Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
It’s not totally necessary but I think if you can, yes. There is a series long mystery going on that slowly builds about the brother’s father being a bigamist. Though, most of the detective work happens in this novel.

Basic plot:
Charles is ready to fight for his dukedom and it leads him to Frome where he meets the intriguing Tessa Neville.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1810)
- Frome setting (near Bath?)
- Working together to solve a mystery
- Heroine does the leg work/financial aspect for investing for her brother – in this book she’s looking into a canal/lock venture
- A touch of class difference feel – the hero is a duke and the heroine is a sister of a Viscount but there is a lot of talk and doubt about her being ‘worthy’
- Medium steam – 3 scenes I counted, it is a touch smushed together though

Ages:
- Heroine is not yet 30, hero I didn’t catch his age, but he must be in his 30s because the youngest brother I have at 28 years old. (And this hero is the eldest of 3)

My thoughts:
I just thought this one was all right. It felt to me it was more focused on the mystery here and the relationship wasn’t front and center. There were some separation while they each worked on their own things. And *whine whine * I just like what I like in romance and I didn’t get what I wanted here.

It’s definitely not a bad book but I tend to get bored with mystery aspects and I did here. I thought the book was over repeatedly but it kept going on for 20% more and I was just really, really ready for it to be done.

I will say I did like Charles growth over the course of the series. I didn’t like him AT ALL when I started book 1, so it was nice to see him find his own place in life. (another reason to read in order for this one). And I did like Tessa. There was some humor and steam and it was..pleasant. I was also bored in parts. I don’t think would reread this one but I’m so proud of myself for completing a whole series haha.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

“I want you. You satisfy me very much. I want you pouring over my books, telling me when the under butler is siphoning off funds meant for coal. I want you telling me what bonds and shares to purchase, but quietly so my brother will think I’ve become a financial genius overnight. I want you beneath me in bed at night, telling me when you ride you harder and digging your nails into my shoulders. I want you looking at me as you’re doing now, as if I’ve lost my mind and you must be especially gentle and kind to me.”
 

Content warnings:

- Remembrance of a manipulative relationship where the heroine was taken advantage of
- Infidelity – the hero sleeps with his old crush when she’s married and (view spoiler)

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
4% - kiss with another woman
47% - kiss
55% - 🔥 kisses, missionary
61% - kisses, oral for her that fades
64% - 🔥 doggy style
73% - 🔥 outdoor standing sex against the old mill 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third perspective from both hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is fine to read at any time – it’s a prequel novella to the series The Truth About the Duke but it’s about the 3 brother’s aunt and not necessary to read beforehand or anything.

Basic plot:
Margaret is finally not a poor spinster once her brother inherits a dukedom and rests 40,000 pounds on her for a dowry. Now she just must avoid all fortune hunters. Rhys is destitute and soon falls for far more than Margaret’s inheritance.

Give this a try if you want:
- Georgian time period (1771)
- Novella length
- Hero pursues
- Welsh hero
- Hero needs an heiress
- Self described as a ‘tall, flat chested spinster’
- Masquerade!
- A bit of forbidden love feel – the heroine’s brother doesn’t approve of the match

Ages:
- Heroine is near 30, hero is 30

My thoughts:
Oh this novellas has basically all my romance catnip wrapped up in one story and I adored it so much. So, so much.

We have a playful, Welsh hero that falls in love with the heroine first. He pursues. He brings her out of her shell and woos her relentlessly. There’s humor. There’s no crazy mystery or villain – it’s just the focus on the relationship building. Sigh. Swoon. Love.

Rhys was just perfection to me. I loved his sense of humor and I loved how much he loved Margaret. Margaret gives him multiple set downs because she does not want to be pursued for her fortune. And everyone knows Rhys is destitute. But it was just adorable to me how he convinced her he loved her.

I really loved this novella. The rest of the series was hit and miss for me, but this one is precious.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

“I am quite familiar with the concept of impossibility,” she snapped back. “I refuse to marry any man who needs money.”
“No, you’re going to marry me.” He lowered his eyelashes and gave her a wicked smile. “And we’ll be very happy.”
----
“My intentions?” His slow smile acted like a torch held to her skin. She felt prickly with heat and yet transfixed by the flowing allure of it.
“I intend to have you, Maggie, in every way a man can have a woman. I want your hand in mine when we dance. I want you laughing beside me in the theater. I want you lying naked in my arms at night. And I want you standing beside me in church saying I will.” His gaze scorched her.
-----
“How many kisses?”
“Just one will do.” She sounded as breathless as he felt. Good. Raw male satisfaction ripped through him. He was no green boy, undone by the sight of a woman’s parted lips, but by god, he wanted her to be as aroused by this as he was.
“How long a kiss?” He brushed his lips against the corner of her mouth.
“How long do you need?” She swayed against him, her hand resting lightly against his chest.
“To kiss you properly? A lifetime, Maggie.”

