Review - - Every Duke Has His Day

Every Duke Has His Day

by Suzanne Enoch

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: September 19, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

 

Michael Bromley, Duke of Woriton, has a passion, but it’s not for chasing ladies or gambling till dawn. No, his is the far more dangerous pursuit of the science of chemistry. He may be a tad eccentric, but he can navigate a society ballroom, and manage a polite conversation—if he must. He’s certainly capable of taking care of his aunt’s perfectly behaved poodle, Lancelot, while she’s on holiday.

Elizabeth “Bitsy” Dockering, third daughter of a viscount, is enjoying her second, spectacular Season in London. She is a Diamond of the Season and is adored by all—and especially by her precious black poodle, Galahad. To everyone else, however, Galahad is a demon dog. So much so that Bitsy’s most insistent beau and particular victim of Galahad’s bad manners, has hired a thief to steal the dog, clearing the way for his suit.

But none of them can plan for a chaotic encounter in the park, resulting in lost notes, a soaking in the Serpentine and an accidental dog swap…and Lancelot being kidnapped instead of Galahad! Determined to locate the dog, Michael isn’t thrilled to be saddled with a flighty female insisting on helping—except that Bitsy has a great deal more sense than he expected. And a sharp tongue to match. Still, what’s a scientist to do but continue to pursue an outcome, however unexpected it may be? But chemistry is all about attraction, and this is one formula with some hilariously romantic results.

PJ's Thoughts:

In the mood for a madcap adventure with grins around every corner? That's what Suzanne Enoch brings in her newest historical romcom. It's an absolute delight.

Michael and Elizabeth (he calls her that so I will too) are so much fun. I love their banter, their chemistry, the friction that masks pesky feelings. There's much more to each of them than first appears on the surface. He's a reclusive (possibly mad?) grumpy scientist. She's a sunshiny (featherbrained?) social butterfly. Oh, but wait. There are layers - hidden layers - to these two that begin to surface. Oh, the possibilities. Enoch presents each of them with all of their particular quirks without making them seem like a caricature. I love how they each gradually bloom over the course of the story as they traverse London in search of the missing dogs. 

I should take a moment here to make two things clear. First, if you're a fan of Enoch's steamy historical romances, you should know that this is a different type of story. There's emotion, and attraction, but no steam. The primary focus here is on the adventure and comedy. There is a happily ever after, actually two, but it's the endearing kind. I call it romance light. Second, to save you the anxiety I experienced, you should know that no dogs were harmed in the telling of this story. That's a bit of a spoiler but if you're like me, you'll enjoy this book much more if you know that up front. 

The secondary cast of the book is pure gold with a soft-hearted thief, Michael's meddling staff, and, of course, the dogs leading the way. The villain is superbly drawn. It's such a pleasure to watch him taken down, especially Michael's part in it. 

To wrap things up, if you're looking for a fun, lighthearted romp through Regency London with intriguing characters, misadventures, pitch-perfect comedic antics, lovable dogs, and happy endings for pretty much everyone (except the villain), pick up a copy of Every Duke Has His Day. It's a treat. 

Tour Review & Giveaway - - Never Rescue a Rogue

Never Rescue a Rogue

by Virginia Heath

The Merriwell Sisters - Book 2

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: November 8, 2022

Reviewed by PJ

 

Diana Merriwell and Giles Sinclair only tolerate one another for the sake of their nearest and dearest. Everyone believes that the two of them are meant to be together, but Diana and Giles know that their constant pithy barbs come from a shared disdain―not a hidden attraction. Diana loves the freedom of working at the newspaper too much to give it up for marriage, and Giles is happily married to his bachelor lifestyle. But they do have one thing in common―the secrets they can’t risk escaping. 

