Review: No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt

No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt
Series: Greycourt, Book 3
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Historical Romance 

ISBN: 9781538763582
Release Date: December 10, 2024
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible
Elizabeth Hoyt Reading Order

Cold and brooding, Julian Greycourt, the heir to the Windemere dukedom, has always known that his uncle the duke was responsible for his mother’s death. Now he’s determined to exact revenge against his uncle—if he can find the proof. But Julian hides a secret so explosive it will destroy him if it’s ever revealed, and the duke is watching. The last thing he needs is a distractingly sensual woman whose very presence threatens to destroy his plans.

Sunny and cheerful, Lady Elspeth de Moray doesn’t know why her brother and Julian fell out all those years ago, but she can’t let the autocratic man get in the way of her mission: to retrieve an ancient family text that she believes is in one of the Windemere libraries. Locating the tome, however, proves trickier than she anticipated, and at each turn, she’s thrown together with the maddingly mysterious Julian. And the temptation to give in to her family’s greatest enemy grows stronger with each intriguing encounter…

It has been quite some time since I’ve had the chance to dive into an Elizabeth Hoyt novel, so from the first page with the fairytale beginning it was like greeting an old friend. No Ordinary Duchess is an engaging story that isn’t perfect but is entertaining nonetheless.

Julian Greycourt holds himself apart from everyone, even his siblings. Then Elspeth de Moray bursts into his life, making his walls crumble and his knees weak. Julian is searching for proof that will save his siblings from the machinations of his evil uncle. Elspeth is searching for an ancient diary she believes will help bring the Wise Women she grew up among back together. The diary is supposed to be at one of the Greycourt family libraries and getting to it may be harder than she first thought.

Julian and Elspeth are a grumpy/sunshine duo who are utterly charming. Julian is a secret submissive in the bedroom and is terrified of what would happen if knowledge got out. Elspeth cares not a whit for society’s opinion and she’s a perfect fit for Julian. Their romance is sensual and sweet and I enjoyed watching them fall in love.

Putting a rating on No Ordinary Duchess is hard for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters, and Hoyt’s writing swept me away. That being said, this book is not without its flaws. The threats against Julian, Elspeth, and their loved ones are many but all dispatched with very little consequence, the climax of the story feeling weak in comparison to the setup. As with the first Greycourt book, the Wise Women plotlines feel underdeveloped. The ongoing mystery of who murdered Julian’s sister years ago continues to slowly unfold, though that’s to be expected as there are many Greycourt and de Moray siblings yet to find love.

No Ordinary Duchess is a flawed story, but for me, the characters and Hoyt’s writing make up for it. I absolutely enjoyed seeing Julian and Elspeth come into their own, claim what they wanted, and fall in love. I cannot wait to see where Elizabeth Hoyt takes the Greycourts and de Morays next!



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Fortune’s Holiday Surprise by Jennifer Wilck

Fortune’s Holiday Surprise by Jennifer Wilck
Series: The Fortunes of Texas: Fortune’s Secret Children, Book 5
Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Contemporary Romance 

ISBN: 9781335996763
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Harlequin

He’d lost the holiday spirit…

Until she brought light back into his life.

Rancher Arlo Fortune is devastated when he loses his best friend in a tragic accident. The only thing that heals him is opening his heart to his friend’s adorable daughter, Aviva…and his friend’s grieving sister-in-law, the brand-new guardian to the orphaned child. Carrie Kaplan has one mission: to lavish her niece with love in a Jewish home like her sister always wanted. Her stop in Chatelaine is only temporary. Right? But as she teaches Aviva about the miracle of Hanukkah, holiday magic might just beckon from Arlo’s ranch around the bend…

Fortune’s Holiday Surprise is a story of finding love after loss. Carrie and Arlo’s worlds have both been turned upside down. Carrie lost her sister and brother-in-law and now finds herself in a small Texas town, guardian to her niece. Her brother-in-law was Arlo’s best friend and he’s grieving for the man and still coming to terms with the death of his father and the secrets that man may have left behind. It sounds like a lot – and it is – but author Jennifer Wilck balances the sadness with sweetness and light.

Carrie is learning to be a mother and to find her footing in a world without her sister. Randi wanted Carrie to teach her daughter, Aviva, their traditions and the Jewish representation in Fortune’s Holiday Surprise is wonderful. Carrie’s family are Sephardic Jews and it was a delight to see the Sephardic-specific Hanukkah traditions and treats featured here. Carrie and Aviva also help Arlo re-find the spirit of Christmas and the family traditions the Fortunes enjoy, which was charming.

