Holy Cannoli!! Upcoming Historical Romance and Historical Fiction Releases!!!!

Authors with an asterisk*, I'm picking up! For more Upcoming Releases that aren't historical see HEY DELIA!! June 15, 2018 to July 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.

	Diane Gaston http://www.dianegaston.com A Lady Becomes a Governess The Governess Swap June 19
	Erica Ridley http://www.ericaridley.com Lord of Secrets Rogues to Riches series Jun 15
	Grace Burrowes* http://www.graceburrowes.com/ My Own True Duchess True Gentlemen series June 19
	Johanna Lindsey http://johanna-lindsey.com Marry Me By Sundown July 10
	Julia London* http://www.julialondon.com/ Tempting the Laird Highland Grooms series June 26
	Lauri Robinson http://www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com Diary of a War Bride June 19
	Laurie Benson http://lauriebenson.net One Week to Wed Sommersby Brides series July 1
	Linda Broday http://www.LindaBroday.com To Catch a Texas Star Texas Heroes series July 3
	Lucy Ashford http://www.lucyashford.com/ The Master of Calverley Hall July 1
	Lynna Banning http://www.lynnabanning.net Marianne's Marriage of Convenience July 1
	Lynsay Sands http://www.lynsaysands.net The Highlander's Promise Highlanders series June 26
	Manda Collins http://www.mandacollins.com One for the Rogue Studies in Scandal series June 26
	Minerva Spencer http://minervaspencer.com/ Dangerous The Outcast series June 26
	Sabrina Jeffries http://www.sabrinajeffries.com The Risk of Rogues Sinful Suitors series July 2, 2018
	Sarah MacLean* http://www.sarahmaclean.net Wicked and the Wallflower Bareknuckle Bastards series June 19
	Shana Galen http://www.shanagalen.com An Affair with a Spare Survivors series July 3

Historical Fiction

	Beatriz Williams http://www.beatrizwilliams.com  The Summer Wives July 10
	Meredith Jaeger http://www.meredithjaegerauthor.com Boardwalk Summer June 19
	Janie DeVos http://www.janiedevos.com/ The Rising of Glory Land Glory Land series June 19
	Suzanne Rindell http://suzannerindell.com Eagle and Crane July 3
	C W Gortner http://www.cwgortner.com The Romanov Empress July 10
	Christian Cameron http://www.hippeis.com/ Sword of Justice Chivalry series July 12
	Susan Crandall http://www.susancrandall.net The Myth of Perpetual Summer June 19
	Susie Orman Schnall http://www.susieschnall.com The Subway Girls June 10

A Devil of a Duke by Madeline Hunter

May 28, 2018
Mixing of classes – would it really work?

https://www.madelinehunter.com/
A Devil of a Duke by Madeline Hunter is the second entry in the Decadent Duke’s Society series. In this story we have an idea which alllll romances are based on – a peon can live

happily ever after with a prince or princess. While neither one of our characters are royal, the hero is an aristocrat and he brings to the relationship alllll the beliefs an aristocrat in Regency England would bring. And, our heroine isn’t really a peon but a thief. So what we have here is a good old-fashioned class distinction war. I’m really not sure it works in this book. Amanda Waverly is a secretary, something that would have been rare in the Regency period, seeing as how most secretaries were male. But Amanda isn’t just a secretary, she’s also a thief – and a good one. You see Amanda’s parents were thieves and excellent ones too. She learned every trick of the trade but now she’s trying to get away from all that, hence the secretary job. But there’s trouble on the horizon. Her mother has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. If Amanda can steal a valuable artifact her mother will be released. She doesn’t think that should be a problem. She checks out the place the artifact is being kept – in a private collection. She decides that the easiest way to access the house the artifact is by seducing the man next door and then enter his neighbor’s house through his house. Ah, another Romanceland plan.

In order to activate her grand plan, Amanda must attend a costume party where she will seduce Harry (the guy with the house next to the artifact) into taking her back to his townhouse, where he will fall prey to her charms, end up in bed with her, and after an exuberant night of sex, he will fall asleep. She will then climb across windows and roofs to the house next door, get the artifact, and free her mother. But into this scheme comes a proverbial fly in the ointment by the name of Gabriel St. James.