Content warnings:

Honestly I can’t recall any? Maybe a touch of controlling family members that manipulate others

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

50% - kiss
72% - kisses, missionary in the bed 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡
Romance: 💞
Sensuality: 💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Some with the children
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine.

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Grey’s new series, Say I Do

Basic plot:
Fredericka must marry to secure her guardianship of her nieces and newphew. Wyatt must marry to secure his inheritance from his grandmother. They find each other the perfect marriage of convenience...

Give this a try if you want:
- Mostly London setting
- Marriage of convenience
- Children in the story – heroine is guardian of 3 children (2 girls and a boy, aged 5, 7 and 9. Charlie has a stutter)
- Low steam – there’s plenty of kisses but they are all very short and PG and only 1 scene that you will have to read a few times to be sure it’s an actual intimate act.

Ages:
- Heroine is 20, hero is 28

My thoughts:
This book really exhausted me in the worst way. I don’t even really want to write a review on it, so you should just read Fringe Book Reviews take on it because it is exactly what I felt!

I was really hoping I would love this one – I loved the initial set up of it. Duke must marry in 7 days?? Leading to a marriage of convenience? Yes please.

Then we get 3 children, which okay, not my favorite but I can totally have that with some great romance. But I never felt the romance between these two, or even came to like them.

This book seemed to be filled with quite a bit of miscommunications and assumption on both characters parts but especially the heroine. Then she would confront the hero on it and not even let him speak! Or explain anything! And then he would just let it go and they both just kept thinking things that were wrong about each other…

Then we have custody battle which isn’t my thing anyway – they are just so, so stressful and isn’t usually an environment that gives me lots of feels. And in this situation I felt like they both made a number of foolish decisions that of course lead to disaster. It made it an immensely frustrating book for me to read.

Also, not sure we needed the whole strange poetry plot. The hero has a hatred for poetry and the heroine loves poetry and it was just….strange? His extreme hatred for it (the trauma from his teacher, burning poetry books...It seemed extreme? Especially with everything else going on in the book it definitely wasn’t needed – the plot had plenty.) I went to think about what I know about these characters and I felt the character depth wasn’t that great but they do have this as a part of their identity…

And the hero is pretty jerky to the heroine. He tells her to do things that she shouldn’t be doing and doesn’t really listen to her in a number of parts. And the fact that he tells her to forgive her extremely toxic family members instead of protecting her from them? No. No. shudders in remembrance

Basically I didn’t like anything about this book. I actually felt angry reading it in quite a few places. I’m sure it will work for others – it wasn’t badly written or anything it just gave me the opposite of good romance feels and I’m glad to move on from it.

Content warnings:

- Heroines sister was a victim of domestic violence
- Scenes of toxic/controlling family members

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Pg 69 – kiss
Pg 117 – kiss
Pg 128 – kiss
Pg 202 – kiss
PG 247 – kisses that lead to a super vague sex scene
Total pages: 304 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥 (there’s a few scenes but they are all so light I’m hesitant to even rate it a 2 steam)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: First person only from the heroine’s point of view.

Should I read in order?
This is the first book in Kova’s Married to Magic series

Basic plot:
The elves from every 100 years for the Human Queen, but this year one hasn’t been found.

Give this a try if you want:
- Fantasy romance – this takes place in a realm with various beings including vampires, elves, fae, humans and includes magic
- Opposites attract – heroine is a healer and brings life, hero is an elf king that is tired to death
- Royalty mains
- Persephone/Hades retelling feeling
- Slow burn with very light steam – it’s over 50% for a kiss and past 75% for light bedroom activity
- Is a complete story without a cliffhanger

Ages:
- Heroine is 19, not sure about hero but would guess...20s?

My thoughts:
I am so disappointed in this one! I am not sure what I was expecting but I just wanted more from this book in almost all ways.

I love the cover. It pulled me in and is what made me buy it.

But this book was so slow to me. I kept waiting for things to happen and I just felt like the whole book was so slow. The revelations at the end were anti-climatic after all the slogging I did.

