Holy Frozen Blueberry Yogurt!!!! Upcoming Historical Romances!!!!

August 25, 2021

Authors with an asterisk*, I'm picking up! Authors with **asterisks have either fallen off my radar or new to me, and I'm might read them this time around. Release dates mostly between September 15, 2021 and October 14, 2021. For more Upcoming Releases that aren't historical see HEY DELIA!!
 
Series indicates a series, spin-off, sequel, trilogy, brother/sister, secret society/spies, good friends who attended Oxford/Eton, vampire/werewolf - anything that has something continuing - even if written 20 years ago. Anthology/novella/short stories could be an anthology or a bunch of books in one print or novella - one tiny book or an anthology with a bunch of novellas - could be a short stories by one author, could be short stories by multiple authors - could be - I'm getting a headache. Ebook, only sold electronically for now. Debut - congratulations!

By the way, it is not my fault if a publisher changes the release dates - just so you know, they do not consult me. Let me also add this warning - since I am now using different sources, I am finding that one person's genre isn't necessarily another persons - sorry if your book is in the wrong genre.  

Another by the way - look at Callie Hutton's book cover. Does the man remind you of anyone you might have seen on Netflix lately? I'll give you a hint, his co-star was Phoebe Dynevor. I would not be surprised to see a number of Romanceland covers with a pretend Rege'-Jean Page this year. Shall we start counting?

Even though it's 500 degrees outside, it's time for the Holiday books to begin.

Historical Romance

	Ann Lethbridge http://www.annlethbridge.com The Viscount's Reckless Temptation September 28
	Callie Hutton http://www.calliehutton.com A Rose for Laura, ebook Rose Room Rogues September 30
	Carla Kelly* Carol Arens Eva Shepherd A Victorian Family Christmas September 28
	Cheryl Bolen* Samantha Grace Lana Williams Collette Cameron Sasha Cottman Barbara Monajem Suzanna Medeiros Alina K. Field Christmas Kisses: anthology, ebook October 12
	Diane Gaston* http://www.dianegaston.com Lord Grantwell's Christmas Wish Captains of Waterloo     September 28
	Ella Matthews The Knight's Maiden in Disguise King’s Knights September 28
	Janna MacGregor* Eloisa James Christi Caldwell Erica Ridley  Mistletoe Christmas      September 28
	Kathryn Le Veque http://www.kathrynleveque.com Wolfelord, ebook De Wolfe Pack September 16
	Kate Bateman** http://www.kcbateman.com A Reckless Match Ruthless Rivals September 28
	Lenora Bell http://www.lenorabell.com/ Seduction is a Scoundrel Wallflowers vs. Rogues September 28
	Linda Broday http://www.LindaBroday.com A Cowboy Christmas Legend Lone Star Legends September 28
	Lorraine Heath* https://www.lorraineheath.com The Duchess Hunt Once Upon a Dukedom September 28
	Madeline Hunter* Sabrina Jeffries Mary Jo Putney A Yuletide Kiss September 28
	Marguerite Kaye* http://www.margueritekaye.com The Earl Who Sees Her Beauty Revelations of the Carstairs Sisters September 28
	Minerva Spencer http://minervaspencer.com/ Infamous Rebels of the Ton September 28
	Sally MacKenzie http://www.sallymackenzie.net/ Cheers to the Duke Widow’s Brew September 28
	Sandra Sookoo http://www.sandrasookoo.com The Balloonist’s Wager, ebook September 22
	Scarlett Scott http://www.scarlettscottauthor.com Sutton’s Spinster, ebook The Sinful Suttons October 7
	Sophie Barnes http://www.sophiebarnes.com The Dishonored Viscount, ebook Diamonds in the Rough September 21
	Stephanie Laurens http://www.stephanielaurens.com/ The Meaning of Love, ebook Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Chronicles, October 14
	Suzanne Enoch* Amelia Grey Anna Bennett Kissing Under the Mistletoe September 28
	Virginia Heath* http://www.virginiaheathromance.com How Not to Chaperon a Lady Talk of the Beau Monde September 28

Historical Fiction

	Anne O’Brien http://www.anneobrien.co.uk/ The Royal Game September 16
	Jim Woolard When the Missouri Ran Red September 28
	Laura Morelli http://www.lauramorelli.com     The Stolen Lady September 21
	Lecia Cornwall http://www.leciacornwall.com/ The Woman at the Front October12
	Paula Beavan https://paulajbeavan.com/about/     Daughter of the Hunter Valley      September 29
	Susanna Kearsley http://www.susannakearsley.com/index.html The Vanished Days Stines October 7
	Wendy Holden http://www.wendyholden.com      The Duchess September 28