Gabriel St. James is a standard Romanceland rake. He is also one of those rakes whose wing-wang should have fallen off years ago. He is at that costume part keeping an eye on his shy, studious brother Harry. Harry has recently suffered a heart-break and as Gabriel watches, Harry appears to be frantically trying to escape from a woman who seems to be doing her darnedest to entrap Harry. After receiving a “save me” look from his brother, Gabriel steps in and saves him from her clutches. Amanda is a tad bit perturbed that she will have to change her plans, but while she may not be a master planner she is a master thief and she has every confidence she will be able to steal the artifact. In the meantime she has to deal with the instant lust-thing which has sprung up between Gabriel and herself. How do we know about the instant lust-thing? Because we are told. We are told that Gabriel’s horny-toad is activated. We are told that Amanda cannot forget the kiss she receives from Gabriel. I could not find any chemistry between Gabriel and Amanda, not any type of chemistry. There is nothing between them which would allow for any relationship to survive the conflicts which are part of class separation. For me, they did not bond. When I read a romance story I like to think that even though I am reading make-believe, in the end the relationship will work. I could not imagine a relationship between Gabriel and Amanda ever working.

The only bond that worked in the story was between Gabriel and his two friends. The story simply sparkled when the Duke and his friends were together. I loved reading the book when their narrative was being told. By the way, they are all Dukes. Ms. Hunter’s writing is superb when the Dukes are on. It’s too bad the chemistry didn’t extend into the romance part of the book.

Because this is a romance book I find I cannot recommend it. I am very disappointed. I am a great respecter of Ms. Hunter writing, but I could find no romance in A Devil of a Duke. If only the chemistry between the guy-friends had been present between Gabriel and Amanda the story might have worked.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: We are told it's hot

A Match Made in Bed by Cathy Maxwell

May 16, 2018

It’s not a good sign when you can’t remember what a book is about and you just read it.

http://www.cathymaxwell.com/
By the way, the cover of this book insinuates that this is a hilariously funny story – don’t be fooled, my little Petunia’s.
 
Cathy Maxwell is one of my auto-buys, but I will be the first to admit that sometimes she writes wonderful books and sometimes…

Cassandra Holwell is a rich heiress, and Soren, the Earl of Dewsberry needs a rich wife, and he has his eye on Cassandra, aka Cass. Evidently, Cass and Soren have a history. Cass had crush on him when he was 13 and she was 11. Then he did something and she hatesssssss him forever. Soren is puzzled as to the cold shoulder he’s receiving from Cassandra; he always has been. He has no idea what he did when he was 13 to make her hate him. Eventually, we find out what he did and I was struck dumb – for a minute. Think about it. He did something stupid when he was 13…thirteen!!! She is 11, that’s e-l-e-v-e-n and she can’t get over it. It’s been ten years since the silly, childish incident and she’s still holding a grudge. This was in the beginning of the book, so right away I was dazed by the incredible stupidity of it all. A Match Made in Bed almost hit the wall at that time. But I persevered. I kept hoping.

Cassandra. What can I say about Cassandra? Well, I can say she was an incredibly short-sighted, selfish, haughty, snobbish woman. She was incredibly difficult to like. She viewed herself as better than everyone else, and she just could not marry anyone who would want to live in the country. Puleese, how could she stand to be away from the city culture and gaiety? Who would ever want to be out in the fresh air? There are cows out there mooing, after all. Even when it is made very, very clear that her father is horrible, I could not stir up any kind of sympathy for her.  She was just dreadful. When she eventually turned around and became nice person, it was tooooo late. The author waited tooooo long to redeem her. I never understood why Soren wanted Cassandra so badly.

