Review: All Scot and Bothered

All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

 For in the eyes of her father, the sin was hers. The original sin. She’d been born a girl. 

  The Devil You Know series follows the self titled Red Rogues, Alexandra (How to Love a Duke in Ten Days), Cecelia, and Francesca. Cecelia lived in misery with her vicar father until she was taken away by a woman claiming to be acting on the behalf of her late mother's sister. Cecelia is sent to an all girl's school where she becomes bestfriends with Alexandra and Francesca, bonded through their red-hair and a dark secret, they carry that friendship through life. Cecelia also becomes attached to the school's caretaker and Jean-Yves becomes a father figure for her and a pseudo guardian to the Red Rogues. 

The half brother of the hero from book one, Cassius Gerard Ramsay, Lord Chief Justice of the High Court, meets and becomes entranced by Cecelia. He's an extremely by-the-book man who is rigid, dark, and gruff. He has a severe distrust of women due to his mother abandoning him and being betrayed by the only woman he thought he loved. However, his enthrallment with Cecelia has him contemplating marriage with her pretty quickly, until he discovers a secret that makes him think she is just like all the other women in his life. 

 He leaned even closer, his breath indeed hot on her ear. “Ye’ll find, Miss Teague, that I’m a man without mercy.” 

Although second in the series, I do think a new reader to the series wouldn't be too lost starting here. Francesca's family was murdered and there was still that lingering plot thread from the first but I was actually disappointed how it wasn't more included here. When Cecelia's aunt dies, she inherits her all girl's school and a gaming hell that supposedly funds it. Ramsey, as the Lord Chief Justice, is investigating a string of missing immigrant girls who he thinks is being sex trafficked and he thinks 'The Scarlet Lady' is the head of this ring. As Cecelia has just inherited her aunt's gaming hell, she is the new Scarlet Lady and thrown into this investigation. Through this plot, Cecelia faces danger that requires Ramsey to sweep her away into hiding so she can decode a book her aunt left her that, hopefully, supplies the names of the Crimson Council, who her aunt thought was behind the missing immigrant girls. In the first book, the Crimson Council is mentioned and has possible ties to Francesca's murdered family. 

 I kissed Ramsay. 

All I've mentioned probably makes this sound like a lot is happening but while this is information that you keep in the back of your mind, this story was slow. Francesca isn't around for much of the story and I missed scenes with the Red Rogue's friendship. I mentioned how Ramsey wants Cecelia fairly quickly but then he also learns about her connection to the Scarlet Lady pretty quickly too and they're off to safety for Cecelia to decode the codex. I liked Cecelia but I struggled mightily with Ramsey's character. He was a stomping around rude sanctimonious ass for a large portion of the story, uttering a line around the sixty percent mark that wanted me to place him the trash bin. He apologies fairly quickly but at that point in the book, I don't want my hero's attitude to be that poor towards the heroine. Due to me not liking Ramsey, I never really felt or believed in their romance. Even though I liked Cecelia, her character was very uneven when interacting with Ramsey. She's constantly touted as the sweet innocent one, who's shy and so forth but then when the intimate scenes begin, she's dropping down immediately to give the hero a bj. There is a call back to a dirty book she discovered but that's not mentioned until after the scene and it just made it all feel unnatural for her character. I'm not saying sweet innocent women don't want to give bjs but in this instance with this character, it came off trying to force a sexually steamy scene. There was another long bedroom scene but I honestly wanted to skim because I didn't feel the passion between these two. 

 She was a flame dancing in the distance across the cold tundra into which he’d been born, tempting him closer. 

If you're a frequent reader of Byrne like I am, you'll know that she leans more toward the dramatic and dances with purple prose, this story definitely had those overtones but I found myself wanting a more stripped down version (could be argued I shouldn't be reading a Byrne if that is my mood). I don't know if this was due to the characters or my mood but characters and plot just weren't jiving for me. Cecelia is supposed to be keeping her identity as the Scarlet Lady a secret but she goes to the school and gaming hall with her real identity not hidden and with her two friends and Ramsey is the Lord Chief Justice but besides leading a search warrant on the school we never get a feel for him in this position. The whole plot about the child sex ring also came off wrong, it felt like using a heinous crime for some sort of fictional tantalizing hook. The care and depth I would like to see when such a topic is used in that way wasn't there for me and it felt gross. 

 “Christ,” he breathed, turning his head to press his lips against the thin and tender skin on the inside of her wrist. “What are ye doing to me?” 

I liked the beginning and set-up but the middle dragged with Ramsey not evolving, the plot getting left behind or stagnating, and the last ten percent was a hurried dump of resolutions and reveals that came out of nowhere. I really enjoyed the first in the series and with Francesca still needing to solve her family's murder and the reveal of a Home Office spy lingering at the edges trying to take on the Crimson Council, the third is set up to be compelling.

