reading_historical_romance's reviews
447 reviews

I loved this book!  The banter and the slow burn worked so well together and made the HEA so truly sweet and satisfying.  I loved all of the characters, and that the Dowager Marchioness was scheming for her grandson’s happiness from the beginning.  I thought the friendship between Diana, Violet, and Emily was so fun and wonderful; just as much as I loved the dynamic between Jeremy, Penvale, and Audley.  I can’t wait to read the other books in this series.

I love reading new authors who reconfirm for me that the historical romance genre isn’t dead!

All’s Fair In Love and War is the delightful love story of an outspoken governess and a strait-laced naval captain stuck in a dead-end desk job in the Admiralty office.  All of Georgie’s training at Ms. Prentice’s School for Girls may be for naught if she can’t keep her frank opinions about children and teaching to herself in job interviews.  Harry might lose all hope for his dream promotion if he can’t find someone to discipline his nephew and nieces left temporarily under his care.  Neither can decide if the other will be their destiny or doom as they spend more and more time together playing at parenting.

The author makes great fun with classic tropes like governess/employer and forced proximity from meet-cute to HEA, with lighthearted banter, sexual tension, and emotional obstacles that aren’t too serious but serve up a satisfying conclusion for the star-crossed lovers.  I love the main characters, especially Harry, who is so tightly wound he can’t help but come undone when Georgie attempts to reign in the household havoc.  I love Norbert and Cuthbert and that they’re just as responsible for making love come to pass as Harry’s family and household staff.

This is a perfect beach read for the summer as it’s light and predictable in that comforting way that regular hist-rom readers look for.  It's also a great book for new readers to historical romance who are looking for something to satisfy that post-Bridgerton craving.  I look forward to reading more novels by this author.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel.  All opinions are my own.

Bespelled continues the story of embattled soulmates, Selene and Memnon, who have been bound together by fate and magic since they met in the ancient world. The book picks up right where Bewitched ends, with Selene in jail after Memnon framed her for grisly murders of several fellow witches at Henbane Coven. When Memnon learns that he was completely wrong about Selene’s role in his near-death 2000 years ago, he is ready to spend the rest of his life groveling for her forgiveness and requests that she agree to a forged bond. The humor and the pathos in this novel stems from the unplanned repercussions of their forged bond, and the irony that it doesn't make an iota of difference when it comes to Memnon's uncanny ability to frustrate Selene at nearly every turn while she tries to identify the real killer.

It’s the push and pull dynamic between Memnon and his Queen that makes this series so much fun, and so very sexy! I love that Memnon and Selene are constantly arguing about each other’s questionable judgment and impetuousity, but when it comes to Selene determining that vengeance is due, Memnon doesn’t even blink and runs to gather his weapons.

Laura Thalassa is one of my favorite authors, and Bespelled doesn't disappoint. It may also be the spiciest novel that Laura has written to date. [Fans self madly.] Memnon is a bad ass on the battlefield, and to no one’s surprise, is also a beast between the sheets. And for everything Selene has had to go through over the last 2000 years because of this guy, the girl deserves it! Bespelled really takes off when Selene realizes she’ll never beat Memnon at the game, shrugs her shoulders, and joins him. The ensuing fireworks are everything you knew they would be.

I enjoyed getting to see Memnon in different situations that show us how powerful his magic is and the various ways he wields it. Similarly, now that Selene’s own curse has been lifted, we learn more about her abilities, and that she can harness earth and blood magic. I am a big fan of Kane and the Marin Pack, and we get to spend some great time with the wolves in this book as well. Those who ship Sybil and Sawyer like I do will also enjoy what happens between them.

There is a lot of suspense and action in this novel which counterbalances all of the personal drama going on between the characters. I loved the climax of the novel. I think the cliffhanger is predictable and the stakes don’t feel as high as the end of the first book, but I still can’t wait to see what happens next.

The only criticism I have with both Bewitched and Bespelled is that I think they’re both too long. There are so many subplots going on that I think the pacing gets weird in places and it’s hard to keep track of or even determine what the central storyline is. I think the series is still trying to figure out what it really wants to be. Is it a romance with a sprinkling of mystery and adventure? Or is it a mystery adventure with romantic elements?

Thank you Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own. 