Soren. Soren has a secret. A big secret. SPOILER! Even after Cassandra and he are caught in a compromising position, forced to marry, and travel over hill and dale to get to his estate, he doesn’t say piddly-diddly to her about his secret. I know I’d want to know that the man I married had an approximately six-year old son. Surprise, surprise, surprise. But there is more. Logan, the boy, is of mixed blood. His mother was a Lenape Indian and was married to Soren. Oh yeah, Soren ran away to the states or Canada or the new world when he was young. Anyway, Soren wants Logan to be accepted into British society and that’s why he is desperate to have a wife. Why he would pick a mean, selfish woman to become Logan’s step-mother was bewildering. However, even if she was self-centered, she deserved to be told about Soren’s son a little sooner than she was.

Soren and Cass didn’t have any chemistry. I could not understand why Soren had his eye on Cass. He didn’t really seem to even have a childhood crush on her. She wasn’t someone who he couldn’t forget. She irritated him, he knew she was selfish, but somehow she would make a good mother for his son. The story didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me and I had a hard time finishing it.

I was very disappointed in A Match Made in Bed.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot 

Come Back to Me by Josie Litton - My Thank-You All About Romance Project

May 15, 2018
All I know about history I learned from romance novels.

http://josielittonauthor.com/
That’s not really true, but who knew people were so clean in the days of Vikings. Plus, the Vikings in Josie Litton’s Viking series all seem to have saunas. These are clean Vikings, not the dirty ones you see on television.

It’s time for Rycca, aka Super I-Hear-the-Truth Girl’s book, Come Back to Me. This is Josie Litton’s third installment in this series, and she has redeemed herself. Just for the record, I liked the first book and third book in the series, not so much the second.

Rycca is running away; she doesn’t want to marry the Viking her family is forcing her to marry. She hatesssssss dirty Vikings; she doesn’t know about the sauna. She disguises herself as a boy, one of my least favorite themes, and traipses off to Normandy – or tries to traipse. Her plan is to sneak on board a ship and then try to find her twin brother. Sounds suspiciously like a Romanceland plan.

Dragon Hakonson is also strolling around the countryside. He’s delaying his return to his brother’s stronghold because Dragon is about to be married. What do you think the chances are that Rycca and Dragon are going to cross paths? Dragon is a different kind of Viking, he likes women. Oh, not in the kidnapping, raping, pillage kind of Viking; he’s more of an Alan Alda kind of Viking. He respects women and he will go to great lengths to protect them if he thinks they need his help. He’s just not in any hurry to tie the knot. Then he crosses paths with the boy who turns out to be a girl. Because Dragon is the helpful, honorable kind of Viking, he insists that he take Rycca to her boat safely. Rycca hides her true identity from Dragon. She has a few trust issues. As the two embark on their road trip, they become romantically involved. Friendship blossoms, trust on both sides appears. Then they discover that they are in fact betrothed to each other. They are not happy campers, at least for a while.

Dragon and Rycca worked as a romance couple. Dragon was an alpha male with a soft spot for women. He liked being around them and he loved being with Rycca. He knows Rycca is in some kind of trouble. He knows she is hiding something from him and he uses oodles of charm trying to find out what. As they continue on their road trip, they become close. Eventually the truth about Rycca’s problems become known and they work together to find a solution.

All the characters from the other two books make an appearance, each trying to solve the continuing mystery from the other books. Sometimes the appearance of characters from other books is irritating, but in this one they add to the narrative. Besides that, it was a pleasure to see them again. The villains are exposed and all is right with the world.

Josie Litton’s Viking series ends on an up note. I believe this was my favorite of the three and I do recommend Come Back to Me. It’s been a pleasure reading Josie Litton, aka Maura Seger, once again.

Time/Place: Vikings, Alfred the Great time
Sensuality: Hot

Believe in Me by Josie Litton, Part of Thank You All About Romance Project

May 9, 2018
If we could just talk to the animals – that would be very noisy.

