TITLE: Lady Briar Weds the Scot
SERIES: The Blakeley Manor #1
AUTHOR: Fenna Edgewood
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TITLE: Sun Crossed
SERIES: Zodiac Wolves #2
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Briggs
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The Brazen Bluestocking
The Duchess Society #1
Tracy Sumner
★★★★★
A forbidding rogue who doesn’t believe in love.
And a passionate wager.
Daughter of an earl, Lady Hildegard Templeton hasn’t conformed to what society expects from a woman of her station. Industrious and unique, she’s created an emboldened organization for women on the cusp of marriage, The Duchess Society. Called a bluestocking to her face and worse behind closed salon doors, she vows to marry for love. And nothing but. Although the emotion has never shown itself to her. Until she meets him.
Bastard son of a viscount and king of London’s sordid streets, Tobias Streeter has spent a lifetime building his empire, and he needs the Duchess Society to find a suitable wife. An asset to expand his worth in society’s eyes. But he vows his search will have nothing to do with love and everything to do with vengeance. Until he meets her.
Soon, Tobias and Hildy’s plans are in turmoil as they choose between expectation, passion, and love.
The Plot
Hildegard Templeton and the Duchess Society are hired to facilitate the match between Tobias Streeter and Matilda. It’s a marriage of convenience so Tobias gets doors opened to him within Tom and Matilda can practice medicine. But when Tobias and Matilda see sparks fly, they realize this may be more complicated than they ever imagined.
The Heroine
Hildegard Templeton is smart and witty and, having been left with a crumbling home when her brother and father died, she needs a good match to increase the Duchess Society’s business. She had an abusive father and left home as soon as she could. She refuses to marry and be under the control of a husband…that is unless she falls madly, deeply in love, like fairy tale love. She is confident is who she is despite how the ton treat a self-made spinster. But when Tobias sees her for her and not a pretty face with a title, she starts to fall, fast.
The Hero
Tobias Streeter is the bastard son of a viscount and grew up on the streets of East End. After sometime serving in the Royal Navy, he was given contracts with the East India Company and used them to make a thriving business. But he wants more; he has studied architecture and designed buildings but he wants to work with a famous architect and needs the credibility that marrying the Earl of Hastings daughter will bring. He is not sure he can give all that up for Hildy.
The Steam
The narration of the electricity flowing between them, the dirty talk, and the passionate sex is just so good!
Stand Out Moment
My heart still aches when I replay the scene of him kicking her out of his office
Who Would Like This
Do you like steamy historical fiction, then this will be an instant favorite for you too!
Final Thoughts
Oh. My. Gosh. This is an absolute favorite.
Tropes
Working class, East End, Bluestocking heroine, Abduction/Kidnapped, Shipyard, danger/suspense, Illegitimate, Architect Hero
Working class, East End, Bluestocking heroine, Abduction/Kidnapped, Shipyard, danger/suspense, Illegitimate, ArchitectHero
TITLE: Lord Holt Takes a Bride
SERIES: The Mating Habits of Scoundrels #1
AUTHOR: Vivienne Lorret
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TITLE: Highland Jewel
SERIES: The Clan Sinclair Legacy #3
AUTHOR: Celeste Barclay
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TITLE: Bratva Treasure
SERIES: The Ivankov Brotherhood #3
AUTHOR: Sabine Barclay
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TITLE: The Viper
SERIES: Highland Guard #4
AUTHOR: Monica McCarty
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TITLE: A Lady Never Surrenders
SERIES: Sisterhood of Scandal #1
AUTHOR: Bronwen Evans
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Zodiac Wolves #1
by Elizabeth Briggs
My fated mate rejected me—and now I've been captured by someone even worse.
As the half-human outcast of the Cancer pack, I've been beaten and bullied my whole life. Gaining my wolf form and my fated mate is my only chance to change packs and hope for a better life.
Except when my fated mate is revealed, he's the future alpha of the Leo pack—our worst enemies. He rejects me in front of everyone, just before the Leos slaughter my entire pack and murder my family.
I manage to escape, but then I'm kidnapped by a far greater threat: the alpha of the mysterious lost pack. The 13th sign was banished from the Zodiac Wolves years ago, and I thought they were just a myth.
They're real. They're holding me captive. And the dark, dangerous alpha is offering me something I can't refuse—revenge.
Review
Ayla spent her whole life being the outcast. She was the child of her father's affair and he resented her, so she spent her first twenty-two years being shamed and beaten by her father, step-mother and others in the pack. I am not sure how she turned out remotely as well as she did considering the abusive childhood she had. She was so optimistic about getting her wolf and hopefully a mate from a different pack! Rejection shouldn't surprise her anymore, but of course her fated mate, an alpha-heir in another pack, rejected her. Her beloved brother was killed in the brawl that followed and she barely managed to escape with her life; the mysterious Alpha of the lost pack saved her and brought her to their lands. While she is proving her trust and skills to the new pack, she starts to find what she was missing, acceptance. The new pack, and especially their alpha, begin to accept her and she even joins their pack! But just as she is feeling at home and figuring out the relationship with Kaden, her mate that rejected her appears and steals her back.
I loved this book and devoured it so quickly! I hated the abuse that Ayla endured growing up, but to see her transformation, skill, and confidence grow was amazing! I really, really, really wish we could have Kaden's perspective! I was dying to know what he was thinking throughout the book; I payed special attention to any scene involving him so I could learn as much as I could about him and his personality.
Tropes
Paranormal Romance, Alpha Hero, Abused Heroine, Virgin Heroine, Enemies to Lovers, Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Instant Attraction, Abduction/Kidnapped, Suspense/Danger/Murder
TITLE: The Hawk
SERIES: Highland Guard #2
AUTHOR: Monica McCarty
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