You don’t get any hero perspective (okay, I know that happens sometimes), but they are also hardly together. They spend most of the book apart and it drove me bonkers. I just kept waiting for them to be together and I liked it when they were but then they would separate again. I still might go back and count the percentage they were on page together because it was not a lot!

The steam was an utter disappointment. This isn’t the book’s fault or anything, it’s just not what I prefer in romance. I would have done a bit better knowing this beforehand I guess. I was so ready for them to be together I was hoping for something explosive.

I also wanted more character depth. I feel like at the end I knew basically nothing about the hero. At all. The heroine I knew a bit more but for having an entire book in her perspective it wasn’t much.

Ultimately I was just bored. I kept putting it down and not wanting to read it after a good beginning. And I was not a fan of the awful family relationships that were just magically better at the end of the book. God I hate garbage family. HATE IT!

Cock/Hero Stats:

Hero is an elf. All elves have blue eyes. The hero can use magic (I’m not sure about the whole race). I think he has a cock but honestly that’s an assumption. You are given no details.

Content warnings:

Some light violence/scenes of death

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Pg 174 (54%) – kiss
Pg 243 (76%) – kiss that leads to vague sex
Pg 251 (79%) – kisses, table sex (hotter than scene 1 but still vague)
Pg 258 (81%) – kisses and fade to black sex
Total pages 317 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
Ideally yes because there’s a series long plot of finding if the father is a bigamist – but the relationship itself is fine as a stand alone. (Gerard has minimal page time in book 1)

Basic plot:
Gerard is trying to solve who is blackmailing his family when he’s approached by a mysterious woman that requests a marriage on convenience.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- much of the story takes place in Bath
- marriage of convenience – heroine proposes to the hero to escape an abusive home situation
- rescue plot – loved how they come together to rescue the heroine
- medium to high steam – the scenes aren’t overly long (I listened to audio and it’s hard for me to tell length on there) but there’s a decent amount of scenes in the latter half! I have it at 5 scenes.
- unrequited love from the heroine
- widow heroine
- playful, former soldier hero


Ages:
- Hero is 28, heroine is 30

My thoughts:
I really ended up loving this story! I struggled a bit with the prior book in the series, so picking this one up and having more of the father’s mystery and a widow heroine I was worried it would feel similar. But Gerard’s spunky, playful personality completely won me over here.

The humor in this one was fun – the banter and how silly, sweet, and romantic Gerard was, how gentle with Kate he was had me swooning. I also tend to really like rescue plots and Kate is stuck in the beginning of this book. I love that Gerard went in ready to save the day even with it resulting in marriage. I love marriage of convenience because it totally eliminates the whole hero can’t marry because of xyz that drives me bonkers.

Some parts of this one are a bit slow but as I reread some parts and went through my notes I felt it tugging on my heart again so I had to round up. The sex in this one was really special to me – it was super emotional and always seemed to really progress their relationship and character connection. I found myself swooning and smiling through many parts of this story.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

I LOVE when the hero holds the heroine’s neck and head.

That was enough for Gerard. He slid his hand around the curve of her skull to hold her just so and took ownership of her mouth.
---
But now she was also his wife.
His to kiss.
His to hold.
His to bed.
And his to bring to the pinnacle of pleasure.
---
“You always look so surprised when I kiss you,” he murmured. “Do you not like it?”
She flinched as it she’d just been accused of some terrible crime. “I-I don’t know know.”
Gerard smiled a little. He couldn’t help it.
“Don’t worry love. You will.”

---
I love how tries to ease her worries

He stepped out of his trousers and drawers as she put out the last lamp. The room was plunged into darkness, the fire having died down to coals. Her white nightdress stood out as his eyes adjusted, and Gerard caught her when she would have hurried past him to the bed. “Don’t be afraid,” he murmured. He slipped one arm around her waist and threaded the fingers of his free hand into her hair. “Trust me.” And he kissed her.

