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Max can't believe he's in line for a dukedom. He didn't know what to expect when summoned to Carlyle Castle, but he has found out he must prove himself a worthy gentleman or his new allowance could be cut off. He sets off to create a respectable life for himself and find a meek wife. He sets his sights on the Tates, who own a pottery business.

Samuel Tate's pottery business has been in the family for generations. Unfortunately for him, he only has 2 daughters and no son to pass on the business. Bianca sees no problem with this, as she can manage it just as well as her father does. Her father is over the moon when the perfect gentleman from London, Max, shows interest in his mild mannered daughter Cathy. Cathy's heart belongs to someone else though and switches places with her sister the morning of the wedding.

This book is enemies to lovers done right. The heroine is very much against her marriage to Max and is quite snarky to him in the beginning. While this hasn't been my favorite trope lately, I adored Max's quips back to her. He took all of her hostility in stride and turned it around into funny interactions that left Bianca flustered. Also, the heroine turns her behavior around by halfway through the book, so it wasn't dislike until they magically loved each other. She fights her dislike and it lessens over time with Max's charm until she finds she's actually liking him.

The steam in this book is fairly mild. A few quick kisses and a few full scenes towards the end. My favorite was a naughty scene in the middle of Vauxhall gardens. But nothing extremely explicit or crazy language used, for those who avoid that stuff.

Max is so much a beta hero. He is so caring about Bianca and her family. He is wonderful. I really enjoyed him. He was very much a gentleman to Bianca even with her spitting venom at him in the beginning. He has a pleasant personality. He's not a grumpy brooder. But he does have a secret. And while secrets aren't my favorite thing in romance novels, this one didn't play out the way I expected it to, and I was happy with the way it worked out.

Bianca is a very independent and opinionated heroine. Once she gets over her dislike of Max she is quite sweet though. Sometimes those feisty heroines can annoy me a bit but I didn't find that with her.

The thing that dropped the rating for me a lot was this book felt soooo slow. While I really did like the aspect of the pottery business – it was different and interesting and the way it was described I was really able to picture the pieces made – I just kept waiting for something to happen. I felt like a lot of what I had read by 50% could have been described in 20%. But there are so many sweet little scenes in this book. And it was clever. The banter and their interactions were rather funny sometimes. Overall a very pleasant read. There also was a short novella about Bianca's maid and Max's valet at the end of the book that was rather cute.

Thank you netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions are my own.

Spoilers about my favorite parts
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Spoiler

I adored how Max always turned Bianca's antagonistic comments around on her in the beginning. Like when he comes up to her and she sniffs at him and says she just caught a chill. He offers her his jacket because she has him all 'hot and flustered'. He was just so clever and adorable with managing her dislike, I loved his reactions.

I also LOVED that he was displaying his calves to entice her. That had me laughing.

My favorite though was when she asked him about how he was always at the breakfast table before she was. He admits that he would listen for her maid to open her door and it would squeak and he would rush out of bed as fast as he could to get downstairs before her. Bianca kept getting up earlier and earlier until she was getting up when it was still dark out and every time he would be sitting at the breakfast table. It was just too cute.

Explains all the whys and hows of pie crust. What flours and fats to use and how they vary the texture and taste of the crust. Helpful tips for having a successful pie base. It has troubleshooting tips for what to do, pros and cons to food processor versus hand mixing, and pictures of how to roll out.

This book also provides vegan and gluten free options. I cannot believe all the pie crust options in this book. The title is perfect. This book taught me I know NOTHING about pie. NOTHING. So many ideas and options. Not just fruit pies and sweet pies but savory options too for pot pie crust, etc. Ideas for what to do with the scraps. How to season it different ways. I was just amazed with it. I loved seeing all the pictures of different ways to crimp the crust and decorate. Soooo many tips. This would be a great addition to any pie lover or baker's cookbook collection.

Thanks netgalley for the arc, these thoughts and opinions on the book are totally my own.

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean
Bareknuckle Bastards #3

This is a series I highly recommend reading in order. It's all built up over time in the 3 books and Grace and Ewan both are in the previous stories a bit. You will have a better appreciation for everything that happens in this book with reading Wicked and the Wallflower and Brazen and the Beast first. Devil and Whit are in this story as well. Felicity and Hattie also make appearances but very short.