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Reading Update: 30%

 

Really enjoyed the first in the series, can't wait to see another Red Rogue fall in love :)

All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne pre-order (Sept. 29) link

Spicy Apricot Slow Cooker Meatballs recipe

Review: How to Love a Duke in Ten Days

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days by Kerrigan Byrne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.3 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days is the first book in the new series Devil You Know by Kerrigan Byrne and it is a wonderful start. The Prologue starts us off with seventeen year old Alexandra as she is called into the headmaster's office of the ladies' finishing school she has been attending in France. I do want to mention that there is a pretty intense rape scene, some might want to avoid reading. Skipping the prologue to avoid it would be possible but you would miss some bonding knowledge between Alexandra and her friends. The rest of the book has mention of the rape and how it affects Alexandra's relationships and how she is, can, and could be triggered in intimate moments with our hero Piers. I thought the author handled the respect and emotions beautifully around this issue and it provided some moments of tears and smiles.

A confusion of sensations paralyzed her. How could she feel both panicked and protected?

If you've read Byrne's work before, you'll know how her stories balance light and dark moments, she mastered them in this book. The fear Alexandra feels with Piers in the beginning before she knows him was tempered exquisitely with the playfulness between the two. Alexandra and Piers get to know one another and the first half is Alexandra learning to trust Piers.

After the prologue, we jump ahead in time ten years and Alexandra gets a note from her friend Francesca telling her she needs her help and an invite to her betrothal ball to the Duke of Redmayne aka The Terror of Torcliffe. Francesca, along with a Cecilia, are the friends Alexandra made at the France school and they formed The Red Rogue Society. They all have red hair and sneak away at night to “further their education”, basically try things young men get to experience but are forbidden to ladies. The night of Alexandra's rape bonds them together, along with the school's gardener, as they bury a secret. I loved how Byrne wrote this group of women and how their personalities were so different but their friendship was solid. I feel like historical romance is full of men groups who are bonding together in some way and I liked the script flipping here.

She was a soft, silver moonbeam in a room full of glowing golden candles.
And all the more radiant for it.

When Alexandra and Piers meet there was a definite crackling of tension but even though these two were very guarded characters, it was their lightness together that won my heart. Byrne's writing style is very reminiscent of the bodice rippers of old, you'll get some faint purple prose elongated sex scenes and drama, which sometimes can get a bit much. I thought this was most apparent with Pier's nickname of Terror of Torcliff; except for the scars on his face, there didn't seem to be a reason for it. I also thought his background could have be fleshed out more, we're told about his mother and father, but especially his relationship with his half-brother, it wasn't as filled out as I would have liked.

The reason for Piers wanting to get married is so that he can produce heirs because he doesn't want his cousin inheriting, the cousin who ended up marrying Piers fiancee. This whole situation is probably what I would have cut out as it too wasn't especially filled out and the vitriol towards the ex-fiancee felt a bit much and I'm just particularly sensitive towards hate at woman at the moment. Bringing Piers in through Francesca would have worked on it's own for me.

Francesca wanting to marry Piers is a whole conversation, there is a lot happening in this book, but Byrne does for the vast majority keep it together. Besides the red hair and more adventurous attitudes, The Red Rogues bond together for support because Cecilia has a very cruel father and Francesca watched her whole family be murdered by men in masks. While Francesca is obviously not the star of this story, her murder mystery definitely plays a solid underlining to it. This murder mystery, along with the first half mostly taking place in Piers' castle help to give this a slight Gothic feel.

She wondered if the world wold ever recognize that the Terror of Torcliff had never been a terror at all. But a man. A man possessed of so much wit, skill, charm, intellect, and humor, he was forever surprising her. Often delighting her.
Enchanting her, even.

The second half changes gears and after a little bit of marriage of convenience, the story moves to Normandy for Alexandra and Piers' honeymoon. As Alexandra has a doctorate of archaeology, Piers takes her to a current excavation of who could be a former Viking ancestor from William the Conqueror time. Some might think this comes in a bit oddly but I loved it, this additive was fun and what I look for when I read historical romance. It also helped to tie in the other mystery, someone has been blackmailing Alexandra over what happened ten years ago. Needing money to keep paying the blackmailer was the reason for Alexandra jumping in to marry Piers (Francesca never wanted to marry him, it was a set-up to gain info on who was responsible for her family's murder). This mystery wasn't quite as intriguing as Francesca's and I thought the ending conclusion was obvious and too Scooby Doo villain drama-ish.

