Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

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After finishing Donna Fletcher's Sinclare Brothers series, I was still in the mood for historical romances. I spent most of the day at work debating on what I wanted to read next. I was thinking of more Donna Fletcher or finally getting to some new releases (that aren't as new at this point) on my bookshelf. However, when I opened instagram in the afternoon, I saw that Jen is hosting a live show about the Maiden Lane series on May 8th. She and Crystal had been reading the series the past month or so, and several other booktubers and bookstagrammers had joined in. I've had Elizabeth Hoyt on my tbr for quite a while now, so I decided now the time to binge it! I don't know if I'll get through all 12 books in time for the live show, but I'll definitely try! It helps that I don't have any book club books at this point to get to first. The first book of the series is Wicked Intentions.

So first off, this book and series is set in the 1700s. I usually read more 1800s or 1500/1600s set books. I did feel the time difference, as there were a lot more people wearing wigs and other details like that. They were little things, but I did notice them being that it's different for me. We meet Temperance, our heroine, the caretaker with her brother Winter for a charity house for abandoned infants and foundling children that their father started. Things aren't going well as their previous sponsor has passed away and they weren't left anything in the will. This is also set in an area known as St. Giles and is very run down and on the grittier side of things. This was definitely a change for me as well since if I'm not in the wilds of Scotland, I'm usually in the higher society settings. Temperance runs across Lord Caire, Lazarus. He is in St. Giles to solve the murder of his mistress and so starts the mystery of the novel. I found Lazarus very interesting. He feels emotional pain when touched by anyone but it felt different than other heroes with a similar trope. He also "doesn't feel emotions." He makes a deal with Temperance for guidance and connections in St. Giles and in return he'll help introduce her to a new sponsor for the foundling house.

I was torn on how to rate this book. I feel like if I were to extrapolate out on my rating it'd be more like a 3.5 instead of 4-stars, but I rounded up. While I enjoyed the connection between Lazarus and Temperance, there were times where it felt like they were moving too slow and other times they were moving too fast. I feel like once they finally were fully intimate with each other and both opened up, I enjoyed their relationship a lot more. I did feel torn with the whole mystery. While it was fine, I either wanted it to be fleshed out more or less of a plot point compared to the romance. I also didn't like how much religion played a role in Temperance and her family's affairs. I understand that religion was a big deal during that time, but it's just not something I enjoy reading about as much, especially when it's in historicals. It just bothers me that if a woman feels desire, even for her husband that she's seen as a horrible person and it's a grave sin. I know it's woven in to a lot of historicals, it's hard not to be. I just don't like it when it's made super obvious. It could also have a part in the time frame this book is set as. I also wanted more insight into Lazarus's background and why he has issues being touched, especially since we only kind-of dealt with his abandonment issues. 

I know that a lot of favorites of the series are the later books, so I'll definitely keep reading the series. I've heard mixed reviews about book two, so I'll start that with a grain of salt. I enjoyed Lady Hero in this book and it has my favorite trope, the wrong sibling. I'm hoping it'll at least be a 3-star read, especially since I enjoy Elizabeth Hoyt's writing style. I'm definitely excited to get to some of the later books though.

Have you read Wicked Intentions?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Wicked Intentions, Elizabeth Hoyt, 4-stars, eBook, 1 day, 382 pages, published in 2010

The Highlander's Forbidden Bride by Donna Fletcher

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After blowing through The Angel and the Highlander in an afternoon and really enjoying it, I immediately jumped into The Highlander's Forbidden Bride. This is book four and the final book in Donna Fletcher's Sinclare Brothers series. Before we get into the review, there is one thing I want to celebrate a little bit. This is my 100th post! 🎉🥳🎉 I'm really enjoying writing this blog and doing reviews for the books I read and having a space where I feel comfortable posting about readathons and other book club books. I'm really happy that I started this blog and finally pushed myself to start it. I hope you've enjoyed joining me in my reads throughout 2021 so far!

So wrap up the series, we finally find out what happened to Ronan and see him find his HEA. This book gutted me and made me cry so many times. My heart broke for Carissa and I just couldn't put it down. I may or may not have read until 1:30 in the morning. Carissa is the daughter of the barbarian that originally captured Ronan and Cavan. When Cavan killed him however, nobody could find Carissa. She has been hunted since then. Somehow the brothers find out she is at the sanctuary that Zia is from and all converge there. Ronan is finally reunited with his brothers and is also after Carissa himself for revenge. He believes that she has killed his love, a slave he named Hope while in captivity. What he doesn't realize is that Hope is actually Carissa.

Like I mentioned before, my heart broke for Carissa. She's had to put on a façade for pretty much her entire life to survive and had to hid her true compassionate and kind nature. Her father has drilled into her how useless love is and that hatred is the only emotion that lasts. She has fallen in love with Ronan and feels so connected to him. As he couldn't see and thinks that Carissa is the horrible person she pretended to be, he is constantly rude and telling her how he can't wait to kill her with his own hands. As Carissa in love with Ronan, she gets utterly destroyed by him constantly and her heart is continuously getting broken more and more. She continues to hide the hurt since she doesn't know how not to and just wants to run away and start fresh. She accepted when she "sold" Ronan to the mercenaries (really it was a way for him to escape and find his freedom) that she would never know his love again and that he could never love her as she was.

They end up snowed in together at a remote cabin and there's beautiful caretaking scenes going both ways between them. Of course Ronan starts to realize similarities between Hope and Carissa and jumps to the conclusion that it was all a ploy and just another way to torture and hurt him. We know though from Carissa's point of view that it wasn't the case and she went through hell her entire life and wasn't expecting to fall in love with him. We also learn that she's helped saved several slaves throughout her life and we even saw her help Honora in the first book.

When Carissa gets a really bad fever and Ronan has to really take care of her, he starts to feel the connection forming between them. He fights against it because she's the enemy and believes how she has portrayed herself. He starts to see her as vulnerable and really starts to see her soul and who she really is. I really loved the progression of the relationship between the two. I also loved that while Carissa was strong and independent, she still yearned for her person and someone to help carry her burdens. While it got a little more twisty at the end than I expected, I still adored this series and really enjoyed watching the Sinclare family grow and evolve as each brother found their HEA. Oh, and the wedding gift Ronan gets for Carissa had me tearing up in joy and sweetness. It was so perfect!

I know I've said this before, but if you enjoy highlanders or historical romance, you really need to try Donna Fletcher if you haven't. I like that her books are more sweeter and really focus on the romance aspect. I always feel like I'm getting a complete romance and feel pleased at where the characters are when she wraps up her books. I can really see and feel the HEA. She is one of my favorite historical romance authors and just romance author is general. I couldn't recommend her more and I can't wait to get into more of her backlist!

