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Victorian Rebels #6.5
Big Duke Energy
Kerrigan Byrne and Friends Present: The Seasons of Sin 2022 Anthology Collection. Four books for four seasons from highly-acclaimed, award-winning, and USA Today bestselling authors. Big Duke Energy is all brand new content where beloved secondary characters are granted their second chances at long-awaited happily ever afters!
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne
Sebastian Moncrieff is a villain, a traitor, and a pirate, who has recently inherited an Earldom he never wanted. As a man who’s committed every sin imaginable, he knows his only chance at redemption is the one woman who ever reached through to his soul of ice. He’s kidnapped Veronica Latimer once before, and was enchanted by everything about her... This time, when he takes her, he’ll have to admit that she’s kept his heart captive since the moment they met. But can he convince her to forgive his past in order to claim a future?
LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen has lived a lifetime away from the only love he ever knew, a powerful duke's daughter. He's now returned from fighting Boney's forces, ready to put aside tragic battlefield remembrances and the memory of past heartbreak of love lost. Or that was the plan...until Thaddeus finds himself face-to-face with the one woman he soon finds he can't ever forget... Is the divide between former lovers too great to forge a future together...or can they at last have a love to last a lifetime?
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore knows that blood is thicker than water, that duty is more important than personal desire, and that some things, like falling in love, are never meant to be. Cossetted and coddled Lady Jocelyn Capehart has been bred to be the perfect lady. On the outside, she is demure, sweet, and biddable, but on the inside, a vixen longs to break free of her cage. A chance meeting at a sultry club leads to one sinfully explosive night that neither of them can forget.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
Martin "Duke" Richmond bows to no one, including any duke who protests what he publishes in his sensational gossip rag, The Midnight Cryer. Estranged from her husband for five years because of the incendiary gossip he spews, Amelia Richmond has made a life for herself smoothing "marital problems" with society's most powerful couples. Her business faces ruin when her husband, Martin, goes on a rampage against one of the most powerful dukes in the British Isles. Using her best persuasive techniques to rein in Martin, Amelia finds herself falling for him once again which is bad...very bad.
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, has been an object of fear, fascination, and salacious gossip for years. To many, his reputation would make him an unlikely savior of a baby left on his doorstep. But Ethan saw the child as perhaps a pathway to redemption. What he did not anticipate was for his jaded heart to soften toward the mysterious young woman who infiltrates his household and secretly cares for the child.
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne
Sebastian Moncrieff is a villain, a traitor, and a pirate, who has recently inherited an Earldom he never wanted. As a man who’s committed every sin imaginable, he knows his only chance at redemption is the one woman who ever reached through to his soul of ice. He’s kidnapped Veronica Latimer once before, and was enchanted by everything about her... This time, when he takes her, he’ll have to admit that she’s kept his heart captive since the moment they met. But can he convince her to forgive his past in order to claim a future?
LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen has lived a lifetime away from the only love he ever knew, a powerful duke's daughter. He's now returned from fighting Boney's forces, ready to put aside tragic battlefield remembrances and the memory of past heartbreak of love lost. Or that was the plan...until Thaddeus finds himself face-to-face with the one woman he soon finds he can't ever forget... Is the divide between former lovers too great to forge a future together...or can they at last have a love to last a lifetime?
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore knows that blood is thicker than water, that duty is more important than personal desire, and that some things, like falling in love, are never meant to be. Cossetted and coddled Lady Jocelyn Capehart has been bred to be the perfect lady. On the outside, she is demure, sweet, and biddable, but on the inside, a vixen longs to break free of her cage. A chance meeting at a sultry club leads to one sinfully explosive night that neither of them can forget.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
Martin "Duke" Richmond bows to no one, including any duke who protests what he publishes in his sensational gossip rag, The Midnight Cryer. Estranged from her husband for five years because of the incendiary gossip he spews, Amelia Richmond has made a life for herself smoothing "marital problems" with society's most powerful couples. Her business faces ruin when her husband, Martin, goes on a rampage against one of the most powerful dukes in the British Isles. Using her best persuasive techniques to rein in Martin, Amelia finds herself falling for him once again which is bad...very bad.
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, has been an object of fear, fascination, and salacious gossip for years. To many, his reputation would make him an unlikely savior of a baby left on his doorstep. But Ethan saw the child as perhaps a pathway to redemption. What he did not anticipate was for his jaded heart to soften toward the mysterious young woman who infiltrates his household and secretly cares for the child.
577 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 29, 2022
About the author
Kerrigan Byrne
74 books4,817 followersIf you're anything like me, the best night is one spent with a brawny highlander, a mysterious werewolf, a conflicted vampire, or a hot-headed Irishman. My stories span the spectrum of romantic fiction from historical, to paranormal, to romantic suspense. But I can always promise my readers one thing: memorable and sexy Celtic heroes who are guaranteed to heat your blood before they steal your heart. Lose yourself in the enchanted Celtic Isles, you never know who, or what, will find you...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
March 30, 2022
Is everyone ready for the longest review ever? No, you don’t want to read that? Okay….
TL;DR –
The Kerrigan Byrne is absolutely fabulous, but give yourself a refresher of The Duke in the Dragon Tattoo first. (5 stars)
The Christi Caldwell was forgettable. (3 stars)
The Amalie Howard scandalized me and I immediately moved some of her other books higher on my TBR list. (5 stars)
The Janna MacGregor was very steamy, but I wanted more from the characters (I haven’t read much of her work so that maybe would help me enjoy) – gave it an extra star because I loved the desk scene lol (4 stars)
The Stacy Reid was amazing – I would have loved a full length novel because I was invested in the characters and their feelings. (5 stars)
I'll forget I read the Caldwell and rate the whole thing at 5 stars. Lovely anthology!
Wait, you do want to read my 5 pages of thoughts including content warnings and sex locations?? Then read on!
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
TL;DR –
The Kerrigan Byrne is absolutely fabulous, but give yourself a refresher of The Duke in the Dragon Tattoo first. (5 stars)
The Christi Caldwell was forgettable. (3 stars)
The Amalie Howard scandalized me and I immediately moved some of her other books higher on my TBR list. (5 stars)
The Janna MacGregor was very steamy, but I wanted more from the characters (I haven’t read much of her work so that maybe would help me enjoy) – gave it an extra star because I loved the desk scene lol (4 stars)
The Stacy Reid was amazing – I would have loved a full length novel because I was invested in the characters and their feelings. (5 stars)
I'll forget I read the Caldwell and rate the whole thing at 5 stars. Lovely anthology!
Wait, you do want to read my 5 pages of thoughts including content warnings and sex locations?? Then read on!
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
October 31, 2022
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Finally, Sebastian Moncrieff’s story! Moncrieff gets the only woman who has ever touched his heart (yes, our cocky, sexy AF pirate libertine does have a heart!) and Veronica gets the HEA she so richly deserves.
Between her trembling thighs, he felt like a god. And soon, he’d convert her to belief. Not in the divine, but in him. I’ll worship your body, my lady, he thought. But you’ll be praying to me before I’m through.
Now that’s my kinda train ride 🔥
I wish this could have been a full-length novel; I liked the glimpse of Sebastian’s backstory but wanted more, more of Sebastian and Veronica together, more of everything…
He searched his empty mind for something to say until her eyes locked with his. The need to speak died as something so tender and profound passed between them, he dared not profane it with words.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Oh my. My first Amalie Howard story and I was impressed. I’ll definitely be looking through her backlist.
This was, at its core, a sensual, deliciously erotic story. Wowza, Jocelyn and Wulfric were blazing hot together. But it wasn’t just great sex; it was blossoming intimacy, too, and that added a touch of sweetness to the intense heat. And Wulfric was just so… so… aaah I’m at a loss for words. A man who stepped right out of my fantasies and into this novella. Add two families who’ve been enemies for centuries, villainous relatives (Jocelyn did stick it to them in glorious fashion), a tight plot and I was one very happy reader.
“What if I am?” she managed, knowing she was provoking the beast and willing to take the consequences. Desperate for them, even. His head cocked to one side, lips baring in a predatory smirk, eyes shining with an unholy light. “Jocelyn.” A clear warning. A last chance. Here he was, the feared, revered Wolf of Westmore in all his savage, beastly glory. She let her knees fall apart. “Punish me then.”
I also loved the nod to Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf. Every time Wulfric called her Little Red, I smiled.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥
This story really took me by surprise because I had no idea it would be so angsty and sad. It was a masterful portrait of a troubled marriage that made my heart hurt and was at times almost painful to read.
When the story begins, Amelia and Martin had been estranged for five years. He published a scandal rag to get back at the aristocracy that ridiculed and humiliated him as a young boy, stealing from him an opportunity for furthering his education. She had a kind, sensitive heart and couldn’t abide his drive to hurt others. One month into their marriage, she left him, though they stayed on good terms and met every Wednesday to have sex and spend a few hours together. Both were lonely and wanting more from their relationship but neither was able to give what the other truly needed; each, in the eyes of the other, seemed unwilling or unable to make their marriage top priority. The only way it seemed they could come together and show their need for each other was sexually and they channeled all of their anger and hurts into physical passion.
It was a bumpy road to finding their way back to one another; very two steps forward one step back. For a large part of the story I wasn’t sure they’d be able to work things out, but the author used a bit of “getting a taste of your own medicine” plus one of the oldest tropes in the romance fiction world and it totally worked for me. Lots of feels in this story and a sweet HEA.
Sometimes you need to walk through fire to forge a strong and resilient love.
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥
There is forgiveness in love.
A story of a marriage of convenience that brings unexpected love, forgiveness, healing and hope to a lonely young duke filled with anguish and regret over two rash bad decisions that forever changed lives in an instant. He married Verity so that he would have a wife to help him raise his dead best friend’s infant son (Verity’s nephew) and found the redemption his heart and soul so desperately needed. A truly beautiful story filled with feels.
“I am afraid to lose your light,” he said gruffly. “Your smile, the sweet way you look at me as if you cannot believe I am yours. Because you see, every day, I am shocked that you are mine and so damn grateful for it. I sleep in your arms, and there are no nightmares, only dreams of what our future might hold. I kiss you, and your taste destroys everything horrible that came before it. I…you make me feel in ways I cannot understand, Verity.”
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
🔥
An angsty tale of star-crossed lovers and second chances. They met as children, Edie a duke’s daughter, Thaddeus a bricklayer’s son. Secret childhood friends, clandestine lovers, they were cruelly separated by her parents who purchased him a commission so that he could “make something of himself and become worthy of her.” Soon after he’d gone off to war they married her off to a cruel man thirty years her senior.
Hello, love. My heart, my soul. That had been the greeting they’d always offered one another. A lifetime ago. It sat on his tongue, wanting to be spoken. But he’d surely lost that right to her.
Years later, she’s widowed and fate leads their paths to cross again. Lots of angst as she shares what really happened all those years ago, the sacrifices she made to keep him and his family safe. So much pain and regret it made my heart ache… all the lost years, bitterness, misunderstanding and hurt. But true love is a powerful healing force…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Finally, Sebastian Moncrieff’s story! Moncrieff gets the only woman who has ever touched his heart (yes, our cocky, sexy AF pirate libertine does have a heart!) and Veronica gets the HEA she so richly deserves.
Between her trembling thighs, he felt like a god. And soon, he’d convert her to belief. Not in the divine, but in him. I’ll worship your body, my lady, he thought. But you’ll be praying to me before I’m through.
Now that’s my kinda train ride 🔥
I wish this could have been a full-length novel; I liked the glimpse of Sebastian’s backstory but wanted more, more of Sebastian and Veronica together, more of everything…
He searched his empty mind for something to say until her eyes locked with his. The need to speak died as something so tender and profound passed between them, he dared not profane it with words.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Oh my. My first Amalie Howard story and I was impressed. I’ll definitely be looking through her backlist.
This was, at its core, a sensual, deliciously erotic story. Wowza, Jocelyn and Wulfric were blazing hot together. But it wasn’t just great sex; it was blossoming intimacy, too, and that added a touch of sweetness to the intense heat. And Wulfric was just so… so… aaah I’m at a loss for words. A man who stepped right out of my fantasies and into this novella. Add two families who’ve been enemies for centuries, villainous relatives (Jocelyn did stick it to them in glorious fashion), a tight plot and I was one very happy reader.
“What if I am?” she managed, knowing she was provoking the beast and willing to take the consequences. Desperate for them, even. His head cocked to one side, lips baring in a predatory smirk, eyes shining with an unholy light. “Jocelyn.” A clear warning. A last chance. Here he was, the feared, revered Wolf of Westmore in all his savage, beastly glory. She let her knees fall apart. “Punish me then.”
I also loved the nod to Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf. Every time Wulfric called her Little Red, I smiled.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥
This story really took me by surprise because I had no idea it would be so angsty and sad. It was a masterful portrait of a troubled marriage that made my heart hurt and was at times almost painful to read.
When the story begins, Amelia and Martin had been estranged for five years. He published a scandal rag to get back at the aristocracy that ridiculed and humiliated him as a young boy, stealing from him an opportunity for furthering his education. She had a kind, sensitive heart and couldn’t abide his drive to hurt others. One month into their marriage, she left him, though they stayed on good terms and met every Wednesday to have sex and spend a few hours together. Both were lonely and wanting more from their relationship but neither was able to give what the other truly needed; each, in the eyes of the other, seemed unwilling or unable to make their marriage top priority. The only way it seemed they could come together and show their need for each other was sexually and they channeled all of their anger and hurts into physical passion.