While the first half was about Alexandra trusting Piers, the second half moves to Piers learning to trust Alexandra when he learns she's not a virgin. His issues with how his mother slept around and the betrayal from his ex-fiancee cloud his judgment and he says he won't touch her until ten days, when she gets her courses. Piers doesn't even want to be around Alexandra but she sets-up that they have to be together to learn one another for at least an hour a day. This setup is brought up and then kind of abandoned but the building blocks for the couple's relationship were still there so I didn't mind.

Because this inexhaustible emotion gathering inside of him threatened to completely dismantle him. He knew, then and there, that he'd walk through hell for her. He'd slay dragons and face entire armies. He'd circumnavigate the globe to lay her foes at her feet. And the power of whatever suffused him would assure him victory.

The story does start to drag a sliver around the sixty percent mark but I'm not sure what I would cut out. As I said, this is a busy story with Alexandra getting blackmailed, Francesca's murder mystery, someone trying to murder Alexandra or Piers or both, and the whole falling love but instead of a clogged incoherent story, Byrne ties everything together soundly and creates one heck of a reading journey. The best part is that I saw these two fall in love and all the other tidbits were great bonuses. Cecilia and Piers' half brother Ramsey are teased as the next couple and I can't wait to read their story and maybe get more information on Francesca's compelling story. I highly recommend How to Love a Duke in Ten Days, don't miss out on what looks to be shaping up to one amazing series.

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40%

He took the list from her trembling fingers, an affectionate fondness tilting his lips. “I almost want to check this for anything else, but I'm afraid to.”

There had been more. So much more she didn't write down. She'd wanted to ask him not to pull her hair. To request that the moon not shine. To inquire as to how violent his passions were.

She wanted to ask him, very bluntly, not to hurt her.

Reading Update: Page 1

A Red Rogue, a Redmayne, and plenty of danger...and love

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days by Kerrigan Byrne pre-order (Aug 27) link

Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Salsa and Sour Cream Sauce recipe

Used whole jalapeno and halved the sauce between sour cream and Greek yogurt. Def make the sauce, so  good!

Review: The Scot Beds His Wife

The Scot Beds His Wife by Kerrigan Byrne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

***Full Review***

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Samantha has always had it rough growing up in America's Wild West but when the man she married to escape a worse fate turns out to be in an outlaw gang with his brothers, she realizes she may have made a mistake. When she makes a fatal decision to save another life, she gets the opportunity to start fresh in a new country.
Gavin has wanted nothing more than to separate himself from his brutish dead father's name and buying the Ross land gives him that chance. When Alison Ross finally comes back to Scotland from America, he makes it his mission to woo her land from her.
Samantha and Gavin have tough pasts but also deep feelings developing, their held secrets and lies will have to be overcome if they're to survive.

"I don't think I believe in villains. Heroes either. Just people. People with agendas and the things they're willing to do to get what they want."

Fifth in the Victorian Rebels series, Gavin Thorne is the middle brother of villainous Hamish MacKenzie's sons. It's possible to pick this book up without reading the others in the series as the author does a pretty good job of explaining the animosity between him and his brother Liam (hero from #3 The Highlander) and Samantha is a new character not previous mentioned in the other books. Even knowing the background between the two brothers, Gavin's arguing with his brother came off a bit immature as it seemed an adult in his late thirties should have figured out that the blame towards his brother was a bit misplaced. The relationship between Gavin and Liam fell into the pitfall of not feeling fleshed out enough, along with other relationships in the book.

She was little better than a banshee with a sidearm.

While Gavin had a tendency to come off a bit immature, his bed hopping and general rogue actions are supposed to be cover for his pain, Samantha was our hard as nails, mouth like a sailor, and stubborn heroine. There is seriously a lot of cursing in this story and most of it done by Samantha. This being a historical, I have to say, it threw me a bit. Obviously, women cursed in the 1800s but the frequency with which Samantha threw out the f word and ease of saying sh*t, couldn't help but give it an awkward modern feel; a personal dislike. I don't want to get into spoilers because this is an ARC review, but the secrets and lies Samantha holds until very close to the end of the story, made it very hard for me to ever warm up to her. In fact, the very bottom heavy feel of this book, was one of the biggest problems I had with it.

"I'm not asking ye to like me, lass, only to marry me."

If you've read the other books in the series, you'll know the author's writing can veer towards almost purple prose. The wordiness, flowery, and waxing poetic descriptive writing needed to be edited down; it kept the story from furthering along while making it drag. It wasn't until around the 70% mark that I felt the author started to get down to business of building a relationship between our hero and heroine; previously felt completely based on lust. The last 30% was full of reasons why I'm a big fan of this author, the hero and heroine engage in conversations that were witty, funny, and moving while all the secondary characters and side plot lines were coming together to create an intriguing and interesting story. Unfortunately, with some pretty heavy secrets not getting revealed until the 90% point, there just wasn't enough time to resolve and build a believable and emotionally satisfying romantic relationship for me. There was a slight secondary romance between the hero's mother and pseudo-father figure that I felt had more emotion and romance than the main couple.

