Weekly Reads: March 4 to 10, 2024

First Down by Grace Reilly (2022)

Contemporary sports romance. Book 1 of the Beyond the Play series. College senior and football star James transfers to a new university after some drama at his previous school. Luckily, he gets to go to school and live with his brothers (who feature in later books in this series). Unluckily, he has to take a writing class that he’s very bad at and needs a tutor in. Bex is also a college senior stuck taking the same writing class and dealing with an ex-boyfriend who won’t leave her alone. Somehow James and Bex exchange tutoring for fake dating, which pretty quickly turns into real dating. High on the steam and also lots of family drama for both James and Bex (but especially Bex). This was a fun and easy book to read and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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It Started with a Scandal by Julie Anne Long (2015)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 10 of the Pennyroyal Green series. Lord Philippe Lavay is recuperating from a brigand attack in a rented house in the country, where the servants who came with the house can’t seem to find any work ethic. He hires new housekeeper, Elise, who had to leave her position as a teacher at the local girls’ school. The gruff Lavay gives her a two-week trial run to see if she can survive the job. Elise doesn’t really have much choice since she doesn’t have anywhere else to go with her six-year-old son. She puts on her schoolteacher demeanor and puts the rest of the servants to work. Along the way, she and Philippe learn to deal with each other more amicably and realize that they’re both hurt and injured and lashing out. And although Philippe should really be working on courting an old family friend with a dowry, he’s increasingly intrigued by his outspoken, bold, and caring housekeeper. Elise is trying to resist the best she can, knowing that she’s not a suitable match for the lord of the house, but his care and concern for her and her son breaks down a lot of those walls.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org // Libro.fm

Kilty by Association by Caroline Lee (2024)

Historical romance. Medieval Scotland. Book 3 of the Kilty Pleasures series. Widowed Elspeth needs a bodyguard to protect her young earl of a son from more assassination attempts and she tries to hire a criminal at a pub to do so. Except that Craig isn’t actually a criminal and is undercover at the seedy pub to try to catch some other crime boss. They meet again the next day when it turns out that the King has assigned Craig to protect Elspeth’s family anyway in an official capacity, and off they go on the journey back to their home castle. It’s a quick and easy attraction between these two with Craig being amazing with Elspeth’s kids and basically being an awesome family man, but Craig is feeling insecure about his lower station compared to Elspeth. Once we’re back at their castle, it’s easy to figure out who the villain is, but still nice to see the villain get their due. This was a quick read with all the humor and family shenanigan you’d expect from this author.

Advance ebook provided by Caroline Lee.

The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long (2015)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 11 of the Pennyroyal Green series. After a ten-book lead up about the tortured romance between Lyon Redmond and Olivia Eversea, we finally learn what happened all those years ago and what happens in present day as Olivia is about to marry another man. Clearly, we have the element of forbidden romance between members of these rival families, which leads to a secret courtship that ends in heartbreak for everyone. While Lyon had fled the country and gone missing for five years, Olivia has been pursued by many suitors to no avail, until one day she accepts the proposal of one of them. As she’s preparing for her wedding to a man that she likes (but does not love), she’s assaulted by memories of her time with Lyon and also wondering where in the world he is. We’ve got an epic set-up here for him to reinsert himself in her life and also show her what he’s been doing all this time. We get all sorts of juicy heartbreak and intrigue and redemption and forgiveness in this book. And it tied everything up for this whole series very nicely.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Good Earl Hunting by Suzanne Enoch (2013)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novella. Super quick and speedy story here. Geoffrey is a recent earl who keeps getting invited to fox hunt parties by parents who want him to court their daughters. He’s at the latest party supposedly to pay court to the beautiful older daughter, except that’s he’s more intrigued by the somewhat awkward and plain-spoken younger daughter Theodora. He appreciates that Theodora doesn’t simper or try to impress him and has been infatuated with her for months. She has a hard time believing that he’s there to court her and not her more beautiful sister, but she pretty quickly changes her tune when she spends more time with the man. I love being able to read these quick bursts of romance in between longer and more epic series and stories.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Taming of a Highlander by Elisa Braden (2020)

Historical romance. Regency-era Scotland. Book 2 of the Midnight in Scotland series. Kate Huxley is in Scotland visiting her brother and trying to finish writing her novel (or play) so that she can be financially independent and never need to get married. Except that she may or may not have witnessed a man committing murder and is now in some sort of legal entanglement with a sergeant who wants to know what she saw. Broderick had been wrongfully imprisoned, beaten to near death, and scarred last year and after his recovery, seeks revenge on the man who orchestrated his downfall. Unfortunately, Kate’s disruption in the woods has caused his quarry to escape, plus the unwanted attention of the law. Kate and Broderick end up in a marriage of convenience to prevent the law from compelling her to testify against her husband. They fall in love in pretty short order and Broderick’s protective instincts flare when Kate becomes a target for the madman.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Temptation of a Highlander by Elisa Braden (2021)

Historical romance. Regency-era Scotland. Book 3 of the Midnight in Scotland series. Clarissa and her grandmother have run off to Scotland to visit Clarissa’s friends after it seems that her overly persistent stalker suitor is still on the hunt. Clarissa is especially rattled when she receives a letter from the man in Scotland and she’s quickly bundled off to Campbell’s house for protection. Campbell is a reluctant bodyguard here with a sparse cottage of a house, but Clarissa does her best to repay his kindness by decorating the cottage. And because of her crush on the man, Clarissa is rambling and awkward anytime she’s around Campbell saying all sorts of embarrassing and inappropriate things. When it seems that Clarissa is waiting for her good friend and earl Francis to come to Scotland to marry and protect her, Campbell’s jealousy is stirred and he decides to marry her himself. Look, we’ve just got a bumbling awkward wallflower here with a grumpy gruff protector with emotional issues from his past. It’s delightful.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Right Place, Wrong Duke by Elisa Braden (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era Scotland. Book 3.5 of the Midnight in Scotland series. Lucie is a widow who’s trying to kidnap the duke who’s going to evict her family from their home. Except she grabs the wrong guy. She ends up abducting Silas, who is secretly the half-brother of that duke and looks a lot like him. But he’s along for the ride because he’s attracted to Lucie (and clearly her pistol isn’t loaded). They end up sequestered in a house together in the snow and he decides to show her some carnal delights and maybe sort of propose marriage while he’s at it. It’s a swift resolution of plot here in this quick and steamy novella.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Wickedness of a Highlander by Elisa Braden (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era Scotland. Book 4 of the Midnight in Scotland series. Sabella is the sheltered and abused younger sister of one of the major villains of this series, alone in the world, and swindled out of all her worldly possessions. Stranded and desperate, she takes the job of housekeeper at the gruff and growling Alexander’s house. Alexander hasn’t been the same since he was shot by Sabella’s brother many months ago and still not fully recovered from his injuries. By taking in Sabella and forcing her to do all the chores of the house, he’s hoping to get his revenge, and maybe purge his lustful thoughts of her from his mind. Except she’s determined and resilient even though she’s a terrible housekeeper, but she does her best to earn her wages. And it doesn’t hurt that she’s also harboring lustful thoughts for Alexander and finds him to be kind and gentlemanly. It’s another grumpy overprotective highlander here with a sheltered young miss falling in love.

Advance ebook provided by Elisa Braden.