Miss Katherine Danvers has always been a wallflower. But now, with her family on the brink of financial ruin, she finds herself a desperate wallflower. To save her family, she'll do anything. Luckily, she has the perfect plan...

She’ll impress the ton by simply announcing she is engaged to the reclusive and mysterious Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters, and secure strong matches for her sisters. No one has heard from the duke in years. Surely he’ll never find out before her sisters’ weddings, and she can go back to her own quiet life.

Soon, though, everything is out of control. At first, it’s just a few new ball gowns on the duke’s accounts. Then, it’s interviews with reporters eager for gossip. Before she knows it, Katherine has transformed herself into Kitty Danvers, charming and clever belle of the ton—with everyone eager to meet her thankfully absent fiancé.

But when the enigmatic Alexander Masters suddenly arrives in the city, dashing and oh so angry, he demands retribution. Except not in the way Katherine expected…

Title: My Darling Duke
Author: Stacy Reid
Series: Sinful Wallflowers Book 1
Pages: 352
Genre(s): Historical, Regency, England
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I love a good historical romp and the premise of this sounded delightful and quirky. A plucky, down-on-her-luck wallflower devises a plan to save her family from ruin by faking an engagement to an illustrious (and absent) duke.

I devoured the first part of the book, swept away in the humour, writing and scene setting. And then I felt the book start to slow, and so too did my reading. When the pace picked up, I was once again eager to keep reading and keep reading often. And that was the same throughout the book. A lot happened. Some bits felt glossed over and slightly underdeveloped while others were interesting and perhaps overly detailed - but didn’t lend much to the ongoing story. At times it felt like the writing had been twisted into sentences that were far more complicated than they needed to be, but overall it was very engaging and readable.

As I (sadly) always do in a historical novel set in Britain, I started to count the Americanisms (gotten being a particular irritation of mine in supposed British books) but honestly, these were few and far between. Some did find their way through, coupled with a few historical inaccuracies and the unforgivable sin of having Scots (or at least folk in Scotland) drinking Irish whiskey instead of Scottish whisky.

Most importantly, I loved our main characters. Kitty was likably feisty while still retaining her sensible character, while Alexander was the overly grumpy hero who secretly yearns for love and affection. Alexander’s affliction was another unusual addition to the novel, and while it gave him motivation to keep Kitty at arm’s length, it did keep the sex scenes to a minimum in the book. Despite that, the emotion between the pair was very real and very well executed. I felt it, especially towards the ending. Sigh.

This is the first book in a new series, The Sinful Wallflowers, and many of the characters from upcoming books were introduced during this one (I’m assuming, anyway). There were too many for me to latch on to, which is a shame as I’m susceptible to being persuaded to buy future books based on their appearances in the first in a series. And I do think the idea of a bunch of wallflowers deciding to be sinful is a good one.

Stacy Reid is a new author to me and one I’d very much like to read again. While this book didn’t light up my world, it did entertain me for a while, and there were many aspects of the story that very much appealed.

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* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

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Scotland 1747

When Josette needs help finding a trove of gold believed lost in the Highlands, she turns to Will Mackenzie, the most cunning, devious, and clever man she knows. But trusting Will with her secrets is akin to trusting the devil himself.

They’ve worked together in the past, pretending to be man and wife to ferret out information, and the venture did not end well. Will is dangerous, and so is his life, and danger is not what Josette needs.

But she knows the real reason she’s avoided him is because he’s Will Mackenzie, the golden-eyed, unpredictable man with warm hands that bring her to life. Will has more secrets than Josette ever can fathom, and the most dangerous thing of all is that he’s already stolen her heart.

Title: The Devilish Lord Will
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Series: The Mackenzies Series
Pages: 315
Genre(s): Historical, Georgian, Scotland
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I very much enjoyed Jennifer Ashley’s Victorian Death Below Stairs Mystery series so I was excited to give this book a go. I’m always a bit anxious when choosing a book set in Scotland or with Scottish characters. Will the author have everyone jigging the eightsome reel and proclaiming ‘och aye the noo’ at passers by?

