Review: A Night with a Rogue

A Night with a Rogue by Julie Anne Long
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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The Beauty and the Spy buddy read 

Ways to be Wicked buddy read 

 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. 

The Beauty and the Spy 5 stars 

All the way there she'd rehearsed in her head what she might say to him, how she would ask it, what she might do if his answers broke her heart. But then he turned suddenly and saw her. And his face, unguarded, told her everything she needed to know, and questions were no longer necessary. "Oh, Kit. It's all right," she said softly. "I love you, too." He stared at her, caught. And then he laughed a short laugh, which was no doubt meant to sound incredulous or devil-may-care, but which failed miserably. 

Beauty and the Spy starts off with a reach out and grab you prologue where James Makespeace arrives in the middle of the night to Anna Holt's cottage in Gorringe. He warns her that his friend, her lover and the father of their three daughters, Richard Lockwood, has been murdered and she's been framed for it. With only seconds to spare, the decision is made for Anna to disappear and have James take her three daughters into hiding until everything can be figured out. Chapter one then brings us to seventeen years later. 

This is a reissue, with the first two books in the series bound together in this edition. I read this series over ten years ago and I was happy to see that the first book still holds up as one of my favorite stories. The plot of why and who could be involved with Richard's murder takes over a lot of the beginning, the reader is let into the details before the characters, which I think works perfectly as there is a lot to keep track of. Thaddeus Morley is a come up from the slums who is a dirty politician and the known villain, he also ties together our heroine Susannah and Kit. Susannah is the youngest daughter of Richard and Anna and has little to no memory of her true parentage, she thinks James, the man who raised her is her father. After James is killed, she winds up penniless and living with her Aunt, who eventually reveals that James wasn't her real father. Kit is an ex-solider, now spy who is drowning in boredom in London. His father threatens to send him to Egypt if he can't finish a nature folio project in Barnstable. The city Susannah's aunt just happens to live in. 

The folio project was a little of a stretch to get these two together but you'll be impressed with how Long connects all the other characters and dots involved in the plot. Morley, the man who destroyed Susannah's family, also happens to be the man who took away Kit's childhood love, Caroline, and caused a shift in Kit's life. It's a lot of clues and journey for Kit and Susannah and you'll want all the secondary characters to get stories of their own. Seriously, where is John Carr's story?!? 

The plot has depth and breadth and I like how it wasn't just created for this first book but will carry over and serve to really connect the next two in the series. I also loved the patience and care Long took with not only the plot but the characters and their relationships. Susannah and Kit get to know one another and it was a beautiful relationship to watch grow. They both have a bit of devil-may-care to them and I loved their playfulness with each other; I felt the emotion between them. If you have a short attention span and like how characters jump into bed right away, this wouldn't be for you but if you're ready to sit and sink into not only a story but a series, the plot and quiet love between Susannah and Kit is a must read. 

 

Ways to Be Wicked 2 stars 

She did not want to be found until she'd learn what she'd come to learn. 

The second book in the trilogy, Ways to be Wicked follows the sister Sylvie. We meet her as she's sneaking away to travel to England from France because of a letter she found from a Lady Susannah Whitelaw claiming to be her sister. Like Susannah, Sylvie doesn't have much memory of her mother and sisters and the woman that took her in, a former dancer with the famous Daisy, has been burning the letters from Susannah, thinking Sylvie is still in trouble. When Sylvie gets to England, she lands in the lap of Tom Shaughnessy, the dance hall owner we meet in the first, and also gets robbed by highwaymen. There's an instant something between her and Tom and he offers the name of his dance hall if she needs refuge. Which is what she ends up needing after going to Lady Susannah's home and discovering that not only have Susannah and her husband traveled to France but the butler doesn't believe her story of being Susannah's sister. They have been inundated with impostors after the story of Susannah and her sisters has hit the papers. Sylvie is left with only one place to go, Tom's. 

The story then becomes a little disjointed as multiple threads are happening, Sylvie a ballerina struggling to stuff her pride to be a dance hall girl, the wavering attraction between her and Tom, Tom's discovery of a child, Tom trying to get funding for a new project, The General and Daisy, and Susannah's lover Etienne, who may have followed her to England. The first had a lot of threads also, but here, they never gelled together right for me and Tom and Sylvie never got the focus required for me to feel the emotions between them. The connecting thread from the first is also not really integrated until the end when Kit and Susannah come into the picture. 