Have you read The Highlander's Forbidden Bride?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Highlander's Forbidden Bride, Donna Fletcher, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 384 pages, published in 2009

The Angel and the Highlander by Donna Fletcher

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After DNFing Shanna, I need a good historical romance and a comfort read. I went back to one of my new favorite historical authors, Donna Fletcher. I decided to pick back up the Sinclare Brothers series. Book 3 is The Angel and the Highlander. I am so glad I picked this up, it was just what I needed. 

Book three focuses on the third brother Lachlan (I love that name). He's been tasked with going to a convent to pick up Alyce and return her to her father. A marriage has been arranged for her and after sending her away for being a "shrew" and headstrong, it's time for her to "do her duty." Now this is a little bit of a spoiler, but since it's in the blurb I'll go ahead and move forward anyway, but Alyce has taken on the name Terese. The nuns at the convent had gotten sick and left Alyce and four other women that were picked up/rescued alone. To escape her father, the girls decide to bury Sister Terese as Alyce and she takes on her name.

Alyce was very headstrong and independent (similar to Zia in book 2), but the way she fought against perceptively losing her freedom to Lachlan was done so much better. I didn't find Alyce frustrating at all. I really enjoyed that there were times when she'd chastise herself for fighting against her feelings and not just giving in to Lachlan, but she also didn't want to lose herself. I also loved the discussion on how she became that way because her father encouraged her leadership and independent thinking, but when it came time for her to "settle down" it wasn't quite what a lot of warriors were looking for in a wife. Even though there was contention between them, I loved that to others he would say that she should've been born a boy because she'd be a better laird than him. I just wish he would've said it to her and showed he cared more instead of railing against each other.

Lachlan is the charming brother and I really enjoyed that Alyce kept him on his toes. She found herself constantly falling for his charms, but she still didn't let him see it too much or would restrain herself. It was also fun to see them so drawn to each other, but with Alyce still pretending to be Sister Terese Lachlan had to really step back. He kept having dreams of burning in hell for thinking lewd thoughts about a nun. Once it came out that the girls weren't nuns though, romances starting popping up everywhere. I loved that we got several side romances as well and seeing these different highland warriors and even a mercenary fall for these independent strong women was so much fun.

I also liked that even though Alyce was upset with Lachlan for forcing marriage upon her and was very sharp-tongued with him, she still was there and they would still have moments of lightness and love between them. I also loved that they talked and were very communicative. It took a little longer than I expected for Lachlan to really understand why she was upset with how the marriage went down and make amends. Even though that was a big point of contention between them, he still made sure to let her know constantly that he loved her and it was born out of love not a need to control her. He was also very supportive for the most part and I loved all the moments that Alyce not only put Lachlan in his place, but Cavan and Astair as well. 

Surprisingly my first instinct was to rate this 4-stars upon finishing, but as I though about it I couldn't really find anything that would drop it down. I don't know why I fought myself giving it 5-stars since I'm not usually as strict with my ratings as others, but it is most definitely a 5-star read. Just a lower 5-star to differentiate between this and the first book (which is my favorite of the series so far). I immediately jumped into the fourth and final book in the series and can't wait to finally finish a Donna Fletcher series. I really enjoy her writing the unique and lovely romances she writes. She is most definitely one of my top historical romance writers. Well, actually, romance writers period. Full stop!

Have you read The Angel and the Highlander?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Angel and the Highlander, Donna Fletcher, 5-stars, eBook, 0 days, 384 pages, published in 2009

The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan

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If you've been with me for awhile, you probably know that I'm a big fan of the Smart Women Read Romance podcast and am a patreon member. Every month they have an exclusive patreon live review. April's theme was New Adult and the book that won the poll was The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. This is the first book in her Game On Series.

I haven't read too much new adult, but looking through a lot of new adult lists I feel like most the new adult I read is also sports romance. I don't usually read New Adult, because even when I was in that time myself, I never really went through the normal issues that a typical New Adult goes through and I struggle connecting to the books. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and am definitely interested in reading more from the series. I think it helped a lot that they were both seniors in college.

Our heroine is Anna, a fiery red-head. At the start of a philosophy class, she meets one of her new classmates, Drew the star quarterback. They instantly feel a connection, but Anna fights it for a good chunk of the book. I really Drew and how into Anna he was. He was constantly getting shut down and rejected, but he stayed patient and persistent without turning into a stalker. I really enjoyed Kristen's writing and could feel the visceral connection between the two. 

I also really enjoyed the choices that Kristen made throughout the book. It took some turns that I wasn't expecting. I also really enjoyed that it was spread out over a longer time than previous books in this sub-genre that I read. It just felt more realistic. Drew was 100% all in on Anna from the first time their eyes met and I loved how sure he was that she was it. It was also a nice change of pace that it was Anna pushing that they were just "hooking up" and avoiding the relationship word. They were still so drawn to each other despite her reservations. 

I found it interesting as well that she wouldn't let him kiss her on the mouth. Anna knew it was too personal and that as soon as she let him, she would be completely lost. I found myself rooting for their first kiss (despite having slept together quite a bit before it happened) and really enjoyed the scene that led up to it as well as when it finally happened. It was so sweet and steamy and you could feel the connection growing that much stronger. It just was written so well and was definitely swoony. 

What brought this down to 4-stars for me was mostly Anna. I completely understood her reservations and insecurities, but I wish that she would've opened up to him more earlier and not let him misunderstand things so much. Like I said, I understood it and could see it coming a million miles away, but since I was get turns I didn't expect throughout the book I almost wish that she would've done the same when it came to those scenes. Another issue I had is just the stereotypical "hot girl." I loved Anna a lot, but it bothered me a little bit that she was very well endowed, had a tiny waist, but then a big butt. I don't know, but people aren't shaped like that naturally very often. It also didn't seem to fit with her being chubby in high school. I know that a lot of times there's some growing into your body, especially if you're a late bloomer, in the late teens and early twenties, but it just seemed unrealistic to me. I 'm glad that it was too focused on, but every time one of his teammates or other jocks mentioned it, it rubbed me wrong. At the same time though everyone was all confused on why he was with someone that looked like that. It just was too opposite ends of the spectrum.

I also enjoyed Anna's best friends and really want Iris to get her HEA. I glanced through the other books in the series just to see if Iris was in a pairing, but I didn't see her mentioned. Maybe Kristen has a connecting series or something? If you know please let me know, because Iris needs to be with someone that will support her love of Bieber. Even though I am not into Bieber at all, I am a boy-band fan and still absolutely adore K-pop and J-pop boy bands. We all need someone that will accept our fandoms. I connected to her on that aspect and need Iris to find her person. I will probably pick up other books in the series and had other Kristen Callihan books on my tbr already, so I'll definitely move them up my list since I enjoyed her writing so much. I can't wait for the live tonight! I also should mention this book definitely helped keep me from entering a slump after DNFing Shanna earlier that morning.