The Highlander's Irish Bride by Vanessa Kelly

August 23, 2021

Another Scottish tree trunk.

https://www.vanessakellyauthor.com/
I have to ask, are Scottish men really so big? In most all of the historical Scottish Romanceland books I’ve read, the male Scots seem to tower over everyone. I’ve been to highland games. I haven’t noticed a slew of giants wandering around the tents. So, I did some googling. Much to my surprise, I found information that said…yes, they used to be big. Once upon a time, male Scots were the biggest European men around. They used to be 6’ or more, but hey…things have changed. Thanks to junk food, they’re now just like all the other 5’10” guys wondering around. I guess the Scots in the books can still be tree trunks, just not the ones walking through my neighborhood.

Anyway, The Highlander’s Irish Bride, by Vanessa Kelly, is the fourth book in the Clan Kendrick series. Kathleen Calvert is the troublesome heroine, and Grant Kendrick is the stodgy hero. I have not read any of the books in the series, but I may after reading this one. Evidently Grant wasn’t always such a stick in the mud. He and his twin brother used to cause all kinds of trouble. But now, he’s turned over a new leaf, he’s alllll business…no longer running wild. And, his family is worried about him. Evidently, the Kendrick family can never be happy. They were disturbed when Grant was a wild lad, and now they're disturbed when he’s a responsible man. There’s just no winning with this family. In a rather convoluted, contrived plot, Grant is put in charge of escorting Kathleen Calvert to a Scottish estate somewhere in a Scottish forest. Kathleen wants to go to Ireland where the grass is green, because Scotland doesn’t have green grass, or hills, or mountains. There is a bit of a tug-o-war between Kathleen and Grant.

There seemed to be a whole lot of characters connected to other books in this story. Every time someone was mentioned, I had to go to Fantastic Fiction to look their names up. It seemed to me that Ms. Kelly may have connected all of her books. In order for me to find out, I would have to spend a lot of time googling, or reading all of her books. I haven’t made up my mind yet which one I will do. Anyway, there are several characters in this story that are from previous books. While this story is a standalone book, knowing that a plethora of characters had their own stories was a distraction. I’m not fond of distractions in my books.

Road trip. So, wild Kathleen and boring Grant are on the road to Scotland, or Ireland, depending on who has the upper hand. They have adventures on the way to the green hills. There are thieves and villains’ all over the place. I liked Kathleen and Grant. They balanced each other out. Tooooo bad the story didn’t focus more on them. Let’s talk about what drew me out of the story: Angus and Jeannie.

Angus and Jeannie. The difference between a good secondary characters, and an irritating secondary characters. This book has them both. One adds to the story, and one drags the story down. Let’s start with the character who added to the story: Angus. I love characters who are fun. And yes, comedy is subjective. I believe it’s even harder to read comedy. When we watch a funny movie, we see the humor…usually. But to read comic words on a blank page, and pick up on the author’s intend, that’s hard. When I’m presented with a character who makes me smile, and on occasion laugh, I’m impressed. When it came to the eccentric Angus, I chuckled. He made me happy. The author succeeded in conveying written “fun.” Then, there was Jeannie.

Has anyone ever seen the 1956 movie, The Bad Seed? While Jeannie didn’t drown anyone, or burn anyone up in a bunch of excelsior, Jeannie was nonetheless really irritating. You know, irritating is an interesting word. It doesn’t really express my feelings for Jeannie in The Highlander’s Irish Bride. She was more than just spoiled, more than just a brat, but just not quite a bad seed. No one seemed able to discipline her, or even care what she was up to. I see her future life full of tap-dancing on someone’s forehead.  She was a despicable character. She was a character who wasn’t written with any redeeming qualities. Jeannie was a bigggg negative to the narrative of the book. When I was finished reading this story, I didn’t remember how lovely the romance was, or how Angus made me laugh.  No, what I remembered most was how insufferable Jeannie was.  That’s not what I want from a romance.

Bottom line. Sweet romance, funny grandfather, detestable sister.