---
And when she sees him out with another woman (that helps him choose jewelry for her) and thinks he’s cheating on her

“And I am not having an affair with her,” he added, fastening the chain at the nape of her neck.
“I didn’t think…” Her voice died away as she fingered the pendant.
“Yes, you did.” He leaned back. “Aren’t you going to thank me?”
“Thank you,” she said at once. “Very much.”
“Not like that.”
/
“Do you want to go upstairs?”
He rather liked this; sitting on his lap, she had to hold tight to him, and her breasts, with the amethyst pendant nestled between them, were right at eye level. “There’s not need for that. Lift your skirt.”
She jumped as he tickled the inside of her ankle. “We are in the dining room!” she whispered in horror.
“Bragg won’t come in.” Gerard nuzzled the underside of her jaw. “You smell delicious…”
“Somone else might!” She ducked away from his kiss. “To clear the dishes!”
Gerard sighed and lifted her off him. He strode across the room, catching up a chair as he went, and wedged the chair under the doorknob of the door into the hall. He went to the sideboard and shoved it until the corner of it blocked the other door. He turned back to Kate, who was watching with her mouth open and bright spots of pink in her cheeks, and took of his jacket and tossed it aside. “Now, lift your skirt.”
/
She grasped her skirt and pulled it upward a few inches.
“Good,” he murmured, unbuttoning his waistcoat as he watched her. “Further, please.”
Her face was hot as she complied. Her knees shook as she exposed them.
He dropped into a chair and crooked one finger at her. “Come here.”

---
Ugh and this whole scene ripping my fn heart out – she lies to him about why she wanted to marry him and he knows she’s lying and basically fucks the answer out of her. Takes her from behind on a table facing a public square in Bath…

“How calculating.” He flicked his thumb, then squeezed, very delicately, and she almost screamed. “Why me?”
“Because…” She could feel her climax building, sending shimmering waves of heat through her veins. “Because…”
“Why?” He rocked back and forth, a tormenting slow motion. “Why, Kate?” Is it so terrible? Are you carrying another man’s child? Is there some other threat to your fortune you neglected to reveal to me? Did Charlie and Edward refuse you before you asked me?”
“No...None of that…” She closed her eyes.
“Why, Kate?” He leaned over her, his breath scalding on the nape of her neck. He bit her there, his teeth scraping her skin. He was moving deep inside her now – she could hear in his voice that he was just as close to oblivion as she was -

---
And one of my favorite love declarations I’ve read

“Very well,” he muttered, and his voice boomed out, so loudly she jumped. “Katherine de Lacey, before God as my witness, I love you more than any man should ever love a woman.” A clutch of birds burst out of the hedges and flew away in a chorus of squawks. “I love the way your eyes snap when you’re irked at me. I love the way your nose wrinkles when you laugh at some nonsense I say. I love the way you ask old ladies for help finding a blackmailer. I love the way you look with your skirt up around your – Ah!”
Kate shrieked as his hand thrust through the hedge and seized her wrist. She pulled, fighting down the hysterical laughter that threatened to burst forth as Gerard peered at her through the leaves and branches, a perplexed but determined expression on his face. “There you are,” he said.
“And there you are,” she retorted, motioning to the hedge that divided them. “What did you plan to do next?”
He glanced up, and from side to side, as if measuring the hedge. Then to her astonishment, he wedged his shoulder into the tangle of branches, and pushed and shoved his way right through, never once letting go of her.
“You knocked a hole in the maze!” Kate gawked at the ragged, broken gap in the hedge.
“It will grow back.” He brushed some leaves from his hair and fixed his gaze on her. “I didn’t dare loose my grip on your again.”

Then he takes her to the center of the maze and fucks her. Ugh, I love it. I LOVE IT.
 

Content warnings:

- Toxic parents
- Unsatisfying marriage (heroine’s prior marriage)
- Using religion to pressure/control others

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
22% - kiss
26% - kiss
30% - kiss
36% - nipple play and some light kisses at the inn
42% - 🔥 kisses, light breast play, well endowed hero, fingering for her, missionary
50% - 🔥 kisses, playful her on top sex at the dining table with dinner still waiting
61% - 🔥 hand job for him, missionary
75% - 🔥 bent over a table overlooking Queen’s Square in Bath
98% - 🔥 kisses, sex in the maze 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Warden’s Genus of Gentleman series

Basic plot:
As a widow, Margaret is left a run down manor and can’t wait to renovate and enjoy her freedom. There, she meets Oliver, a man that prefers toiling in the soil to taking up his role as Marquess of Greenwood.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1819)
- Country and London – heroine inherits a manor from her unappealing husband and settles there for the first half, the second half takes place in London
- consent is hot
- hero brushes the heroine’s hair
- medium to high steam – 4 full scenes plus kisses and a short scene
- hero nurses heroine back to health
- a touch of secret identity in the beginning
- hero takes care of the heroine on her period
- hero sings to his spinach plants

My thoughts:
Ohhhh, how I adored this book! It’s so fun trying new to me authors because you never know what voice is going to really grab your heart and I found Warden’s did that for me. I loved her writing style – the humor, the heat, how much I enjoyed both of these characters and just fell right into their story and devoured it in one sitting.