Grace, Devil (from book 1), Whit (from book 2), and Ewan were all born the same night. Devil, Whit, and Ewan were born illegitimately to the Duke of Marwick's mistresses. Grace was born to the duchess but the duke is not her father. The duke brings them all together and creates an unbelievable hell for them. Grace, Devil and Whit escape to Covent Garden and create their own kingdom there, always fearful of the reach of the Duke. For twenty years Devil and Whit protect Grace from what Ewan has become.

Grace has created her own empire catering to the desires of women. She has her own club she runs that creates fantasy and desire for the females longing for some power of their own. She knows she can't trust Ewan. She knows she should hate him. She knows she wants revenge.

I was worried Grace was going to take it too far in this book. For those that read The Day of the Duchess, I was worried she would be similar to the heroine from that book and demand everything and take take take and barely allow any reconciliation. I was SO happy that wasn't the case here. I felt like MacLean did a great job of enabling me to feel Grace's longing from the past but also her fear and hesitancy with her interactions with Ewan.

Ewan I LOVED in the beginning. He has thought Grace dead and when he has the barest hint she's alive he rips a door off its hinges to get to her. I was covered in goosebumps reading that. I adore a hero like that. Yes! I loved his longing. I was ready to forgive him right away. He would do anything for Grace. Anything. And I felt that and loved it.

I loved so much about this book. I love how MacLean writes so much emotion and in their head feelings. I get so caught up in the emotions, the angst, the anger from the past, the insecurity of what will happen, but throughout this whole book I did feel the love. This a love that overcomes any obstacle.

I rather wish the cover showed Grace in her preferred attire of corset, pants, and thigh high boots. I think that would have been beautiful and fit her personality more. I can't say I was super in love with Grace. I didn't dislike her though. I really liked Ewan. There is an ''all is lost scene” before Ewan goes to the Duke's estate and it really did touch my heart. My heart that I was pretty sure was dead because I haven't felt a single twinge in any book I've read in the past few months. I really am thinking I am just in a funk but the second half the book slid a bit for me. I didn't find myself unable to put the book down and it took me a few days to finish. Yet I can't pinpoint exactly what was lacking for me. I plan on rereading this series at some point in the future and maybe I will enjoy it more. I think Devil's story is actually my favorite, though I've enjoyed them all. If you don't like the f word, may want to skip this book. (I love it!)

Thank you netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own regarding this story.

I give a rounded 4 stars to this story. I think with a few tweaks I would have really loved it. As it is, I found it overall a sweet love story with a slightly different plot than I usually read.

Iris is betrothed to Finn. A Marquess and one of the desired “catches” of the season. Yet, she’s struggling to feel like it’s the right thing to do. He doesn’t seem to really see her, or know her, or take an interest in her. She’s desperate for a kiss, something to make it seem like it’s all going right. Instead of a kiss, Iris gets to know her betrothed while eavesdropping through the bushes and what she hears is enough to make her jilt him.

Him, a Marquess no less, jilted? Finn is shocked to discover he is no longer betrothed and it’s enough to make him notice what he’s been ignoring - a stubborn yet extraordinary woman that he was wrong about all along.

I felt like this book was fun. These two people seem to do some work finding themselves, and each other. After the broken betrothal, they end up together at a house party where most of the story takes place.

Yet I also felt this story was a little slow. And while he’s not involved with his mistress during the book (he breaks it with her at their engagement), she is talked about A LOT and I didn’t love that. One of the issues going on with them too was Finns “dark desires”, involving being in control/tying with cravats but it comes to almost nothing, at least nothing you get to see. Very briefly introduced. There’s also another competing love interest, which was fine in the story but I felt it would have been better to eliminate that and spend more time on the two main characters. Their development and tension wasn’t the best in my opinion, at least compared to previous books I’ve read of hers.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite scenes I can give spoiler free

Thisbe is not your average Duke's daughter. In fact, her whole family is a combination of oddities. She's a scientists and loves to learn and attend lectures. This is where she meets Desmond. Desmond is not your usual hero. He's very beta, shy, he even blushes. Thisbe is more the leader of the relationship. They have a lot in common with their interests though, and I feel they are a great couple together.