Have you read The Hook Up?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Hook Up, Kristen Callihan, 4-stars, eBook, 0 days, 362 pages, published in 2014

Shanna by Kathleen E Woodiwiss

DNF

The April book for the Historical Hellions book club hosted by Jess and Samantha was Shanna by Kathleen E Woodiwiss. Kathleen is known as the first mas market romance writer that pioneered romance and more specifically historical romance that we have today. I was really excited to finally read something from her, and had heard this was one of her better books that didn't really have too many problematic issues.

Unfortunately, this is my first DNF (did not finish) of, pretty much, all time. I made it about 1/3 of the way through. I was pushing myself to continue to get it done by the live show, but I had to set it down and read something else. First off, I enjoyed the writing style. It's a little more flowery than I prefer and a lot of the dialogue was phonetically written for each character's accent. While those things usually bother me, it didn't as much with this. Maybe because I knew going in this was an old book (published in the 1970s). 

I absolutely adored our Hero Ruark Beauchamp. I was constantly pleased while reading that he was such a good and outstanding hero. It's very surprising to me that he was written in the time he was, especially with the type of heroes that were popular during that time. I also enjoyed a lot of the side characters. The trope and overall idea of the book really intrigued me as well. Shanna is being told to find someone to marry by her father, but wants to wait for love. Her time limit is almost up, so she decides to find someone on death row with a prominent name and marry him before he passes. She'll allow for some luxury before his death, and in return she gets his name. Hijinks occur and he ends up not dying. I want this book with these tropes.

Why was this book a DNF? Shanna herself. She absolutely drove me insane and I could not get behind her, her actions and the way that she treated Ruark. It was emotional whiplash and she was all over the place. One minute she's trying to seduce him, he realizes what she's doing and plays along. Then she gets angry at him and turns very spiteful because he was seduced. That's just one example and she did things like that constantly. She'd go to see Ruark expecting intimate moments but then lash out at him. She's the one that instigated it! Shanna really just was not a good person and too wrapped up in herself. I kept trying to push. When I originally set the book down, I had thoughts of continuing to read it, but just taking my time. I wanted to not allow myself to get angry or frustrated and was thinking to try spacing it out between other books. However during the live it was made clear to me that she doesn't really change until the last 100 ~ 150 pages of the book. To read through a 650+ page book and only get character growth from our heroine in the last little chunk is not something that I want to read through.

In the past I would push myself, but as I've become more active in the romance community I really do feel like I need to DNF books that I'm not enjoying. I would much rather spend my time reading something I enjoy. There were a couple books I probably should've DNFed earlier this year, but with this one I just had to finally cave. I cannot and will not get behind a heroine that strings our hero along and is just horrible to him. If he was more of the archetype of the hero during that time and they were both contentious with each other, that's one thing. She doesn't deserve him and I really don't understand why he is so supportive of her and loving when she treats him so horrible. 

Okay, let me calm down and end this rant. As for statistics, as this is my first DNF and I wanted to go over how I'm tracking it. It's not being counted as a book read in my totals or factored into any of the averages. I will add what pages I read (just over 200) to my total pages for the month since they were pages I read. I will also include it in the stats for genre, decade and format. I'm keeping these because even though it's a DNF, I'm more interested in how those spreads will look at the end of the year. For the rest of my stats it's listed as a DNF and not factored in. I will end up manually adding the pages read (I didn't want to have to redo ALL of my formulas for this year). I am interested in trying another Kathleen E Woodiwiss, but I might wait for some reviews from booktubers and bookstagrammers that I trust before diving in. And there is a small chance I'll pick this back up at some point in the distant future, but it's not in my plans.

Have you read Shanna?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Shanna, Kathleen E Woodiwiss, DNF, eBook, 200 pages read, published in 1977

The Alien's Ransom by Ella Maven

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After finishing my reread of the Hathaways by Lisa Kleypas, I wanted something a little shorter that I could get through fairly quickly during the week. I did have a book club book I wanted to start as well, but it was another historical romance. I wanted a little bit of a breather before jumping into that, so I looked through my Alien Romances since I've been in the mood for those lately. I decided to try a new author and series that's a newer release. I finally settled on The Alien's Ransom by Ella Maven. This is book one in her Drixonian Warrior series. Now, it's kind of toted as an alien mc (motorcycle club) romance, but I didn't really get any mc vibes outside of the fact they drive hover motorcycles.

Like a lot of the alien romances out there, there is the normal tropes. Human women are abducted for breeding/experimentation purposes and found by "good aliens" that end up being compatible genetically. The Drix race has also lost all of their females from a virus that devastated their planet. Now even with a lot of those tropes being fairly common, this book definitely felt new and unique in some ways. 

This specific Drix clan is meeting with the aliens that abducted the humans to deliver to the Uldani. Daz, our hero is the leader of this clan and leading the delivery. Upon arrival however, they are very surprised that the delivery is not only humans, but human females. Now as I mentioned before, their race has lost all of the women of the race from a virus. Their culture was mainly a matriarchy and the motto was "She is all." They are very protective of females of any race and immediately change their plans. They are doing this task in return of Daz's captured brother. Frankie ends up getting hurt by one of the bad aliens and Daz feels echoes of the pain. This is the start of them realizing they are mates.

What I enjoyed that's different is how alien these guys actually are. I've complained a little in books I've read previously this year where the aliens aren't alien enough for me. Here it is not the case. Although, sometimes the way their tongues were described really bothered me. I get that they're longer, but sometimes Frankie mentioned him curling it around things and it just really turned me off. Other times it was just a little longer. I liked that these golden tattoos almost appear around their wrists that match and are unique to each couple.  Another interesting mating thing is that it's recognized when the female gets hurt and the bonding completes when the creature that hurts her is killed. I'm not sure how it will work in future books if the creature isn't killed by a mate, or if it's killed by something else. Or even if the women doesn't get hurt, can they still bond?

That's one reason that it was a 4-star read, I was left with a lot of questions. While a lot of things were explained, I feel like there were issues that I would've like to see addressed more. It's one thing if I had those thoughts myself, but Frankie asks those exact questions but they never get answered. I'm interested to see how the overarching plot goes and will most likely continue reading the series. I'd really like to get to Daz's brother's book, which is the 2nd one. Not sure when I'll get to it though. I definitely enjoyed reading it. There was great action and was decently paced. Another thing that really bothered me was the author almost forcing the motorcycle club thing on us. Frankie mentions it throughout, but it really didn't feel like it to me. I wish the author would've just not focused on trying to convince us it was that trope. It just felt forced and kept making me think that Frankie didn't actually know what a motorcycle club was. Like I said though, overall I enjoyed the read.

Have you read The Alien's Ransom?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Alien's Ransom, Ella Maven, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 266 pages, published in 2020

Love In The Afternoon by Lisa Klepyas

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2022 Update: I reread Love in the Afternoon July of 2022. I used it for the published in June prompt for Summer of Swoon and animal shelter prompt for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo. Still one of my favorites and still 5-stars!

