Ravished by Amanda Quick

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Time for another Historical Hellions book! The book chosen for August is Ravished by Amanda Quick. I actually read my first Amanda Quick earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I'm super excited to read another. The live show was last weekend, so if you've read the book or want to check out what the "meetings" are like, please do so!

Harriet is a rector's daughter and taking care of her household after her father passed. She is trying to earn enough money doing her fossil work to support her aunt and sister and prepare to give her sister a season. While exploring the local cave system, she finds out that thieves are using one of the caverns to store their stolen goods. Knowing it's above her, she contacts the lord of the area Gideon, a.k.a. Viscount St. Justin, for help. What she doesn't know is his sordid past in the area and why he's stayed away. They quickly become intrigued by each other and end up getting stuck together in the caves when the tide comes in. Of course Harriet is ruined by the event and so begins their marriage.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm glad that the second Amanda Quick I read help up to my expectations. I really loved Gideon and his growth throughout the book and really coming to terms with both Harriet and his parents. I enjoyed how he reflected on his actions and yet at the same time didn't even really care what the ton thought. My favorite scene was when they were having the great "Quarrel" and were at a ball. Harriet is trying to ignore him when he asks her to dance. He responds as if she agreed and literally picks her up and takes her to the dance floor. I could just picture it in my head and really loved Gideon as a hero.

Where the book fell short for me was Harriet. I enjoy the headstrong, bluestocking heroine, but she was a little too much for me. As I just mentioned, Gideon grows and learns how to adjust to having a second person in his life that cares. I didn't feel like I got the same growth from Harriet. While she fell in love with him earlier and was fighting for him throughout the book, I just wish she wasn't quite as headstrong. There were so many moments where she acted without thinking and it felt like she was constantly forcing Gideon to be the one to compromise when it should've been from them both. I did enjoy how she saw past his scar and was immediately on the defensive for him, especially when they got to London and were taking apart in society. Some of her actions were just a little too much and she never really seemed to stop and think, or even hesitate the more they happened. I also didn't like how she was so staunch against Gideon moving against anyone meaning her harm. I understand she was worried for him, but she was a little too stubborn on top of naïve that it just ruined my connection to her. Also she could've been stronger when she was "kidnapped." I wanted her to stand up for herself in that moment like she had every other moment before then. It just felt weird to me.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and love Amanda Quick's writing style. Despite it actually taking 3 days for me to get through, I still feel like it went quick. I just don't have a lot of free time during the week to read, on top of one of my main shows being back on. I'll definitely be picking up another Amanda Quick and would love to have some of her historicals in paperback because they have such unique and fun stepbacks!

Have you read Ravished?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Ravished, Amanda Quick, 4-stars, 3 days, eBook, 385 pages, published in 2005

Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell

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The June book for the Historical Hellions book club was Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell. This is the first of her Medieval trilogy (also known as Disputed Lands). Historical Hellions is hosted by Jess and Samantha and there was a live show on Sunday. It seems like a lot of people didn't quite like this as much as I did. I was able to apply this read to animal on cover prompt for the Romancing Summer Challenge and traditionally published prompt for Summer of Swoon.

We jump right in to Meg waiting for her arranged marriage, infamous knight Dominic Le Sabre to arrive. He's there to marry her, as decreed by the king, and once her father passes take over the estate. Meg is a little more on the independent side and also from the Glendruid bloodline. Think along the lines of druid or white witch kind of magic. She has an affinity for plants and animals and is also a healer. Dominic has been through a couple wars, including time spent as prisoner in the middle-east. He's able to stay calm during his skirmishes and is known for being a great tactician. 

I really enjoyed this book. If I were to be picky it'd be closer to a 4.5-star rating, but I rounded up for goodreads. First off, for being an early 90s historical romance and being medieval, there wasn't really anything problematic. I also really like the writing style. It was very easy to read and didn't have a lot of the long winded prose. I loved the slow-burn between them and the possessiveness Dominic felt towards Meg. There was a lot of parallel and metaphors throughout to training falcons and I really enjoyed it. While I know it bothered others that she was practically locked away for a bit, I didn't really mind it. Mostly because it really gave some nice (and weird) intimate moments between the two and you could really feel their connection grow and evolve. 

The only downside for me was how untrusting Dominic was. I think the misunderstanding of her feelings for her half-brother Duncan went a little too long and I wish she would've clarified earlier that she only loved him as a brother and wasn't in love with him. Others mentioned during the live that they felt it started slow, but I didn't feel that persay. The romance did take a little bit to get going, but the pacing felt okay to me so that we had time to really settle and understand what was going on.

This was my first Elizabeth Lowell and I definitely want to continue not only with this series, but her other historical series Only. It looks like she's mainly writhing thrillers and romantic suspense now. I definitely want to finish this trilogy at least. Plus I really want the gorgeous copies that have stepbacks. I'm excited to find another older historical romance to add to my collection and this was perfect to get me back into a historical mindset. I also have another historical author named Elizabeth to add to my list. Just in time for the Histrocial Romance Readathon that starts today!

Have you read Untamed?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Untamed, Elizabeth Lowell, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 416 pages, published in 1993

Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas

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The May book for the Historical Hellions book club is Lisa Kleypas's Then Came You. This is the first book in her Gamblers of Craven's series. Now, I have a confession to make. Despite me having read most of Lisa Kleypas's books, this series is one of the few I haven't read yet. Now, if you are at all in the online historical romance community this is a huge faux paus due to book 2, Dreaming of You being one of her most famous books and the hero, Derek Craven, having his own fan club. Now is the time to start to change that. We also get to meet Derek in this book. Update: I have applied this book to the Romancing Summer Challenge for the favorite trope prompt.