With a heroine that holds onto her secrets for far too long and a hero whose emotions felt based on lust, I was disappointed in the romance. The majority of the story focused on needless over descriptive dreamy writing while ignoring to the very end the building blocks of emotion. I have a feeling the next two heroes are introduced here, Gavin's friend Callum seems to have quite the backstory with the real Alison Ross and our secretive pirate The Rook mentioned in previous books makes an upfront appearance here. The author has created a dark and intriguing world for this series, I'm going to treat this installment as a one off and be back for the next.

"Who knew being married was such fun," he panted, pressing a kiss to her temple and swatting her backside simultaneously.
She pulled back to look at him, one of her rare, reluctant smiles tugging at the corner of her kiss-reddened mouth. "You probably should have done it years ago."
"Nay, lass," he said suddenly feeling very serious. "Then it wouldna have been ye."


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Reading Update: 50%

She had her own terrible secrets; she could leave him his, safe and somehow comforted with the knowledge that both of their souls were stained with sins.
Maybe they were both beyond forgiveness.
Maybe...they deserved each other.

Review: The Duke

The Duke by Kerrigan Byrne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Collin "Cole" Talmage is now the Duke of Trenwyth after the death of his mother, father, and older brother. The crown still has need of him and his spy capabilities but for one night at a brothel, he's going to forget it all in the arms of a raven haired woman.
Imogene spends her days as a nurse and nights as "Ginny”, a barkeep in a brothel. When Cole and his soldiers walk in, he instantly captures her attention. Their one night together will never be forgotten but the next two years will shake up both their worlds.
Cole and Imogene now live next door to one another but will pain and pride keep them miles apart?

The man had been scoundrel and saint. Heathen and hero. A dangerous man and a deferential lover.

Fourth in the Victorian Rebels series, The Duke, could be read as a standalone. The couples from the previous books all make extended appearances but while readers of the series will enjoy getting glimpses of favorites, newcomers will enjoy how they help to fill out the world the author has created; you might wonder how some relationships were formed but you won't be lost here. The author's talent of creating strong characters with dark pasts continues but I felt this one was a little slower paced. The sometimes leaning toward purple prose and tendency to wax poetic stood out a bit more in fault because of the slowness. The repetitive comparing of the hero to a beast also became redundant and left me wanting more emotional and interaction scenes instead of lines of telling me what the hero looked like.

"You haven't any idea the strength it takes to be a woman."

I really enjoyed the premise of the story, Cole and Imogene sharing one night, circumstances keep them apart, hidden identities, danger, and then coming together. This is somewhat of an enemies-to-lovers trope story, however, Cole doesn't recognize Imogene but she knows who he is the whole time. Cole's story of being captured, tortured, and then shutting himself off from the world isn't anything new to the romance genre. Yet, he's a little different because we don't usually see our heroes be on the snobby side of classism, which he is. He never crosses an unredeemable line, and is in fact probably more historically accurate, but you might want to throw your sherry in his face a time or two. Imogene also follows some trope lines but again, feels slightly different. She has to work in a brothel to work off money her father owed, deals with a sexist doctor as a nurse, and becomes a bit of a Cinderella by marrying a patient. Anstruther is Imogene's elderly patient, an earl, and ends up marrying her to save her. The glimpses we get of him here have me wanting a novella of him and his former wife Sarah; he was so kind and funny.

She was a woman of desire, of spirit and determination.

Cole and Imogene have fire and emotion but after their initial meeting, it takes a while to get there. Cole is an extremely bitter person after his capture and torture with the Ottomans and persists on being fairly rude to Imogene for more than half of the story. I think having him discover her as his "Ginny" earlier on, would have given me more of the loving time I craved between the two. I really enjoyed Imogene as a character from her strength to her compassion but I feel like we missed some parts of her by never really seeing her family. It felt extremely odd to show her working in a brothel for her mother and sister and never getting to meet them (we briefly glimpse the sister). The family dynamic would have added more emotional dimension to her character.

The ending felt extremely rushed with the reveal and wrap-up of the villain almost giving me whiplash. I really enjoy this author's writing but the execution felt a little off here with too much focus on overwriting Cole's physical stature, a meandering middle, and not enough love between our couple. However, even when this author uses tropes, she still manages to put a spin that have them feeling new and intriguing. Plus, if you're missing all your favorite couples from previous books, their appearances here will have you smiling. I'll still be anticipating books from this series, especially a certain Inspector as he seems to have some secrets to tell.

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