My reread of the Hathaways has come to an end. We've reached the final book, Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas. This is the youngest daughter Beatrix's book and my absolute favorite in the series.

Oh this book just gets me in the heart from the prologue. Captain Christopher Phelan (I call him my my "One True Chris") is our hero. He's been a man about town, but then buys a commission (as most second sons do) and ends up having to fight in the Crimean war. Chris and Bea have met before a couple of society events and he ended up saying some not flattering things about Bea. However, a "friend" of hers, Prudence, is attracted to Chris and how he looks in a uniform. They aren't ever a love match and Prudence is written as a superficial person. Christopher ends up writing a letter to Prudence, hoping for a connection to home. 

In his first letter, he mentions getting a dog Albert, a rough terrier and taking him in after his owner, a fellow soldier, passes. Hearing about the dog and being such an animal lover, Bea wants to offer some advice. Prudence doesn't want anything to deal with it and finds his letter "boring." She passes the letter off to Bea and lets her write it. So starts this heartfelt and beautiful epistolary romance. It comes to a point where Christopher makes it known that he's falling in love with her. However, this breaks Bea's heart as she knows that he thinks he's writing with Prudence. Bea accidentally sends a letter saying she's not who he thinks she is, she loves him and wants him to find her. This is the last letter she sends. 

Christopher ends up becoming a war hero and upon his return comes across Bea in the forest. Despite his previous belief in her "oddness," he still finds himself wanting to be near her and finds a measure of calm. He suffers greatly from what we know today to be PTSD and the way that Bea understands what he needs and so hyper-aware of him really helps put him at ease. This is more angsty than I usually prefer with Bea pining after Christopher but not sharing who she really is. Christopher ends up pursuing Prudence once again, but just can't seem to find what he felt from the letters. 

This book, has so many lovely and heart-wrenching moments. This is my most favorite book in this series and my favorite Lisa Kleypas. I have enjoyed epistolary romances before, but this book is so much more than that. Just the way that Christopher is constantly drawn to her and feels at ease. One of my favorite moments is when Bea forces him to join for dinner and he makes it clear he doesn't want to be social. Bea drags him in anyways and announces to the family that he doesn't want to talk. The Hathaways take this in stride and continue on as normal, eventually having him join them in the revelry. I love every minute of this book and it just makes me smile and laugh, but also cry.

Usually when I hear people talk about this series they mention the other books more, but I have reread this book at least 4 times and usually read it at least once a year, especially lately as I've felt more okay rereading books. As with the rest of the series, I really couldn't recommend it more, especially this book. It's not quite as steamy as the others, but I absolutely adore everything about it and love the connection that Bea and Christopher form via letters and then reform in person. I almost want to read it again right away! Plus Albert doesn't die and there the entire book as well as Bea's entire menagerie of rescue animals.

Have you read Love In The Afternoon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Love In The Afternoon, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 332 pages, published in 2010

2022 STATS: Love in the Afternoon, Lisa Kley-as, 5-stars, 0 days, Paperback, 332 pages, published in 2010, traditionally published

Married By Morning by Lisa Kleypas

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Moving right along with my reread, the next book is book 4 of the Hathaways by Lisa Kleypas, Married by Morning. This book focuses on our only brother Leo, the Viscount and his romance with Catherine Marks. 

I absolutely love getting this as book 4 in the series. It's just so gratifying to see Leo grow and come to terms with his grief and figure out who he is as the Viscount. He's still a little bit of a rogue and ladies' man, but he also plays up the rumors. Leo is very charming and even when Cat and him where fighting in the other books, you could feel the tension between them. Cat, as we find out in book 3, is actually the half-sister of Harry and had a pretty traumatic life growing up. Once Harry rescues her she ends up with the Hathaways, almost as a way to experience a true family. 

I loved the push and pull between Leo and Cat, and even though he teases and goads her a lot, Leo is really attracted to Cat and enjoys seeing her get all worked up. It's kind of mentioned in other books, but Leo is really drawn to Cat and wants to know ALL of her secrets. Cat ends up being confronted by someone from her past and runs. However Dodge the ferret stows away in her bag and she ends up getting left half-way to London at a tavern. Leo quickly comes upon her and this forced proximity between them really starts to force Cat to start coming to terms with her feelings for Leo.

I love that there is no scene or big issue made of their class difference. While Leo is now the Viscount, he didn't start out that way so it's not something that he even thinks of. A lot of time there is more angst made of the class difference and I have to say, I'm not that big of a fan of it. It also lends itself to some other tropes that I don't like. The issues were mostly more internal between them and Cat coming to terms with herself and, similarly with Harry, allowing herself to both fall in love and be loved. Leo was all in for her and there was nobody else once he made up his mind. Leo does have some internal issues though, knowing that when he loves and loses, the grief really destroys him. He's worried that if something were to happen to Cat, it would completely destroy him even more than when Laura passed. 

While this is my least favorite of the series, I still absolutely adore Leo and Cat and feel like their story actually starts in Win's book and we can see the start of their foreplay in the background. As I have mentioned in all of my reviews so far, I really recommend this series. Lisa Kelypas is not only a great writer, but just really knows how to form a family and characters that see so real and grounded.

Have you read Married By Morning?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Married By Morning, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 342 pages, published in 2010

Tempt Me At Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

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I am really enjoying my reread of the Hathaways series by Lisa Kleypas. The third book in the series is Tempt Me At Twilight. This book focuses on the 3rd Poppy and her romance with the enigmatic hotel owner Harry Rutledge.

Harry and Poppy's meet-cute is probably my favorite of the series. She's chasing Dodger, Beatrix's (the youngest daughter) ferret and the love letter he stole. Poppy has formed an attachment with a young gentleman, however nothing has been announced or even done in public since he's worried about his father's approval. Even though Poppy seems to be the most "normal" Hathaway, there's still a stigma against her family. She ends up in a secret passage in the manager's office and runs into Harry. They end up in his curios room, which she's the only person that he's allowed in there that didn't work for him directly. He ends up obsessed with Poppy's wit and kind of has some villain tendencies. 

Harry knows what he wants and he ends up with the love letter. He does manipulate things since he wants Poppy so much and ends up "ruining" her at a ball. They end up married for at least half of the book and it's such a different feel than the others. Poppy ends up living with Harry at the hotel so we don't get as much of the family since they went back to Hampshire. 

Harry is very mysterious and has a pretty traumatic back story. We also see that there's some sort of connection between  him and Poppy and Bea's companion Catherine Marks. So this book is almost a marriage in trouble trope. Although it's more Poppy wanting a real marriage with Harry. He believes he is unlovable and doesn't need love, but Poppy really forces him to break down those walls and form a real relationship with her. I loved how strong Poppy was and that she would submit to him, but she wouldn't necessary enjoy it. That really bothers Harry and they actually end up waiting for a bit before consummating their marriage.