It was a bumpy road to finding their way back to one another; very two steps forward one step back. For a large part of the story I wasn’t sure they’d be able to work things out, but the author used a bit of “getting a taste of your own medicine” plus one of the oldest tropes in the romance fiction world and it totally worked for me. Lots of feels in this story and a sweet HEA.
Sometimes you need to walk through fire to forge a strong and resilient love.
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥
There is forgiveness in love.
A story of a marriage of convenience that brings unexpected love, forgiveness, healing and hope to a lonely young duke filled with anguish and regret over two rash bad decisions that forever changed lives in an instant. He married Verity so that he would have a wife to help him raise his dead best friend’s infant son (Verity’s nephew) and found the redemption his heart and soul so desperately needed. A truly beautiful story filled with feels.
“I am afraid to lose your light,” he said gruffly. “Your smile, the sweet way you look at me as if you cannot believe I am yours. Because you see, every day, I am shocked that you are mine and so damn grateful for it. I sleep in your arms, and there are no nightmares, only dreams of what our future might hold. I kiss you, and your taste destroys everything horrible that came before it. I…you make me feel in ways I cannot understand, Verity.”
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
🔥
An angsty tale of star-crossed lovers and second chances. They met as children, Edie a duke’s daughter, Thaddeus a bricklayer’s son. Secret childhood friends, clandestine lovers, they were cruelly separated by her parents who purchased him a commission so that he could “make something of himself and become worthy of her.” Soon after he’d gone off to war they married her off to a cruel man thirty years her senior.
Hello, love. My heart, my soul. That had been the greeting they’d always offered one another. A lifetime ago. It sat on his tongue, wanting to be spoken. But he’d surely lost that right to her.
Years later, she’s widowed and fate leads their paths to cross again. Lots of angst as she shares what really happened all those years ago, the sacrifices she made to keep him and his family safe. So much pain and regret it made my heart ache… all the lost years, bitterness, misunderstanding and hurt. But true love is a powerful healing force…
March 5, 2022
5 fiery stars for Kerrigan Byrne!
I had the privilege of beta reading The Earl on the Train, one of the novellas within this anthology, and what a read!! First of all, I love seeing characters from past books, and it was so fun to see Sebastian Moncrieff—the pirate. The womanizer. The scoundrel. Oh let the power of one woman totally transform and man such as this and bring him to his knees gasping for air.
The way he describes how a woman’s private areas and the changes that arousal brings to it made me hot under the collar.
“Your intimate skin flushes with color,” he continued, in a voice barely above a whisper, threatening to be swept away by the rhythmic cacophony of the train. “The hood of delicate flesh becomes swollen, engorged, revealing the clever, magical button it protects. That delicious little place where so much of your pleasure is contained. The folds will be slippery with desire, and if paid the correct attention, you’ll release a flood of moisture upon your climax that would take me two swallows to contain. Your muscles would clench at my cock with powerful, chaotic little spasms. Trust me, my beauty, these are things that cannot be feigned. Surely you know that.”
This story was EVERYTHING!! Only Kerrigan can write historical romance like this. This is the kind I like. Seduction at its finest. Passionate desires evoked with every word and paragraph. KB is a wordsmith genius and I am devoted to her always.
I had the privilege of beta reading The Earl on the Train, one of the novellas within this anthology, and what a read!! First of all, I love seeing characters from past books, and it was so fun to see Sebastian Moncrieff—the pirate. The womanizer. The scoundrel. Oh let the power of one woman totally transform and man such as this and bring him to his knees gasping for air.
The way he describes how a woman’s private areas and the changes that arousal brings to it made me hot under the collar.
“Your intimate skin flushes with color,” he continued, in a voice barely above a whisper, threatening to be swept away by the rhythmic cacophony of the train. “The hood of delicate flesh becomes swollen, engorged, revealing the clever, magical button it protects. That delicious little place where so much of your pleasure is contained. The folds will be slippery with desire, and if paid the correct attention, you’ll release a flood of moisture upon your climax that would take me two swallows to contain. Your muscles would clench at my cock with powerful, chaotic little spasms. Trust me, my beauty, these are things that cannot be feigned. Surely you know that.”
This story was EVERYTHING!! Only Kerrigan can write historical romance like this. This is the kind I like. Seduction at its finest. Passionate desires evoked with every word and paragraph. KB is a wordsmith genius and I am devoted to her always.
March 29, 2022
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
Sebastian Moncreiff is a pirate, betrayer of his best friend, as well as a wealthy earl. He’s done nearly every dastardly thing imaginable at least once, but he knows redemption when he sees it and his takes the form of the one woman who has ever made him wonder if he could be something more. He’s kidnapped Lady Veronica Weatherstoke before and hasn’t been able to stop thinking of her since. This chance meeting means he’ll need to be truly honest with her if he hopes to establish any sort of peaceful future together.
This has been such a highly anticipated story for me. I’ve been itching for the backstory on Sebastian and the elaboration on the immediate attraction between him and Veronica and my only complaint is that this was short, although with these volatile characters I’m afraid a longer book might’ve given them time to do or say something to make me dislike them. In short, I think this format really worked and I loved the setting; I’m not sure I’ve read anything that was set on a train like this before. Given the history between Sebastian and Veronica, it’s not at all hard to believe that they would fall in love quickly when they met again, and I loved that their relationship felt so solid because they each brought that stability to the other.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen was separated from his childhood, and only love, many years ago thanks to their difference in station. He hoped his time in the military would help him prove worthy of marrying a duke’s daughter, but he returned to find her already married to another. Now Edie has been widowed and when Thaddeus finds her in need of help during a snowstorm, he realizes he can’t leave her behind and when the truth finally comes out, he realizes they never should’ve been parted in the first place.
This was a solid story, but I have to say it was not my favorite. I haven’t been enjoying the second chance trope much lately and this one was also paired with several other elements I’m not a fan of, mainly miscommunication and the heroine thinking she can’t have children and therefore making the hero’s decision for him as to whether or not they can or should be together. This to me just reinforces the idea that every woman must have children in order to be fulfilled and complete and I just can’t get behind that and lately I find that it infuriates me. Beyond that, I liked that as a couple Thaddeus and Edie fought for each other, even when they were separated by the machinations of others and neither had any idea of what the other was trying to do for them. I found that to be endearing and only Edie’s later reluctance put a damper on that sweetness since Thaddeus rapidly got over his bitterness after learning the truth behind their initial separation. I’m glad this was a novella, because any longer and I probably would’ve found the heroine at least to be too annoying, but I think this worked well in the shorter format and I liked that the hero realized his mistakes and didn’t shy away from owning them and setting about making things right.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore knows he’s not destined for love and has instead turned his attention toward doing everything in his power to ruin the Duke of Tyne, his family’s long time enemy. Tyne’s sheltered daughter, Lady Jocelyn Capehart is eager to shed the chains of her upbringing and make her own decisions, even if it is only for one night before she’s forced into marriage to a man older enough to be her grandfather. But her one anonymous night with Wulfric at his exclusive club soon turns into more than he bargained for and a connection neither can ignore.
This is probably my favorite thing I’ve ever read from Amalie Howard. There were a lot of tropes and elements employed here that I liked: the feuding families, the loose fairy tale retelling, the need to escape an arranged marriage. My only complaint was the naivete and gullibility of the heroine with regards to her family, but thankfully, with this being a short novella there really wasn’t time for that to become really annoying. The chemistry and connection between Jocelyn and Wulfric were palpable and I loved that she took her future and her desires into her own hands and did something about it. I enjoyed that Wulfric was able to set aside his pride and take hold of his own happiness after so many years of grief and tumult in his life. These elements made this a surprisingly hopeful, feel-good story in the end, and the high steam level was just another plus.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
Martin Richmond publishes whatever will make his gossip pamphlet, The Midnight Cryer the most profit, regardless of the protests of high society. This sometimes-harmful writing has led to his five-year estrangement from his wife, Amelia, who devotes herself to her work with a children’s foundling home. But with a proposed new tax threatening Martin’s paper, he has to convince Amelia to move back in with him permanently, rather than just visiting him on Wednesday nights, and that will be no small feat when she abhors the writings that keep a roof over their heads.
I enjoyed the quick cameo of Paul and Daphne from a previous book in this series that I loved, but this story itself was a bit lackluster for me right up until the end. I enjoyed Martin’s groveling and efforts to make things right with Amelia, but it took him a long time, especially for a short novella, to come to his senses and do right by her. I did like the fact that Amelia stood up for herself and refused to play second fiddle to the newspaper that ate up so much of her husband’s time. Otherwise, I felt the sexual connection and tension between these two way more than deeper emotions, and I wanted to see more of the devotion Martin claimed to feel for Amelia actualized on the page, rather than mostly in his inner monologues. Otherwise, I liked their story and believed in their commitment to each other in the end.
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
Since a terrible accident injured him and killed his best friend, Ethan Benedict, the Duke of Bainbridge, has exiled himself from society. He’s long been the subject of salacious gossip so he’s somewhat surprised to find a baby left on his doorstep for him to care for indefinitely. He’s even more surprised when a young woman claiming to be the child’s aunt also arrives, but he takes advantage of a convenient situation, making her his wife so she can be near the child. Ethan is just unprepared for how Verity’s presence in his home will change his entire bleak outlook.
I remain rather puzzled by this novella. On the whole, it just felt rushed and like some of it went off in a distinctly different direction from its original plan. The whole marriage between Ethan and Verity didn’t make much sense just because I couldn’t really see his reason for doing it as he didn’t really gain anything he had professed to want. It didn’t help that I’ve read a Reid novel previously with a heroine called Verity, so I was really confused for a while here that this heroine was also Verity and I had to go back and make sure they weren’t somehow the same character. There was also a surprisingly large number of pages devoted to the minutiae of life and wedding preparations that was just odd for a novella and it felt like those pages could’ve been used to further the development of the relationship between Verity and Ethan instead. This just felt rushed with these two going from blatant animosity to loving sharing a bed almost immediately with no real bridge in between. I just didn’t buy that instant devotion without these two even having much of a meaningful conversation on page, so overall, it was possibly my least favorite of the collection.
I’m not quite sure what exactly ties these stories together, but I almost like that better in a collection, having stories that are not necessarily interrelated but are instead their own entities. Some of these I really loved, and some were more just okay, but regardless, this is a solid collection and definitely worth the read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Sebastian Moncreiff is a pirate, betrayer of his best friend, as well as a wealthy earl. He’s done nearly every dastardly thing imaginable at least once, but he knows redemption when he sees it and his takes the form of the one woman who has ever made him wonder if he could be something more. He’s kidnapped Lady Veronica Weatherstoke before and hasn’t been able to stop thinking of her since. This chance meeting means he’ll need to be truly honest with her if he hopes to establish any sort of peaceful future together.
This has been such a highly anticipated story for me. I’ve been itching for the backstory on Sebastian and the elaboration on the immediate attraction between him and Veronica and my only complaint is that this was short, although with these volatile characters I’m afraid a longer book might’ve given them time to do or say something to make me dislike them. In short, I think this format really worked and I loved the setting; I’m not sure I’ve read anything that was set on a train like this before. Given the history between Sebastian and Veronica, it’s not at all hard to believe that they would fall in love quickly when they met again, and I loved that their relationship felt so solid because they each brought that stability to the other.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen was separated from his childhood, and only love, many years ago thanks to their difference in station. He hoped his time in the military would help him prove worthy of marrying a duke’s daughter, but he returned to find her already married to another. Now Edie has been widowed and when Thaddeus finds her in need of help during a snowstorm, he realizes he can’t leave her behind and when the truth finally comes out, he realizes they never should’ve been parted in the first place.
This was a solid story, but I have to say it was not my favorite. I haven’t been enjoying the second chance trope much lately and this one was also paired with several other elements I’m not a fan of, mainly miscommunication and the heroine thinking she can’t have children and therefore making the hero’s decision for him as to whether or not they can or should be together. This to me just reinforces the idea that every woman must have children in order to be fulfilled and complete and I just can’t get behind that and lately I find that it infuriates me. Beyond that, I liked that as a couple Thaddeus and Edie fought for each other, even when they were separated by the machinations of others and neither had any idea of what the other was trying to do for them. I found that to be endearing and only Edie’s later reluctance put a damper on that sweetness since Thaddeus rapidly got over his bitterness after learning the truth behind their initial separation. I’m glad this was a novella, because any longer and I probably would’ve found the heroine at least to be too annoying, but I think this worked well in the shorter format and I liked that the hero realized his mistakes and didn’t shy away from owning them and setting about making things right.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore knows he’s not destined for love and has instead turned his attention toward doing everything in his power to ruin the Duke of Tyne, his family’s long time enemy. Tyne’s sheltered daughter, Lady Jocelyn Capehart is eager to shed the chains of her upbringing and make her own decisions, even if it is only for one night before she’s forced into marriage to a man older enough to be her grandfather. But her one anonymous night with Wulfric at his exclusive club soon turns into more than he bargained for and a connection neither can ignore.