http://josielittonauthor.com/
On to the second book in Ms. Litton’s Viking series, Believe in Me. Lady Krysta, aka Super I-Talk-To-Animals-and-Fantasy-Creatures Girl, is the heroine and she is a Norse woman who has been forced by her brother to marry Lord Hawk. Lord Hawk is our Saxon lord and he is being encouraged by King Alfred to wed Krysta. You know that this wouldn’t actually be a romance without the requisite bad plan, only this time it’s the heroine who has the stink-a-roo. Krysta is going to – wait for it – wait for it – disguise herself. Instead of pretending to be a boy, she is going to pretend to be a servant. She is pretending to be a servant and ensconce herself in Hawk's stronghold so she can keep an eye on him. She just wants to be very sure he is a trustworthy sort before she commits herself. If she had really thought her plan out, she would know that she didn’t really have any choices, but this is make-believe. She has dyed her hair black, I’m not sure why because I don’t think Hawk has ever seen her. She has also brought two of her trusty servants along. These servants have been with her since she was a child and her parents abandoned her. Here’s the deal. Krysta’s servants are not what they seem. Raven, the female servant, is a shapeshifter and she can turn into birds. Mainly, Ravens, hence the name. Krysta’s other servant, Thorgold, is a troll. I’m not actually sure what the benefit of having a troll for a buddy can be. The bird I get, because a bird can fly into a room and eavesdrop – which is what Raven does. But a Troll, they live under bridges and collect money. Not sure how that would be of any use to Krysta.

As you may have guessed there is a slight paranormal element in this tale, and I wonder why. When the story begins we are told that Krysta’s mother wasn’t human, or we are led to believe that she wasn’t. Because Krysta’s father could not accept whatever it was that Krysta’s mother was, her mother was “called” back to the sea and never seen again. So, all of Krysta’s life, everything she does all centers around a paranormal mother. I suspect the mother was a Selkie because Selkies used to show up a lot in older books. However, we never actually know. All we know is that Krysta has to marry a man who will really, really love her, even if she does swim with the fishes. And, paranormal romances are fine, don’t have a problem with them, as long as they are treated as such. What this story does is bring up all the shapeshifting, trolls and non-human stuff and then just sort of forget about them as the book progresses. The story then turns into a Saxon/Norse real story with the villain from the previous book. I think this book would have been a lot better if these elements had either been left out or been stronger. For me, the narrative didn’t blend the paranormal elements into the story very well.

Let’s talk about Lord Hawk. When I compare Hawk to the hero from the previous book, Wolf, Hawk doesn’t stand up too well. Just making a hero big doesn’t really add anything to his character. Hawk was a pretty flat guy; quite a cardboard person. Sure, sure, all the correct body parts twitch when they are supposed to but there wasn’t any substance to it. There was also tons of sex with no chemistry.

After an interesting start with the first book in the series, Dream of Me, Believe in Me was a let-down. I was disappointed in this book; there was just nothing to it. It does come as part of a package, but it doesn’t really enhance that package. Second story not so good.

Time/Place: Vikings, Alfred the Great time - long, long, time ago
Sensuality: Lots of mediocre sex.

Dream of Me by Josie Litton - My Thank-You All About Romance Project

May 1, 2018
What’s that saying? Everything old is new again or what goes around comes around or nothing new under the sun…

http://josielittonauthor.com/
Anyway, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was an author by the name of Maura Seger. Ms. Seger wrote a goodly number of historical books between 1983 and 1998. And then she disappeared. I, like a number of other people, kept looking for her. But alas, she just vanished. Probably to the Island of Disappearing Authors. Then in 2001 Bantam Publishing introduced a brand new author by the name of Josie Litton. They were excited because this new author was the bee’s knees! This great new author had written an exciting Viking trilogy which was going to be the bestest thing ever! But there was a mystery surrounding this new author. No one knew who Ms. Litton was or where she came from. Nothing could be found on her. The questions were many, the mystery only increased, (along with sales). Now, we all know you cannot fool romance readers for very long. No siree. Soon the hubbub hit the fan and it was discovered that Josie Litton was actually Maura Seger. Yes, Ms. Seger wasn’t on the Island of Disappearing Authors after all. Why all the “new” author hype? I’m sure Bantam had their reasons. For me it was all very odd. Especially when one considers alllll the authors who have tons of aka’s. There are many who use different nom de plumes when writing in different genres; it was all very puzzling. Even more so was the fact that a lot of us knew Ms. Seger had published under different names in the past. However, it wasn’t the use of a different name I found bewildering, it was the secretiveness which was employed by Bantam. I have never quite decided whether I should or should not have been insulted by someone trying to pull the wool over my eyes.  Regardless of the reason, Josie Litton aka Maura Seger, aka Jenny Bates, aka Laura Hastings, aka Sara Jennings, aka Anne MacNeil, aka Laura Michaels, aka Laurel Winslow was back, and even after all these years, her Viking trilogy is worth reading.