I also love that when Harry messes up a little and runs instead of staying to talk with Poppy, she "runs." She's really doing it to get him to follow her to Hampshire and get some alone time with him to really connect. He falls right into her plan and it's just perfect. This is my 3rd favorite book in the series and I really enjoy how Poppy pushes for more than just a physical relationship with Harry. And yes the manipulation causes issues, but I also love that Harry is just like "I don't care." If he really wanted you he would've fought for you. I wanted you and did what I needed to to get you. It's a little bit of a villain move, but I absolutely loved how it played out. Plus the relationship he forms with his new brother-in-laws is wonderful. We also find out about his connection with Cat, but I'll go more into that in the next book. I know I keep saying this, but if you haven't read the Hathaways and like or are interested in reading historical romance, you NEED to read this series. It's just so good from start to end.

Have you read Tempt Me At Twilight?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Tempt Me At Twilight, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 2736 pages, published in 2009

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas

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Continuing my reread of the Hathaways series by Lisa Kelypas, I jumped into Seduce Me At Sunrise immediately after finishing the first book. I have to say, even though this is only book 2 in the series, I'm really enjoying my reread of my favorite Lisa Kelypas series!

This book focuses on Winnifred and Merripen's romance. It was teased a lot during the first book. After surviving her bout with Scarlet Fever, Win has been really frail and considered an "invalid" since. She is very weak and loses her energy really quickly. This is definitely the angstiest book in the series for me, but it's done so well. Since Win has been sick a lot lately, Merripen really tries to stay away from her. Win (with Leo as escort) end up going to a special medical facility in France for healing. We see her try to connect with Merripen before she leaves, but he pushes her away. There is a small time jump in the beginning and we come to almost two-years later with Win and Leo's return. It was also hoped for, but it seems that Leo has also done some healing himself. During the time gone, Merripen has pretty much taken over the running and restoration of Ramsay House. That's one thing I love about this series. Even though Leo is the aristocrat of the bunch, the household is really run relying on the strengths of Leo, Cam and Merripen equally. Their first meeting is a little angsty as Win is cloaked and Merripen thinks she's a prostitute. Eventually he comes to realize who it actually is and so starts their actual romance. 

I'm not the biggest angst reader, but I do enjoy it more in historicals. What's nice about this book is it's mutual pining. Now that Win is strong though, she's over it. There is a lot of pushing on her part and pulling away from Merripen, but I love that when he does crack a little towards their chemistry is on fire. The doctor that treats Win comes back to London for a bit with her and Leo, and wants to try to form a romantic attachment with her. Even though I wasn't a big fan of him or how he treated Win, I understand that there needed to be a bigger push for Merripen to give in to his feelings. 

It's talked about in the first book when discussing traditions about the Romany, and one of their courting rituals(?) is to "kidnap" the lady. And guys, spoiler, but Merripen kidnaps Win. She knows immediately what's going on and is so happy that he's finally making his move, but the entire scene and subsequent moments between them are so great. I love that once Merripen goes 100% into the relationship, he's in it 100%, forever. Another fun subplot is we find out Merripen and Cam are actually brothers and Merripen is the next in line for an Irish earldom. It's a fun twist in his storyline and it was so fun to see more of the connection between Cam and Merripen form. I do want to mention though that the "third act" villian is a little more dramatic in this book that usual. I really didn't like the doctor, but it just felt out of character. However we see Win get absolutely bamf and stand up for her man (and brother-in-law). 

I loved this book, and even though it's great I would have to list it as book 4 in enjoyment for me. Mostly because it's angstier than I usually enjoy. It is still a 5-star read and I really can't recommend this series more. It's got a little something for everyone. Plus it's nice that the series is only 5 books long, it makes it a little more bingeable and easier I feel like for new readers to handle.

Have you read Seduce Me At Sunrise?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Seduce Me At Sunrise, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 360 pages, published in 2008

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas

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So during the Rake Appreciation Society's recent live for Texas Destiny, Crystal and Jen announced the next few books through August 2021! What's fun about it is, the August book will be book 7 of Lisa Kleypas' Ravenels series Duke in Disguise (out July 27th, 2021). In preparation, I wanted to reread the Hathaways and Ravenels! Now, before I go too much farther, I have a confessions to make. I have not read all of the Ravenels. I started reading them as they came out, but didn't keep track on GoodReads at that time. I honestly can't remember the last one that I read, but I think it was around book 4.

If you are unaware, a lot Lisa's series kind of "spin-off" of each other and are set in the same world. It's starts with the Wallflowers (which I decided not to reread), moves to the Hathaways, then moves to the Ravenels. The Hathaways are my favorite Lisa Kleypas series, the top 3 of my favorite of her books (so far) are in this series, and it's one of my favorite historical romance series ever. I own all 5 books, with their stepbacks and just absolutely adore it. I wanted to wait until later in the year since I'll know I'll blow through them quickly, but I had a killer sinus infection/head cold last week that moved into my ears. I've never had ear issues before and let me tell you, it sucks. I don't get sick very often, but that was so bad. I just can't. So once things started to decrease swelling, I was finally able to read and wanted something comforting. I decided to start my reread and immediately grabbed the first book the series, Mine Till Midnight.

Our hero is Cam Rohan, a half-Romany half-Irish manager of a big gambling den. If you've read the Wallflowers series, he's the young man that was psuedo-raised alongside Evie and is now good friends with her husband Sebastian St. James. If you haven't read their book, it's a favorite among historical readers. They also pop up in the Ravenels series with a couple of their kids being featured. But back to Cam and Amelia. Amelia is the eldest sister of the Hathaways and has become the mother figure after their parents passed away. The were raised as more middle-class, but after several Lord Ramsay's die in a row, Leo (the brother) ends up the new Viscount and they "enter" society. The Hathaways don't fit into society and just kind of do their own thing. Another big plot point for the series is after their parents passed, Leo and Winnifred (the 2nd eldest daughter) were infected with scarlet fever. Leo's fiancé actually ended up passing away from the disease. Since then, he's been on a grief-ridden rampage and set on destroying himself.

The book starts out with Amelia tracking him down to move the family out to the seat in Hampshire. She comes to Rohan's club and actually watches him deal with some fighting men in the alley. It's also important to note that they have a family friend Merripen that's also Romany. Cam ends up helping them track Leo down, and thinking he'll never see her again, kisses her before she leaves. A bit of time later, the Hathaways have moved into the run-down estate and are starting to turn it into a home. On a walk to town, her neighbor Westcliff (another hero from the Wallflowers & is my favorite book of that series) is shooting off rockets. Surprise, Cam is there and ends up "saving" Amelia. So begins their push and pull. I absolutely adore how into Amelia Cam is and that he's very alpha about it. He's constantly thinking of her as his fate and his and it's just so lovely.