This is probably my favorite thing I’ve ever read from Amalie Howard. There were a lot of tropes and elements employed here that I liked: the feuding families, the loose fairy tale retelling, the need to escape an arranged marriage. My only complaint was the naivete and gullibility of the heroine with regards to her family, but thankfully, with this being a short novella there really wasn’t time for that to become really annoying. The chemistry and connection between Jocelyn and Wulfric were palpable and I loved that she took her future and her desires into her own hands and did something about it. I enjoyed that Wulfric was able to set aside his pride and take hold of his own happiness after so many years of grief and tumult in his life. These elements made this a surprisingly hopeful, feel-good story in the end, and the high steam level was just another plus.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
Martin Richmond publishes whatever will make his gossip pamphlet, The Midnight Cryer the most profit, regardless of the protests of high society. This sometimes-harmful writing has led to his five-year estrangement from his wife, Amelia, who devotes herself to her work with a children’s foundling home. But with a proposed new tax threatening Martin’s paper, he has to convince Amelia to move back in with him permanently, rather than just visiting him on Wednesday nights, and that will be no small feat when she abhors the writings that keep a roof over their heads.
I enjoyed the quick cameo of Paul and Daphne from a previous book in this series that I loved, but this story itself was a bit lackluster for me right up until the end. I enjoyed Martin’s groveling and efforts to make things right with Amelia, but it took him a long time, especially for a short novella, to come to his senses and do right by her. I did like the fact that Amelia stood up for herself and refused to play second fiddle to the newspaper that ate up so much of her husband’s time. Otherwise, I felt the sexual connection and tension between these two way more than deeper emotions, and I wanted to see more of the devotion Martin claimed to feel for Amelia actualized on the page, rather than mostly in his inner monologues. Otherwise, I liked their story and believed in their commitment to each other in the end.
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
Since a terrible accident injured him and killed his best friend, Ethan Benedict, the Duke of Bainbridge, has exiled himself from society. He’s long been the subject of salacious gossip so he’s somewhat surprised to find a baby left on his doorstep for him to care for indefinitely. He’s even more surprised when a young woman claiming to be the child’s aunt also arrives, but he takes advantage of a convenient situation, making her his wife so she can be near the child. Ethan is just unprepared for how Verity’s presence in his home will change his entire bleak outlook.
I remain rather puzzled by this novella. On the whole, it just felt rushed and like some of it went off in a distinctly different direction from its original plan. The whole marriage between Ethan and Verity didn’t make much sense just because I couldn’t really see his reason for doing it as he didn’t really gain anything he had professed to want. It didn’t help that I’ve read a Reid novel previously with a heroine called Verity, so I was really confused for a while here that this heroine was also Verity and I had to go back and make sure they weren’t somehow the same character. There was also a surprisingly large number of pages devoted to the minutiae of life and wedding preparations that was just odd for a novella and it felt like those pages could’ve been used to further the development of the relationship between Verity and Ethan instead. This just felt rushed with these two going from blatant animosity to loving sharing a bed almost immediately with no real bridge in between. I just didn’t buy that instant devotion without these two even having much of a meaningful conversation on page, so overall, it was possibly my least favorite of the collection.
I’m not quite sure what exactly ties these stories together, but I almost like that better in a collection, having stories that are not necessarily interrelated but are instead their own entities. Some of these I really loved, and some were more just okay, but regardless, this is a solid collection and definitely worth the read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
March 14, 2022
Big Duke Energy is a historical romance anthology featuring second chance stories for some of the authors' popular secondary characters. The novellas were a bit of a mixed bag for me, and I wish the steam level across all the stories had been consistent.
Kerrigan Byrne - Earl on a Train
Tropes: Villainous Hero, Widow, Revenge, Second Chance
- Sebastian Moncrieff, former pirate, boards a train where he plans to end a man's life but runs into previous acquaintance Veronica Latimer, who is chaperoning the man’s daughter.
Stars: 4.5 / Steam: 3
Christi Caldwell - Loved and Found
Tropes: Class Difference/Forbidden Love, Widow, Second Chance
- Thaddeus Phippen and duke's daughter Lady Edith reunite, and he's finally able to find out why she sent him away so many years ago.
Stars: 3/ Steam: 1
Amalie Howard - The Wolf of Westmore
Tropes: Disguised/Masquerade, Auctioned/Gambled/Sold, One Night Stand, Feuding Families/Forbidden Love
- Lady Jocelyn Capehart attends a charity auction at an exclusive club, where she bids on her family's enemy Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore.
Stars: 5/ Steam: 3
Janna MacGregor - Put Up Your Dukes
Tropes: Estranged Couple/Second Chance
- Martin "Duke" Richmond and his wife Amelia have been separated for years...are either able to keep his sensational gossip rag from coming between them?
Stars: 2.5 / Steam: 4
Stacy Reid - Duke of Every Sin
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience, Child as a Plot Point, Ruined
- Ethan, Duke of Bainbridge makes an unlikely proposal to Lady Verity, after her sister abandons a baby on the Duke’s doorstep.
Stars: 4 / Steam: 2
* I received a ARC and this is my honest review. #BigDukeEnergy #NetGalley
Merged review:
Lady Jocelyn Capehart has been bred to be the perfect lady, even if that means being bartered in marriage to fuel a feud. She's determined to ruin herself and have at least one passionate memory of her own. When she attends a charity auction at an exclusive club, she bids on her family's enemy Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore. One sinfully explosive night is hard to forget, if only there weren't obstacles in the way.
Did Amalie Howard write this story for me...? Okay, maybe not just me, but there are so many of my favorite things jam packed into this delicious novella! And it was so, so hot! I can't wait to scoop up a copy and read the rest of the stories.
Tropes: Disguised/Masquerade, Auctioned/Gambled/Sold, One Night Stand, Feuding Families/Forbidden Love
Steam: 3 scenes
* I received a copy from the author and this is my honest review.
Kerrigan Byrne - Earl on a Train
Tropes: Villainous Hero, Widow, Revenge, Second Chance
- Sebastian Moncrieff, former pirate, boards a train where he plans to end a man's life but runs into previous acquaintance Veronica Latimer, who is chaperoning the man’s daughter.
Stars: 4.5 / Steam: 3
Christi Caldwell - Loved and Found
Tropes: Class Difference/Forbidden Love, Widow, Second Chance
- Thaddeus Phippen and duke's daughter Lady Edith reunite, and he's finally able to find out why she sent him away so many years ago.
Stars: 3/ Steam: 1
Amalie Howard - The Wolf of Westmore
Tropes: Disguised/Masquerade, Auctioned/Gambled/Sold, One Night Stand, Feuding Families/Forbidden Love
- Lady Jocelyn Capehart attends a charity auction at an exclusive club, where she bids on her family's enemy Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore.
Stars: 5/ Steam: 3
Janna MacGregor - Put Up Your Dukes
Tropes: Estranged Couple/Second Chance
- Martin "Duke" Richmond and his wife Amelia have been separated for years...are either able to keep his sensational gossip rag from coming between them?
Stars: 2.5 / Steam: 4
Stacy Reid - Duke of Every Sin
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience, Child as a Plot Point, Ruined
- Ethan, Duke of Bainbridge makes an unlikely proposal to Lady Verity, after her sister abandons a baby on the Duke’s doorstep.
Stars: 4 / Steam: 2
* I received a ARC and this is my honest review. #BigDukeEnergy #NetGalley
Merged review:
Lady Jocelyn Capehart has been bred to be the perfect lady, even if that means being bartered in marriage to fuel a feud. She's determined to ruin herself and have at least one passionate memory of her own. When she attends a charity auction at an exclusive club, she bids on her family's enemy Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore. One sinfully explosive night is hard to forget, if only there weren't obstacles in the way.
Did Amalie Howard write this story for me...? Okay, maybe not just me, but there are so many of my favorite things jam packed into this delicious novella! And it was so, so hot! I can't wait to scoop up a copy and read the rest of the stories.
Tropes: Disguised/Masquerade, Auctioned/Gambled/Sold, One Night Stand, Feuding Families/Forbidden Love
Steam: 3 scenes
* I received a copy from the author and this is my honest review.
March 28, 2022
⚡️Big Duke Energy ⚡️
Seasons of Sin Anthology Collection Book 1
Release Date 03/29/2022
Publisher Oliver Herber
➪ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JXJSV9R/...
𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗯
Kerrigan Byrne and Friends Present: The Seasons of Sin 2022 Anthology Collection. In the first of four new anthologies from highly-acclaimed, award-winning, and USA Today bestselling authors, Big Duke Energy is all brand new content where beloved secondary characters are granted their second chances at long-awaited happily ever afters!
♢ THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne Sebastian Moncrieff is a villain, a traitor, and a pirate, who has recently inherited an Earldom he never wanted. As a man who’s committed every sin imaginable, he knows his only chance at redemption is the one woman who ever reached through to his soul of ice. He’s kidnapped Veronica Latimer once before, and was enchanted by everything about her... This time, when he takes her, he’ll have to admit that she’s kept his heart captive since the moment they met. But can he convince her to forgive his past in order to claim a future?
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
Finally!
Moncrieff HEA…
A noble turned pirate, who acted harshly when he felt his already shaped future being threatened. Now he has found again the woman who saw him at his lowest. A woman he never was able to forget.
Veronica might have survived a nightmare, but the monster was not the one who kidnapped her, she needed a villain to free her from her hellish marriage.
So as they meet again, the spark between them ignites as before if they are willing to let go of the past.
4 stars ♢ LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen has lived a lifetime away from the only love he ever knew, a powerful duke's daughter. He's now returned from fighting Boney's forces, ready to put aside tragic battlefield remembrances and the memory of past heartbreak of love lost. Or that was the plan...until Thaddeus finds himself face-to-face with the one woman he soon finds he can't ever forget... Is the divide between former lovers too great to forge a future together...or can they at last have a love to last a lifetime?
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
Christi Caldwell at her best!
She has a knack in matching together people everything should oppose.
After Martin’s HEA, the hero’s brother, we have a second chance romance.
Thaddeus and Edith were torn apart by egocentric people who only thought to themselves and standing, yet what chance could have the son of a builder and a Duke’s daughter.
But the betrayal runs deeper than a mere problem of rank. Edith was left with no other choice as a loyal person to comply to her kin’s demands when Thaddeus’ pain made him deaf and blind to her plight.
Still, the author portrays flawed characters who in spite of their failing, show a kindness to one another as time muted the hurt and love is never forgotten when it has its root in one’s soul.
4.5 stars ♢ THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore knows that blood is thicker than water, that duty is more important than personal desire, and that some things, like falling in love, are never meant to be. Cossetted and coddled Lady Jocelyn Capehart has been bred to be the perfect lady. On the outside, she is demure, sweet, and biddable, but on the inside, a vixen longs to break free of her cage. A chance meeting at a sultry club leads to one sinfully explosive night that neither of them can forget.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
If you look for a steamy scandalous read, here is one tale for you.
This is a naughty entertaining story circumventing most of the era rules with a lady who decides to bend them for the time being and a man who will have to choose what is worth, satisfying his need for revenge or wanting for his own happiness.
4.5 stars ♢ PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
Martin "Duke" Richmond bows to no one, including any duke who protests what he publishes in his sensational gossip rag, The Midnight Cryer. However, he is occasionally open to negotiation when it comes to special requests from his wife. Estranged from her husband for five years because of the incendiary gossip he prints, Amelia Richmond finds escape from her lonely existence by volunteering at a foundling home, helping society's most powerful people avoid her husband's rancor gossip, and sleeping with her husband every Wednesday. Not an entirely unwelcome chore. When Martin goes on a rampage against one of the most powerful dukes in the British Isles, Amelia must use her wit and best persuasive techniques to rein him in. When her chance for a happy marriage appears within reach, Amelia finds herself falling for him once again, which is bad...very bad.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
For years, Amelia and husband have been estranged, only meeting once a week to engage in the marriage bed. As while she loves him, she does not agree with his life’s occupation. Destroying others’ reputation and prospering from it goes against what she believes. So she left him but is still in the vicinity of his existence. Two strangers sharing the marriage’s bonds. Martin cares for his spouse too, but he always thought his livelihood must come first as it provides for them both. And while his wife left their home, she is just a street away. Only things are moving in an expected way when his business, their relationship and history are threatened.
What will they do when they will have to make a choice, will love be enough or not …
4 stars ♢ DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, has been an object of fear, fascination, and salacious gossip for years. To many, his reputation would make him an unlikely savior of a baby left on his doorstep. But Ethan saw the child as perhaps a pathway to redemption. What he did not anticipate was for his jaded heart to soften toward the mysterious young woman who infiltrates his household and secretly cares for the child.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
Verity left all her privileges behind when she stood for her ruined sister. So she won’t stand by and let her nephew be raised in another household than hers. She might be young and coming from a pampered lot, she has known struggles and difficulties once she renounced to her society’s life. Why also for her nephew will she do everything in her capacity to assure him a good life even enter the devil’s bargain.
Ethan is the epitome of his name and renown, he does not ask, he takes, he does not bend, he orders. Yet when a baby lands on his steps, he sees a means to atone for his past sins and mistakes. And unexpectedly the child comes with a Cherry on top. If he can protect his heart and keeps her at arm-length.
A lovely tale of a couple who both suffered for their choices, whatever it is society’s scorn or one’s own guilt. And are now making themselves vulnerable by letting a stranger inside their heart.
4.5 stars
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 hot
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbpEHl1j...
https://www.facebook.com/429830134272...