This second book didn't have the heat and emotions I delighted in from the first and Sylvie and Tom never got the focus I would have liked. The dance hall setting was at least a different place to visit as none of the main characters were aristocrats.

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Reading Update: 20%

 

Y’all got me with the Christmas in July 🎄❤️☃️ 

It’s early morning here so I’m reading this with some oatmeal bars but I have a feeling soup is in my future because of all the yummy shout-outs it’s getting in this book. 

What are you all reading to start the week?

One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson preorder (Oct. 26) link

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars recipe

Went great with morning tea!

Review: Heartless

Heartless by Gena Showalter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 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. 

 Kaysar realized he had a choice. Save the girl and his conscience, perhaps condemning himself and Viori in the process, or walk away and condemn the girl and his conscience. 

With his parents having died of the plague, teenager Kaysar is responsible for his stopped speaking traumatized five year sister Viori. When he comes upon the Frostlines, the royal family of the Winter Court, in the woods, they capture him and he spends a year of torture at the hands of King Hador and his brother Lark. When he finally comes into his own power, using his healing song and glamara power of compulsion, he is able to escape his chains. He kills Lark but feels that wasn't punishment enough, so he decides to routinely make war on the Frostlines because of how Hador and Lark tortured and raped him and how he is still searching for his beloved sister Viori and what happened to her after he was captured. 

In the aftermath, he'd discovered only the hatred remained. 

After Kaysar escapes, the story then jumps centuries and we find out that Kaysar is now King of the Dusklands and his own created Midnight Court. He's earned the nickname The Unhinged One and he has jars of the Frostlines' tongues as his war trophies. Everyone in the land fears him but he still doesn't know what happened to Viori. When he is exacting a new plan of revenge on King Hador's son, Jareth, which involves kidnapping Jareth's new wife Lulundria, getting her to desire him, and then sending her back to Jareth pregnant and forced to have a child of Kaysar's in the Frostline royal court, a mortally injured Lulundria escapes to the human realm. Kaysar can't follow her because he isn't a doormaker but he did manage to sing a song of compulsion and order her to return to him. 

“Return to me, princess. Return to me by any means necessary.” 

Chantel “Cookie” Bardot is twenty-six years old but with a heavily damaged heart, if she doesn't get a heart transplant, she doesn't have long to live. She makes her living being paid to stream and play an enchanted forest video game and lives with a hypochondriac geriatric and an extremely picky cat. When she receives a call that a heart is ready for her, she can't believe it and a few months later when her hair starts to turn pink, she's seeing pixies buzzing around her, and vines are growing from her finger tips, she really can't believe it. As her and her roommate are finally confronting these changes in her, Chantel's vines create a doorway and she is pulled through. 

An angel merged with a devil, both haunting and haunted. 

The start to a new series, Heartless was amazing on the world building. The fae realm called Astaria and it's five royal courts, Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring, Dusklands, and Kaysar's created Midnight court and the mysterious Forgotten court were engaging and fascinating. The creatures, magic, and land described by the author really placed me in this land and had me excited for the series on a whole. The author's choice to have Chantel be a professional gamer who just so happens to play a game that very closely resembled and copied the fae realm, allowing her to more readily accept her changed circumstances, felt a little too easy in the beginning but as the story went on, I thought it fit perfectly, especially since I think it was a clue to what happened to Viori. 

Use her. Protect her. Use. Protect. 

In order to be more accepting of Kaysar's consuming mindset of revenge, with a little feeling of childishness swings of emotions, you'll have to remember his young age when he suffered his horrific abuse; he's stuck in that age, time and place. His map making on himself, slicing his arms with the metal claws he wears on his hands, is obviously a coping mechanism to release the emotions and pain he never has learned to deal to with. This made it a little hard to fully come on board when he has insta-attraction and lust for Chantel, he felt too emotionally young for me to enjoy that dynamic he instantly had with her. As the story went on, he does grow and change as Chantel explains and is patient with him and I was able to go along with their sexual connection more. 

Kaysar de Aoibheall did not beg for anything. Ever. But he had promised to be better for her, and he always kept his word. 

The constant battle between these two is all about Kaysar choosing Chantel over his vengeance. Chantel is the child of divorce and with her two parents starting other families they forgot about her, she wants to be number one is someone's life for once, making Kaysar's one true love of constantly battling the Frostlines a problem for them. Along with that emotional battle, there was also physical battles that didn't skimp on some gory details. Towards the latter half, when Chantel and Kaysar hit the sheets, you could just call this the fighting and the fucking book because both are singeing the pages. 