Time/Place: Road Trip Scotland

Sensuality: Warm

Romance: B-

Angus: A-

Jeannie: F

Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas

August 18, 2021

Sebastian’s Back! And, We Have Him! Sort of…

https://lisakleypas.com/

Lisa Kleypas returns to her Ravenel/Wallflower series with Devil in Disguise. The heroine of this story is Lady Merritt Sterling. Merritt is the oldest child of Marcus, Earl of Westcliff and Lillian.  Marcus and Lillian were the happy couple in It Happened One Autumn.  Our hero in Devil in Disguise is Keir MacRae. As it turns out, Keir is the illegitimate son of Sebastian, from The Devil in Winter. Are you still following along? Before your brain goes down the infidelity path, don’t worry. Ms. Kleypas has followed the rules of Romanceland. Keir was born before Sebastian met Evie. Although, I would swear that Sebastian said he was always careful. I guess there must have been an oops with those French letters. I’m about to go on a small rant. At least, Keir was born before Evie came along, and not after! Remember what happened with Stephanie Lauren’s Sebastian Cynster?  I shall forever be traumatized by that story line!  What a kick in the head to Romance readers the Cynster Sebastian turned out to be. Anyway, unless there are anymore of Kleypas’ Sebastian by-blows showing up, I’m not throwing the book against the wall. Besides that, Sebastian is my second favorite Kleypas hero…no one can ever beat out Derek Craven. Back to Devil in Disguise. While a number of characters from the Wallflower and Ravenels series show up, they don’t overpower the story. It was nice to see some of the characters, but Sebastian did steal the show. PS, if you haven’t read any books from either series…sputter, sputter…I cannot find the words.

Merritt is a widow, which in Romanceland means experienced. Unless of course, she was married to a virgin-husband. Merritt inherited her husband’s shipping company, and she loves her job. She is also a city girl. She loves her life in the city, and everything city dwelling entails. She is a little lonely. Enter our handsome hero, Keir. He hates the city…loathes the city. The city smells, and it’s crowded. The noise hurts his ears. He’s from Scotland, which happens to be the only place in Romanceland novels which makes whiskey. Evidently Scotland makes the bestest whiskey…tastes like cinnamon, honeycombs, and peat. I have to ask, Isn’t peat some kind of dirt, or decayed leaves/grass? Ummm, yum…dirt. Makes my mouth water. Hey, barkeep! Pour me some of that dirt. Put some salt around the rim while you’re at it. Nothing disguises dirt better than salt.

Anyway, Merritt and Keir meet. Body-parts start twitching…big-time. Merritt has been without a twitcher suppressor for a long time. She becomes the aggressor, and Keir doesn’t resist all that much. After-all he is a man. They go into the relationship knowing that their differences are toooo far apart for anymore than a casual romp. Then someone tries to kill Keir, he gets stitches, they have boisterous willie-winker, he gets conked over the head. Guess what happens when he wakes up? Go ahead, I’ll give you a hint…it’s one of my least favorite plots. Yes! He has amnesia! I am not fond of amnesia in novels. In this particular novel, the only reason I could see for it to be in the story was to lengthen the book. It didn’t add anything to the story. Or, maybe it was just an easy way to solve the major differences between Merritt and Kier’s life styles. The amnesia was used as a reason to journey into the countryside to protect Kier.  For some reason Merritt was the only one who could nurse him through his brain-bonk. For me, this part of the story was a little convoluted.

While I enjoyed seeing Sebastian again, I thought the romance between Merritt and Keir was weak. The problems which this couple would have, were not addressed. Instead we get amnesia, and a find-the-killer story. There were nice moments between Sebastian and Keir, but I’m not sure why the two men had to be related to each other.  

 

Another small rant coming on. Merritt’s secret was also resolved toooo easily, and I have to agree with some other readers. I don’t think the only way a woman can be fulfilled is to have biological children. There are many people who don’t have children, and they are delighted with their lives. Merritt was a strong person, she seemed to be happy with herself…I don’t think she needed a baby to make her whole. There are many women out there who are complete, and at the same time don’t have children. If you want to have children, great! I have one myself! She’s my friend. But, I also know women who don’t have any child.  And you know what! Those women are pretty whole. You would think, after all these years that the stigma of a childless woman would not still be so prevalent. I’m done with my rant.

Overall. It was fun seeing Evie, Sebastian, Lillian, and Marcus again. But I was disappointed in the rushed romance between Merritt and Keir. I found the “HEA” ending of Merritt disturbing, and I am left to wonder if this couple will truly work out.

 

Time/Place: 1880 England 

Sensuality: Hot