Weekly Reads: March 11 to 17, 2024

Mr. Donahue’s Total Surrender by Sophie Barnes (2022)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Enterprising Scoundrels series. Calista is an American lady stranded and penniless in London, seeking employment at a fancy hotel. While she’s lucky to find a position as a scullery maid, she doesn’t know what she’s doing and all the other staff members are cruel to her. Hotel owner Steven finds out about her mistreatment and moves her up to become a guest of the hotel while he helps to arrange her passage home to New York. These two end up spending more time together and getting to know each other and slowly form an attachment. However, Calista is determined to go back home and settle the expectations of her father’s debts. Steven has his own issues with being an ambitious businessman and son of a lord, but he quickly reprioritizes when it comes to Calista. This was a relatively low-angst story that wraps up in a short timeframe.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Flirty Little Secret by Jessica Lepe (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. We start with the most awkward meeting ever when guidance counselor Lucy spills a cup of hot tea all over the front of the new history teacher Fletcher’s pants (and then tries to soak it up with her scarf). Both are completely embarrassed and mortified, especially since the other person is so attractive. We learn more about each of their backstories in pretty short order: Fletcher has moved back home with his mom after finding out his father had an affair and his mistress is pregnant; Lucy has the trifecta of depression, anxiety, and ADHD and just trying to keep it together. Lucy channels her wisdom into an anonymous online persona who does not have any insecurities or anxieties and is able to dispense oh-so-worldly advice. It turns out her number one Instagram fan and friend is Fletcher, and neither of them know who the other person is in real life. Outside of the screen, Lucy and Fletcher get to know each other more as co-workers, and then friends, and then maybe more. Lucy’s got a boisterous and hilarious family and Fletcher is pretty much just happy to be a part of it all. This book was both sweet and funny and also featured an understanding and reassuring guy.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley.

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A Wicked Way to Win an Earl by Anna Bradley (2015)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Sutherland Scandals series. Delia and her sister Lily are on their way to a house party when their carriage breaks down and Delia comes across a man rutting with a woman against a tree. Well, it turns out that man is Alec, the earl and host of the house they’re going to. We see Alec and Delia immediately at odds, with Delia believing him to be more of a rogue than he lets on and Alec believing her to be a title and fortune-hunting lady wanting to trap his brother in marriage. They’re both wrong and drawn to each other. And somehow they each independently decide to seduce each other for sport. Which of course does not go well because there’s some old family scandal with her mother and his father and the fact that Alec is supposed to be courting some other proper young miss. I’m not quite sure how their animosity here turns into love, but there it is.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org

The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Damsels of Discovery series. Lucy is the intelligent and outspoken owner of an apothecary and she has hired an investigator to find out who has stolen one of her recipes. Jonathan is a prior prizefighter and single father who takes on the job. While Lucy suspects that arrival apothecary has stolen the recipe since the scoundrel had run off with a different recipe in the past, Jonathan isn’t so sure this time. As part of Jonathan’s payment, he and his daughter take up residence in an empty apartment above the apothecary. We get a fun mix of characters here with Lucy’s siblings, Jonathan’s daughter, and the shopgirl who works at the apothecary and I enjoyed seeing them all interact. While the romance between Lucy and Jonathan is slow-burn, I appreciated seeing Jonathan support Lucy’s intellect while also providing emotional support. We also get to find out the answer to the mystery of the missing recipe while catching up with a few of our favorites from Everett’s previous series.

Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.

Mr. Clarke’s Deepest Desire by Sophie Barnes (2022)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Enterprising Scoundrels series. Lady Rosamund plans to invest her small inheritance in a locomotive company, only to be turned away by the owner, Mr. Matthew Clarke. He’s holding a grudge against her and her family after her father had taken advantage of Matthew’s mother when she worked as a maid and then turned her out into the streets. Rosamund has believed her father to be a good man and is baffled at Matthew’s poor treatment of her. They both end up at the same house party of innovators and investors and pretty much spend the whole time bickering with each other. And as they get into heated arguments, they also get into heated embraces. Matthew of course is hesitant to pursue anything further with Rosamund because of his grudge against her father and because he believes his social status is far below an earl’s daughter. Rosamund has to be the pursuant here to convince Matthew of his worth. Plus, there’s some added drama with a rival suitor, making this novella action-packed.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Duchess by Sophie Jordan (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Scandalous Ladies of London series. Valencia is a widowed duchess and finally trying to live her best life after her year of mourning. It turns out her late husband was cruel and abusive to her in his latter years and she’s relieved that he’s gone. The downside is that the new duke and his mother and six very loud sisters have just arrived in town and taking over her home. Rhain is disturbed to find that the widowed duchess is young and beautiful and wants to get rid of her as soon as he can, but then realizes he needs her to help give his unruly sisters some polish before they enter society. It’s all sorts of chaos and strong personalities as Valencia whips them all into shape. Plus, Valencia and Rhain have all sorts of simmering attraction for each other, despite trying to stay away from each other. The romance here was a bit underdeveloped for my tastes, with a quick flip from arguing to falling in love; however, Rhain’s good-natured protection of Valencia and his sisters was enjoyable to read.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley. Print book provided by Avon Books.

A Season of Ruin by Anna Bradley (2016)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Sutherland Scandals series. We start off with a potential scandal almost immediately when Robyn is waiting for his planned dalliance to come to a secluded room and Lily mistakenly enters it looking for the ladies’ retiring room. Rogue that Robyn is, he immediately kisses the woman in the dark, not realizing that he’s got the innocent young debutante his family is hosting for the season and not the seasoned married woman he planned to meet. Oops. Lily resists at first, then gives in, and then resists again, and she’s hoping to get away from Robyn before he realizes who she is. No luck there. In addition to that, news of the indiscretion hits the scandal sheets the next day and Lily is essentially ruined. While Robyn’s sisters try to mitigate the damage, he’s unconcerned and does not realize how awful things are for Lily. And then he makes them worse by waltzing with her when she doesn’t have permission to waltz. Robyn is chaotic and takes nothing seriously, and Lily is pretty much afraid of any sort of strong emotions, preferring to keep things neat and orderly and controlled. These two are clearly opposites and ill-suited, but they’re also intensely attracted to each other and bring out all sorts of heightened emotions. Both have a lot to overcome in the personal hang-ups department before they can make a real relationship work.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

One Dangerous Night by Cathy Maxwell (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Gambler’s Daughters series. Elise is on her way back to Ireland from London after her sister marries the man she thought she was in love with. Of course, she runs into all sorts of calamity along the way and is saved by her traveling companion, Kit, who is actually a duke who ran away from his own responsibilities and has been wandering the countryside for a year or so. These two obviously don’t know the other person’s real identity, make assumptions about the other, and are basically arguing the whole way through. But Kit is still gentlemanly and protective of Elise, despite her stubbornness throughout the journey. We get all sorts of travel adventure here with carriage accidents, ruffians, and sparse accommodations. It’s a fun ride. Plus, we get a few glimpses of other points of view when Elise’s sisters realize she’s missing.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.