He ends up compromising her fairly early in the book and the way that they fall in love just gives me all of the feelings. Cam is the perfect patriarch of the family and as you see throughout the series really knows to handle the Hathaways the best to help them thrive without completely ruining the family. I also love that when he's feeling restless in the beginning and thinking maybe he should go back to being nomadic, it's really him searching for his place and his person. Now, there is a lot of the word gypsy used and there is hatred towards Cam (and Merripen) from those outside of their family and friend group. I just want to warn in case that's something you are sensitive about. This book was written in late 2000s though before it was really discussed as a slur. I do want to say as well, that even though there are secondary characters that treat Cam and Merripen disrespectfully, I don't believe that Lisa wrote about it disrespectfully outside of just using the words that are now not politically correct. I also should mention that I've heard that the Audiobooks were redone, but not well. Not only did they remove a lot of the issues with Cam and Merripen's race, but I guess they also made Cam less alpha and changed a lot of other things as well. I can't say personally since I don't read audiobooks, but I trust those I've heard about it from. If you want to listen to this series, maybe see if you could try to find the original versions?

Anyways, overall this is my 2nd favorite book of the series and it's such a great set-up for the rest. All of the siblings are made clear in their characters and you can see (as I'm rereading) a lot of fun threads that will show up throughout. If you haven't read Lisa Kleypas and/or the Hathaway series, I couldn't recommend them more. I'm really excited to start my reread of the series and can't wait to get through them once again! These are more along the lighter side of historical romance and there is a reason Lisa Kleypas is referred to as "The Queen" by many.

Have you read Mine Till Midnight?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Mine Till Midnight, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 2 days, paperback, 376 pages, published in 2007

Texas Legacy by Lorraine Heath

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Lorraine Heath actually has a novella for her Texas Trilogy, Texas Legacy. This is listed as 3.5, but I almost wish it was a prequel or in between book for her writing stories for the sons and daughters of our Texas city named brothers. This the kind of forbidden romance of Rowley and Faith.

Faith is Dallas and Dee's only daughter and Rowley is the young boy they rescued and kind of adopted. I have seen people say this is pretty taboo, but even though there were raised together, once they both hit puberty they both stopped thinking of each other as sibling. Even then I don't think that they ever had that relationship. I do think that Lorraine wrote it in a way that just felt star-crossed and not taboo.

Rowley had left after Faith had kissed him on her 19th birthday. He couldn't deal with his passion for her and see her everyday once that seal was broken, so he decides to leave. This is several years later and Rowley received notice from Dee to come home. It's believed that Dallas has had a heart issue and needs to start stepping back in his running of the ranch. Rowley comes to help out, but leave Faith in charge and follows her orders.

Rowley is such a sexy cowboy. He's also still dealing with feeling dirty after the horrors he went through before Dallas took him in. While he was gone, Faith was raped and left with child. She is such a sweetheart and is immediately drawn to Rowley. Not being that this is a novella, they got together pretty quickly, but I feel like the tension and history was laid out pretty well. They were pretty hot together and it was definitely steamier than the other books. However this was written 20 years later.

It was also fun seeing a lot of their kids grown up, especially Maggie May, Houston and Amelia's eldest daughter. She's gone to university and is the local reporter. Like I mentioned before, I almost wish we got heas for the all the Leigh kids. Lorraine, please please please do a spin off of this series with the other kiddos getting heas. I don't care if they're all novellas, I want them! Anyways, it was so cute to see everyone aged up and I'm sure for people that read these back in the day it was nice to see them all again. I really enjoyed this novella. The only thing that really bothered me is that a big factor of Rowley finally making a move on Faith is finding out about her trauma. I know it was meant as more of a protective, care-taking, alpha-move, but when he realized she was "dirty" too (he refers to himself as such) it almost felt more that he was okay to be with her now that she wasn't pure anymore. I don't know. Like I said, I know it wasn't meant that way, but it just came off a bit weird to me. I still overall really enjoyed the novella and am sad I don't have any other books in this series. But it's also fun to finally say I completed one of her series as well (I have several I've started).

Have you read Texas Legacy?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Texas Legacy, Lorraine Heath, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 192 pages, published in 2019

Texas Splendor by Lorraine Heath

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The third book in Lorraine Heath's Texas Trilogy is Texas Splendor. I immediately jumped into this one after finishing Texas Glory. I just had to get Austin's hea, especially with how his portion of the story ended and then was teased.

So this book picks up 5-years after the end of Texas Glory and picks up with Austin getting out of jail. Lorraine doesn't go too much into what he's gone through in prison, but we do know that he was beaten a lot, has scars, and has really matured and changed as a person. Austin also mentions that he's lost his music. He's kind of a violin savant and we got to "hear" his beautiful music in the first couple books. After getting attacked and talked about behind his back, Austin decides to clear his name. Oh, and the girl whose reputation he saved and was supposed to wait for him, has married his best friend Cameron. Austin is heartbroken and really just feeling out of sorts around his family since so much has changed. He never met Faith or the younger girls of Houston and Amelia. It comes in a lot throughout the novel, but every time something was mentioned that (not intentionally) excluded him, it hurt. There was scene partway through where he would be the one to pass out presents at Christmas, and since he was gone, he didn't do it anymore. Instead of his brothers or Amelia or Dee remembering, they go on, almost like it's not a thing anymore. And while it had changed, it just felt weird that everyone except Austin's sweet wife noticed that he was hurt by the disregard. Like I said, it's not intentional. But I've felt that a lot and still do when I visit some of my family. It just really hard to process feeling left out or ignored, but still know it's not intentional. But, back to the fun stuff.

So Austin finally puts together that Boyd didn't write Austin as his name, but the city. He heads there to see if he could find the true killer. Almost there his horse gets injured and he comes across Loree's homestead. She assists him and the connection they form is really deep. There is a little bit of caretaking (yay!) but also some angst because Austin is still dealing with losing Becky to someone else in prison (and nobody notified him when it happened). I loved that Austin was so caring and sweet to Loree. Although, her dog died. I did not like that. It was a bobcat so at least it was nature, but he ends up buying her a puppy later. I loved how he kept coming back to see her and do things with her while he was in the area. We also get a surprise baby, but they decide to marry, after some angst, and then they head back to Dallas's ranch. 

I really loved how they both were so drawn to each other, but I did get a little frustrated with them both. Yes they were more upfront with their feelings than the previous books, but there were still other issues not discussed or not discussed properly. It was also weird how upset Loree was with Austin when she found out he actually used to play the violin. But instead of realizing that there must be a reason why he said he didn't play, she just called him a liar and it became an issue. I really didn't like that fight. It felt so unnecessary and a little extreme on her end. But she was pregnant, so I don't know. Like with the previous books, too much happened to them once again. I kind of saw who the actual killer was based on how Lorraine was writing it, but I didn't like the decisions that both people made when it came to light. It was cute to see Austin get tapped by a famous composer for his music and then they head to Europe for several years. We get a little bit of a time jump at the end when they come back to Texas. I love that even then, Austin still strips her shoes off to dance. Such a cute moment between them.