Why was she holding on to her hurt, letting fear rule her life? 

Overall, this story was entertaining in it's, at times, wilding out elements and components. I thought both Chantel and Kaysar stayed too stubborn at moments towards the end that hurt the pace of the story and kept it longer than it needed to be and I'm not sure the whole thread of whatever outfit or costume Chantel wears changes her personality was needed, there was already a lot of magical components to keep track of and absorb in this story. Kaysar's slow growing might take too long for some readers but I thought his gesture at the end was good for a traumatized man learning to change a centuries long learned behavior and coping mechanism. As I mentioned, I'm into this world Showalter has created because it was at turns entertaining, wilding, gory, emotional, and sexy. I can't wait to see if I did catch a clue about Viori, if our redeemed Prince Jareth will find a new love, what King Micah of the Forgottenlands is going to get up too, and if Pearl Jean's sciatica will go away enough for her to bag a fae realm hottie. Immortal Enemies has the world building to be entertaining for awhile.

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40%

The world building in this is really fun, all the courts in the fae realm. Although, I can't decide if it is genius or too wilding to make the human heroine transported there readily accept the realm because it so closely matches a video game she was paid to play. 

"Don't expect cuddles," she warned. "I hate cuddling, snuggling, canoodling, and everything in between."

"I would rather die," he replied with a shudder.

"Good." Right?

"Good," he echoed.

Minutes passed, neither of them moving. Outside, a great wind blustered and a shutter slammed.

Remembering how amazing she'd felt in his arms, she inched toward him. Not to cuddle, just to...touch. Connecting with another. At the last second, she thought better of it and rolled to her back. But the desire only magnified, until she tossed and turned, miserable.

When she could stand it no longer, she whispered, "Kaysar?" Was he still awake?

"Yes, Chantel?" The rough rumble caressed her ears.

"Try to survive this, okay?" She draped her body over his. He hissed in a breath as she rested her cheek over his heart. His racing heart. He wasn't immune to her nearness. She burrowed closer.

"Chantel?" he said, the tightness of his voice rousing dread.

Ugh. Was he about to order her to move?

"Do your best to endure this, all right?" He tentatively wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

Reading Update: 10%

It’s muggy af here, I’m melting and my burritos that look like tacos are melting 😭 

But we persevere with a fae realm romance fantasy that is wilding out from page one. This is going to be a heck of a ride!

Heartless by Gena Showalter purchase link

Old Bay Shrimp Burritos recipe

I don't think you can go wrong with Old Bay seasoning!

Review: Not the Kind of Earl You Marry

Not the Kind of Earl You Marry by Kate Pembrooke
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 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.

It was the announcement of her betrothal to the Earl of Norwood. 

With a storming morning visit that has William, the Earl of Norwood, interrupting their breakfast, Charlotte Hurst and her brother Philip are accused of trying to trap William into marriage. When it becomes clear that Charlotte and her brother are just as shocked as him, William apologizes and realizes a political opponent is probably at fault. To save Charlotte's reputation and William's chance at gaining a political appointment to a committee Liverpool is forming, they agree to enter into a temporary engagement. 

This betrothal was only a means to an end---a political appointment for him, an intact reputation for her. 

Not the Kind of Earl You Marry, struggled with providing the emotions for a character driven story as it felt pretty plotless. Charlotte and William had never met before they are engaged and they didn't get enough time together to develop and provide a relationship that could carry the story for three hundred plus pages. When they were together, it's an amiable time but Charlotte considers herself a homebody and prefers reading books to the social whirl. She continuously holds the feeling that she would never be good enough or be able to support William enough in his political career. We don't get a lot of insight from William but you can tell he likes spending time with her. 

She'd briefly let herself imagine what it might be like if things between them were real. 

When I say there wasn't much plot, I mean there wasn't enough there to keep me engaged or following along. The political rival setting-up William to cause a scandal with the betrothal in the newspaper is largely forgotten until around seventy-five percent and then William just confronts the guy and goes to Liverpool with the whole story. Why was William spending three-hundred pages avoiding this? The same with Charlotte's refusal to consider it a real engagement, she doesn't think she'll make a good politician's wife, so much so, she feels this way up to only twenty pages left in the book. However, when William proposes, she just says yes, leaving me to feel like the previous three-hundred pages I read didn't matter because of the lack of development. 

