Holy Hot Crossed Buns!!! Time for Upcoming Historical Romance!!!

Authors with an asterisk*, I'm picking up! For more Upcoming Releases that aren't historical see HEY DELIA!! April 15, 2019 to May 14, 2019. By the way, it is not my fault if a publisher changes the release dates - just so you know, they do not consult me.
**Book by an author who is either new to me or has fallen off of my list.
Historical Romance 

	Amanda McCabe* http://ammandamccabe.com/ Miss Fortescue’s Protector in Paris Debutantes in Paris April 16 – Paper, May 1 – Ebook
	Anna Campbell http://www.annacampbell.com The Highlander’s Lost Lady The Laird Most Likely April 21

;

Christi Caldwell
http://www.christicaldwellauthor.com
The Bluestocking
Wicked Wallflowers series
May 7

Christy Carlyle
http://www.christycarlyle.com
Anything But a Duke
The Duke’s Den series
April 30

Darcy Burke
http://www.darcyburke.com
One Night of Surrender
Wicked Dukes Club
April 30

Emma V. Leech
https://www.emmavleech.com/
To Steal a Kiss, ebook
Girls Who Dare series
May 3

Erica Ridley
http://www.ericaridley.com
One Night for Seduction
Wicked Dukes Club series
April 16

Grace Burrowes
http://www.graceburrowes.com/
A Lady of True Distinction
True Gentlemen series
May 14

Janice Preston
http://www.janicepreston.co.uk
Lady Cecily and the Mysterious Mr. Gray
The Beauchamp Betrothals series
April 14

Jennifer Ashley*
Grace Burrowes
Elle Quinn
May McColdrick
Sabrina York
Elizabeth Essex
Bronwen Evans
Madeline Martin
Dukes by the Dozen
April 12

Jess Michaels
http://www.authorjessmichaels.com
Lady No Says Yes, ebook
Scandal Sheets series
May 7

Joanna Johnson
The Marriage Rescue
April 16 – Paper, May 1 – Ebook

Kristin Vayden
http://www.kristinvayden.weebly.com
The Temptation of Grace
Gentlemen of Temptation series
April 30

Lara Temple
https://www.laratemple.com
Unlaced by the Highland Duke
The Lochmore Legacy series
April 16 – Paper, May 1 – Ebook

Laura Martin
Reunited with His Long-Lost Cinderella
Scandalous Australian Bachelors series
April 16 – Paper, May 1 – Ebook

Linda Broday
http://www.LindaBroday.com
Saving the Mail Order Bride
Outlaw Mail Order Brides
April 30

Madeline Hunter*
http://www.madelinehunter.com/
Never Deny a Duke
Decadent Dukes Society series
April 30

May McGoldrick
http://www.MayMcGoldrick.com
Highland Crown
Royal Highlander series
April 30

Megan Frampton
http://www.meganframpton.com
Never a Bride
A Duke's Daughters series
April 30

Mia Marlowe*
http://www.miamarlowe.com
Lord Bredon and the Bachelor’s Bible
House of Lovell series
April 30

Renee Ann Miller
http://www.reneeannmiller.com
Never Kiss a Notorious Marquess
Infamous Lords series
April 30

Scarlett Scott
http://www.scarlettscottauthor.com
The Night Before Scandal, 73 pages
Heart’s Temptation, novella, ebook
April 19

Shana Galen
http://www.shanagalen.com
The Claiming of the Shrew
Survivors series
April 16

Stephanie Laurens
http://www.stephanielaurens.com/
The Pursuits of Lord Kit Cavanaugh
The Cavanaughs series
April 30

Tammy Andresen
http://tammyandresen.com/books/
Never Kiss an Earl at Midnight
How to Reform a Rake, novella
April 19

Valerie Bowman*
http://www.ValerieBowmanBooks.com
No Other Duke but You
Playful Brides series
April 30