#bookstagram #historicalromance #romance #romancebookblog #romancebookblogger #bookblog #romanceauthor #bookblogger #2022read #bookstagrammer #bookreview #romancebookreviewer #arcreader #bookquote #romancestagram #readersofinstagram
Seasons of Sin Anthology Collection Book 1
Release Date 03/29/2022
Publisher Oliver Herber
➪ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JXJSV9R/...
𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗯
Kerrigan Byrne and Friends Present: The Seasons of Sin 2022 Anthology Collection. In the first of four new anthologies from highly-acclaimed, award-winning, and USA Today bestselling authors, Big Duke Energy is all brand new content where beloved secondary characters are granted their second chances at long-awaited happily ever afters!
♢ THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne Sebastian Moncrieff is a villain, a traitor, and a pirate, who has recently inherited an Earldom he never wanted. As a man who’s committed every sin imaginable, he knows his only chance at redemption is the one woman who ever reached through to his soul of ice. He’s kidnapped Veronica Latimer once before, and was enchanted by everything about her... This time, when he takes her, he’ll have to admit that she’s kept his heart captive since the moment they met. But can he convince her to forgive his past in order to claim a future?
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
Finally!
Moncrieff HEA…
A noble turned pirate, who acted harshly when he felt his already shaped future being threatened. Now he has found again the woman who saw him at his lowest. A woman he never was able to forget.
Veronica might have survived a nightmare, but the monster was not the one who kidnapped her, she needed a villain to free her from her hellish marriage.
So as they meet again, the spark between them ignites as before if they are willing to let go of the past.
4 stars ♢ LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen has lived a lifetime away from the only love he ever knew, a powerful duke's daughter. He's now returned from fighting Boney's forces, ready to put aside tragic battlefield remembrances and the memory of past heartbreak of love lost. Or that was the plan...until Thaddeus finds himself face-to-face with the one woman he soon finds he can't ever forget... Is the divide between former lovers too great to forge a future together...or can they at last have a love to last a lifetime?
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
Christi Caldwell at her best!
She has a knack in matching together people everything should oppose.
After Martin’s HEA, the hero’s brother, we have a second chance romance.
Thaddeus and Edith were torn apart by egocentric people who only thought to themselves and standing, yet what chance could have the son of a builder and a Duke’s daughter.
But the betrayal runs deeper than a mere problem of rank. Edith was left with no other choice as a loyal person to comply to her kin’s demands when Thaddeus’ pain made him deaf and blind to her plight.
Still, the author portrays flawed characters who in spite of their failing, show a kindness to one another as time muted the hurt and love is never forgotten when it has its root in one’s soul.
4.5 stars ♢ THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore knows that blood is thicker than water, that duty is more important than personal desire, and that some things, like falling in love, are never meant to be. Cossetted and coddled Lady Jocelyn Capehart has been bred to be the perfect lady. On the outside, she is demure, sweet, and biddable, but on the inside, a vixen longs to break free of her cage. A chance meeting at a sultry club leads to one sinfully explosive night that neither of them can forget.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
If you look for a steamy scandalous read, here is one tale for you.
This is a naughty entertaining story circumventing most of the era rules with a lady who decides to bend them for the time being and a man who will have to choose what is worth, satisfying his need for revenge or wanting for his own happiness.
4.5 stars ♢ PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
Martin "Duke" Richmond bows to no one, including any duke who protests what he publishes in his sensational gossip rag, The Midnight Cryer. However, he is occasionally open to negotiation when it comes to special requests from his wife. Estranged from her husband for five years because of the incendiary gossip he prints, Amelia Richmond finds escape from her lonely existence by volunteering at a foundling home, helping society's most powerful people avoid her husband's rancor gossip, and sleeping with her husband every Wednesday. Not an entirely unwelcome chore. When Martin goes on a rampage against one of the most powerful dukes in the British Isles, Amelia must use her wit and best persuasive techniques to rein him in. When her chance for a happy marriage appears within reach, Amelia finds herself falling for him once again, which is bad...very bad.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
For years, Amelia and husband have been estranged, only meeting once a week to engage in the marriage bed. As while she loves him, she does not agree with his life’s occupation. Destroying others’ reputation and prospering from it goes against what she believes. So she left him but is still in the vicinity of his existence. Two strangers sharing the marriage’s bonds. Martin cares for his spouse too, but he always thought his livelihood must come first as it provides for them both. And while his wife left their home, she is just a street away. Only things are moving in an expected way when his business, their relationship and history are threatened.
What will they do when they will have to make a choice, will love be enough or not …
4 stars ♢ DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, has been an object of fear, fascination, and salacious gossip for years. To many, his reputation would make him an unlikely savior of a baby left on his doorstep. But Ethan saw the child as perhaps a pathway to redemption. What he did not anticipate was for his jaded heart to soften toward the mysterious young woman who infiltrates his household and secretly cares for the child.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
Verity left all her privileges behind when she stood for her ruined sister. So she won’t stand by and let her nephew be raised in another household than hers. She might be young and coming from a pampered lot, she has known struggles and difficulties once she renounced to her society’s life. Why also for her nephew will she do everything in her capacity to assure him a good life even enter the devil’s bargain.
Ethan is the epitome of his name and renown, he does not ask, he takes, he does not bend, he orders. Yet when a baby lands on his steps, he sees a means to atone for his past sins and mistakes. And unexpectedly the child comes with a Cherry on top. If he can protect his heart and keeps her at arm-length.
A lovely tale of a couple who both suffered for their choices, whatever it is society’s scorn or one’s own guilt. And are now making themselves vulnerable by letting a stranger inside their heart.
4.5 stars
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 hot
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbpEHl1j...
https://www.facebook.com/429830134272...
#bookstagram #historicalromance #romance #romancebookblog #romancebookblogger #bookblog #romanceauthor #bookblogger #2022read #bookstagrammer #bookreview #romancebookreviewer #arcreader #bookquote #romancestagram #readersofinstagram
March 23, 2022
Big Duke Energy is an anthology of novellas by five wonderful HR writers. Three that I've read in the past and two that are new to me.
Kerrigan Byrne's selection The Earl On the Train was what initially drew me to it. I've needed to read Sebastian Moncrieff and Veronica Weatherstoke's story since the both appeared in The Duke With the Dragon Tattoo. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. I loved every minute of it. Kerrigan Byrne's writing as usual was amazing! 5 stars for The Earl On the Train.
Love and Found by Christi Caldwell is the story of Edieand Thaddeus. Childhood friends and then lovers, they were separated by Edie's parents. I love a good second chance romance and this one did not disappoint! 4 stars for Love and Found.
In The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard Lady Jocelyn is drawn to Wulfric, Duke of Westmore despite the centuries long bitter fued between their families. Deciding she doesn't want to be used as a pawn by her father The Duke of Tyne, she takes matter into her own hands. Wow! This novella was super steamy and so good.it was definitely a 5 star read for me.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor is the story of Amelia Richmond and her estranged husband Martin Richmond. He is the publisher The Midnight Cryer and Infamous gossip rag. Amelia feels like her husband is ruthless and doesn't agree with most of what he chooses to print. I thoroughly enjoyed their reunion. It was 4 stars of sexy fun.
In Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid Lady Verity Stanton is horrified when her sister Catherine abandons her baby Thomas on the doorstep of Ethan Benedict, Dukeof Bainbridge. She will do anything it takes to get her nephew back.Ethan is determined to keep baby that he immediately recognizes as the son of his best friend Oscar. He feels responsible for Oscar's death and vows to make up for it by looking after his son. When Verity tries to get nephew back the Duke insists the only way she can be in the baby's life is if she marries him and becomes his Duchess. I live the marriage of convenience trope and this one is very well done. This was my first time reading anything by Stacy Reid and I can't wait to read more. 4 stars for Duke of Every Sin.
This was one of the best anthologies I've read in a very long time. Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Kerrigan Byrne's selection The Earl On the Train was what initially drew me to it. I've needed to read Sebastian Moncrieff and Veronica Weatherstoke's story since the both appeared in The Duke With the Dragon Tattoo. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. I loved every minute of it. Kerrigan Byrne's writing as usual was amazing! 5 stars for The Earl On the Train.
Love and Found by Christi Caldwell is the story of Edieand Thaddeus. Childhood friends and then lovers, they were separated by Edie's parents. I love a good second chance romance and this one did not disappoint! 4 stars for Love and Found.
In The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard Lady Jocelyn is drawn to Wulfric, Duke of Westmore despite the centuries long bitter fued between their families. Deciding she doesn't want to be used as a pawn by her father The Duke of Tyne, she takes matter into her own hands. Wow! This novella was super steamy and so good.it was definitely a 5 star read for me.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor is the story of Amelia Richmond and her estranged husband Martin Richmond. He is the publisher The Midnight Cryer and Infamous gossip rag. Amelia feels like her husband is ruthless and doesn't agree with most of what he chooses to print. I thoroughly enjoyed their reunion. It was 4 stars of sexy fun.
In Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid Lady Verity Stanton is horrified when her sister Catherine abandons her baby Thomas on the doorstep of Ethan Benedict, Dukeof Bainbridge. She will do anything it takes to get her nephew back.Ethan is determined to keep baby that he immediately recognizes as the son of his best friend Oscar. He feels responsible for Oscar's death and vows to make up for it by looking after his son. When Verity tries to get nephew back the Duke insists the only way she can be in the baby's life is if she marries him and becomes his Duchess. I live the marriage of convenience trope and this one is very well done. This was my first time reading anything by Stacy Reid and I can't wait to read more. 4 stars for Duke of Every Sin.
This was one of the best anthologies I've read in a very long time. Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 17, 2022
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
5⭐️
I have been waiting for Sebastian's story since The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo, a smooth-talking pirate Earl? Hell, yes! Now, generally, I launch into detailed reviews highlighting every aspect of the story, but since I loved everything about this brilliant novella, I am going to list things that stood out the best.
I Loved this book because...
- Kerrigan Byrne. She rarely disappoints.
- Great writing & great characterizations.
- A story on a train, never read that in HR, unique.
- Very "Murder on the Orient Express" feel.
- An on the fringe, outsider, Victorian Rebel, ummmm, delicious.
- A very decisive, saucy heroine who harbours wicked fantasies, right on.
- Hero named Sebastian willing to indulge and improve upon those fantasies, you had me there, enough said.
- Excellent, jibing banter.
- Toe-curling steam. And one of the best orgasm descriptions, ever.
- A decadently delightful proposal, oh my!
*And a personal favourite was the DDLJ (bollywood) movie final train scene vibe!! The Indians will get this reference.
Oh, God, yes, and more, Sebastian please!
Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard 5⭐️
Here is the thing with pretty good novellas, they end way too quickly, and you want more!
My Thoughts
- Amalie Howard lit the page on fire with this scorching hot story.
- Generational fued, intentional self-ruination, sexy hero, super self-assured heroine, lovely romance to go with the hot chemistry, an appearance from the Beswicks & Roths. Oh, yes!
- This story makes me wanna re-read The Beast of Beswick and The Rakehell of Roth, which I will do soon.
The Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid 5⭐️
- A sweet, sexy, steamy, romantic little tale in a true Stacy Reid fashion. I loved the plot, the characters and the romance! YAY!
I have been waiting for Sebastian's story since The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo, a smooth-talking pirate Earl? Hell, yes! Now, generally, I launch into detailed reviews highlighting every aspect of the story, but since I loved everything about this brilliant novella, I am going to list things that stood out the best.
I Loved this book because...
- Kerrigan Byrne. She rarely disappoints.
- Great writing & great characterizations.
- A story on a train, never read that in HR, unique.
- Very "Murder on the Orient Express" feel.
- An on the fringe, outsider, Victorian Rebel, ummmm, delicious.
- A very decisive, saucy heroine who harbours wicked fantasies, right on.
- Hero named Sebastian willing to indulge and improve upon those fantasies, you had me there, enough said.
- Excellent, jibing banter.
- Toe-curling steam. And one of the best orgasm descriptions, ever.
- A decadently delightful proposal, oh my!
*And a personal favourite was the DDLJ (bollywood) movie final train scene vibe!! The Indians will get this reference.
Oh, God, yes, and more, Sebastian please!
Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard 5⭐️
Here is the thing with pretty good novellas, they end way too quickly, and you want more!
My Thoughts
- Amalie Howard lit the page on fire with this scorching hot story.
- Generational fued, intentional self-ruination, sexy hero, super self-assured heroine, lovely romance to go with the hot chemistry, an appearance from the Beswicks & Roths. Oh, yes!
- This story makes me wanna re-read The Beast of Beswick and The Rakehell of Roth, which I will do soon.
The Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid 5⭐️
- A sweet, sexy, steamy, romantic little tale in a true Stacy Reid fashion. I loved the plot, the characters and the romance! YAY!
March 30, 2022
This is a wonderful collection of five entertaining, well-written, steamy, historical romance novellas. Each story can easily be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. The glimpses of the primary characters and past events have piqued my interest in reading those novels.
Ms. MacGregor's novella contains an unusual marriage arrangement, a deal with a duke, a heart-warming romance and has a happily ever after ending. Fans of her outstanding Cavensham Heiresses series will enjoy the appearance of a beloved character or two.
Ms. Byrne's novella is set on a train, and is vividly described with mystery, passion, a strong heroine and an intriguing hero.