I really enjoyed the trilogy and all books were a 4-star read for me. What's fun is there's also a novella, which I read next, and it was written 20 years later! I enjoyed the brothers and it's been a while since I read a true western feeling romance. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Beverly Jenkins I read, it just didn't feel western to me. I don't know, maybe it's the cowboy thing. These are definitely different than Lorraine Heath's more recent works, but I still really enjoyed them, just in a different way. If you are on the fence, please try them. They are really great!

Have you read Texas Splendor?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Texas Splendor, Lorraine Heath, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 320 pages, published in 1999

Texas Glory by Lorraine Heath

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After having some free reign and really enjoying the Rake Appreciation Society's April book Texas Destiny, I decided to jump back into the series and finish the trilogy by Lorraine Heath! The 2nd book is Texas Glory and based around the eldest brother Dallas and his bargained bride Dee McQueen.

I was really excited to see Dallas get his hea after Amelia left him for Houston in the first book. This started off with a kind of Hatfield vs. McCoy vibe with the McQueen's thinking (wrongly) they have more land than they do. They were what was known as land grabbers and didn't always follow the rules and file the proper paperwork. When someone did file the proper paperwork, like Dallas, it contradicted their thoughts and could get dangerous. The book starts off with the three brothers waiting for the "twang" of the barbed wire to chase down the people that have been cutting their fences and killing their cows. 

They come across the McQueen brothers doing this and a fight ensues. Dallas ends up breaking the arm of one of the brothers and Austin gets shot. When the doctor finally shows up, he admonishes Dallas for breaking the McQueen's arm. Dallas is kind of pissed that it took the doctor so long to get to Austin's gunshot wound because he was led astray by the McQueens. That's one thing that happens a lot throughout the novel that bothered me. Dallas is known as an upstanding gentleman, a hard working and strict boss, but upstanding. He also created the town their all living in and around. However some  people always take the word of the McQueens. Anyways, the doctor mentions off-handedly that he left the brother in the care of his sister. A ha! The McQueens have a sister, Cordelia. She goes by Dee to those that know her. Dee has been mentally and physically abused, kept almost captive by her family and is incredibly naïve about the world. On top of the fact she watched her father torture and abuse her mother. She is a very scared and nervous person in the start of the book. Her evolution is so hopeful and beautiful to read.

I felt so much for Dee and she was so terrified that her father "sold" her to Dallas for the strip of land they were fighting over. I really loved the progression of their relationship and that Dallas really came to love Dee and really want more than just a son, but a full family. He really cared and disliked that she was so afraid of him. It always angered him, but then she'd get more scared since Dallas looked angry. It was this viscous cycle they rotated through. Once Dee finally felt comfortable to push against her perceived boundaries, things really started to flourish between them. Although, I absolutely hated her elder brothers and father. I wish Dallas was able to keep them away more after they were married. 

What dropped this down to 4-stars is similar to my reasonings for the first book. First of all, they both waited waaaaay too long to talk about their feelings. Dallas kept putting it off, and putting it off. Then, too much happened to them. It wasn't just one "bad thing" in the third act, but at least like three. They didn't deserve it. And then there was the whole, Dallas is fighting to stay alive after getting his back destroyed (by a whip) and here's Austin going to jail for a crime he didn't commit. It just wouldn't end with the sad. Oh, and maybe I should've mentioned this earlier, but they have a miscarraige and Dee almost dies. Then she's kidnapped later. Like I said, just too much.

It was fun to see Dee and the little boy Rowley connect and have Dallas take him in. I can see in a way that he replaced their son with him, but I feel like Dallas wasn't replacing him persay, but needed more in his life to keep from completely drowning in his grief. Training the young boy (he's guesstimated to be like 8-years-old) really helps him keep getting through the grief of both losing their son and Dee still being pretty injured. It was nice to see at the end a family Christmas with everyone, and I love how many kids Houston and Amelia are having. Maggie May, their eldest daughter, is such a delight. So freaking adorable! It was also nice that despite all Dee's injuries, they were able to have a daughter to spoil with their large house, Faith. I still enjoyed this book and series and immediately jumped into Austin's story.

Have you read Texas Glory?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Texas Glory, Lorraine Heath, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 358 pages, published in 1998

Glacier by Miranda Bridges & Kyra Snow

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Wanting some more fun after reading Saving Verakko, I decided to check out some other alien romances! Going through what I had on my kindle I realized I still have to start Miranda Bridges new series Eternal Mates. She co-wrote it with Kyra Snow and the first book is Glacier. I had previously read and really enjoyed Miranda's other series House of Kaimar and Hearts of Stone.

Oh I really struggled on how to rate this book. If I were to be a little more strict, it would probably be more of a 2.5-star rating, but I rounded up to 3-stars. So Earth has been through a fire apocalypse and now there a few different alien species coming to Earth for mostly nefarious reasons. Xelias our hero is here looking for compatible females for their race. When they find their mate their true powers "unlock" allowing them access to their "true potential." It was definitely an interesting take on the fated mates trope with aliens that I haven't read before. Part of what rubbed me wrong was our heroine Hazel. She was overly stubborn, especially when they first meet and she's stealing food from his ship. I understand her being stubborn and why they didn't go for her just submitting to the aliens. However, it seemed sometimes that there was too much disparity between how Hazel was acting outwardly both alone with Xelias, around others and her inner monologue. Sometimes it felt like she was just being stupid, not stubborn. She just really rubbed me the wrong way. 

Now in Miranda Bridges other series I've read, they were pretty steamy. This one, while it felt the same number of scenes, it felt written differently. And not good differently. It just felt more juvenile and cliched. I'm not sure if that's the influence of the second author or just a one off for this book. I was still overall intrigued by the uniqueness of the plot and will most likely try at least the next book in the series. If you are looking for a good alien romance though, definitely check out the other series I have linked above. The Hearts of Stone is a spin-off of the House of Kaimar and the aliens are more gargoyle and elf-type species respectively.

Have you read Glacier?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Glacier, Miranda Bridges & Krya Snow, 3-stars, 1 day, eBook, 167 pages, published in 2020

Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend by Holly Renee

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After getting through another book club book, I jumped back into Holly Renee's Rock Bottom series and read the latest book in the series, Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend. Now, before getting to much into the review I did want to do a little update. This book is 5-stars for me. I couldn't think about anything that bothered me enough to dock it all. However, I definitely enjoyed the first book more. I am also now considering Trouble with the Guy Next Door 5-stars (and will update that post).

This book focuses on Brooke and Liam, the roommates and best friends of Tucker and Kennedy (from book 1). They have had great tension in the first two books and I was excited to finally get to their story. The prologue is during Kennedy and Tucker's wedding in book 2, and they finally crack the seal a little bit on their attraction. However they get interrupted and Liam takes that chance to not go further. The main part of the book is a little while afterwards and Kennedy and Tucker are moving out into their own house. Liam's cousin is also getting married soon and his mother is very much marriage and baby-minded when it comes to Liam. To get her off his back, he says he has a girlfriend and is bringing her to the wedding. 