Meg is one of those heroine’s that I just connected to. I really loved her personality and watching her gain her strength and independence after a crappy marriage. I truly enjoyed her and was so rooting for her HEA.

Oliver is the hero of my dreams. He is so utterly sweet – so caring and loving in all the big ways and little ways that are romantic and heartmelting. He sings to his spinach plants! He takes care of Meg when she gets her period! He was just perfection.

I loved the first half of the story so much. It does have a touch of instalust feel but I felt like they were getting to know each other at the same time. It was just so delightful – low angst, steamy, delightful, a touch carefree. And then the second half came in and rather wrecked my heart with its delicious angst. I ate it up like a glutton. Refreshing character behavior in how they hold each other accountable and talk about the bad behavior. I love that don’t let the toxicity or miscommunication stand for long. I just really loved so much about this story. Warden has definitely become an author I stalk and I can’t wait for more of her work!

 Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

She brought his hand to her lips and kissed his palm, and Oliver’s breath caught in his throat at the touch. Soft lips trailed across his palm, her warm breath dancing on his skin, threads of bliss scattering at each press. She raised her uninjured hand and cupped his cheek. Sure fingers slid into his hair, nails biting against his scalp, as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The touch was so soft, Oliver was certain he was dreaming, but her fingers tightened in his hair as she pulled back a bit to look at him. Her eyes were dark chocolate, and he wanted to drown in their sweetness. Instead, he whispered, “Again.”


Oliver detangles and brushes Margaret's hair

Smooth strokes raked across her head, thick fingers following behind and gently untangling the knots that had accumulated. Where she should have felt tugging and pain, instead there were only delightful tingles as coarse fibers met scalp.

The consent is so hot and well done in this novel

"Oliver, please."
"Tell me," he said, his voice a growl.
Margaret groaned, pulling herself up and nipping his lips with her teeth. "Kiss me."

Oliver is such an amazing hero. He's so steadfast and sweet and supportive. Margaret has trauma from her marriage and he's so gentle and understanding with her.

The wiry hairs on his chest tickled as she rubbed her nose against them, his scent stronger there, and his cock lay thick beside her thigh, its presence shaking the comfort she had found only moments before. Margaret pulled back to distance herself, but Oliver resisted. "Ignore it, Meg. It's a common occurrence around you, but it doesn't control me." He kissed the top of her head. "Sleep."

Oliver fucks her on a potting table

The man wasted little time, his hands wrapping around her thighs as he picked her up off the table, his mouth resuming its destruction to her nerves. When he let her legs slide down his hips, her feet returning to the floor, disappointment flooded her. "Turn around," he said with a growl.
Oliver spun her to face the table, grabbing her hands and placing them gently on the wooden top. The surface bit into her palms, but the sting was forgotten as he aligned his body with hers, his hard sex pushing against her bottom. Margaret pushed against him, whimpering at the need that took over, and he bit her neck, his fingers entwining with hers.
"Shh, love. I'll make it better."

And he cares if she wants one more orgasm

Oliver withdrew himself from behind her, and a handkerchief appeared between her legs, mopping up his mess. Margaret reached down to pull up her trousers, but Oliver's hand stopped her. "Not yet." He turned her around to face him, kissing her lips with aching tenderness, before placing his hands on her hips and lifting her onto the table. "You didn't finish."

Oliver takes care of her when she gets her period - brushes her hair, tucks her in bed, does her chores and gets a hot brick wrapped in a blanket for her cramps. HE'S LITERALLY THE BEST!

Content warnings:

- Unhappy marriage – heroine is married to someone 40 years her elder
- Mention of the hero’s brother having asthma and dying of influenza

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

33% - kiss
36% - 🔥 kisses in the grass then move to his cottage, kisses, breast play, fingering for her, hand job for him
41% - kiss
43% - 🔥 kisses with her on a potting table, then he bends her over the table and fingers her to orgasm, then fucks her thighs without penetration to his completion, then puts her up on the table and throws her legs over his shoulder for oral for her.
51% - a brief, vague scene outside in the grass
58% - 🔥 kisses, missionary
80% - kiss
91% - kiss
96% - 🔥 kisses, sex against a door 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (details below but may feel hotter to others)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
It’s not totally necessary but the first book sets up the heroine’s circle of friends. There’s some minor page time with the characters from book 1.

