalley, it’s been categorized as both romance, which is honestly debatable, and women’s fiction, a term I personally loathe. For the purposes of this review, I’m going to label this book as Historical Romantic Fiction. One of Continue Reading
Review: Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa
Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la RosaHistorical Romance April 4, 2023Berkley Review by Melanie I’ve really been leaning hard into historical romances in the past few months. They’ve brought me comfort and a sense of escapism during a personally difficult time in my life. I’ve been lucky enough to discover brand new authors (Erin Langston) and new-to-me authors (Lorraine Heath) and also revisited familiar favorites (Beverly Jenkins). Liana De la Rosa is not a debut author, she has Continue Reading
Review: Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston
Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston Historical Romance February 28, 2023Self-published Review by Melanie Have you ever read a book and it’s so good that every so often, you just have to set the book down and hold it tight to your chest because the words are so wonderful and glorious that you want to savor every last one? And then, when you finally finish the book, your heart almost aches from the beauty of the book and you just KNOW in your heart that you’ll never read another book Continue Reading
Review: Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
Georgie, All Along by Kate ClaybornContemporary RomanceJanuary 31, 2023 by Kensington Review by Melanie There’s something so lyrical and almost poetic about Kate Clayborn’s prose that just immerses you in the world she creates, her words are lush and evocative, so full of vivid imagery that you can almost smell the air or feel the heat of a sun-warmed wooden dock under your feet. Georgie, All Along is no different, an expansive book, to borrow a word from the author herself, about Continue Reading
Review: Do I Know You? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Do I Know You? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-BrokaContemporary RomanceJanuary 24, 2023 by Berkley Review by Melanie Romance novels tend to follow a set of pretty rigid rules. There’s of course the requirement for a HEA (Happily Ever After) or, at the very least, a HFN (Happy For Now). The driving force of the plot must center on a romantic relationship, the focus being on these main characters (human or otherwise, 2 or more) and the journey they take to get to their eventual Continue Reading