Ms. Caldwell's novella features a wounded war hero and the mending of broken hearts.
Ms. Howard's novella is a steamy tale of an enchanting heiress, a dark duke, and feuding families.
Ms. Reid's novella is about a marriage of convenience, and features a kind and caring duke, a likable, engaging heroine, an abandoned baby, and has a happily ever after ending.
Net Galley kindly provided me with an ARC of this anthology, and this is my honest opinion.
Ms. MacGregor's novella contains an unusual marriage arrangement, a deal with a duke, a heart-warming romance and has a happily ever after ending. Fans of her outstanding Cavensham Heiresses series will enjoy the appearance of a beloved character or two.
Ms. Byrne's novella is set on a train, and is vividly described with mystery, passion, a strong heroine and an intriguing hero.
Ms. Caldwell's novella features a wounded war hero and the mending of broken hearts.
Ms. Howard's novella is a steamy tale of an enchanting heiress, a dark duke, and feuding families.
Ms. Reid's novella is about a marriage of convenience, and features a kind and caring duke, a likable, engaging heroine, an abandoned baby, and has a happily ever after ending.
Net Galley kindly provided me with an ARC of this anthology, and this is my honest opinion.
January 30, 2023
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne - 3.5 stars
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard - 3 stars
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor - 4 stars
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid - 4 stars
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell - 5 stars!
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard - 3 stars
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor - 4 stars
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid - 4 stars
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell - 5 stars!
April 3, 2022
✨🍆Big Aubergine Energy🍆✨
This book gets an overall 5⭐️ for the first three stories! Amalie's was my absolute favorite and I recommend getting the book specifically to just read that story. SO HOT. Some of the stories weren’t my cup of tea but maybe you’ll love them.
My steam scale is going to be a little different here. I’ve ranked them from 1-5🌶s so my 5🌶 story isn’t necessarily five peppers but here it is for the sake of ranking. My star ratings are business as usual.
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
We started off with a bang! This story was great! Spicy with a lot of time dedicated to going down while precariously perched on a desk. I liked the setting and the urgency of both the plot and the romance. It was pirate adjacent and right up my alley.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
This story was definitely sad and emotional and very sweet. The steam was minimal but there. I read this one at a quicker pace than the first one, but I still want more. I get that it’s a novella but their story has more happy places to go since their way back to each other was so tumultuous 😭 I’ll be reading more from this author, although some of the wording and sentence structure confused me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 🌶/5
Gif reaction:
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
My absolute favorite novella of the anthology! Seriously this was fantastic. So good it HURTS. The pacing was phenomenal and it put in the WORK. My kink is highlighting pages of text because it’s all simply perfection. Reading this one felt like I was reading a 350 page book. It did everything a full novel does in less than half the space and I think that needs to be talked about more.
There was sex in the epilogue, fulfilled promises, full ravishment style sex when she sets out for sex at a club. My kingdom for familial duty that actually turns me on. Lessons in sex made learning so fun in this one. Read the anthology for this book alone and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. I will no be reading everything my Amalie Howard thank you very much.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
*Bonus* Gif reaction:
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
This one was okay but I felt like it promised a bit more steam than it delivered and I didn’t like our hero for a good portion of it. He’s apparently a villain-adjacent character in other books by the author so maybe this is a case where I needed more of his back story.
It was interesting that they still had sex even though estranged…but I simply didn’t want him having orgasms every Wednesday because he was kind of a pretentious asshole. Our heroine was great but she caved too easily and I wanted her to be the punisher.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
I love Stacy’s writing but this one didn’t give me all that I had hoped for. Where Amalie’s was a completely fleshed out story, this one could’ve been much better in full novel format. That way the chemistry and steam could’ve been given the space to grow, and some of the side character development could’ve been given extra space.
The premise was nice and felt very gothic and bewitching, but it lacked the final spark. I would've loved more development from the hero to truly feel invested. The was also pretty minimal compared to what I know Stacy is capable of/ what some of the other novellas did.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
This book gets an overall 5⭐️ for the first three stories! Amalie's was my absolute favorite and I recommend getting the book specifically to just read that story. SO HOT. Some of the stories weren’t my cup of tea but maybe you’ll love them.
My steam scale is going to be a little different here. I’ve ranked them from 1-5🌶s so my 5🌶 story isn’t necessarily five peppers but here it is for the sake of ranking. My star ratings are business as usual.
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
We started off with a bang! This story was great! Spicy with a lot of time dedicated to going down while precariously perched on a desk. I liked the setting and the urgency of both the plot and the romance. It was pirate adjacent and right up my alley.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
This story was definitely sad and emotional and very sweet. The steam was minimal but there. I read this one at a quicker pace than the first one, but I still want more. I get that it’s a novella but their story has more happy places to go since their way back to each other was so tumultuous 😭 I’ll be reading more from this author, although some of the wording and sentence structure confused me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 🌶/5
Gif reaction:
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
My absolute favorite novella of the anthology! Seriously this was fantastic. So good it HURTS. The pacing was phenomenal and it put in the WORK. My kink is highlighting pages of text because it’s all simply perfection. Reading this one felt like I was reading a 350 page book. It did everything a full novel does in less than half the space and I think that needs to be talked about more.
There was sex in the epilogue, fulfilled promises, full ravishment style sex when she sets out for sex at a club. My kingdom for familial duty that actually turns me on. Lessons in sex made learning so fun in this one. Read the anthology for this book alone and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. I will no be reading everything my Amalie Howard thank you very much.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
*Bonus* Gif reaction:
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
This one was okay but I felt like it promised a bit more steam than it delivered and I didn’t like our hero for a good portion of it. He’s apparently a villain-adjacent character in other books by the author so maybe this is a case where I needed more of his back story.
It was interesting that they still had sex even though estranged…but I simply didn’t want him having orgasms every Wednesday because he was kind of a pretentious asshole. Our heroine was great but she caved too easily and I wanted her to be the punisher.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
I love Stacy’s writing but this one didn’t give me all that I had hoped for. Where Amalie’s was a completely fleshed out story, this one could’ve been much better in full novel format. That way the chemistry and steam could’ve been given the space to grow, and some of the side character development could’ve been given extra space.
The premise was nice and felt very gothic and bewitching, but it lacked the final spark. I would've loved more development from the hero to truly feel invested. The was also pretty minimal compared to what I know Stacy is capable of/ what some of the other novellas did.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶/5
Gif reaction:
March 7, 2022
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne: 5 freaking well deserved stars! I have honestly been bugging Kerrigan like crazy on social media to write Sebastian's story for so long. I am sure I have been annoying, but it was SO worth it. I love Sebastian. He is a dangerously handsome pirate who normally only cares for himself until he meets Veronica Weatherstoke. Too bad she can't stand him and thinks he is vile, but maybe just maybe he can redeem himself? He did to me, but I have always been a Sebastian stan. I loved the chemistry between him and Veronica and how their relationship evolved. It was just perfect to me.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell: 3 1/2 stars. I did like this one, but it felt a little bit awkward to me. I also am not a big fan of the trope "I was married for so many years, and didn't get pregnant. I can't have kids so now I will martyr myself and my happiness and leave him because he deserves a family". Just something about it frustrates me because women or can't or don't want kids can't be in love and live a happy and fulfilling life? Full stop. They can, and they deserve their man.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard: Another freaking 5 star read in this anthology. Amalie really knocked it out of the park with this novella. It was jam packed with action, feels, and smoking hot chemistry. Lots of romance and surprises that kept me up late into the night reading. It's really a tie between her and Kerrigan's novella for the best one in this anthology because they were just ugh "chef's kiss" perfect.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna Macgregor: 3 stars. I feel like I have suffered from not reading all of the previous books in the Cavensham series before reading this because there was a lot of backstory that I was missing. It's probably because of this that I didn't connect to this story as much as the others or the main characters. Just some of the things they did seemed goofy to me. I am sorry, I couldn't be sleeping with my husband one day a week for five years and not one of them will budge or compromise to make things work. I wanted to just scream at them a little bit. I found their relationship to not be super believable to me. One thing I do love about Janna, is that she knows real romance and she can make me feel like her characters do truly love each other. Sadly, sometimes though it comes across more telling than showing which happened in this novella. I just wanted to feel a little bit more fire and passion between the leads. Yeah, the sex was there but was there true intimacy?
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid: 4 stars. I thought this one was a super sweet story about taking charge of your own life, making your own decisions, and finding and making your own family not just the one you were born into. I am sorry though, Ethan isn't nearly as bad as he seemed to be in the beginning. He is a big sweetheart, but didn't know how to let people in because he believes his decisions really hurt the people he loved and cared about. I was so happy to watch Verity forgive him his mistakes, and teach him how to forgive himself for those mistakes as well. Just because we are human, and make mistakes doesn't mean that we are less deserving of love. His and Verity's love healed and transformed him, and if that isn't the best version of love then I don't know what is.
I think ya'll should read this book.
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne: 5 freaking well deserved stars! I have honestly been bugging Kerrigan like crazy on social media to write Sebastian's story for so long. I am sure I have been annoying, but it was SO worth it. I love Sebastian. He is a dangerously handsome pirate who normally only cares for himself until he meets Veronica Weatherstoke. Too bad she can't stand him and thinks he is vile, but maybe just maybe he can redeem himself? He did to me, but I have always been a Sebastian stan. I loved the chemistry between him and Veronica and how their relationship evolved. It was just perfect to me.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell: 3 1/2 stars. I did like this one, but it felt a little bit awkward to me. I also am not a big fan of the trope "I was married for so many years, and didn't get pregnant. I can't have kids so now I will martyr myself and my happiness and leave him because he deserves a family". Just something about it frustrates me because women or can't or don't want kids can't be in love and live a happy and fulfilling life? Full stop. They can, and they deserve their man.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard: Another freaking 5 star read in this anthology. Amalie really knocked it out of the park with this novella. It was jam packed with action, feels, and smoking hot chemistry. Lots of romance and surprises that kept me up late into the night reading. It's really a tie between her and Kerrigan's novella for the best one in this anthology because they were just ugh "chef's kiss" perfect.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna Macgregor: 3 stars. I feel like I have suffered from not reading all of the previous books in the Cavensham series before reading this because there was a lot of backstory that I was missing. It's probably because of this that I didn't connect to this story as much as the others or the main characters. Just some of the things they did seemed goofy to me. I am sorry, I couldn't be sleeping with my husband one day a week for five years and not one of them will budge or compromise to make things work. I wanted to just scream at them a little bit. I found their relationship to not be super believable to me. One thing I do love about Janna, is that she knows real romance and she can make me feel like her characters do truly love each other. Sadly, sometimes though it comes across more telling than showing which happened in this novella. I just wanted to feel a little bit more fire and passion between the leads. Yeah, the sex was there but was there true intimacy?
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid: 4 stars. I thought this one was a super sweet story about taking charge of your own life, making your own decisions, and finding and making your own family not just the one you were born into. I am sorry though, Ethan isn't nearly as bad as he seemed to be in the beginning. He is a big sweetheart, but didn't know how to let people in because he believes his decisions really hurt the people he loved and cared about. I was so happy to watch Verity forgive him his mistakes, and teach him how to forgive himself for those mistakes as well. Just because we are human, and make mistakes doesn't mean that we are less deserving of love. His and Verity's love healed and transformed him, and if that isn't the best version of love then I don't know what is.
I think ya'll should read this book.
May 22, 2022
Five novellas featuring the secondary characters from these authors Historical-Romance series. They were all entertaining, even if I felt slightly at sea being only familiar with the Kerrigan Byrne work.
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne: 5-Stars
TOO SHORT!!! I have been waiting for Sebastian's story for a long time and it was way too short! Sebastian Moncrieff is The Erstwhile Earl of Crosthwaite who neglected to return from the fighting in India. It seems that he was more suited for pirating than Parliament. After kidnapping the Rook's wife, I'm surprised he's even alive. But not only is he alive he has escaped the hangman's noose and is now on a mission to kill the men responsible for the Shanghai Connection, a nasty group of human traffickers.
Sebastian Moncrieff is on a train and ready to kill a man when comes face to face with Veronica Weatherstoke, the one woman he knows he wronged nearly a year ago. Sebastian is not a man given to regrets but he just can't deny that he feels things for her he has never felt for any other woman. His only wish is to give her pleasure, but she tells him she wants nothing to do with him, but her body is telling him something quite different.
LOVED AND FOUND by Christi Caldwell: 3-Stars
I just couldn't get into this one. The heroine sacrificed herself for the hero's family. That was really sad, but the angst she beats him over the head with was just not good.
Thaddeus Phippen grew up very poor in East London. As a child he developed a friendship with a Duke's daughter that grew into young love until Thaddeus went into the military and Edie is forced into a loveless marriage. They come face to face years later after Edie's husband dies and Thaddeus has become a well to do investor. But old hurts stand in their way.
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard: 4-Stars
Very sexy and borderline erotic. Ton virgin, Lady Jocelyn Capehart, is set to marry an old fart picked by her father to expand his holdings. She rebels and has a night of unforgettable passion with Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore, her family's sworn enemy. You can guess the rest, but it was very entertaining.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor: 3-Stars
Not a very entertaining story. Just didn't keep my interest and I ended up not really caring how it ended. It was also very repetitive and that is always a turn off for me.