Arlo and Carrie’s romance is sweet, low on drama, and just plain charming. Grief and love for Aviva bring them together but the friendship then love story that develops out of it is lovely. Fortune’s Holiday Surprise is a delightful holiday treat celebrating love, family, and traditions old and new.



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: The Mirror by Nora Roberts

The Mirror by Nora Roberts
Series: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 2
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance with Paranormal Elements 

ISBN: 9781250288776
Release Date: November 19, 2024
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible

When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming, the music playing, are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets.

Then one night the mirror appears and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past—and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again—a centuries-old curse that must be broken—and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.

The stories of Lost Bride Manor’s inhabitants continue to unfold in The Mirror. Sonya, Trey, Cleo, and Owen live, love, and tease out the manor’s mysteries as they prepare to battle a supernatural evil. The Mirror is very much a bridge book, but Nora Roberts’s writing is so engaging that it’s easy to become lost in the tale.

After traveling through the mirror and seeing the death of another of the manor’s brides, Sonya is more determined than ever to stop Hester Dobbs. I enjoyed watching Sonya put the pieces together, to come to know the brides and those they love. It makes what’s at stake much more interesting when you learn the stories of the manor’s ghostly residents. Dobbs is as evil as ever, trying to thwart our heroes so she can continue her reign of hatred and sorrow. I liked that no matter how terrifying Dobbs is, Sonya, Trey, Cleo, Owen, and their assortment of animals don’t back down. They live their lives, the couples continue or start to fall in love, and they breathe life into the manor.

I loved the rich atmosphere and the various stories Roberts wove through this book. The story was engaging from beginning to end, no doubt. That being said, I sat with it for a few days after finishing reading, unsure of how to rate the story as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed it because I liked the characters and Roberts’s writing. However, The Mirror is definitely part of a greater whole rather than an entire book on its own. Where the first Lost Bride tale, Inheritance, introduced the world and was satisfying in its own right (cliffhanger and all), this story is hampered slightly the fact that the overarching arc means our heroes can only gather pieces and prepare for the final battle. I cannot wait to see what Nora Roberts has in store for readers with the final Lost Bride book!



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot

Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance 

ISBN: 9780593815830
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible

Love comes home for the challah-days in this sparkling romance.

Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.

Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one other: Seth.

As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.

Abby Cohen is grumpy and she has reason to be. As the only Jew on her small town’s tourism board, she’s been tasked with throwing a Hanukkah festival… in a few weeks, after Hanukkah, and maybe can it really be all about Christmas with some blue thrown in? Abby can’t say no, but she’s not about to let a Hanukkah festival become a Christmas festival in disguise so she turns to the only other Jew in the area for help: her most irritating customer, Seth Abrams. Seth is all-too-happy to help, but he needs something in return: a Nice Jewish Girl to bring home to his family for the holidays. Abby agrees to the bargain but of course, fake dating becomes something much more real as the two spend Hanukkah together in New York City.

Love You a Latke is an entertaining romance with a grumpy heroine, a sunshiny hero, and some lovely Hanukkah spirit. Abby is closed-off with walls that are miles high, covered in spikes…you get the picture. She grew up in an emotionally abusive household and hasn’t been able to open up as a result. When she left home, she also left the Jewish community and she feels the loss keenly. Going home with Seth brings that all back: the traditions, the sense of belonging, the history, and the joy. It was lovely to watch Abby get that part of herself back, to feel rooted in her community again. Seth is a sunshiny hero who has a problem with confrontation. I liked Seth, but I felt like we could have gone deeper into his character – I wanted a bit more from him. I absolutely adored his group of friends and how they absorbed Abby into their circle. As for the romance, it’s a foregone conclusion that Seth and Abby are going to fall in love. But while I absolutely enjoyed them together I did want a touch more to really take this book to the next level.

Amanda Elliot really brings the Hanukkah spirit to Love You a Latke and it’s one of my favorite things about this story. The Jewish representation is solid there were many things that delighted me throughout the story. It definitely made me want to brave the cold and celebrate Hanukkah in New York City.

There are a lot of things to enjoy about Love You a Latke. Abby’s journey is the heart of the book and it’s a road I liked travelling with her. Her romance with Seth may not have been as spectacular as I wanted, but it was still solid and Elliot didn’t inject any false drama to the story to detract from the happily ever after. All in all, this is a great read for anyone wanting a Hanukkah romance.