Basic plot:
Cornelia and Rafe are brought together after 20 years when she finds out her inheritance will be given upon her marriage.

Give this a try if you want:
- Georgian time period (1797)
- second chance with flashbacks spread throughout the story (chapters labeled as ‘before’)
- medium steam – 2 full scenes including MMF (details below – there are 2 full scenes I combined together for a flame because they follow each other directly and there’s also some shorter scenes so this one may feel hotter to you)
- older mains – the heroine is near 40 and the hero is in his 50s
- age gap (older hero) – there is 16 years between them
- huge hero/tiny heroine – hero is described as ‘twice her size’ and it’s mentioned he’s 6’5”
- LGBT positive – Rafe has had various lovers though I’m not sure how he identifies (pansexual?) and the first bedroom scene is polyamorous
- mixed race Duchess – her mother is Bajan
- commoner turned Duke hero

Ages:
- Heroine is approaching 40 (38 or 39?) and hero is 16 years her elder so I’d guess around 54/55

My thoughts:
I struggled with this one a bit. I did read the first book in the series and honestly I thought that one was a lot stronger in character development and the plot. But I did like the relationship was a main focus in this one. I think part of my struggles could be second chance is one of my least favorite tropes, especially when the story is given in flashbacks throughout the book. So that’s just personal preference for me.

Cornelia and Rafe are both wonderful characters. I did like both of them. But I didn’t love either of them. As I learned their back story and history, I felt like I was reading the same story present day. It seemed like twenty years later, they still struggled with the same things. Cornelia struggled with being vulnerable and open. She seemed to judge Rafe harshly for his flaws. Rafe seemed to still be oblivious to what Cornelia needed even after he lost her the first time. Ultimately I was a touch disappointed in both mains and I wanted more from both of them.

That said though, something Peckham does so well to me is making the characters real. I struggled a bit with enjoying the characters in book 1 too and I think part of it was just the rawness of them – and I found that here too. And that is not a bad thing. Rafe is lovable and wears his heart on sleeve. He’s so caring. He jumps into love with both feet and feels strong feelings. I think he has a good heart. Cornelia is so strong and independent and I love how she thumbs her nose at society and expectations. I love how fierce she is in regards to fighting for what she wants and believes in. But I think Cornelia held on a bit too long to her frustration with Rafe and when she wanted to be with him, it felt like a 180 turn. And honestly I wasn’t convinced 100% they were going to stay together at the end. I felt like down the road they would still have similar problems and she would get frustrated and leave him again. I wasn’t feeling solid in their HEA. I think I could have used some more development on their work with society reform too. It felt like such a central part of book 1, but I didn’t feel like that here in this one. But at the same time I did love that their relationship was central focus here. They had a lot of sweet scenes and it pulled on my heart a bit.

Content warnings:

Heroine was orphaned as an infant
Heroine experienced a bit of a manipulative lover when she was 18 (art tutor taking advantage of her)

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Pg 90 – kisses in an abandoned summer cottage
Pg 123 – kiss (this is in the past – their first kiss)
Pg 145 – 🔥 the beginning of oral for her when they’re interrupted by Rafe’s lover Rory, who is invited in. Cornelia gives hand jobs to both men while Rafe fingers Rory’s rear entry and Rory comes. Rory holds Cornelia and plays with her clit while Rafe fucks her. Rafe comes on Cornelia’s breasts and Rory goes down on her. (in the art studio)
Pg 194 – kiss
Pg 214 – her on top (quite short, and a memory from their wedding night)
Pg 216 – 🔥 kisses, oral for her, missionary (his bedroom)
Pg 222 – fingering for her, her on top ( this follows directly after the prior scene so I combined the flames)
Pg 284 – kiss
Pg 291 – short, implied sex
Total pages: 300 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 - if you’re generous. They are all together in a very short spot of the story.
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is the first book in Roberts’ The Spider’s Mate trilogy. Books 1 and 2 end on cliffhangers, so read in order.

Basic plot:
Ketahn is avoiding clan politics and his distasteful queen by living in The Tangle, a wild area of the planet, when he discovers a crashed ship and wakes Ivy.