When Giles’ father, the curmudgeonly Duke of Harpenden unexpectedly turns up his toes, it’s only a matter of time before someone comes crawling out of the woodwork who knows the true circumstances of his only son's birth. As the threat of blackmail becomes real, Giles must uncover the truth of his parentage first, or else he and all those who depend upon him will be ruined―and dogged bloodhound Diana is his best hope at sniffing out the truth. As Giles and Diana dive into his family’s past, the attraction that the two of them insisted wasn’t there proves impossible to ignore. Soon, the future of the Sinclair estate isn’t the only thing on the line…

PJ's Thoughts:

This book was an absolute delight. I adored both Giles and Diana, staunch frenemies with their pithy comments, charmingly insulting nicknames, and witty banter. They challenge one another at every turn while below the surface, unwanted feelings swirl. Everyone around them knows they're a perfect match. The question is when - or if - the two of them will ever clue into that fact.

Giles and Diana are one of my favorite types of pairings. He's the best friend of her new brother-in-law, an unrepentant, flirtatious, mischievous ducal heir giving the appearance of having not a care in the world while protecting hidden depths behind the persona that he presents to the outside world. She's the witty, sarcastic, ferociously independent daughter of a Clerkenwell forger, forced to make her own way in the world and rightly suspicious of most men. Both characters are well developed and layered, engaging my emotions, and my support. They made me laugh out loud while also tugging at my heart. Neither is interested in marriage. Both find themselves reluctantly falling for the other. But there are obstacles - big obstacles - blocking the path to a happy ending. They'll have to work together first to solve a potentially life-altering mystery while circumventing meddling family, a cheeky butler, and thwarting a devious threat from the past. It's a blend of mystery, adventure, and romance wrapped in a fun, heartfelt, satisfying journey that kept me grinning, sighing, gasping, and snickering all the way to the end, cheering them on to vanquish the villain and embrace their love without losing themselves in the process. These two are great on their own...even better together. 

This is the second book in Virginia Heath's The Merriwell Sisters trilogy. You could begin with this one and not be confused but because of the continuing cast of characters and their evolution over the course of the two books, I'm glad I began with book one, Never Fall for Your Fiancée. Click to read my review. 

Next up will be youngest sister, Vee's book. She really shines as a secondary character in Never Rescue a Rogue. After witnessing her growth in this second book, I'm even more eager to discover what Heath has in store for her. I'm hoping that a new character introduced in this book will have a role in her story. I felt a frisson. 

Tour Giveaway: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Bio – When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty-five books and three Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virginiaheathauthor

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/VirginiaHeath_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virginiaheathwrites

Review - - Kit McBride Gets a Wife

Kit McBride Gets a  Wife

by Amy Barry

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: August 23, 2022

Reviewed by Hellie

The four McBride brothers have their worlds turned upside down when their precocious younger sister secretly places an advertisement for a mail-order bride. 

Kit McBride knows that Buck's Creek, Montana, is no place to find a wife. Between him and his three brothers—plus little Junebug—they manage all right on their own, thank you very much. But unbeknownst to Kit, his sister is sick to death of cleaning, cooking, and mending for her big brothers, so she places an ad in The Matrimonial News to get them hitched. 

After Maddy Mooney emigrated from Ireland, she found employment with an eccentric but poor widow. When her mistress decides to answer an ad for a mail-order bride, Madd​y is dragged along for the ride to Montana. But en route to the West, Maddy is suddenly abandoned and left to assume the widow's name, position, and matrimonial prospects…. 

With no other recourse in the wilderness, Maddy must convince Kit she’s the wife he never knew he needed.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

Part Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, part Ransom of Little Red Chief and Tom Sawyer, this book brings the best of these comedies for this historical rom-com. I would like to clarify that Maddy doesn’t really set out to convince Kit she’s the wife he actually wants. When she arrives (unwillingly) at his trading post, a series of unfortunate (but hilarious) events have occurred, mostly at the behest of the book’s most memorable character: the kid sister, Junebug McBride. All she really wants to do is go back home to Ireland because America isn’t all it's cracked up to be. When Kit finds out his kid sister has placed an ad for a WIFE on his behalf, he doesn’t want one, not even one as pretty and lovely as Maddy. And his other three brothers certainly don’t want a wife. 