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Female/Female Contemporary Romance 

ISBN: 9780593550595
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible

It's been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she’s doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in, but she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado—it is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet’s upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane’s sister Adele also brought a friend home—and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton.

All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas—and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she’s stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers—which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele’s mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won’t talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did.

After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together—Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin—and it all feels painfully familiar. But it’s all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts…right?

Brighton Fairbrook and Charlotte Donovan were instant best friends at age twelve when Brighton moved in next door. From friends to lovers to fiancées, everything seemed to be going perfectly until their wedding day when Brighton left Charlotte at the altar. It’s been five years since then and the two haven’t spoken…until they find themselves going home with a friend for Christmas and discover themselves in the same place. The love, the spark, and the longing are all still there no matter how much Charlotte in particular tries to deny it. Is there a holiday miracle in the cards for two women who are so far apart yet so clearly made for each other?

Sometimes a book grabs your heartstrings from the first and doesn’t let go and that’s exactly what Make the Season Bright did for me. With Charlotte and Brighton’s story, Ashley Herring Blake has delivered a second chance romance that is bright, joyful, bittersweet, and just so lovely that I couldn’t put it down for a minute.

Charlotte and Brighton – Lola and Bright – endeared themselves to me from the very first. Charlotte is so achingly lonely that she broke my heart. She sees herself as forgettable and easy to leave and has put up walls to try and protect her fragile heart. She’s professionally incredibly successful but personally struggling. Brighton grew up with love, but she too is hurting. She’s at a crossroads, having lost her passion for music after her band dumped her. When the two of them meet again, it throws each off their stride. The love, the memories are strong and present even as they pretend not to know one another.

Brighton and Charlotte are both lovely, messy, flawed, and completely engaging heroines. They’ve made mistakes in their lives and with each other and continue to do so while they learn and grow. I loved their imperfections as much as their charms – it made them human and made me wish they were real so I could be friends with them. While Charlotte and Brighton have smoking chemistry everyone can see, that won’t solve anything (though it does make for some delicious tension). Love isn’t even enough to solve things and Herring Blake makes her heroines work for their happily ever after.

Make the Season Bright is about love, growth, letting down your walls and opening up in order to live a full life. It’s fun, sensual, joyfully queer, and sparkling with Christmas cheer. Quite simply, I loved this book. Charlotte, Brighton, and their friends all made me wonderfully happy and Herring Blake’s writing fully immersed me in their world. I cannot wait to enjoy Lola and Bright’s love story again and again and again.



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: The Highlander’s Untamed Tempest by Heather McCollum

The Highlander’s Untamed Tempest by Heather McCollum
Series: The Brothers of Wolf Isle, Book 5
Publisher: Entangled: Scandalous 

Genre: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9781649371218
Release Date: September 30, 2024
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Entangled
Heather McCollum Reading Order

Eagan Macquarie doesn’t believe in love—nor does he want a wife. There is an entire world beyond Wolf Isle, and mo Dhia, he will seek it out. But the Macquarie curse will continue to haunt his family unless Eagan finds a suitable bride to break the hex once and for all. Now he must choose between a marriage he does not want or abandoning his family…until a comely stranger catches his eye.

Claudette Tempest Ainsworth—known as Tessa—is a learned French midwife who’s been waiting for her father to come fetch her from the harsh winds and sea of Scotland and return her to her beloved France. But with Eagan, she finds something unexpected: a flame of desire, hot and almost terrifying in its intensity. But even the brightest fires cannot sustain the inevitable distance that’s soon to follow…

Tessa seems to have bewitched them all. But when danger threatens Wolf Isle and the Macquaries, Eagan discovers that the love he never believed in might be his clan’s salvation…or its devastating downfall.

The youngest Macquarie brother will be the one to finally break the curse or doom his home forever in The Highlander’s Untamed Tempest. Heather McCollum brings her Brothers of Wolf Isle series to a close with Eagan Macquarie and Tessa Ainsworth, a mysterious woman with the power to change the course of the Macquarie clan.

Eagan loves his family but with everyone wanting him to fall in love and get married in order to break the curse, he’s chomping at the bit to leave. His bags are packed, he’s ready to set sail, and then he meets Tessa. The mysterious French beauty with a powerful voice is on Wolf Isle, waiting for her father to come back for her. Tessa is smart, talented, and a survivor, but she’s also deeply lonely. It’s lust at first sight for both her and Eagan and they have an easy chemistry that makes them an enjoyable couple to read about.