Vikings, Vikings, Vikings. What a forgotten romance genre. I wonder why. The first book in Ms. Litton’s Viking series is Dream of Me, which was written in 2001. The hero of this book is Wolf Hakonson and we know he’s a Viking because his last name has three syllables and ends with “son.” By the way, all the heroes in this series have animal names. Speaking of names, what’s with the heroine names? All three heroines in this trilogy have absurd names. Their names seem as if they should be in the futuristic fantasy genre not the historical genre. In Dream of Me, there is Cymbra, aka Super I-Fill-Your-Pain Girl. Yes, all the heroines have some kind of tiny paranormal thing they do. But don’t get toooo excited, the paranormal aspect of the stories is long forgotten by the end of each book. Krysta, aka Super I-Talk-To-Animals-And-Fantasy-Creatures Girl. Krysta is in the second book, Believe in Me. And, Rycca, aka Super I-Hear-The-Truth Girl is from the third story, Come Back to Me. Now that I have introduced you to all the heroines in the series, let’s take a look at Lady Cymbra and the book in which she resides, Dream of Me.

Dream of Me starts out with Viking prisoners being marched through Lady Cymbra’s brother’s village. Even as she watches from afar, she can spot the biggest, most handsome one and parts of her body start tingling. Because Cymbra is also Super I-Feel-Your-Pain Girl she must check on the Vikings to make sure none of them are injured. She’s just that kind of caring girl. Well, her senses must have taken the day off because the Vikings are tricking the Saxons. Oh by the way, Lady Cymbra is a Saxon. Anyway, the Viking's leader, Wolf, has allowed himself and some of his trusted cronies to be captured. He has one of those romance hero plans. His sole purpose in coming to the Saxon stronghold is to kidnap Simba..er..Cymbal..er..Cymbra. You might be wondering why. Well I’ll tell you. You see, he suggested an alliance between the Vikings and the Saxons. He sent a marriage proposal to Cymbra suggesting they wed. He received an insulting letter back. He and all the Vikings in the world were insulted and degraded. He must have revenge. However, when a stunningly beautiful Cymbra meanders into the dungeon where the Vikings are located, Wolf’s mind becomes muddled (his other brain takes over). You see, not only is Cymbra the most beautiful woman in the world, she is also very gentle and doesn’t seem to have a problem helping disgusting Vikings. Even though Wolf starts to discard the revenge plan, he still kidnaps Cymbra – ‘cause that’s what Vikings do. And, the romance begins.

Dream of Me is a standard, old-fashioned Viking tale, similar to some of Julia Garwood’s early medieval romances. If you are looking for hard-core, blood-thirsty, sweaty, Vikings, this story is not for you. These Vikings have a sauna. There is never any doubt as to what we will be getting in this book. There are no surprises and the misunderstandings are easily resolved. Curiously, this Viking story is almost gentle. While I may not have been blown away by the story, I enjoyed the mature quality of the writing. This story was a refreshing change from my usual Regency books and I delighted with being transported back into the Viking world, (even if it wasn’t as gritty as it really may have been).

Spoiler. The villain/villains trek through all three books in the series.

I do recommend this book. I enjoyed the romance between Wolf and Cymbra. It didn’t really bother me that misunderstandings were cleared up rather quickly. I thought the whole pace of the book was a pleasure. Even with the stumbling-block name of the heroine, I would have to say that this story is made for those nice pleasant reads at the beach. Or maybe on your porch, with a cup of coffee in your hand and the birds tweeting in the distance. Nice story.

Time/Place: Alfred the Great/Viking North lands somewhere
Sensuality: Warm/Hot