Who then wants a wife? Junebug. In what I would consider a more accurate response to having to take care of a bunch of dirty, ill-mannered backwoods-men, Junebug has had it with all the cooking, cleaning, laundering, housekeeping, and all manner of things womenfolk have been saddled with since time immemorial. (God bless Millie* who pushed up her sleeves and took it on, but I would not have.) So Junebug places an ad for a wife, but what she receives is not who represented herself in her letters (an irony that knows no bounds.) Maddy is actually the “maid” for the supposed wife in question, but when Junebug meets the marital prospect and realizes her mistake, her rectifying of the situation ends up leaving Maddy homeless and abroad.  

Maddy ends up spending some time in the company of these brothers, though she too is not the wife material that Junebug was hoping for. After all, what Junebug would have liked most was someone who could cook. (She despises cooking, something that many of the readers could probably sympathize with.) Maddy is a housemaid, so cleaning, sure; laundry, perhaps to some extent; but cooking? Nope. Meanwhile Kit is worried about Maddy, who when she arrives, is frightened by his brother and then horribly injured. Maddy is convalescing and isn’t able to help with the chores (yet again something Junebug was not wanting–another person to care for.) However, given some time, a new arrangement is made: the brothers will send Maddy back to Ireland (once she is healed) after she gives some “feminine” lessons to their sister, who they point out is as wild as a badger. No one has to marry anybody…except after some time in close proximity, now Kit and Maddy are reconsidering the idea. What if she stayed? That is, until the original “bride” returns to claim her man.  

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  

Both the main characters are lovely and worthy hero(ine)s and Kit McBride is a very deliciously built Hemsworth brother who is a blacksmith, strong but sensitive, while Maddy is a plucky heroine who is just trying to make the best of some unfortunate things that have happened to her. Morgan–the scary older brother–is definitely going to be an amusing hero of the next book (a very crusty old dragon on the outside, marshmallow middle); and Junebug, the character who steals every single scene she is in–and she’s in a lot of them–well, it will be interesting to see who manages to tame her. I can’t wait to read more. Well done. 

*main character from Seven Brides.  

Review - - Something in the Heir

Something in the Heir: A Novel

by Suzanne Enoch

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: September 20, 2022

Reviewed by PJ

Smart, capable heiress Emmeline Pershing will do anything to keep her beloved home; and all it takes is an arranged marriage and a teeny white lie to fulfill her family’s silly inheritance rules. But now her little fib means that she and her completely unsuspecting husband are going to inherit big — and very messy! —trouble.

Emmeline and William Pershing have enjoyed a perfectly convenient marriage for eight years. Their relationship is a seamless blend of their talents and goals. They’ve settled into separate, well-ordered lives beneath the same roof, and are content to stay that way—or so Emmeline thinks. And if William has secretly longed for a bit more from the woman he adores, he’s managed to be content with her supreme skills as a hostess and planner, which has helped him advance his career.

Then when Emmeline’s grandfather, the reclusive Duke of Welshire, summons them both for his birthday celebration and demands they bring their two little angelic children, William is stunned to discover that his very proper wife invented not one, but two heirs to fulfill the agreement for living at Winnover. But surely if Emmeline and William team up and borrow two cherubs to call their own, what could go wrong? Enter George, age 8, and Rose, 5—the two most unruly orphans in Britain.

As the insanity unfolds, their careful, professional arrangement takes some surprisingly intimate turns as well. Perhaps it takes a bit of madness to create the perfect happily ever after.

PJ's Thoughts:

The first thing you should know before reading this book is that it is not a historical romance. Rather, it is a historical rom-com. Yes, there is a main couple (Will and  Emmie) and their feelings for one another are at play in the progression of the plot, and there's an endearing, smile-inducing, happy ending, but their relationship is not the core focus of the story. 