Historical Fiction

	Alison Weir http://www.alisonweir.org.uk/ Anna of Kleve Six Tudor Queens series May 14
	Christopher Tilghman https://us.macmillan.com/author/christophertilghman/ Thomas and Beal in the Midi April 16
	Joel Mowdy https://twitter.com/joelmowdy?lang=en Floyd Harbor, debut, short stories Mary 14
	Julie Orringer http://julieorringer.com/ The Flight Portfolio May 7
	Juliet Grames https://www.julietgrames.com The Seven of Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, debut May 7
	Kathleen Alcott http://kathleenalcott.com/ America was Hard to Find May 14
	Kim Michele Richardson http://www.kimmichelerichardson.com The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek May 7
	Laura Kalpakian http://laurakalpakian.com/ The Great Pretenders April 16
	Melissa de la Cruz http://www.melissa-delacruz.com/ All for One Alex and Eliza series April 16
	Mimi Matthews https://www.MimiMatthews.com A Modest Independence Parish Orphans of Devon April 23
	Rachel Barenbaum http://www.rachelbarenbaum.com/ A Bend in the Stars May 14
	Renee Rosen http://www.reneerosen.com Park Avenue Summer April 30
	Roxana Robinson http://www.roxanarobinson.com/ Dawson’s Fall May 14
	Sarah Blake http://www.sarahblakewrites.com The Guest Book May 7
	William Rose Camille and the Rising of Eros May 1

The Lion's Lady by Julie Garwood - The Garwood Wayback Machine Project, no. 1

March 25, 2019

Time to Board the Wayback Machine
https://juliegarwood.com/
Yes, it’s time to climb on board the Wayback Machine. Let’s journey back to the days when manly-men were big as trees, when horses were horses, hawks were hawks, wolves were wolves, and heroines were so naive they could make your teeth ache. Let’s not forget the villains – ah yes, the villains. Those were the days when villains were never sent to the Island of Misplaced villains – no, not these bad guys. These bad guys got their just desserts and usually ended up in a pool of bloody gore. Yes, those were the days – the days of Julie Garwood historical books. So, journey with me now as we take a little trip back in time.

After rereading one of my favorite Julie Garwood novels, The Secret, I thought why don’t I revisit some of her older stuff. And, that’s just what I did, starting with a four-book series about a group of spys/assassins/pirates/adventurers. The first book in the Crown Spies series is The Lion’s Lady written in 1988.

When I begin these reread adventures there is always one dominant thought racing through my mind - has it held up well through the years?  Does it show its age? Well, interestingly enough this story, and the others in this series do show their age – but. There is a big but here. The writing in these books was still magical.  They were filled with humor and numerous great characters who I fell in love with all over again. There was never a moment while rereading these books that I ever asked myself, “what did I ever see in these stories?” I never once had a “Kathleen-Woodiwiss-groan-moment.” Did I notice a pattern in Garwood’s writing while I was rereading? Yes, but I was able to overlook that because I was enjoying the stories so much.

The heroes in all of these stories are bigger than life, and they all have the requisite giant thighs. They are strong, dominating men. If you like alpha males, these guys are for you. In Ms. Garwood’s book, you can depend on the heroes to fall in love/lust as soon as they spot the heroine. Ownership sets in. They will have her. She belongs to them. They all refer to her as “mine.” The heroines on the other hand are mostly innocent. When I say innocent, I don’t necessarily mean they’ve never bounced around in the bedroom – although they haven’t. No, Garwood’s heroines have a naïve way of seeing the world. It can be charming, almost Disney-like, but with an underlying steel. That underlying steel allows them to stand up to the alpha male in these stories. Even though these stories were written in the era when pot-boiler-bodice-rippers were still around, none of these stories have that feel.