I did find the romance lacking in this book though. I haven't read anything from this series, this is my first. I believe this book is the prequel to the others in the series. Thisbe has a large family and they take up a lot of page space in this story. It's very cute and reminisce of, say maybe the Bridgerton family by JQ. I wasn't looking for that though, I really just want some damn good romance between two people. But I know many people love this.

Desmond doesn't have a large family, in fact it's only him. He has a mentor that he has the utmost respect for and feels he must help when asked. His mentor wants the Eye, some type of alchemical creation from hundreds of years ago. Things get messy when Desmond realizes the holder of the Eye is Thisbe's own family.

I wasn't expecting this book to have this paranormal feel to it. Dreams partially coming true, gifts running in family member lines, etc. I actually enjoyed that part to it. But the romance I felt got a bit lost in all this. I didn't really connect with either character. Desmond isn't usually a hero I'm totally in love with, but I'm glad he's out there because he's unique and I think many people will love him.

Overall just an okay read for me. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own regarding this story.

Lenora has now had 3 broken engagements. She needs to escape London and the humiliation. She visits the Isle of Synne with her best friend. Its not the peaceful retreat she needs, as it holds the most memories of her now dead first fiance, but she still finds distraction in a visitor from America.

Peter is in line for the Dukedom in charge of the Isle of Synne, but he has no desire to take up the mantle. He is only here to take revenge against the duke that wronged him and his mother so many years ago. He keeps letting his plans for vengeance slip because of Lenora's distracting presence.

This is my first Christina Britton. I love the cover. The writing had me laughing in some parts. I really should have loved most everything about this book. They are together pretty much the whole book spending time together. There's no crazy active plot to take me away from the romance. The hero is a bit grumpy. The heroine has had multiple failed engagements (I don't know why I love that but I do haha!) Perhaps it's just the world right now getting to me and I'm in a bad mood. I don't know. But I didn't love this book.

I liked Lenora for the most part. But I didn't like Peter. He was too focused on his revenge and held on to it for too long. Lenora too had her secrets. I think between both of them with their secrets and plots, it was just going on too long. They were also very awkward together. The awkwardness seemed to last through most of the book too. They didn't seem to know each other at all and I felt like they felt 'love' too soon. Especially Lenora. I didn't see how she got there, really.

I didn't feel much tension between the two of the them past the beginning quarter of the book. I guess I was hoping for more steam too, though it's not a deal breaker for me. I also thought the ending, instead of pulling them closer together which I really thought it needed, seemed to go on and on about all the drama coming to a close. Lenora's secrets, a returned fiance, Peter's revenge. I just didn't care about any of it, sadly.

I did smile and laugh at a few parts and I was VERY interested in the side character Quincy Nesbitt. What a name, huh?? But still, I will definitely give that book a try when it comes out.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. All feelings and opinions about this book are my own.

Morrigan and Aiden have that feeling of enemies to lovers a bit. They are both quite fiesty and opinionated, Morrigan very much so. But there was sooo much going on in this book. So many characters, so many names, so much action, so much plot, intrigue, revenge. I felt none of the romance sadly. I did start with just this story, so perhaps this is one that you should read in order? I'm unsure if I would have felt more knowing the basis of the characters and world that's been created. I think if you really enjoy the time period and history of the time you would enjoy this more than I did.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all thoughts and opinions regarding this story are my own.

I found this romance unique in that it's written in first person. I don't find that very often with historical so that might be a plus for readers as something different. However, I am not a fan of first person. I just don't like reading it, it doesn't give me the same 'fly on the wall' feeling I get with third person and love. Plus when it says I am doing this or that, which I would never do because I disagree with the heroine hahaha well it makes it awkward for me.

I LOVE the hero's perspective. And I was really enjoying the hero. I wanted to be in his head. I wanted to feel what he was feeling. And I didn't get that and that stunk.

This book is very mystery based. Very gothic feeling to me. It seemed something was always happening and the couple just weren't together for most of the story. Or if they were together they were focused on something else. I just want my romance to be the heat between two people falling in love and this had a lot of extras going on in it.