Tessa has no plans to stay on Wolf Isle and Eagan doesn’t want to be tied down, but the two of them can’t bear to be apart. The biggest obstacle in the romance is not just the two of them deciding if they want to stay on Wolf Isle and be together, but the dastardly French pirate Jandeau. The series’ main villain is back, as one would expect, and determined to destroy the Macquaries. How he plans to do so is not going to surprise readers, so really the tension is finding out how Tessa and the Macquaries will defeat him.

The Highlander’s Untamed Tempest is an entertaining romance with strong protagonists who know what they want and aren’t ashamed to go after it. I was rooting for Tessa and Eagan every step of the way and the result was a satisfying end to the Brothers of Wolf Isle series.



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: It Takes a Rake by Anna Bennett

It Takes a Rake by Anna Bennett
Series: Rogues to Lovers, Book 3
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Genre: Historical Romance 

ISBN: 9781250793959
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible

She’s about to face her biggest challenge yet…
Since she was a girl, Miss Kitty Beckett has been adept at finding trouble: sneaking brandy, running away, and getting under the skin of the boy who, like her, was an apprentice to an architect. Now Kitty’s a talented heiress who can take a dry building plan and breathe life into it with her pencils and paints. Also? She can spot a rake at a hundred yards—and she won’t be tricked or charmed into marriage. Certainly not by a man who might interfere with her dreams. When Bellehaven Bay announces its first ever architectural design contest, she vows to win—with a little help from her childhood rival.

Turning her buttoned-up nemesis into a certified rake.
Leo Lockland, a hardworking architect with a gift for numbers, has returned home after a few years in London, and he has secrets. The biggest? He’s been in love with Kitty since they were both apprentices. She refuses to give her heart to any man, but Leo’s determined to beat the odds—even if it means learning how to be a rake. Fortunately, Kitty’s willing to tutor him in the nuances of fashion, flirtation, and seduction in exchange for his help with the contest. But the whole plan would fall apart if she knew how he felt, so he’ll have to be very convincing.

Let the lessons begin…
Leo proves to be a surprisingly quick study in the ballroom, on the beach, and in the bedchamber. Before long, he’s softening Kitty’s hard edges with his wicked words and kissing his way past all her defenses. Perhaps she’s a bit too skilled at teaching, because her lessons are threatening to backfire, putting her closely guarded heart in grave danger…

Anna Bennett brings her Rogue to Lovers trilogy to a close with It Takes a Rake. The youngest of the Bellehaven Belles takes center stage in this friends/rivals-to-lovers romance.

Kitty Beckett wants two things: to become a successful architect and to find a partner who she will never be in danger of falling in love with. Kitty has severe abandonment issues and with her closest friends seeming to be moving along in life without her, she is determined to put her career first and never be hurt by a husband who could leave her. Then her old nemesis comes back into town and threatens to make Kitty examine what she truly wants out of life.

Leo Lockland has been away from Bellehaven Bay for four years but one thing that hasn’t changed is how much he yearns for Kitty. Now he’s back and the two of them are teamed up for an architectural design competition. He'll help Kitty with her calculations and in exchange, she will help him win the “mystery woman” who has his heart. Leo knows it’s a risk that may backfire when Kitty learns it is she he’s in love with, but it’s a risk he has to take. He’ll let him turn her into a rake if that’s what’s necessary to win her over.

Leo is an absolutely endearing hero. He’s so sweet and kind and I loved that he wasn’t a dashing rogue at heart. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to change him and worried Kitty’s attempts to alter a perfectly delightful man into a rake would take away from what made him such an appealing hero. What happens I’ll leave readers to discover but suffice it to say that Kitty’s lessons make her look at her old friend and competitor in a way she rarely allowed herself to do in the past.

Kitty was a bit harder for me to connect to, mostly because she was intent on keeping her walls up high. I liked watching her lower them, however, but Leo has his work cut out in order to get her to trust him. Their romance is slow to start because both of them are holding something back, but Bennett makes things work out in an organic manner, resulting in a satisfying happily ever after.

Though It Takes a Rake is the third book in the Rogues to Lovers series, it can easily be read as a standalone. I liked seeing where Poppy, Keane, Hazel, and Blade are now, and how they come together to support Kitty, but it wasn’t necessary to enjoy Leo and Kitty’s story. All in all, this was a sweet romance that had some bumps in the road to an ending that was quite lovely.



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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