Miss Hurst might claim that kiss hadn't changed anything, but he begged to differ. 

The majority of the story was dedicated to following the characters around to the hotspots of the romance Regency sub-genre (Gunter's and the like). It seemed to want to be like a traditional Regency and more quiet like a Grace Burrowes (it lacked the emotional heft of a Burrowes). Regency is such an oversaturated sub-genre and perhaps I've read too many, but oof, was there nothing new or fresh here. What was a surprise because of how it felt more towards traditional Regency, was how good I found the late second half sex scene, it gave me the emotion I was looking for between these two and took it's time exploring. 

This is a debut and while the technicalities seem to be nailed down, the emotion and heart I look for in romance was missing for me. There was some letter writing between the two that played well, giving us some sweet byplay between them. The political rival plot was mostly forgotten and Charlotte's motivation for not accepting a real engagement between her and William was bemoaned for three-hundred pages to only be up and forgotten at the end. There simply wasn't enough story or emotion for me in this book.

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Reading Update: 50%

She did not want to be found until she'd learned what she'd come to know.

The series buddy read continues!

More quotes and comments - Ways to Be Wicked buddy read

Review: Secrets of a Heart

Secrets of a Heart by Samantha Garman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

“Thomas Charles Whitmore, Earl of Grisham, you are hereby declared guilty of high treason against the British Crown. You have been found guilty of selling English secrets to Napoleon Bonaparte. Your title is hereby stripped from you, and your wealth and lands forfeit to the Crown.” 

Starting in Neville Prison in 1815 and having the main character watch as his father is hung for treason, gave Secrets of the Heart a gripping beginning. He's a young nineteen year old pampered son of an Earl who suddenly has his title and wealth stripped, along with the death of his father. His fiancee shuns him and he has nowhere to turn to. Readers get a pov of a mysterious man who let's us in on a conspiracy that framed his father and sets up the son for death. However, while his family dagger is stolen, the son gets rescued by a sea captain named Griff and off sailing he goes to the West Indies and America. Just call him the unluckiest, luckiest guy in town! 

Blaine Sebastian Grayson Whitmore. That man is dead. “My name is Sebastian Grayson. You can call me Gray.” 

Our newly monikered Gray, learns to dagger fight among his seasickness and then is introduced to the fact he is on a pirate ship. It's all quite gentlemanly though, they do their best not to kill. Alas, we do not get a lot of sweet high seas pirate action as the next chapter jumps us ten years and Gray is now the pirate captain. This will be a trend in this story, jumping from points to points without developing or showing the reader the journey. Gray now decides that he must avenge his father! So off to England where he plans on posing as a wealthy merchant to uncover who and why his father was set-up. 

Gray’s eyes were hard. “Felicity knows nothing. She will never know I was a pirate. She believes she is marrying a man of business, and when this is all over that is exactly what I will be.” 

Enter our heroine Felicity Canton and her three sisters who have been left destitute due to their gambling father. He died a while ago, shot in the back for cheating at cards, and have now found out that they must have a fire sale, everything must go! As the oldest, Felicity knows it's on her shoulders to save the family but she's not totally a martyr. Winterbourne has been trying to court her for a while but with plenty of fat-shaming, the author and Felicity let us know that she ain't having him. How fortuitous that a wealthy merchant has just moved into town! Felicity says something sassy and Gray can't believe how different from all the other misses she is. They kiss at around 20%, Felicity visits him in hopes of becoming his housekeeper for money but he suggests they get engaged, marry a week later at around 40%, and are off to sail to visit Gray's retired mentor Griff. Remember how I said things just kind of jump from from point A, to B, to C, to etc.? 

“I love you. It is time you let me. You trusted me with the secret of your life, now trust me with the secret of your heart.” 

Now, if you're like me, you start thinking some of that sweet pirate action is going to happen on the honeymoon cruise, and it you'd sort of be right. We get one high seas battle that was pretty fun to read and at least propped me up from the by rote without the emotional and depth filling out of the details format this story had. Felicity learns about Gray's pirate past, they have a good visit with old Griff and back to England they go. On the sail back, they have a boarding by the Royal Navy and learn that they are searching for the famous pirate named Morpheus, who lets his victims live. Oh, noes! Hopefully, Gray can keep his identity a secret. 

“This proves Carrington is a traitor, but this will do nothing for my father.” 

