The Weekly Recap
Hello again! It’s Sunday which means its pre-season football (thank god) and a Phillies-Mets series finale, oh and time for me to recap all the romance books, and ARCs I read this week! This was also my first week of my two week long vacation and reader I was in full sloth mode. Mostly due to the chronic pain and migraines BUT I was resting and not having to add work on top of feeling sh***y so I guess that’s a win?! Oh and the evil sentient Cheeto is into some light treason / espionage?! Shocked pikachu face.
Alright alright, getting to it.
Sustained by Emma Chase
A criminal defence lawyer falls in love with a young woman and aunt to her 6 nieces and nephews. Oh my god did I love this one. The perfect mix of sweet, sexy, funny and heartfelt. And the entire book is written in a single POV and it’s not hers! Hell yes.
When You Wish Upon a Duke by Charis Michaels
This is book two in the historical romance meets fairy tale retellings (book one being Snow White inspired) and y’all this was pretty sweet. A young sprite of a woman (tinker bell type) goes on an adventure to Iceland with a newly minted Duke to rescue some men caught by pirates. I think what I like about these is they are not exact replicas of these well known stories, and work so well as historicals! Looking forward to the last book!
Deserving Alaska by Susan Stoker
I think it might be time for Ms Stoker and I to go on a little conscious uncoupling. I love romantic suspense, especially when a MMC goes a bit feral when the FMC is in trouble or hurt. But while I did like her earlier series, this one felt a little repetitive (there’s only so many times I could hear the FMC tell me how plain, boring, unremarkable and average she was, and her shitting all over being an executive assistant, like that’s not a WILDLY hard job to do). I might have missed the point but I just couldn’t get into it.
Highland Wolf by Lynsay Sands
There’s something I love about a medieval romance. The women are so under appreciated and are constantly proving all the men wrong, but there is usually an inordinate amount of violence (both physical or sexual) perpetrated against them. This one from Sands walks a fine line and overall I liked the story, but parts of the third act dragged a little bit (where I kept waiting for the danger to happen), but it was cute and we love a heroine that saves all the animals / creatures she comes across.
The Duke Who Ravished Me by Diana Quincy
This came about after seeing a thread on Twitter from the very popular Fated Mates podcast, and you know what it was really fun, enjoyable and my first foray into Quincy’s backlist. Fans of The Governess Game will immediately connect to this story, but wait for the major reveal at the end! It will tug at your heart-strings, HOWEVER Adam needed to do WAY more grovelling. Way more.
Miss Newbury’s List by Megan Walker (eARC)
A young woman betrothed to a Duke wants to live it up before being bound in marriage to someone she barely knows. Her best friend and her wayward cousin help see her dreams come true, but not before she realizes how very much not in love with the Duke she really is. Full advance review here.
Some Dukes Have All The Luck by Christina Britton (eARC)
Lots of Dukes with Wards energy this week, and I’m not mad at it. A Duke must grapple with how to let himself love and be loved while trying to manage two wild wards. A quick marriage to a naturalist and bluestocking reveals he’s actually a big softie but some clown behaviour keeps them a part, until he pulls his head out of his ducal butt. Full advance review here.
There’s Something About Merry by Codi Hall (eARC)
Small town family tree farm and christmas vibes frames a shallow and oftentimes off putting romance between the owners middle daughter and the newly hired single dad foreman. I didn’t love it, but feel free to read the full advance review here.
Royally Not Ready by Meghan Quinn (Free with KU)
I really wanted to love this one (I mean its sexy princess diaries with a cl*t piercing), but it was just kind of meh overall. Started out strong, but somewhere along the line things kind of fell off the rails for me. Quinn, has written some of my favourite romances and I’m feeling like the last 2-3 I’ve read have been all over the place in terms of me liking / disliking. Such is life.