Thanks NetGalley for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was my first book by this author. I feel like this book can be read easily as a standalone even with it being book 4 in the series.

The heroine, Nina, is looking for a safe marriage that can grow into love. She was almost engaged before and found her possible fiance had hidden secrets she just couldn't handle as his wife. She sets her eyes on a nice, boring duke.

The hero, Elliot, is known as a flirt. But his uncle has left him with property in desperate need of repair and no money to do it with, so to the marriage mart he goes. He has known Nina and enjoys her personality and decides she will do. But she wants another so he hatches a plan.

Give this book a try if you like
-some classic regency fun – balls, dancing, house parties
-you like a funny, fast paced, suspenseful romantic romp
-you like the fake relationship trope

This book had a lot to love about it. It had quite a few funny little scenes and quips and I enjoyed that. It had nice tension that built up over the course of the book. It doesn't have an excessive amount of intimate scenes that are super long and detailed so I think it will hit the sweet spot for most people in that regard. But there was kind of a lot of nonsense going on in the book. A lot of little plot devices that pulled the book this way and that way and while some people love that, I do not. I like the focus on the romance with maybe 1-2 other things going on. I think the book would have been better without them, or maybe 1-2 things solidly developed. It was overall a pleasant read for me though and I think many others would like it! I give a solid 3.5 stars. There were a few things I didn't love about the ending either that make it hard to round up to 4.

Thanks netgalley for the arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tristan MacPherson is an assassin. With a dark reputation to uphold, he makes sure every man he's paid to kill dies. You would think he has no respect for life, yet as he walks through a plague ridden town, he is pulled to a stop next to Rose.

Rose cannot believe how her bid at freedom is going. Treated like a fragile princess, protected by all around her, she has not left her home in many years. Someone in her past had tried to kill her, so her father and the 14 guards surrounding her have always allowed her the barest amount of life to keep her safe. Somehow though, finally, she is allowed to spend the winter with her cousin. The first town they come to, Rose is infected with the plague and left to die. Placed in a pile of bodies to burn, still clinging to life, is where Tristan finds her.

This book has a lot to love about it
-a book taking place in the 1300s
-a dark, assassin hero that cares only for his heroine
-the black death (plague) being a plot device
-highlanders
-murder/mystery plot
-slow burn, a few kisses, then a full scene after 80%

I feel rather awful about not liking this book. I am in the minority. Don't listen to what I say ahead. Seriously. I have a problem. My heart is dead and I dislike everything I read now. :( I haven't had a 5 stars in forever. I try not to get into specifics but I'm hiding my own opinions under a spoiler heading. Also safety warnings attached at end.

Spoiler

I really wanted to like this book. I really did. It has a hero type that I adore. I love the dark heroes. I love assassins. I love heartless men that are cold to everyone but fall hard for their heroines. Tristan is like that. And I didn't dislike him, but he didn't give me quite the depth of feeling I wanted.

Rose was okay. I didn't dislike her, but she did annoy me. I could have liked her, but I felt like her opinions changed way too fast. I felt like she fell in love with Tristan too fast. I felt like when she found things out about him, her opinion went from head over heels love to distrust in about 1 second. Did you love him? But now he's all “bad” and you can't even talk to him about it? Come on...

But what got me the most about this book was something about the writing. It was not what I remember from the last Paula Quinn I read. This book did not pull me in. The beginning I felt like was a lot better than the second half. I did enjoy them traveling together and getting to know each other. Then they are separated and it's all murder mystery nonsense. If I had been really invested in the characters I might not have minded, but I wasn't yet. I needed more of them together. I also waited and waited and waited for sex. At 80% there is a scene THAT IS FADE TO BLACK!!! I was SO disappointed. There is another scene right after but I was so over everything by that point. So sad.

Anyway, I know plenty of people will love this book. I hope you do. I'm not sure if I am always comparing others to my favorite authors and they just don't meet the bar or what.

Thanks netgalley for the ARC. All these opinions are my own.

Safety warnings

Spoiler

plague, body burning (off page), murder and death (on page)