Upcoming Historical Romance and Historical Fiction!!

Authors with an asterisk*, I'm picking up! For more Upcoming Releases that aren't historical see HEY DELIA!! September 15, 2018 to October 14, 2018. By the way, it is not my fault if a publisher changes the release dates - just so you know, they do not consult me.

Historical Romance

	Amy Jarecki http://www.amyjarecki.com The Duke's Fallen Angel Prequel to Devilish Dukes October 9
	Annabelle Anders http://www.annabelleanders.com Hell's Belle Devilish Debutants series September 17
	Ava Stone http://www.avastoneauthor.com How to Tempt a Rogue Without Really Trying Regency Hearts series September 18
	Bianca Blythe http://biancablythe.com/ Dukes Prefer Bluestockings Wedding Trouble series September 25
	Bliss Bennet http://www.blissbennet.com/ A Sinner without a Saint Pennington series September 16
	Catherine Tinley http://www.catherinetinley.com The Makings of a Lady Chadcombe Marriages series paperback - September 18, ebook -  October 1
	Cynthia Wright http://cynthiawrightauthor.com/ Abducted at the Altar Brides of Skye series September 21
	Emma Locke http://www.emmalocke.com The Wooing of a Wayward Rogue September 18
	Erica Ridley http://www.ericaridley.com Once Upon a Duke 12 Dukes of Christmas series October 9
	Heather McCollum http://www.heathermccollum.com A Rose in the Highlands Highland Roses School series September 24
	Jenni Fletcher http://jennifletcher.com The Warrior's Bride Prize paperback - September 18, ebook -  October 1
	Jo Goodman http://www.jogoodman.com/ A Touch of Flame Cowboys of Colorado series September 19
	Joanna Shupe http://www.joannashupe.com/ A Notorious Vow Four Hundred series September 25
	Julia Justiss* http://www.juliajustiss.com/ A Most Unsuitable Match Sisters of Scandal series paperback - September 18, ebook -  October 1
	Kelly Bowen* http://www.kellybowen.net Last Night with the Earl The Devils of Dover series September 25
	Lenora Bell http://www.lenorabell.com/ For The Duke’s Eyes Only School for Dukes series September 18
	Lynne Connolly http://lynneconnolly.com/ Lisbon Richard and Rose series September 18
	Marguerite Kaye http://www.margueritekaye.com His Rags-To-Riches Contessa Matches Made in Scandal series paperback - September 18, ebook -  October 1
	Mary Jo Putney http://www.maryjoputney.com/ Once a Scoundrel Rogues Redeemed series September 26
	Megan Frampton http://www.meganframpton.com The Lady is Daring Duke's Daughter series September 15
	Shana Galen* http://www.shanagalen.com Theresa Romain http://theresaromain.com Mrs. Brodie's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies September 18
	Sophia James http://sophiajames.co A Proposition For The Comte Gentlemen of Honour series paperback - September 18, ebook -  October 1
	Vanessa Kelly http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com A Hero's Guide to Love September 25
	Victoria Alexander* http://www.victoriaalexander.com/ The Dance Before Christmas The Lady's Travelers Society October 1

Historical Fiction

	Alan Tichmarsh http://www.alantitchmarsh.com The Scarlet Nightingale September 20
	Bernard Cornwell http://www.bernardcornwell.net/ War of the Wolf Last Kingdom series October 2
	Hazel Gaynor http://hazelgaynor.com/ The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter October 9
	Juliet Blackwell http://www.julietblackwell.net/ The Lost Carousel of Provence September 18
	Kristina Olsson https://www.fantasticfiction.com/o/kristina-olsson/ Shell October 9
	Wilbur Smith http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/ Courtney's War Courtney series September 18
	William Boyd http://www.williamboyd.co.uk/ Love is Blind September 20

The Singular Mr. Sinclair by Mia Marlowe

August 21, 2018
AKA Alert

http://www.miamarlowe.com/
It’s been a while since I’ve read a full book by Mia Marlowe and I’m glad to see this is a beginning of a series. I enjoyed reading the books she was writing jointly with Connie Mason. Then I remembered…she also wrote under the name of Emily Bryant. I remember being fond of those also. My fellow Petunia’s always check out that copyright information for the aka, you just never know who’s going to show up again.