 I requested and reviewed Acquisition as an e-ARC because I really enjoyed the first book in the series, Takeover. I'm just not sure what happened, but something went awry somewhere in the writing or editing process here.

Before I say anything else, I must say that I really do enjoy Nana Malone's writing. She has a fast, bright, and sexy style and always gives us fun characters that I want to spend time with as a reader. The billionaire romance tropes are perfect for her voice as an author. I love her dialogue, and she is great with settings. Her books are always page turners for me, so they are great palate cleansers, and a fun read on a casual Friday night with a glass of wine after a long day at work.

Takeover made me fall in love with Gwen and Atticus, and I was honestly blown away and quite devastated by the cliffhanger because it didn't ring true to Atticus' character at all. (view spoiler) But I was willing to reserve judgment and trust that the sequel would explain his actions in a satisfactory way.

Acquisition begins two months after the events of Takeover. We learn that Gwen moved to London, is rooming with her best friend Lance, and is actually making strides to get over Atticus and figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life. We also find out that Atticus has been stalking her the entire time she's been away, complete with hidden cameras all over Lance's flat so that he can watch her whenever she's not at work or within view of the security team he has on her 24/7. I'm sorry, but... what?

It gets worse. When Atticus arrives in London for meetings and they see each other for the first time since their engagement ended, he lets himself into her locked office and within 2 minutes, and despite the fact that she's devastated and betrayed, they're having wild passionate sex. Again, what?

I could let that mess go if Gwen had demanded, or if Atticus had offered, to clue her in to what actually happened with their engagement, and that Atticus is so fearful of his demon-spawn father that he didn't stop to think things through. (And then it took him two months to figure out how he should have handled it... but whatever.) Instead, they don't talk to each other until 50% through the book. This means that the first half is Gwen going back and forth between furious and crying while wringing her hands over how much she misses Atticus and that she can't control her hormones when she's around him.

There were other events that just didn't make sense: (view spoiler)

When I was reading this I felt like there were scenes missing because there was so much jumping around between events and Gwen and Atticus' meltdowns. It felt like the entire book was written so quickly and prep'd for release that it didn't even go through edits given the number of obvious continuity errors that had me struggling to piece together the timeline of what was even happening.

I'm also irritated because the e-ARCs were released for our review on May 7, two weeks before the release date. Maybe this is a hot take, but if a book is that close to release there is absolutely no excuse for the manuscript not to have been through a line and copy edit before it's sent out to critics. So I was even more frustrated with the spelling, syntax, and grammatical errors peppered throughout the whole thing, on top of the continuity issues.

At the end of the day, I have to assume that this sequel was rushed to publication for some reason, and it's unfortunate because if an editor had taken a look at this and flipped things around by having Atticus apologize and explain to Gwen what was going on immediately from the beginning, the rest of the novel would have been him having to grovel in the way that Gwen deserved rather than being nice for a few chapters after they were married.

The cliffhanger at the end of this one was predictable... but again, I'm reserving judgment. I will read the third book in this series but I will not be requesting or reviewing the ARC. Maybe that way I'll be able to enjoy the book after it's been edited properly. 

 I've had this book on my TBR for so long, and I am happily able to report that dusting it off and giving it a try was a great decision. I really enjoyed this debut novel. I think that the premise is fun and original, and that the romance between the widowed Lady Violet and her stoic bodyguard, Arthur, is sweet.

Both Violet and Arthur carry the burdens of emotional wounds in their pasts, and their hope of finding any happiness has faded over the years until they are both fairly resigned to being alone for the rest of their lives. I loved that Arthur embraces Violet for all that she is, a highly intelligent, but socially awkward, chemist. In turn, Violet is able to break down Arthur's walls with her straightforward but unassuming personality and sense of the ridiculous.

The found family dynamic between all of the quirky club members and the household staff is enjoyable as everyone is welcomed and has something to contribute. I disagree with some critics who say that this book embraces the "white savior" archetype. This is a historical romance set in the early 1840s in London. The only class of women at that time living in London who would have the resources, including the property needed, to build laboratories for female scientists would be both white and aristocratic. The fact that the main character is a white female aristocrat who makes the decision to use her resources in a way that all women of all classes can benefit from, if they so choose, isn't a strike against this novel.

I am interested to try the next two novels in the series because I am intrigued by many of the other characters, including Violet's grown step-son and her childhood friend the Earl of Grantham.