Amelia married Martin Richmond and they had a wildly sexual marriage for one month, then Martin published an article that hurt Amelia's best friend and she left him. For five years they have had an arrangement where they meet each Wednesday and have sex. Amelia feels that Martin's gossip rag, "The Midnight Cryer" is his mistress and that leaves little room for her. When a dispute with a powerful Lord causes a problem for Martin, he needs Amelia and is finally ready to put her first in his life.
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid: 4-Stars
I love this classic Historical-Romance tale of a marriage of convenience that turns out to be anything but. Verity was a spunky heroine who was determined to keep her cobbled family together and make the broody Duke love them all.
When Verity Stanton sees her sister abandon her child on the doorstep of a man known as the Duke of Every Sin. She takes a bold step to confront Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge. Ethan has been consumed with guilt and grief for the past two over the death of his best friend shortly followed by the death of his father. Verity challenges him and awakens in him feelings he has never felt before.
My thanks to Oliver Herber Books, Publisher, and Kerrigan Bryne and others, author, for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne: 5-Stars
TOO SHORT!!! I have been waiting for Sebastian's story for a long time and it was way too short! Sebastian Moncrieff is The Erstwhile Earl of Crosthwaite who neglected to return from the fighting in India. It seems that he was more suited for pirating than Parliament. After kidnapping the Rook's wife, I'm surprised he's even alive. But not only is he alive he has escaped the hangman's noose and is now on a mission to kill the men responsible for the Shanghai Connection, a nasty group of human traffickers.
Sebastian Moncrieff is on a train and ready to kill a man when comes face to face with Veronica Weatherstoke, the one woman he knows he wronged nearly a year ago. Sebastian is not a man given to regrets but he just can't deny that he feels things for her he has never felt for any other woman. His only wish is to give her pleasure, but she tells him she wants nothing to do with him, but her body is telling him something quite different.
LOVED AND FOUND by Christi Caldwell: 3-Stars
I just couldn't get into this one. The heroine sacrificed herself for the hero's family. That was really sad, but the angst she beats him over the head with was just not good.
Thaddeus Phippen grew up very poor in East London. As a child he developed a friendship with a Duke's daughter that grew into young love until Thaddeus went into the military and Edie is forced into a loveless marriage. They come face to face years later after Edie's husband dies and Thaddeus has become a well to do investor. But old hurts stand in their way.
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard: 4-Stars
Very sexy and borderline erotic. Ton virgin, Lady Jocelyn Capehart, is set to marry an old fart picked by her father to expand his holdings. She rebels and has a night of unforgettable passion with Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore, her family's sworn enemy. You can guess the rest, but it was very entertaining.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor: 3-Stars
Not a very entertaining story. Just didn't keep my interest and I ended up not really caring how it ended. It was also very repetitive and that is always a turn off for me.
Amelia married Martin Richmond and they had a wildly sexual marriage for one month, then Martin published an article that hurt Amelia's best friend and she left him. For five years they have had an arrangement where they meet each Wednesday and have sex. Amelia feels that Martin's gossip rag, "The Midnight Cryer" is his mistress and that leaves little room for her. When a dispute with a powerful Lord causes a problem for Martin, he needs Amelia and is finally ready to put her first in his life.
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid: 4-Stars
I love this classic Historical-Romance tale of a marriage of convenience that turns out to be anything but. Verity was a spunky heroine who was determined to keep her cobbled family together and make the broody Duke love them all.
When Verity Stanton sees her sister abandon her child on the doorstep of a man known as the Duke of Every Sin. She takes a bold step to confront Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge. Ethan has been consumed with guilt and grief for the past two over the death of his best friend shortly followed by the death of his father. Verity challenges him and awakens in him feelings he has never felt before.
My thanks to Oliver Herber Books, Publisher, and Kerrigan Bryne and others, author, for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.
May 30, 2022
2.5
A really meh anthology... I'm sorry but there wasn't any story that really draw me in. With some I really struggled.
A really meh anthology... I'm sorry but there wasn't any story that really draw me in. With some I really struggled.
March 29, 2022
As always with an anthology of this nature, one gets an interesting mix of writing styles by different authors and in this case, each story is full of adventure and intense romance.
The Earl on the Train: Eliminating an enemy is at the forefront of Sebastian Moncrieff's mind, but coming face to face with the siren of his dreams leaves Sebastian in shock. Whether their meeting is a good or bad thing has to be determined, but he discovers in Lady Veronica a means of finding redemption and new beginnings.
Loved and Found: Separated from her soul mate by manipulative and autocratic parents, Lady Edith is forced into a marriage with a cruel man who is many years her senior. His death may bring relief but does nothing the heal her broken heart after experiencing rejection from the only man she has loved. An accident on the way to her brother's estate inadvertently puts her in Thaddeus' path, but when she comes face to face with him, she realizes that he still hasn't softened towards her. It takes a little time for Thaddeus to learn the truth of all that happened so many years before, and when he does, he finds it may be too late to make amends.
The Wolf of Westmore: A family feud has kept warring families apart for so long that they have lost sight of the original reasons for the discord between them. Used by her family as a pawn in the accumulation of more land and the opportunity to put a further spoke in Westmore's wheel, Lady Jocelyn determines her own fate by putting herself into the enticing hands of the Wolf of Westmore. With an attraction that transcends the bitterness and recriminations between the two families, Jocelyn and Wulfric gravitate toward one another but do not count on the mischief stirred up by her conniving cousin.
Put up Your Dukes: Gentle Amelia Richmond loves her husband but cannot live with the chaos and needless pain he causes in the lives of public figures due to the scurrilous stories he publishes in his sensational newspaper. Caught in the middle, Amelia often finds herself being approached to intercede with her husband when a story is about to break, her only reward being donations to the foundling home she is passionate about. Martin loves his wife, and it is only their weekly meetings together that give him any hope for their future. However, when he goes too far and breaks the tenuous thread between them, Martin has to make a choice between his driving ambition and the woman he is in danger of losing.
Duke of Every Sin: Whilst each of the books in this anthology touched me at a different level, I felt my heart being drawn to the characters in this novella. When Lady Verity discovers that her sister is abandoning her precious child with the wicked Duke of Bainbridge, she has no choice but to intervene. Caught in the act of creeping into Ethan's home in the middle of the night, she is shocked at his proposal and the resolution he puts forward to solve their dilemma. There is a certain amount of humor in this plot and I loved the way in which it came together.
Each book in this collection is a standalone and comes to a good conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift through BookSprout and this is my honest and voluntary review.
The Earl on the Train: Eliminating an enemy is at the forefront of Sebastian Moncrieff's mind, but coming face to face with the siren of his dreams leaves Sebastian in shock. Whether their meeting is a good or bad thing has to be determined, but he discovers in Lady Veronica a means of finding redemption and new beginnings.
Loved and Found: Separated from her soul mate by manipulative and autocratic parents, Lady Edith is forced into a marriage with a cruel man who is many years her senior. His death may bring relief but does nothing the heal her broken heart after experiencing rejection from the only man she has loved. An accident on the way to her brother's estate inadvertently puts her in Thaddeus' path, but when she comes face to face with him, she realizes that he still hasn't softened towards her. It takes a little time for Thaddeus to learn the truth of all that happened so many years before, and when he does, he finds it may be too late to make amends.
The Wolf of Westmore: A family feud has kept warring families apart for so long that they have lost sight of the original reasons for the discord between them. Used by her family as a pawn in the accumulation of more land and the opportunity to put a further spoke in Westmore's wheel, Lady Jocelyn determines her own fate by putting herself into the enticing hands of the Wolf of Westmore. With an attraction that transcends the bitterness and recriminations between the two families, Jocelyn and Wulfric gravitate toward one another but do not count on the mischief stirred up by her conniving cousin.
Put up Your Dukes: Gentle Amelia Richmond loves her husband but cannot live with the chaos and needless pain he causes in the lives of public figures due to the scurrilous stories he publishes in his sensational newspaper. Caught in the middle, Amelia often finds herself being approached to intercede with her husband when a story is about to break, her only reward being donations to the foundling home she is passionate about. Martin loves his wife, and it is only their weekly meetings together that give him any hope for their future. However, when he goes too far and breaks the tenuous thread between them, Martin has to make a choice between his driving ambition and the woman he is in danger of losing.
Duke of Every Sin: Whilst each of the books in this anthology touched me at a different level, I felt my heart being drawn to the characters in this novella. When Lady Verity discovers that her sister is abandoning her precious child with the wicked Duke of Bainbridge, she has no choice but to intervene. Caught in the act of creeping into Ethan's home in the middle of the night, she is shocked at his proposal and the resolution he puts forward to solve their dilemma. There is a certain amount of humor in this plot and I loved the way in which it came together.
Each book in this collection is a standalone and comes to a good conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift through BookSprout and this is my honest and voluntary review.
April 10, 2022
The Wolf of Westmore - 4 stars
↪ i was so very happy to be in this world again, to see these characters again... and to see westmore get a happy ending ❤
it felt a bit too rushed in the second half, but the chemistry and fiery smut between our two leads was top notch (and yes, i need this to be three hundred page book pleaseee!!)
Put Up Your Dukes - 5 stars
↪ i have never heard of this author before, but i will definitely be checking out her backlist after this!! this story was second chance marriage angst incarnate, and i loved every excrutiating pining moment of it! and god the smut was so fuckin delicious 👀❤
Duke of Every Sin - 5 stars
↪ stacy reid never fails to deliver a truly genuine and mesmerising arranged marriage of two so very unlikely to fall in love people... she always makes it work. ALWAYS.
this needs to be a full novel. please, stacy reid, make this a full novel. i need it.
ethan was such a hot brooding mess, i love him 🥰
↪ i was so very happy to be in this world again, to see these characters again... and to see westmore get a happy ending ❤
it felt a bit too rushed in the second half, but the chemistry and fiery smut between our two leads was top notch (and yes, i need this to be three hundred page book pleaseee!!)
Put Up Your Dukes - 5 stars
↪ i have never heard of this author before, but i will definitely be checking out her backlist after this!! this story was second chance marriage angst incarnate, and i loved every excrutiating pining moment of it! and god the smut was so fuckin delicious 👀❤
Duke of Every Sin - 5 stars
↪ stacy reid never fails to deliver a truly genuine and mesmerising arranged marriage of two so very unlikely to fall in love people... she always makes it work. ALWAYS.
this needs to be a full novel. please, stacy reid, make this a full novel. i need it.
ethan was such a hot brooding mess, i love him 🥰
March 9, 2022
Big Duke Energy is a historical romance anthology featuring new stories for beloved secondary characters that have been granted their second chances at long-awaited HEAs. I had read from all 5 authors before and had a fun time with each of their novellas in this anthology!
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne: this is the novella I was looking forward to the most as it is part of the Victorian Rebels series (my fav KB series). This is the long-awaited romance between Sebastian Moncrieff, former pirate, and Veronica Weatherstroke, a widowed Countess. Sebastian and Veronica’s romance was first hinted at in The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo (Victorian Rebels book 6). This novella takes place after the events that went down in that book. Sebastian boards a train where he plans to kill a man on-board but ends up running into Veronica, who is chaperone to said man’s daughter. This was a very quick romp on the train novella, but I do wish we got more with this couple.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell: this was a second chance romance between Thaddeus and Lady Edith “Edie”. They first met as children when he was just 10-years-old, he was the son of a bricklayer and worker under a local builder and she was the daughter of a Duke. Edie is now a widowed Marchioness and after snow hits, she ends up crashing at his place. He’s back from battle, she’s widowed now, the former lovers reunite, enjoy a snowball fight, and have a delightful reunion.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard: I had so much fun with this one! Lady Jocelyn Capeheart, the daughter of a Duke, spends some scandalously delicious time with her father’s enemy, Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore. Wulfric, known as the “Duke of Bad Decisions” is co-owner of sultry club The Silver Scythe where he and Jocelyn (in masked disguise) spend a passionate night together. The Duke of Beswick (The Beast of Beswick) and Marquess of Roth (The Rakehell of Roth) both make appearances in this novella and are friends of the hero.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor: this was a really lovely marriage-in-trouble novella. Amelia Richmond has been estranged from her husband and living separately for 5 years. Her husband is the owner and editor of the most successful gossip paper in London and Amelia has never been a fan of his paper, after coming to blows over what he prints early on into their marriage she left. While they seem to be unable to stand one another all week, every Wednesday the couple spends the evening together and can’t keep their hands off one another.
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid: marriage of convenience novella between Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, and Lady Verity Stanton, the disgraced daughter of an Earl. After her sister abandons her 3-month-old baby Thomas on the Duke’s doorstep (the Duke’s late best friend was the baby’s father), Verity is determined to get back her nephew. But Ethan sees it as a chance to make things right after the death of his friend and after telling Verity that her nephew is not leaving, he instead offers her a marriage of convenience so they can take care of Thomas together.
Thank you to the publisher (Oliver Heber Books, XPresso Tours) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this honest review are my own. Big Duke Energy has a publish date of March 29, 2022.