Luckily - the answer is no. There were some dubious attempts at Scottish brogue (that to my Scottish ears sounded a wee bit more Geordie than ‘Scottish’) but all in all - people spoke like normal folk and in a way that was easy to read and understand! There was some talk of speaking Erse - which I personally have only ever heard in relation to Irish Gaelic - but happy to be corrected. And just to get all the Scottish malarkey out the way in one go - I do wish that ‘plaid’ wasn’t so liberally used as a catch-all term for tartan.

So onto the book proper. I wasn’t disappointed to see a very robust novel in very much the same writing style as Ms Ashley’s previous books. It was interesting, absorbing and contained a lot of detail without every coming across as dreary.

Will Mackenzie is definitely devilish and it’s hard not to love the charming rogue. He and Josette have known each other for a long time and have been on many an adventure together - presumably in the two books that precede this one, and form part of a mini-trilogy inside the larger Mackenzie series. This book does stand alone and while the central cast of characters are relatively small, there are a few introductions and situations that would have made more sense to me had I read The Stolen Mackenzie Bride and Alec Mackenzie's Art of Seduction before this one.

Back to Will and Josette - I really liked them as a couple and I loved how Will made it his mission to win Josette over. Perhaps since the couple had a previous romantic relationship, there was no need for much build up to the kissing or sex. It was still nicely hot but there wasn’t much tension in the lead up to it.

The action was at a minimum but there was a lot of intrigue and shenanigans. I never got lost in an overly intricate plot, however, which definitely shows the skill of the writer. I want to be entertained, not confused and with this book you can just sit back and enjoy the crazy schemes that Will and Josette get into!

Overall this is an enjoyable book that you will enjoy and root for the characters. There’s hijinks and mystery, romance and a satisfying conclusion and happily ever after. A good read for a jaunt to the Scottish Highlands. 4 stars.

Oh and one more Scottish thing - because I just can't help myself. I actually laughed out loud when the two Campbells in the novel were complaining that the Mackenzies were untrustworthy. It’s been over 300 years since the massacre and my Granny still always told me to be feart of a Campbell!!

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* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

The Mackenzies Series:

       

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A land of legend and wild beauty - of clans, lairds, honour, and passion - Scotland forever stirs the soul of romance. Now, in one incomparable volume, four of Avon Romance′s bestselling authors present stirring tales of hearts won and weddings to be, featuring a quartet of unforgettable heroines about to discover the rapture of love in a world as untamed as the men they will one day marry.

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The problem I often find with Scottish stories is that the writers often have no knowledge of Scotland except the belief that everyone wears kilts and screams "och aye the noo" at every opportunity. Granted the mythical idea of Scotland is probably more appealing than the reality so I can understand why both authors and the readers prefer it this way. However, it shouldn't be assumed that a Scottish story is good just because of the inclusion of a kilt and the surname prefix 'mac'.

Personally I can live with a few inaccuracies for the sake of a good story however I found in this collection that there were no particularly good stories let alone great ones.

Karen Ranney came out on top with the sweet story 'Bride of Glenlyon' but Christina Dodd's 'Under the Kilt' and Stephanie Laurens' 'Rose in Bloom' were stereotypical stories that provided nothing new or exciting. Lastly, Julia Quinn's story 'Gretna Greene' was by far the worst of the lot. It was contrived, unrealistic and the characters exceedingly annoying. Luckily Julia Quinn has gone on to be a fabulous author despite this dreadful beginning!

Overall, this book wasn't completely terrible but I do feel that it didn't do justice to the authors or show off their writing talents to any great length. My recommendation would be to give this book a miss and buy one of the full-length stories by any of these authors, as they're more likely to be a satisfying read.

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384 pages