Now on to the book and this will teach me to write my review as soon as I close the book. I do not remember too much about this story, which isn’t a good thing. I do remember that the hero, Mr. Sinclair is left-handed and as a child this caused a problem with his uncle. Somehow he joins the army and makes a great career out of it. Travels the world, mixes with people of the world, see sights and sounds which a lot of people in London society are isolated from. Of course, the army also means he sees things which are horrendous and do not make for a peaceful rest. He is back in London, has won accolades for his service to his country. He feels guilty for surviving. His best friend has brought him back to his house to stay. It is here that he meets our heroine, Caroline.

Caroline is a snob and so are her friends. They view Sinclair’s efforts to blend in with society as close to buffoonery. Her friends are vicious women and I hope that they are not going to be heroines in future books, because I could not like them. 

I’m not sure why Romanceland has a tendency to think of anyone who hasn’t grown up in the isolated atmosphere of London society as idiots, buffoons, uncouth people. There were other societies in the world which were just as sophisticated and culturally advanced as London. The three women in this book, looked down on Sinclair, they were snide, catty and spoiled. But their duty was to bring Sinclair into London’s glitter.

This was a slow book, the romance lacked chemistry, but because I am familiar with Mia Marlowe aka Emily Bryant’s writing, I will probably give her next book a try. I'm giving this a luke-warm recommendation - don't blame me if you don't like it.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm

What Ales the Earl by Sally MacKenzie

August 10, 2018

A Big Woe is Me
https://www.sallymackenzie.net/
I haven’t much to say, because quite frankly, I didn’t read the entire book. I could not finish this story. The humor was over-the-top and cruel, the hero was a creep and the heroine an idiot. I skipped to the end to see if I should finish it, but even that didn’t grab me or make me want to care about this story. I really wanted to have a good time with this story, but I couldn’t force myself to continue with it. Sad to say, this is another book I cannot recommend.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Haven't a Clue

Born to Be Wilde by Eloisa James

August 20, 2018
Woe is Me

https://www.eloisajames.com/
Well, I have to say Ms. James’ latest series is leaving me underwhelmed. I keep hoping that

each new book in the series will be the one which will make me say – wow, this is great! Alas, this one wasn’t it. I not sure what Ms. James was going for, unless it was to let us know how much she knows about historical clothing – through our heroine, of course.

If you remember Lavinia Gray from the previous book, you will remember her mother stole some jewels and was also addicted to laudanum. So, things have traveled downhill for Lavinia; she no longer has money and she must find a way to make money. She chooses to become a wedding planner. Yes, a wedding planner. You see, she can put her reds and oranges together and they will look boo-ti-ful. Right away I had a problem with this plot-device. I thought it was silly. This was 1780 for Pete’s sake! Women as wedding planners/fashion designers in the 1700s is a big stretch. Anyway, Lavinia talks fashion… a lot. She thinks about fashion… a lot. All those words about clothing peppered throughout the book were all quite - oh I don’t know - boring. I started to skip over them after a while. It’s not a good sign in a book when one starts skipping over words. Clothing descriptions in romance books can lend a great deal to adding atmosphere to a story. If written properly those descriptors give us a sense of time and space. This time there was just toooooo much clothing talk. I eventually lost interest in the character of Lavinia. I even groaned when she stopped to have a look at a piece of cloth or inseam or nap. Losing interest in the heroine isn’t a good thing considering she is one half of the romantic partnership in this book.

The other half of our love couple was Parth Sterling. He grew up with the Wildes, hence the reason for his inclusion in this series. He also knows Lavinia but has always considered her a frivolous, empty-headed, worthless bit of fluff. Lavinia has always considered him a stuffed-shirt. Now this could have led to some wonderful banter, some butting of heads – but, alas there was hardly any and what banter there was wasn’t humorous. I could find no chemistry between these two people, but that didn’t stop them from jumping in bed together. Yes, there were hippidy-hopping in the bedroom, but because there was no chemistry between the couple before they partook of the old skippidy-hippidy the “hot” scenes made me uncomfortable. I eventually skipped those. So, not only was I skipping the clothing talk, I was also skipping the bedroom scenes – that’s a lot of skipping. There was also an ick moment attached to a questionable historical moment. At one point in this book, Lavinia informs Parth she is having a female complaint moment. This was so bizarre I was thrown out of the book. I really cannot accept that a woman in the 1700s would mention to a man she wasn’t married to that it was that time of the month. I found it hard to believe that she would discuss her mommy parts with someone she wasn’t married to.

I was very disappointed in this book. It had lots of words, but there wasn’t any feeling beneath those words. I cannot recommend this story – and that makes me sad. It is not up to Ms. James’ earlier stories.

Time/Place: 1700s England
Sensuality: Odd