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne: this is the novella I was looking forward to the most as it is part of the Victorian Rebels series (my fav KB series). This is the long-awaited romance between Sebastian Moncrieff, former pirate, and Veronica Weatherstroke, a widowed Countess. Sebastian and Veronica’s romance was first hinted at in The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo (Victorian Rebels book 6). This novella takes place after the events that went down in that book. Sebastian boards a train where he plans to kill a man on-board but ends up running into Veronica, who is chaperone to said man’s daughter. This was a very quick romp on the train novella, but I do wish we got more with this couple.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell: this was a second chance romance between Thaddeus and Lady Edith “Edie”. They first met as children when he was just 10-years-old, he was the son of a bricklayer and worker under a local builder and she was the daughter of a Duke. Edie is now a widowed Marchioness and after snow hits, she ends up crashing at his place. He’s back from battle, she’s widowed now, the former lovers reunite, enjoy a snowball fight, and have a delightful reunion.
The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard: I had so much fun with this one! Lady Jocelyn Capeheart, the daughter of a Duke, spends some scandalously delicious time with her father’s enemy, Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore. Wulfric, known as the “Duke of Bad Decisions” is co-owner of sultry club The Silver Scythe where he and Jocelyn (in masked disguise) spend a passionate night together. The Duke of Beswick (The Beast of Beswick) and Marquess of Roth (The Rakehell of Roth) both make appearances in this novella and are friends of the hero.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor: this was a really lovely marriage-in-trouble novella. Amelia Richmond has been estranged from her husband and living separately for 5 years. Her husband is the owner and editor of the most successful gossip paper in London and Amelia has never been a fan of his paper, after coming to blows over what he prints early on into their marriage she left. While they seem to be unable to stand one another all week, every Wednesday the couple spends the evening together and can’t keep their hands off one another.
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid: marriage of convenience novella between Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, and Lady Verity Stanton, the disgraced daughter of an Earl. After her sister abandons her 3-month-old baby Thomas on the Duke’s doorstep (the Duke’s late best friend was the baby’s father), Verity is determined to get back her nephew. But Ethan sees it as a chance to make things right after the death of his friend and after telling Verity that her nephew is not leaving, he instead offers her a marriage of convenience so they can take care of Thomas together.
Thank you to the publisher (Oliver Heber Books, XPresso Tours) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this honest review are my own. Big Duke Energy has a publish date of March 29, 2022.
May 9, 2022
Here is my quick breakdown review.
#1 - Recommendation - Buy it
In Order of Author on Cover
Stacy Reid: She always delivers for me. Her heroes are often infuriating, misunderstood men. And I love them.
Kerrigan Byrne: Truth be told, I only read one book by her. The book was darker in themes so I entered this with trepidation. I LOVED IT! Had just the right amount of intrigue and steam!
Amalie Howard: New-to-me author, and found an author to binge on. Delightfully complicated heroes and BOY did she bring the steam. Going to now read the other books in the series.
Christi Caldwell: Another favorite. This was a second chance and lighter story compared to the others. I had one unanswered question that I hope is revealed in upcoming books.
Janna MacGregor: New to me author and I am going to venture on a limb and say my favorite. It was a second chance, commoner story with an interesting twist. It gave a look into marriage that at the time they probably would have divorced. I loved each character and you understood their feelings and thoughts. Also another HOT desk scene.
#1 - Recommendation - Buy it
In Order of Author on Cover
Stacy Reid: She always delivers for me. Her heroes are often infuriating, misunderstood men. And I love them.
Kerrigan Byrne: Truth be told, I only read one book by her. The book was darker in themes so I entered this with trepidation. I LOVED IT! Had just the right amount of intrigue and steam!
Amalie Howard: New-to-me author, and found an author to binge on. Delightfully complicated heroes and BOY did she bring the steam. Going to now read the other books in the series.
Christi Caldwell: Another favorite. This was a second chance and lighter story compared to the others. I had one unanswered question that I hope is revealed in upcoming books.
Janna MacGregor: New to me author and I am going to venture on a limb and say my favorite. It was a second chance, commoner story with an interesting twist. It gave a look into marriage that at the time they probably would have divorced. I loved each character and you understood their feelings and thoughts. Also another HOT desk scene.
May 9, 2022
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN
by Kerrigan Byrne
4.25 Stars
I’ll admit, Kerrigan Byrne’s name on this anthology was the draw for me. Especially since her Victorian Rebels series is a favorite and The Earl on the Train is a spin-off novella. The last we saw of Sebastian Montcrief was in book six and his behavior was not at all conducive to getting his own happy ever after, let alone his own story. Yet, this is Byrne's specialty and unsurprisingly, she was able to turn the tables from the contentious situation this couple had in book six to an actual romance. It helped that we'd already seen this couple in an intimately precarious situation. It turns out that Sebastian Moncrieff had a conscience buried deep within himself and Veronica had the key to open it up and let it out. Like its predecessors, I love a romantic antihero romance and Byrne kicked it up a notch with one of the most wicked. Too short, but still fun.
I will be updating this review as I complete each of the additional stories within this collection.
March 26, 2022
Regency Romance starbursts!
Lusty dukes and their equally adventurous duchesses or those destined to be so, even if they don’t know it at the beginning. A pocketful of entertaining and raunchy Regency romances by leading lights of the genre combine to makeup a tantalising anthology.
Swoon worthy dukes with secrets and panache.Lovely ladies, their light and fate.
A lively and steamy read, with all five stories having their distinct voice and own charm.
How to measure a Duke or a Duchess? Plenty here gives food for thought.
Featuring different tropes from marriage of convenience and reformed rake through to second chance romance and enemies to lovers. Something for everyone. I must admit to a smile of appreciation for Artie a very young defender who carries a dagger in Stacey Reid’s Duke of Every Sin.
An Xpresso Book Tours ARC via NetGalley
Lusty dukes and their equally adventurous duchesses or those destined to be so, even if they don’t know it at the beginning. A pocketful of entertaining and raunchy Regency romances by leading lights of the genre combine to makeup a tantalising anthology.
Swoon worthy dukes with secrets and panache.Lovely ladies, their light and fate.
A lively and steamy read, with all five stories having their distinct voice and own charm.
How to measure a Duke or a Duchess? Plenty here gives food for thought.
Featuring different tropes from marriage of convenience and reformed rake through to second chance romance and enemies to lovers. Something for everyone. I must admit to a smile of appreciation for Artie a very young defender who carries a dagger in Stacey Reid’s Duke of Every Sin.
An Xpresso Book Tours ARC via NetGalley
March 18, 2022
One of the best anthologies I've read. Great stories and marvellous writing from all the authors.
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne - Sebastian Moncrieff from the Duke with the Dragon Tattoo has met his match, and a perfect match they are.
LOVED AND FOUND by Christi Caldwell - Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen, younger brother of Mr. Martin Phippen from It Happened One Winter, is surprised to run into his childhood sweetheart in the house he has recently bought. Second chance at its best.
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard - Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore, whom we first met in the Rakehell of Roth is surprised when he can't forget about the one night encounter he had with a mysterious lady. Love it when these rakes fall hard and fast.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor -Martin "Duke" Richmond the publisher of the Midnight Cryer, a gossip paper (seen in the Cavensham Heiresses series), and his wife Amelia have been separated for years but live across the street from each other so they can keep in touch. Loved seeing this couple finally get their HEA.
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid - Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, finds a child on his doorstep and it turns out when he saves him, he ends up saving himself.
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne - Sebastian Moncrieff from the Duke with the Dragon Tattoo has met his match, and a perfect match they are.
LOVED AND FOUND by Christi Caldwell - Lieutenant Thaddeus Phippen, younger brother of Mr. Martin Phippen from It Happened One Winter, is surprised to run into his childhood sweetheart in the house he has recently bought. Second chance at its best.
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard - Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore, whom we first met in the Rakehell of Roth is surprised when he can't forget about the one night encounter he had with a mysterious lady. Love it when these rakes fall hard and fast.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor -Martin "Duke" Richmond the publisher of the Midnight Cryer, a gossip paper (seen in the Cavensham Heiresses series), and his wife Amelia have been separated for years but live across the street from each other so they can keep in touch. Loved seeing this couple finally get their HEA.
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid - Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge, finds a child on his doorstep and it turns out when he saves him, he ends up saving himself.
March 29, 2022
The Earl on the Train
This was such a lovely (and lusty) story, I absolutely loved Sebastian and Veronica. Watching them try to move past their past, while each is in the midst of their own delicate operation, was just…wonderful! Five stars.
Loved and Found
I was really frustrated with Thaddeus and his dang pride! Edie was so sweet and kind and giving and deserved so much more than the pain she went through. I felt like the end was a bit rushed, but overall a good story. Four stars.
The Wolf of Westmore
Well this was certainly a LOT steamier than I expected, in an absolutely delicious way. Lady Jocelyn is kind and smart and everything I want in a heroine. And Wulfric….yum. Five stars.
Put Up Your Dukes
I struggled with this story. I really liked Amelia, but Martin made me really mad. Closed off and angry and intentionally hurting people to feel better about his own pain. I was really frustrated. Three stars.
Duke of Every Sin
I really liked Verity, I thought she was a fascinating character, strong and determined. I loved little Artie too, would have loved if he had his own story. Ethan was difficult, hard and angry and hurt. I wish his arc had taken a bit more time, been more gradual. He had a lot to work through and it felt rushed. Three stars.
This was such a lovely (and lusty) story, I absolutely loved Sebastian and Veronica. Watching them try to move past their past, while each is in the midst of their own delicate operation, was just…wonderful! Five stars.
Loved and Found
I was really frustrated with Thaddeus and his dang pride! Edie was so sweet and kind and giving and deserved so much more than the pain she went through. I felt like the end was a bit rushed, but overall a good story. Four stars.
The Wolf of Westmore
Well this was certainly a LOT steamier than I expected, in an absolutely delicious way. Lady Jocelyn is kind and smart and everything I want in a heroine. And Wulfric….yum. Five stars.
Put Up Your Dukes
I struggled with this story. I really liked Amelia, but Martin made me really mad. Closed off and angry and intentionally hurting people to feel better about his own pain. I was really frustrated. Three stars.
Duke of Every Sin
I really liked Verity, I thought she was a fascinating character, strong and determined. I loved little Artie too, would have loved if he had his own story. Ethan was difficult, hard and angry and hurt. I wish his arc had taken a bit more time, been more gradual. He had a lot to work through and it felt rushed. Three stars.
March 6, 2022
5 stars
Ohhh this one was on fire. Loved it.
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Merged review:
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne
5 stars
Sebastian and Veronica met in a unconventional reunion of sorts. Learning more about Sebastian was interesting as well as who is Veronica, the only women he'd do anything for. I'm glad we finally got another Victorian Rebel story especially with Sebastian. I just wished it was longer, but I really enjoyed it.
LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
3 stars
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
5 stars
Ohhh this one was on fire. Loved it.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
4 stars
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
3 stars
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Ohhh this one was on fire. Loved it.
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Merged review:
THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne
5 stars
Sebastian and Veronica met in a unconventional reunion of sorts. Learning more about Sebastian was interesting as well as who is Veronica, the only women he'd do anything for. I'm glad we finally got another Victorian Rebel story especially with Sebastian. I just wished it was longer, but I really enjoyed it.
LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
3 stars
THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
5 stars
Ohhh this one was on fire. Loved it.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
4 stars
DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
3 stars
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
March 17, 2022
Big Duke Energy
Anthology of 5 stories by 5 authors
Rating: 4 stars
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC given in exchange for review. All opinions are my own.
***The Earl on the Train*** by Kerrigan Byrne
I enjoyed the very sexy banter these two had between them and I loved that it takes place on a train. Sebastian and Veronica had known each other previously and due to that Veronica was hesitant in her feelings towards him. He has always had an attraction towards her that he saw this reunion as a chance to finally be with her.
***Loved and Found*** by Christi Caldwell
This was a second chance at romance and it was very angsty. Loved it! They had loved each other when younger, but her parents separated them. Ohhh when they saw each other again years later it was so heartbreaking because they both had suffered so much. They're both hurt, but she is the one who suffered the most because what she had to sacrifice in order to save his family was so sad.
***The Wolf of Westmore*** by Amelie Howard
This one was very steamy! They're families have hated each other for years, but it is her family who has been cruel to his. She met Wulfric some years back and has always been attracted to him. Years later she attends an auction and bids on him. She wins and spends the night with him. He never realizes that it's her ( the daughter of his enemy).
I think it lacked some romance, but it was very sexy!
**Put Up Your Dukes*** by Janna MacGregor
This one is about a married couple who have been married for 5 years, but have come to an agreement to meet only on Wednesdays to sleep together. This agreement came about because he owns a gossip magazine that she doesn't agree with the columns that are written. He's always held a grudge against the ton because of how we was treated when he was in school. This magazine is his (to me) petty revenge against all those who hurt him.
Sadly, this was my least favorite of the five stories. I just didn't like the ML and his reasons for printing what he did seemed a little selfish. He didn't change his ways until he finds himself on the other end of the gossip mill.
***Duke of Every Sin*** by Stacy Reid
I loved this one!! It was my favorite. We start of with a marriage of convenience in order to protect a baby who was left at the door of the Duke of Brainbridge. This is the child of his very best friend who died in a tragic accident that he feels guilty of.
He proposes a marriage of convenience to the aunt of the baby. I loved how Verity fought to protect her nephew and accepted the proposal.