Give this a try if you want:
- Science fiction romance
- Alien setting – heroine lands on an alien planet where the book takes place
- Primitive setting – hunting/gathering and not much technology (they live in the Tangle, which is a jungle environment)
- Human heroine/alien hero (details below)
- Language barrier
- Huge hero/tiny heroine
- Hero nurses heroine back to health
- You’re okay with some abduction/dubious consent themes at the beginning
- You’re okay with a cliffhanger ending (they are together and happy – the series is a trilogy before full HEA
- Light to medium steam - there's 3 scenes but they are one right after the other in a small percentage of the book

Ages:
- Heroine is 25, no idea about hero’s age or lifespan.

My thoughts:
So I liked a lot of parts of this one but also was really bored for some of it. This book just felt so long to me. The beginning has a lot of set up for the clan issues and Ketahn’s life on the planet. He doesn’t have page time with Ivy for quite awhile and that always gets to me when the mains aren’t together soon in the book. I started this one about 7 months prior to finishing it. I kept putting it down and picking it up again only to read a chapter or so and setting it down again. It wasn’t one that kept me super engaged.

But when Ivy and Ketahn were together I really liked it. I love language barrier and I enjoyed them circling around each other in the beginning and learning to communicate. I liked the slower build of their relationship. I enjoyed the world building and that they were together alone in the jungle. All those were big romance favorites for me.

I think this book was just too long for me? I don’t plan on continuing the series. It’s not that I don’t think I’d like it necessarily, I’m just not that invested in these two and the stress of the clan politics and the evil queen was pushing me away. I will take the happy for now I got between the two of them and enjoy it haha.

 Cock/Hero Stats:

- Hero is similar to a spider from Earth.
- Eight violet eyes
- 6 ½ to 7 feet tall
- Humanoid torso with a chest and narrow waist with the backside like the abdomen of a spider.
- Two sets of arms, one over the other, and 6 legs. Hands have 3 fingers and a thumb with black claws. (More limbs, smaller ones, tucked against the lower abdomen between it’s two front legs)
- Doesn’t have lips
- Fangs and mandibles
- Black and white hair and black skin with markings on it that glowed white and purple
- Purple tongue
- Hands are twice the size of the heroine’s
- He calls his cock a ‘stem’ and it rests behind a slip
- Males have lubricant that slicks the way for sex, not females
- Vrix have a heartsthread that links their two hears and spirit together
- They put webbing inside injuries to help bind the cuts and heal faster
- His cock is long and thick and has two bulges on either side of the base. The shaft widens and then tapers at the tip where there is a two inch slit.
- When he orgasms, it was accompanied by a firm, fluttery sensation at the head of his cock. Something swept insistently against her cervix, stroking her inner walls. That fluttering quickly grew in speed and urgency as the pulsing of his shaft intensified, turning into a vibration. (hide spoiler)]

Content warnings:

- Scenes of death/murder
- Colonization – humans leave earth to form a new colony on Xolea
- Toxic family members (some brief memories)
- Heroine remembers surviving a tornado
- Heroine is attacked by a ‘velocitiger’
(Random note for myself – the journey to the planet was supposed to take 60 years, but Ivy finds out it’s 168 years since launch)

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
32% - Ketahn licks Ivy’s tears off her face
39% - touches and groping while Ketahn explores Ivy’s body
67% - some light touches
83% - 🔥 Ketahn binds Ivy’s wrists and attaches it to the ceiling, then ties her up. Oral for her, sex
88% - 🔥 her on top
91% - 🔥 kisses, him holding her sex 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (there’s a mix of scenes but a few are on the shorter side)
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and the heroine.

Should I read in order?
This is Louise Mayberry’s debut! Hooray!

Basic plot:
Jane has been dealt a cruel hand in life and when Percy comes in and makes her feel, she does her best to protect her heart from more pain.

Give this a try if you want:
- Scotland 1820s
- Musically inclined hero
- Botanist heroine
- epistolary – there’s a lovely section of letters written between the mains
- Heroine rescues hero
- opposites attract – our heroine is a bit closed off and reserved while the hero is a roaming free spirit
- Emotionally strong hero (hero cries)
- mix of romance, intrigue, and suspense
- well researched events and conditions of the setting/time period
- LGBT positive – a brief mention of friends that are gay

My thoughts:
What an absolutely delightful, unique, and emotional debut from Louise Mayberry!

I really fell in love with this novel. When I read the synopsis I was wondering if it would be a read that most of the focus was on the politics of the time including the mills and child labor laws and lacking on the romance. I didn’t find that AT ALL. It was the best of all the worlds – a blending of beautiful prose, heartbreaking research that created a rich back drop, and a couple that wrapped their story into my heart.