This book mostly covers the week that Brooke is Liam's fake girlfriend during the various festivities. I really loved the tension that Holly Renee created between them. There was also a little bit of mutual pining, but Brooke's was a lot more obvious. It was really nice that Liam was able to see Brooke as she actually was and saw past the front she shows to world. I loved how welcoming his parents were to Brooke and that they both saw the true feelings they were trying to hide to each other. I loved when Brooke was trying to sleep in the guest room and Liam's mom kept pushing her to staying in Liam's old room with him. It had me cracking up. Especially because we usually see the opposite. 

Once they kissed (again) and broke the seal so to speak the sexual chemistry was so great. Liam is definitely more on the dominate side which was a fun surprise. I did wish that they were a little more open with their feelings nearing the end of the week, but I totally understood both of their timidity based on their previous hurts. I also loved that when his ex Katie tried to cause issues, she didn't really outside of Brooke assuming what their conversation was and freaking out. Another part I liked is that we had a little bit of a time jump so didn't have to see too much angst and wallowing once they got home and separated. 

I really enjoyed this series so far, and after seeing Ryan more in this book I really hope Holly gives him an HEA too. I don't know if he'll be paired with Chloe, but if not she deserves one too! I checked into her other books recently and noticed they were more new and/or young adult, which I usually don't read too much. I absolutely love Holly Renee's writing though, so I'll probably check them out at some point. I say that, but I usually don't read too much contemporary but here I am with this being the 11th contemporary of the year. 

Have you read Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend, Holly Renee, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 264 pages, published in 2020

Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath

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The April book for Crystal and Jen's book club, Rake Appreciation Society is Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath. This is the first in her Texas Trilogy (although there's three books and one novella). This is an older book of Lorraine's and set in Texas!

This book definitely had a more western feel and I haven't read something like this since I was in high school and middle school. My paternal grandmother had a lot of small (harlequin probably) historical romance novels that I read back then. So this book actually has my favorite trope, wrong sibling! Amelia is a mail-order bride coming to Texas to marry Dallas, the owner of a fairly large ranch and looking to get a son and heir. He ends up breaking his leg and sends his brother Houston to pick her up. Houston has been badly scarred from the civil war and is very much the stereo-typical scarred hero. I absolutely loved this book and it was 5-stars up until about the 80% mark. They're travel to the ranch from Fort Worth is supposed to take a couple weeks, so we get a lot of forced proximity and even some only one bed. 

Amelia is not necessarily looking for love from her partner, but is very excited to have children and create a family. She's very talkative and was constantly asking Houston questions. Even though he was gruff and only gave small answers, I love that he still answered everything. I really enjoyed how into horses he was. I loved when Amelia convinced him to go after the wild horses how he just seemed to open up and really enjoy doing something he loved. It was such an important and lovely scene that brought them a lot closer emotionally. Amelia being able to watch how he was with the horses and let his guard down just really gave me all the "competence porn" vibes. 

Now I expected the angst and repressed feelings once they got the ranch, but where it really lost me was Amelia actually marries Dallas! I didn't like it one bit. She gets kidnapped right after so they never actually consummate the wedding, but I wish she was kidnapped before the wedding happened. I was practically yelling at Houston to say something during the wedding and really couldn't handle how he just stayed silent and then went to a bordello. Nothing happened, but I feel like we could've cut that part out. I don't know, it just really bothered me that it took multiple things to get Houston to tell her he loved her. I also wish that the rift between Dallas and Houston was addressed a little earlier. 

Overall I still really enjoyed the book and am super excited to continue the series. It's fun reading something different from Lorraine Heath. I've read some of her Regency romances and loved them and it was super fun to read something really far back in her backlist. It also wasn't as steamy as I wanted (especially based on her other books), but there was great tension throughout most of the book. Like I mentioned, I'll definitely be getting to Dallas's book soon, his looks to be a marriage of convenience which is always fun, especially with historicals! I'm excited this was the book Jen and Crystal chose and really enjoyed the discussion that was had (link to the video)! I can't wait to read the next book for the Rake Appreciation Society and am super excited for the books they announced through August!

Have you read Texas Destiny?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Texas Destiny, Lorraine Heath, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 384 pages, published in 1997

Trouble with the Hotshot Boss by Holly Renee

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With a little bit of free time before getting to a book club book, I wanted to continue with a series I had already started earlier this year. After going through my reads, I decided to go with contemporary and went back to Holly Renee's Rock Bottom series. The second book is Trouble with the Hotshot Boss, but was originally titled Double Shot when it was originally released. The first book in the series was also retitled, but it looks like they were both retitled and got new covers to match the third book when it came out last year. 

I was a little nervous about this book being that the main trope of this is second-chance romance, which is one of my least favorites. However, the "first chance" wasn't quite as pronounced as I was expecting and it more fell along the lines of brother's best friend and office romance. This book focuses on Sophie, the younger sister of Tucker from book 1, and his good friend Jase. We got a little bit of animosity between them in the first book, and it all stems from Sophie's 18th birthday party. She had been in love/serious crush with Jase since she was 10 years old and decided that she wanted to lose her virginity to Jase. As they start getting hot and heavy in the woods (her party's at a cabin), Tucker calls out for her and Jase runs and hides, rejecting her. 

One thing I absolutely loved about this book was that the "hate" between them was resolved very quickly. I loved how once they put aside their dislike, all those old feelings came back to the forefront. What led this to a 4-stars for me and not 5-stars is how quickly they fell into bed together. And also how often they go it on in the office. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the sexy times. It just seemed a little unsafe for how often they were at work, especially knowing they worked in a fairly small architectural company. That's another interesting thing, they are both architects. I don't read about that profession very often so it was very unique and fun. It would've been nice to see a little bit more "competence porn" in that aspect and see her really excel at her job. There's also the drama with Tucker and Kennedy's wedding, but I really enjoyed seeing everybody hanging out together. 

This misunderstanding was pretty obvious, but I did get a little frustrated with Jase that he didn't even try to talk to Sophie before yelling at her and assuming the worst. It felt so out of character for him and I really didn't like that instead of just being rude or yelling at her, he went the worst route and completely ignored her. I absolutely hate that and it always makes me cry. I did like that Sophie immediately chased him down and told him how he was wrong before breaking it off herself. It really helped that after the shock it wasn't her moping but trying to move on (and failing).

I am definitely planning on reading the third book soon and can't wait. There's been hints throughout both books so far and I'm really excited to see how it goes down. I also am interested if the 4th friend Ryan will get a book, only the first three have been posted on goodreads so far. I usually don't read full length contemporary novels, but I am really enjoying Holly Renee's writing and will definitely see what else is on her backlist. 

Have you read Trouble with the Hotshot Boss?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Trouble with the Hotshot Boss, Holly Renee, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 260 pages, published in 2019