First off, I absolutely adore Lisa Klepyas and she is one of the best historical romance writers, ever. A lot of romance readers call her the Queen and I couldn't agree more. This book was written in the early 1990s and didn't really have any problematic content outside of one kind-of forced kiss and Derek's nickname for our main heroine, Gypsy. Even then, the forced kiss didn't bother me at all. This is a little more angstier than I usually prefer, but I still loved it. This also features my favorite trope, wrong sibling!

We meet our heroine Lily (which is also one of my favorite names for a girl). She was left at the alter several years prior and has since received an inheritance from her Aunt and been ostracized from her family. In her freedom she enjoys the more masculine pursuits of gambling, hunting, shooting, etc. She hears from a childhood friend that the man her sister is set to marry is not good for her, but she's following their parents wishes. Lily decides to meet this fiancé for herself and decide if she needs to step in. She meets Alex, Lord Wolverton, on a hunt and their rocky relationship starts.

This book was so good. I loved how complex Lily and Alex where and the layers they both had. Lily has been through some trauma and is currently being black-mailed by her former lover that kidnapped their daughter. Alex is still coming to terms with his grief of his former fiancé Caroline. Caroline and Lily are similar in ways, so he decides he needs a wife that is the complete opposite, like Lily's sister. However he finds himself constantly thinking and worrying about Lily. Of course she's very defensive and perpetrates everyone thinking the worst of her so they don't see past the surface. Despite enemies to lovers being one of my least favorite tropes, I really liked how even though they were antagonistic to each other it really wasn't hate deep down. It felt almost more "I hate you because I want you but can't have you." And once Alex found out that Lily's wandering around the house at night was her sleep-walking and not having trysts with his servants, everything changed.

I did wish that Lily trusted Alex a little more and that we dealt with the plot-line with her daughter a little sooner in the book. I just wanted more family time with the three of them. I liked how realistic it was though, that when she was upset about her daughter, she would cling to other things to bury her grief. For example, being absolutely adamant to save an old circus bear from the dog fighting pits (which I hate was a thing). Alex, having experienced his own grief, recognizes this and knows just how to help her deal with her emotions. He was so patient and understanding with her and I absolutely loved him. Like I mentioned above, Derek Craven has a fan club and there are a lot of people that are obsessed with him and Sebastian (from Devil in Winter). I have to say though, Alex is one of my favorite Lisa Kleypas heroes so far and I'm so happy to find another gem in her backlist. 

I'll definitely be adding Dreaming of You to my summer tbr along with my Ravenels series reread. It'll be a summer of Lisa Kleypas! If you haven't read Lisa Kleypas, I couldn't recommend her more, she's one of my favorites. If you've read my previous reviews, you'd know I just did a reread of my favorite series, the Hathaways. Her writing is just so captivating and I really enjoy the depth of her characters. I always seem to read her books in one setting (if possible) and struggle putting them down for any reason. I'm super excited for the live show later tonight and can't wait to see what everyone else thought! If you haven't followed Jess or Samantha (who host the Historical Hellions) definitely give them a follow and join in the club! They both have fantastic videos!

Have you read Then Came You?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Then Came You, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 371 pages, published in 1993

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

Love Only Once by Johanna Lindsey

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The February book for the Historical Hellions Book Club is Johanna Lindsey's Love Only Once. It is the first book in her massive (12 books) and popular series, the Malory-Anderson Families. I have read a few of Johanna's stand-a-lones back in high school, but don't really remember much outside of her name. This was before I starting using goodreads or tracking my reads, so I'm sure I'll find them again at some point and remember them as I read.

This book focuses on Regina, the niece to the four main brothers of the Malory family. She is accidentally kidnapped by Nicholas who thinks it was his ex-mistress that he was keeping from the ball she had been talking about for months. So the first couple chapters were a little too much info-dump and I wish we would've met the cousins and uncles and everybody a little more naturally. I had to reread a couple pages because I was getting the uncles confused and their brief story lines. Once we got past that though, I loved how they met. Once Nicholas realizes it's not his ex-mistress, he returns to his house expecting a lady having fits. Instead, he gets Regina who is just excited to have another adventure, especially since she hasn't had one since she met her majority. I loved how amused Regina was and so fed up with being on the marriage mart. All of the gentleman she thought she loved or could even stand marrying aren't approved by all three of her uncles (the fourth is exiled at the moment). 

Her uncles cracked me up and I loved the banter between the brothers. I also loved the banter between Regina and Nicholas. Where this dropped down from 5-stars for me is when he abandons her at his estate with the horrid dowager-countess. I did understand that she had her own issues, but I also feel like if she wanted a kid bad enough, she would've been able to love Nicholas a little, even just as her nephew. This is the crux of the issues between then, Nicholas is a bastard. He doesn't want it to get out. He also thinks that Regina will revile him once she finds out, which will break his heart. All this despite her loving relationships with some of her cousins whom are bastards as well. Instead he dumps her (on their wedding night) at his estate and leaves the country. 

I didn't like that Regina didn't share she was pregnant, but I understood her reasoning. I feel like she should've said something before the baby was born, especially when he didn't come back a couple months later. Granted they didn't know where he was, but I'm sure they could've found him earlier. I also wish he didn't become a slave owner during that time away. It was such a small portion of the book, that it just didn't need to be there.

I also didn't like that Regina didn't realize Nicholas had issues with being a bastard. I know she had cousins that were, but I feel like she would still know society's views on being such and how that can affect someone. I just wanted them to talk it out and stop dancing around each other. I'll most likely continue the series, but it's not at the top of my tbr. Plus it's fun (sometimes) to read older romances. The start of this book was really what shined. I wish it had stayed more along that vein throughout the book.

Have you read Love Only Once?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Love Only Once, Johanna Lindsey, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 344 pages, published 1985