Percy is such a romantic at heart and I just adored him. His musician spirit was so special and I love how well he saw Jane’s heart from the beginning. He does suffer from the “I will never marry bug” but it’s done in a way that didn’t feel overused and I loved his head over heels tumble for Jane.

Jane is more of a prickly character with some mystery to her past at first. But I fell for Jane too and her sadness had me longing for her happily ever after so badly. I may have teared up at a part near the end when she is able to release herself from guilt that has held her heart captive and that is quite a compliment for my heart made of stone.

Some authors just make me pause and reread passages because I love the writing so much and I found this with Mayberry’s writing. So very happy to have found this new voice in the world of historical romance and can’t wait for more!

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

Ugh it is SO CUTE

“My thanks.” He tucked the cloth into his pocket. “I’ll have it laundered and returned to you.” He would do no such thing. He would keep that handkerchief as long as it smelled of her.
---
Uncomplicated, uncontrived beauty.
Their eyes met for a split second, then she turned away, her cheeks suddenly stained pink.

---
I love how inspired he is with her

What he felt was more precious than simple arousel. It was inspiration, the purest and most powerful he’d ever felt.
Already he had two new compositions floating in the back of his mind. The first was a vivace – lighthearted and joyful. It was the moment she’d interrupted him. Their inane back and forth. Her laughter. She was a viola, rich and smooth. Playful. He was a pianoforte, bubbling up around her, lifting her up. The other was slower. A sultry, warm adagietto. Her viola played an airy, shimmering tremolo. His pianoforte, the melody of seduction . . .
---
“Jane.” His voice lowered to that same dark, sultry tone she remembered from their encounter in the dining room. She opened her mouth to respond, to admonish him for using her name, but he held up a hand, commanding her silence. “Don’t. Move.”

He closed the distance between them. Once stair. Two stairs. Then he was on the tread just below her. His breath was ragged in the silence. His scent enveloped her, weaving together with the sunlight, strengthening the enchantment that held her in place.

Content warnings:

- Mention of hero’s father being paralyzed from an accident
- Scenes/talk of child labor and unsafe labor practices
- Mention of 10-12 year old holding a baby in a poverty filled area of town
- Imprisonment and torture of the hero

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Prologue – implied sex
10% - brief mention of hero masturbation
53% - 🔥 kisses, breast play, oral for her (bedroom)
69% - heroine masturbation (short)
93% - 🔥 kisses, oral/fingering for her, missionary (bedroom)
98% - 🔥 blow job (incomplete), her on top (it’s pretty short) (bedroom) 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋
Sex Scene Length: only kisses
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): only kisses
Humor: Just a touch
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is the third book of Kilpack’s Mayfield Family series but I found it fine as a standalone.

Basic plot:
Sabrina comes across Harry after he’s been attacked by immoral money lenders and nurses him back to health.

Give this a try if you want:
- Both characters have a bit of anxiety
- Independent heroine – she inherited much upon her husband’s death and uses it for good within society
- Emotionally strong hero (hero cries)
- Chess!
- This is a Christian no sex romance – there are scenes of Bible reading and prayer
- Heroine nurses hero back to health
- Light touch of second chance – the hero has an empathetic encounter with the heroine 6 years prior (he’s going off with another woman and the heroine is married here so it wasn’t anything sexual)

My thoughts:
This one really isn’t my thing – I’m not looking for Christian romance – and I didn’t realize that it was when I picked it up. Generally I liked the writing quite a bit. But overall the themes of ‘vices’ needing to be overcome, the amount of warm milk drank, and the praying and Bible reading made this one not something I seek out in romance.

I am still a bit confused about everyone calling the heroine a lady, even though she’s a bastard. It seemed a bit far stretched how it was just accepted. I did like both main characters quite a bit though. And I loved that in this one the heroine was in a place of security after what she’d been through and was in a position to help the hero. I think those looking for a low steam read about healing could really love this novel.

Content warnings:

- Heroine’s first marriage is filled with hurt, physical violence, and verbal abuse
- Heroine miscarries (remembered, not on page)
- Hero suffers from alcoholism and a gambling addiction and there’s quite a bit of page time recovery
- Mention of hero’s uncle making his fortune in India
- Heroine is thought to be infertile after her miscarriage (told by a doctor)

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

82% - kiss