Weekly Reads: October 6 to 12, 2025

While the Duke Was Sleeping by Samara Parish (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. This book was so funny and all the things that could go wrong do. Adelaide is a lady’s maid to a duke’s daughter who runs away from her own high profile wedding. They swap dresses and run away, hoping to hide out for a bit. Then Adelaide has an awkward first meeting with Rhett, a gentleman returning to England at the request of his ducal brother. They meet, they get into a scuffle, they flirt a bit, and then part ways. But we know that’s not the end for them. The ducal brother somehow discovers a duke’s daughter is renting a cottage in the country from him, comes to propose marriage, and gets injured in the process. And now, we have Adelaide being forced by her employer to pretend to be her and break off the engagement to the duke when he wakes up. But he doesn’t wake up as quickly as everyone would like, and we get to re-meet Rhett and all sorts of chaotic sisters. It’s fate, but worse, since Adelaide is supposedly someone else and engaged to his brother. The yearning here was so good and this book was so much fun to read.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley. Final print book provided by Forever Books. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Mate by Ali Hazelwood (2025)

Paranormal romance. Sequel to Bride. Serena has just found out that she’s not fully human and actually a human-Were hybrid that everyone just wants to study. And the alpha leader Koen has told her that she’s his mate, but that he’s not going to do anything about it. Right. It’s clear that there’s something biological or hormonal happening between these two, but there are some political reasons why it can’t happen. And also, someone’s trying to kidnap Serena for scientific and/or political purposes. It’s all sorts of danger and scent glands, and if you’ve read enough omegaverse fanfiction, you also know what it means when a female wakes up from achy night sweats. Super fun read.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

To Wed a Wild Lord by Sabrina Jeffries (2011)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Hellions of Halstead Hall series. Gabe is the daredevil of the siblings, racing carriages and wreaking havoc, but mostly he feels guilty over the death of his best friend Roger who died seven years ago when they raced each other at a particularly dangerous track. And then Roger’s sister Virginia issues her own challenge to race Gabe. He has a better idea and would rather court and marry her to make amends and also fulfill his grandmother’s ultimatum. She’s totally resistant, but don’t worry, he wears her down with his skills of seduction.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon (2023)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Super awkward one night stand turns into a co-workers situation when Chandler is brought in to ghost write Finn’s memoir. And then he asks for assistance with his lack of skills in the bedroom, so that add that to the mix. This book was so much fun to read, with following Finn along his life as a C-list actor on the convention circuit and watching Finn and Chandler get to know each other. Steamy and flirty and humorous all in one book.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries (2012)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Hellions of Halstead Hall series. Celia is the last of the siblings left to marry to fulfill her grandmother’s ultimatum, so she sets her sights on three potential suitors. And of course, she asks the stern and serious Bow Street Runner Jackson to investigate them. But if you’ve been reading this series all the way through, you know that Jackson is actually interested in Celia for himself, even if he feels he’s way below her social station. More meddling from her grandmother makes things worse, implying that he’s a fortune hunter. We get to see how these two idiots work their way to each other though, plus conclude the mystery of how her parents died almost twenty years ago. Excellent conclusion to the series. Even though there’s on more book left.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Only Rakes Need Apply by Kate Pearce (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Rakes of London series. Widowed Carenza doesn’t miss her husband, but maybe she misses the bedroom aspect a little bit. Her friend puts up a newspaper advertisement looking for a lover for her and her late husband’s friend and her own longtime family friend Julian rises to the challenge. The romance and relations are fairly straightforward here, with Carenza and Julian finding time for frivolity at every turn and lots of instances of activity throughout the book. More drama unfolds with Julian’s messy family dynamics and some stuffy society members who are cruel to Carenza. Considering the setup of the story with Carenza saying she missed the marital bed, it felt a bit inconsistent to learn later on that her late husband was actually not that great to her in that aspect. For having such a steamy set up, I was more interested in Julian’s family issues.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.