On the surface, this is a light-hearted, humorous romp with plenty of laughs along the way but if you look below the surface it's a bit more. I don't know if the author intended those deeper messages amidst the laughter but I took them away nonetheless. First, there's the privilege of Will and Emmie and the assumptions that come with that: that they are somehow doing orphaned Rose and George a favor by bringing them into their home, buying them pretty clothes, teaching them manners, educating them, making sure they have soft beds, plenty of good food, safety and security...then sending them back to the orphanage in eight weeks when their usefulness expires. Or that Rose and George, reformed (somewhat) petty thieves, are the ones in need of transformation when it's their "betters" who have been and continue to be the ones perpetuating the con. Will and Emmie aren't bad people; let's call them misguided. It's clear that they've never looked beyond their privilege to wonder what life is really like for those not of their class. Needless to say, Rose and George provide them with eye-opening, life-altering revelations that shake the foundation of their beliefs and lead them to new, and better, versions of themselves. It was interesting to watch all four characters slowly evolve over the course of the story as emotions are engaged and lessons are learned - and taught - and not always in the way one would assume. 

One might expect Will and Emmie to be driving this story, and they do in parts, but it's clear from the moment they hit the page that Rose and George are the stars. Wise beyond their years, fiercely loyal to one another, and hungering for love more than they will ever admit, these two little scamps steal every single scene they're in, leaving laughter, exasperation, confusion, and affection in their wake. I adored them. It's pretty obvious from the beginning how it will all end but the fun is in the getting there, with plenty of twists, turns, and shenanigans along the way. I especially enjoyed the (secret) battle of wits between George and Rose and the household staff. 

If you're looking for a humorous, uplifting diversion, with a happy ending, if not the romance usually found in her books, give Something in the Heir by Suzanne Enoch a try. It's a fun ride. 

Tour Review - - Never Fall for Your Fiancée

Never Fall for Your Fiancée

by Virginia Heath

The Merriwell Sisters - Book 1

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: November 9, 2021

Reviewed by PJ

The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything.

The last thing Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, ever wants is a wife. Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns his interfering mother is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his complicated, convoluted but convenient ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman, who might just be the miracle he needs.

Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. Work as a woodcut engraver is few and far between, and the Merriwell sisters are nearly penniless. So when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that while the scheme sounds ludicrous, the offer is too good to pass up.

Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh's estate, of course nothing goes according to his meticulous plan. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other when their relationship started with a lie? The first book in the Merriwell Sisters series, Never Fall for Your Fiancée is a hilarious, sparkling historical romantic comedy from Virginia Heath.

PJ's Thoughts:

Never Fall for Your Fiancée is the book I didn't see coming from Virginia Heath and exactly the one I needed. I've enjoyed her historical romances with their adventure, depth of emotion, and well-developed characters. This newest novel has all three plus the added layer of impeccably-timed romantic comedy. I laughed and grinned my way through the entire book. It's so much fun.

Fake engagement is one of my favorite tropes and, boy howdy, do Minerva and Hugh find themselves in quite the romantic pickle with theirs. The twists and turns (not to mention their changing fictitious relationship details) keep them on their toes, especially when they have to deal with Hugh's mother's many attempts to trip them up which creates some hilarious scenes. That hilarity is well balanced, though, with a sweetly evolving emotional attachment between Hugh and Minerva. I really enjoyed these two together.

Hugh's best friend Giles, Minerva's sisters, and Hugh's opinionated, long-time butler all bring more humor, and emotion, to the process. I can't wait to discover what Heath has planned for Minerva's sisters and am hopeful we'll see both Giles and Hugh's butler in the books to come.

If you enjoy historical romance, laugh-out-loud comedy, pitch-perfect banter, main characters who tug at your heartstrings, and an ensemble secondary cast that is pure gold, don't miss Never Fall for Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath. It's one of my favorite books this year and going straight to my comfort read keeper shelf to revisit whenever I need an emotional boost. I loved it!