At this point, I mean we're into the second half of the story, you're probably saying “Didn't he go back to England to avenge his father?”. I didn't didn't forget about that, but the author kind of does. Gray completely outsources his avenging and uses two of his trusty shipmates to do the heavy lifting. Sinclair, he uses as a butler and all around hangout in the background until you randomly have something to say, which by the way will be written in a cant that makes deciphering what you're saying extremely difficult, but I digress. He sends his other shipmate Chester to London, and I quote, Also, I would like you to locate the scar-faced man. The scar-faced man is the one who tried to kill Gray, he hopes that man will lead him to some answers. He sent poor Chester to London to search for a “scar-faced man”???? Surprise, surprise, though, good man Chester comes through, against all odds, and coherent storytelling. 

My wife has been kidnapped! 

With Felicity on board, Gray decides to take the fam to London and, at least, appear to be helping in the avenging by going to parties and clubs to drudge up some hot gos about what happened to his father. If I'm Sinclair and especially Chester, I'm questioning the division of labor. Around the 70% mark, we get some actual movement on his father's case and learn that his father was set-up by a man named Carrington. With a Scooby-Doo villain info-dump to Felicity, who was kidnapped(!) by Carrington, we learn he loved Gray's mother and blamed Gray's father for taking her away from him and “letting” her die. At around 80% the whole father avenging story is wrapped up (Felicity got a dagger to the belly but she fine) and the Royal Navy comes sniffing around. How or why they think Gray is Morpheus? Don't worry about it, the author sure didn't. We get Gray confiding to his three series bait handsome titled friends and a truly wtf and intelligence insulted plan that worked, scene that has Gray in the clear of ever being found out as Morpheus. 

“I am the Marquess of Hardwick and you are my marchioness,” 

Bland is probably what I used to describe this story with occasional flashes of wtf. Felicity and Gray's relationship happens out of nowhere, they like each other, Gray gets scared to admit he loves Felicity, and they love each other. The father gets avenged, mainly thanks to Chester but Gray gets rewards with titles restored and an upgrade to marquess. This was written in 2013 and clearly was setting-up one of Gray's friends, Duke of Stafford with Felicity's sister Abby but doesn't look like this series was ever finished. Now, I saved the best for last, Alexandre Dumas makes a late appearance and in truly the best wtf, it's alluded to that he is going to artistically license Gray's life. So, if you ever wondered what inspired Dumas to write the Count of Monte Cristo, now you know!

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Reading Update: 60%

 

Starting the week how I mean to go, sweet and spicy! A temporary, don’t call it fake!, engagement for the soul and chipotle honey flavoring for the body. 

Have a fantastic Monday, everyone ❤️

Not the Kind of Earl You Marry by Kate Pembrooke preorder (July 27) link

Chipotle Honey Chicken recipe

Added some more chipotle chili powder and a little less honey, nice sweet, spicy combo

#TBRChallenge: July - Secrets and Lies

 

This #TBRChallenge is set-up by @SuperWendy (blog). Besides the theme months, this is a pretty relaxing challenge. On the third day of every month participants are encouraged to use the hashtag TBRChallenge and discuss the book they plucked from obscurity. I decided to make a personal rule that a book had to be in my TBR for at least 5 years.

July's theme is Secrets and Lies. Oooooh, the secrecy and angsty drama that could come from this theme! This theme was a little more challenging (ha!) to pick for. I glance over reviews sometimes but don't like to spoil myself. So, I had to go by synopsis and hope I judged correctly that secrets and lies will be a big theme in the story. On my tbr since 2014, Secrets of a Heart by Samantha Garman jumped out at me, because you guessed it, the word "secrets" in the title. I'm about 20% in and man, can I spot the secrets and lies vibe. The hero watched his father hang for treason and with their title and wealth stripped, he ends up jumping ship, literally! He gets saved by a captain, who stopped some men from murdering him and finds himself on a pirate ship. There's a pov from a mysterious villain who let us in on the fact that he set-up the hero's father (Lies!). The next chapter jumps us 10 years later and the hero is now the captain of the ship and heading back to England undercover to restore his good name by ferreting out the secrets (!) of his father's past. There hasn't been much about the heroine so far, but she's recently been made penniless. Come save her undercover pirate captain!

TBRChallenges: 

January - Unbound by Cara McKenna 

February - Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant 

March - Anything for Love by Connie Brockway 

April - Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers

May - Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

June - Moonrise by Anne Stuart