Tag: historical romance

Review: The Vixen

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EmeraldThe Vixen by Christi Caldwell
My Rating: 3-Stars
 Genre: Historical Romance
 Release Date: August 5, 2018
 Formats: Kindle Unlimited, eBook ($5), Paperback ($10)

The Vixen is book #2 in the Wicked Wallflowers series. Unlike the first book, this story feels like it solidly belongs in the new series instead of a continuation of the previous one, which was a bonus.

Ophelia Killoran is one of the bastard daughters of Mac Diggory and grew up a street rat in his gang. Now living at the Hell and Sin gaming club with her sister, Gertrude, and street brother, Broderick, she is next in line to be pushed into the Ton’s marriage mart. Ripped away from the life she knew, she is soon in misery at dinner parties and in the ballrooms of London.

Connor Steele is a private investigator that was forced into a street life after his parents’ deaths. He and Ophelia met a few times as they grew up, with a chance encounter causing Connor to be rescued and raised by a noble. His current investigation causes their paths to cross again, and secrets from their pasts will put the two to their test.

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Review: The Hellion

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The HellionThe Hellion by Christi Caldwell
My Rating: 4-Stars
 Genre: Historical Romance
 Release Date: available now
 Formats: Kindle Unlimited, eBook ($5), Paperback ($10)

The Hellion is book #1 in the Wicked Wallflowers series. While it’s a nice introduction to the Killoran family, it should have been the final installation in its predecessor series, Sinful Brides. For that reason alone, I detracted a star from an otherwise excellent story.

Cleopatra Killoran will give up everything if it means protecting her sisters. When their older brother arranges one of the ladies to be sponsored for the London Season by their former gaming hell rivals, Cleo steps into a world she detests. The timing couldn’t be worse: the Hell and Sin Club was just destroyed in a fire, and suspicions are high regarding her family’s involvement.

Adair Thorne could do nothing to save his family’s gaming hell. In one night, the Hell and Sin Club, along with his home and his future, was consumed in a blaze. Now residing at his brother’s home, he tasked with keeping watch on Cleopatra, and ensuring that she isn’t doing anything devious. This puts the two in constant contact and at constant odds, and soon the couple discover that there’s much more behind the roughened street image they each possess.

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A Month of Reading: March Book Reviews

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Unlike most semesters, I found time to read during the mid-semester crunch, and so I took full advantage of it. Between reading and obsessively trying for 100% achievement completion in Banished I don’t have time for individual reviews, so instead I’m giving a brief summation of my impressions for each book. Titles include:

Romance – Barbarian’s Redemption, Fire in His Blood, Collide, Apricot Kisses, seven books from the Morna’s Legacy series, Scandalous Desires, and It’s Complicated.

Fantasy – Only the Stones Survive, The Graveyard Book, Collide (heavy genre overlap), A Darker Shade of Magic, and A Gathering of Shadows.

Reviews are in order of date read. (My star ratings are explained here.)

Only the Stones Survive by Morgan Llywelyn 1.5-Stars

It took me two weeks to finish this book, and then only because I brought it as my only form of entertainment (by that point, nearly halfway through it) on a trip with a four hour layover followed by a four hour flight. I’m still not quite sure what this story was about. The characters were forgettable and far too numerous for the book’s length and the plot dragged. Every time it finally would get interesting, the viewpoint would shift. I give the story one star for its world-building and a half star for being readable (even if it was boring). If you’re into Irish mythology the book may intrigue you, otherwise I’d give it a pass.

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Review: The Scoundrel’s Honor

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The Scoundrel's HonorThe Scoundrel’s Honor by Christi Caldwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unlike The Rogue’s Wager (Sinful Brides #1), Caldwell’s writing shines in The Scoundrel’s Honor. It’s a riveting story with likeable characters that evolve throughout the tale.

Ryker Black, brother to Helena (Sinful Brides #1), is a feared gaming hell owner who sees emotion as weakness and has no interest in marriage. Penelope Tidemore—sister to Patrina, Poppy, Prudence, and Jonathan (Scandalous Seasons books 4 & 5; Lords of Honor #2)—is a young lady trying to rise above her family’s scandalous name, but won’t be cowed by cruelty. An unfortunately meeting leads to these two marrying, opening Penelope to a world far grittier than anything she could have imagined and leading Ryker to deal with the consequences of letting in another’s affections.

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Review: To Redeem a Rake

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To Redeem a RakeTo Redeem a Rake by Christi Caldwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As children, they were the best of friends. Over time they grew apart. Smiles faded and they became jaded. Now he needs her help in more ways than he thinks.

To Redeem a Rake features Lord Daniel Winterbourne, the Earl of Montfort (who we first met in The Lure of a Rake) and Miss Daphne Smith, both broken people who grew up together in the country, but stopped associating with one another as teenagers.

…his bond with the marquess remained strong enough that they were friends even still. Whereas Daphne had been severed from his life like a thread dangling from his sleeve.

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