What I liked about this story is that though its a short story the author did an excellent job in showing these two falling in love. Their chemistry was hot, but so was the romance between them. Though he as a bad reputation for being very sinful, he has a big heart and she saw that the moment he accepted his best friends's baby without second guessing himself.
Anthology of 5 stories by 5 authors
Rating: 4 stars
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC given in exchange for review. All opinions are my own.
***The Earl on the Train*** by Kerrigan Byrne
I enjoyed the very sexy banter these two had between them and I loved that it takes place on a train. Sebastian and Veronica had known each other previously and due to that Veronica was hesitant in her feelings towards him. He has always had an attraction towards her that he saw this reunion as a chance to finally be with her.
***Loved and Found*** by Christi Caldwell
This was a second chance at romance and it was very angsty. Loved it! They had loved each other when younger, but her parents separated them. Ohhh when they saw each other again years later it was so heartbreaking because they both had suffered so much. They're both hurt, but she is the one who suffered the most because what she had to sacrifice in order to save his family was so sad.
***The Wolf of Westmore*** by Amelie Howard
This one was very steamy! They're families have hated each other for years, but it is her family who has been cruel to his. She met Wulfric some years back and has always been attracted to him. Years later she attends an auction and bids on him. She wins and spends the night with him. He never realizes that it's her ( the daughter of his enemy).
I think it lacked some romance, but it was very sexy!
**Put Up Your Dukes*** by Janna MacGregor
This one is about a married couple who have been married for 5 years, but have come to an agreement to meet only on Wednesdays to sleep together. This agreement came about because he owns a gossip magazine that she doesn't agree with the columns that are written. He's always held a grudge against the ton because of how we was treated when he was in school. This magazine is his (to me) petty revenge against all those who hurt him.
Sadly, this was my least favorite of the five stories. I just didn't like the ML and his reasons for printing what he did seemed a little selfish. He didn't change his ways until he finds himself on the other end of the gossip mill.
***Duke of Every Sin*** by Stacy Reid
I loved this one!! It was my favorite. We start of with a marriage of convenience in order to protect a baby who was left at the door of the Duke of Brainbridge. This is the child of his very best friend who died in a tragic accident that he feels guilty of.
He proposes a marriage of convenience to the aunt of the baby. I loved how Verity fought to protect her nephew and accepted the proposal.
What I liked about this story is that though its a short story the author did an excellent job in showing these two falling in love. Their chemistry was hot, but so was the romance between them. Though he as a bad reputation for being very sinful, he has a big heart and she saw that the moment he accepted his best friends's baby without second guessing himself.
October 11, 2022
Picked this up because I thought a novella collection would be good to have on hand on vacation, which was honestly a great choice because the two novellas I actually read while on vacation were a lot of fun.
The Earl on the Train - Kerrigan Byrne: 4/5 stars. I haven't read all of the Victorian Rebels series, so I hadn't met these characters yet. But while I think it would've been helpful, it also wasn't necessary to enjoy the story. It maybe motivated me to go back and pick up where I left off with the series.
The Wolf of Westmore - Amalie Howard: 4/5 stars. This was my favorite of the collection, and mostly I just wanted this to be a full story. It worked for me as it was (possibly a right book, right time thing), but I could see it being expanded into more and that would have worked too. Interested in some of the other characters I met in this, and I put some of those books on hold.
Put Up Your Dukes - Janna McGreggor: 1/5 stars. Honestly the less I say about this one, the better. I love the idea of estranged spouses, but they also kinda weren't estranged and there was a lot going on here that was not developed and/or didn't make sense. The central conflict seemed impossible to get around. This one just didn't work for me.
Duke of Every Sin - Stacy Reid: 3/5 stars. This was nice. I enjoyed reading it while I was reading it, but I also had some nitpicks about pacing and this one particularly could have been served better outside the novella format. I'd give this author's work another read, preferably in a full-length book format.
Loved and Found - Christi Caldwell: 3/5 stars. Like Duke of Every Sin, this one was nice but didn't quite get to the level of the first two for me. Probably would have been better served as a full-length novel given the history between the characters and the mistrust that came from it.
The Earl on the Train - Kerrigan Byrne: 4/5 stars. I haven't read all of the Victorian Rebels series, so I hadn't met these characters yet. But while I think it would've been helpful, it also wasn't necessary to enjoy the story. It maybe motivated me to go back and pick up where I left off with the series.
The Wolf of Westmore - Amalie Howard: 4/5 stars. This was my favorite of the collection, and mostly I just wanted this to be a full story. It worked for me as it was (possibly a right book, right time thing), but I could see it being expanded into more and that would have worked too. Interested in some of the other characters I met in this, and I put some of those books on hold.
Put Up Your Dukes - Janna McGreggor: 1/5 stars. Honestly the less I say about this one, the better. I love the idea of estranged spouses, but they also kinda weren't estranged and there was a lot going on here that was not developed and/or didn't make sense. The central conflict seemed impossible to get around. This one just didn't work for me.
Duke of Every Sin - Stacy Reid: 3/5 stars. This was nice. I enjoyed reading it while I was reading it, but I also had some nitpicks about pacing and this one particularly could have been served better outside the novella format. I'd give this author's work another read, preferably in a full-length book format.
Loved and Found - Christi Caldwell: 3/5 stars. Like Duke of Every Sin, this one was nice but didn't quite get to the level of the first two for me. Probably would have been better served as a full-length novel given the history between the characters and the mistrust that came from it.
January 4, 2023
Strong 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a great anthology. I liked all of the novellas and discovered new-to-me authors Stacy Reid and Janna MacGregor.
Ratings for each:
Earl on the Train- 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had already read this one to cap off the Victorian Rebels series and really liked it. Although, I think the context and backstory from book 7- (The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo), was necessary to fully appreciate the character arcs.
The Wolf of Westmore- 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had just finished books 1 & 2 in this series so the setting and secondary characters were all familiar. I really wished that Howard would have made this into a full-length novel. Although she did a good job of writing in the passage of time, the deep hurt that both of these characters had could have lent itself to a full-length book. I found the beginning to be a bit rushed as it was.
Put up your Dukes- 3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️- this was a unique "second chance" love story and I really liked the artful way in which the author helped these two truly commit to one another.
Duke of Every Sin- 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Stacy Reid is a new-to-me author and I looked her up right away because I really liked this one. This was a new marriage of convenience plot and though you have to suspend disbelief a bit, the fact that the Duke had so much guilt and pain made his proposition and willingness to seek vindication via marriage more believable. Great characterizations.
Loved and Found- 3⭐️⭐️⭐️- Another 2nd chance love and my least favorite of the group. It was a bit slow and not very steamy. The characters were given time to rehash the same internal thoughts even though it was a novella.
This is a great anthology. I liked all of the novellas and discovered new-to-me authors Stacy Reid and Janna MacGregor.
Ratings for each:
Earl on the Train- 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had already read this one to cap off the Victorian Rebels series and really liked it. Although, I think the context and backstory from book 7- (The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo), was necessary to fully appreciate the character arcs.
The Wolf of Westmore- 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had just finished books 1 & 2 in this series so the setting and secondary characters were all familiar. I really wished that Howard would have made this into a full-length novel. Although she did a good job of writing in the passage of time, the deep hurt that both of these characters had could have lent itself to a full-length book. I found the beginning to be a bit rushed as it was.
Put up your Dukes- 3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️- this was a unique "second chance" love story and I really liked the artful way in which the author helped these two truly commit to one another.
Duke of Every Sin- 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Stacy Reid is a new-to-me author and I looked her up right away because I really liked this one. This was a new marriage of convenience plot and though you have to suspend disbelief a bit, the fact that the Duke had so much guilt and pain made his proposition and willingness to seek vindication via marriage more believable. Great characterizations.
Loved and Found- 3⭐️⭐️⭐️- Another 2nd chance love and my least favorite of the group. It was a bit slow and not very steamy. The characters were given time to rehash the same internal thoughts even though it was a novella.
March 29, 2022
This is such a strong collection of novels by some prolific and wonderful authors of the historical romance genre. I found each of these novellas to be embodied with fantastic emotions, strong characters and beautiful romances. These five novels have the strength of strong and efficient authors at there center and each story features characters that will be familiar to readers who have read from certain series from each author. While these novellas are linked to series by these authors they can definitely be read as standalones and they stand very well on their own.
I was absolutely delighted with each and every one of these novels. They were all very strong in their character development and the depth of emotion that each author is able to convey in these stories is masterful. Watching these couples find their happily ever afters was extremely gratifying. They are all also very well paced and I never for one moment did not believe in the love story that was unfolding before me. These novellas are also delightfully steamy and these authors use this to their advantage by deepening the relationships between their heroes and heroines through the trust and emotions that are involved in physical exploration.
I so very highly recommend this novel and the novellas within. I love each and every one of these authors and this collection really shows of their talents in a delightful and beautiful way. If you have never read from one of these authors this is a fantastic introduction to their work.
Thank you to the Oliver Heber Books and NetGalley for an eARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was absolutely delighted with each and every one of these novels. They were all very strong in their character development and the depth of emotion that each author is able to convey in these stories is masterful. Watching these couples find their happily ever afters was extremely gratifying. They are all also very well paced and I never for one moment did not believe in the love story that was unfolding before me. These novellas are also delightfully steamy and these authors use this to their advantage by deepening the relationships between their heroes and heroines through the trust and emotions that are involved in physical exploration.
I so very highly recommend this novel and the novellas within. I love each and every one of these authors and this collection really shows of their talents in a delightful and beautiful way. If you have never read from one of these authors this is a fantastic introduction to their work.
Thank you to the Oliver Heber Books and NetGalley for an eARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
April 4, 2022
Spoiler Alert! Every story is fabulous! But what more can you expect from these authors!
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
What's a pirate doing on a train? He is on a mission by bringing justice to those who need it by taking out an enemy. But what happens when he runs into the one woman who has never been out of his thoughts? An adventure to happiness and redemption.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
A second chance at love that will melt your heart. They were pulled apart before, but maybe now they can find what they should have had all along. Sweet and delightful.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
A husband and wife who are pulled apart by his driving force. His work on a gossip newspaper that tears people apart at times. She tries to intervene when others ask her to stop a story and she just cannot sanction what he is doing. When he goes too far, it comes down to her or his paper. What will he chose? Sweet story of a love that needs attention.
Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
A humorous tale of a woman who decides to take what she wants, even though he is suppose to be her family's enemy! Well with a name like Wulfric, how could you not? A lively story with a some characters from past stories showing up to make it even better!
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
She is determined to rescue her sisters abandoned child and take care of him, but she never expects to receive a proposal. A sweet short story that will warm your heart!
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
What's a pirate doing on a train? He is on a mission by bringing justice to those who need it by taking out an enemy. But what happens when he runs into the one woman who has never been out of his thoughts? An adventure to happiness and redemption.
Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
A second chance at love that will melt your heart. They were pulled apart before, but maybe now they can find what they should have had all along. Sweet and delightful.
Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
A husband and wife who are pulled apart by his driving force. His work on a gossip newspaper that tears people apart at times. She tries to intervene when others ask her to stop a story and she just cannot sanction what he is doing. When he goes too far, it comes down to her or his paper. What will he chose? Sweet story of a love that needs attention.
Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
A humorous tale of a woman who decides to take what she wants, even though he is suppose to be her family's enemy! Well with a name like Wulfric, how could you not? A lively story with a some characters from past stories showing up to make it even better!
Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
She is determined to rescue her sisters abandoned child and take care of him, but she never expects to receive a proposal. A sweet short story that will warm your heart!
March 24, 2022
Big Duke Energy
Seasons of Sin Anthology Collection book 1
Excellent collection of stories that provide readers the opportunity of reading five new or already loved authors work. Some of the stories are related to series already. The descriptions of the stories in the blurb are accurate and yet do not tell it all.
What I liked:
* The variety from second chances to marriages of convenience
* The era
* The steamy embraces
* That some were virgins while others had experienced more and even abusive husbands though widows in their current stories
* That the rakes sometimes had hearts of gold
* That the women were strong and equal to the men they fall in love with
* that the men fall just as hard for the women
* Some of the supporting characters
* Knowing that there will be more Seasons Anthologies to look forward to
What I didn’t like:
* The pain some of the characters must have endured before they managed their happily ever after
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by these authors? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Seasons of Sin Anthology Collection book 1
Excellent collection of stories that provide readers the opportunity of reading five new or already loved authors work. Some of the stories are related to series already. The descriptions of the stories in the blurb are accurate and yet do not tell it all.
What I liked:
* The variety from second chances to marriages of convenience
* The era
* The steamy embraces
* That some were virgins while others had experienced more and even abusive husbands though widows in their current stories
* That the rakes sometimes had hearts of gold
* That the women were strong and equal to the men they fall in love with
* that the men fall just as hard for the women
* Some of the supporting characters
* Knowing that there will be more Seasons Anthologies to look forward to
What I didn’t like:
* The pain some of the characters must have endured before they managed their happily ever after
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by these authors? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
April 1, 2022
This was a fantastic historical romance anthology with a great range of stories. The heat levels were varied between the stories but I still enjoyed them all. The authors transported me and I loved the imagery of their stories.
I especially enjoyed Kerrigan Byrne’s story and loved finding some new to me authors so I can search out more of their work.
I received an arc of this book.
I especially enjoyed Kerrigan Byrne’s story and loved finding some new to me authors so I can search out more of their work.
I received an arc of this book.
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