In The Lion’s Lady we have our hero, Michael, the Marquis of Lyonwood. He’s a spy/assassin/whatever. Into his life wanders Christina Bennett, our heroine. Christina has a silly-let’s-stretch-the-imagination background. She’s a princess on the run. I hatesssssss princesses. Once upon a time her mother, Jessica, was married to an E-v-i-l man, a very E-v-i-l prince/dictator. He tried to kill Jessica. Jessica ran away. She runs all the way to America to escape him, along with her diary. In a rather convoluted plot-line she discovers she’s pregnant by her evil husband. But her problems don’t end there. She is then taken captive by a Native American tribe. Also, among the prisoners is a Dakota woman by the name of Merry – yes Merry. Merry and Jessica escape this tribe and journey together back to Merry’s people. Along the way they become friends, she gives birth, then dies, leaving her daughter Christina in Merry’s hands. Merry takes Christina back to the Black Hills of South Dakota to live among her people, the Dakotas. Eventually Merry’s husband accepts Christina and they raise her as one of their own. Christina is told by a shaman that her destiny is a lion, and she herself is a lioness. Years pass, Christina reads her mother’s diary and knows that she must return home to claim her birth-right before she turns nineteen. She must also avenge her mother. She starts out in Boston, finds another unpleasant relative, her evil aunt, and practices being a white princess. She and her evil/crazy aunt return to England seeking revenge against her father, getting her inheritance, and fulfilling her destiny.  Her destiny arrives in the form of Michael, the Marquess of Lyonwood, aka Lyon.

All the tension in this story is created by outside forces. Oh sure, Christina carries a knife strapped to her thigh, walks around barefoot, talks to animals, and yells at Lyon. But Lyon and Christina never once doubt that they were meant to be together. Even though Christina keeps her background a secret from Lyon, it isn’t really a problem in this story. Ms. Garwood has a light touch when it comes to misunderstandings, secrets, and lies revolving around our couple.

I have to say that even though I thought the Dakota part of this story was written a bit simplistically, and with a bit of wide-eyed innocence that probably wouldn’t be acceptable today – this was a pleasant romance. Lyon and Christina made a great couple and, the secondary characters were fully developed.  At this time in her career Ms. Garwood was still finding her footing, but this book is a treasure and I do recommend it.

Time/Place: Regency England/Black Hills
Sensuality:Warm/Hot

The Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood - The Garwood Wayback Machine Project, no. II

March 25, 2019

The Garwood Wayback Machine Project continues
https://juliegarwood.com/
Now onto the second book in the series, Guardian Angel - 1990. Guardian Angel was a lot of fun. As I read this story, I was amazed at how much I was enjoying Ms. Garwood’s writing. What can I say? I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and it mainly had to do with the fact that the heroine, Jade, ran so many circles around the hero, Caine that it was hard to keep up. Caine had trouble keeping his equilibrium and so did we all.

Here’s the premise of the story.  The Marquess of Cainewood, aka Caine, is pretending to be the nefarious pirate Pagan. He has situated himself in a pub and loudly proclaims his fake name. You see, the real Pagan murdered his brother Colin, or at least that’s what he believes. Into the pub walks Jade. She is looking for Pagan. She wants to hire Pagan to kill her. Caine is intrigued. After much funny dialogue, Caine attaches himself to Jade – to protect her. At least that’s what he thinks, but all is not as it seems. Spoilers ahead. The story gets delightfully more twisted. Jade is actually the dread pirate Pagan; Caine’s brother Colin is still alive and has asked Jade/Pagan to protect his brother Caine until he can return. Someone is out to murder the brothers. All this hub-bub means that Jade/Pagan must hide some biggggg secrets. She must protect Caine but allow him to think that he’s protecting her. It was alllll great fun!

Not only were Caine and Jade/Pagan a great couple, but there were numerous supporting characters who came along for the ride. Jade’s uncle, the colorful Black Harry, makes an entertaining appearance. And let us not forget the butler Stern; he’s one of those feisty servants who speaks his mind to his employer – and doesn’t get fired.

From beginning to end this story was a fast-paced farce, filled with engaging characters. There was great chemistry between Caine and Jade/Pagan. Something which struck me as unique while I was rereading Garwood’s books was the way she wrote her heroines. On the surface, her heroines seem to be silly, eccentric creatures who sometimes have TSTL actions. But when one looks a little deeper into the female leads, one finds loads of charm, intelligence, and integrity as strong as steel. Jade was all of these things. Now don’t get me wrong, she had insecurities and was afraid of Caine’s reaction when he found out the truth. She wasn’t always correct, but her heart was in the right place – who wouldn’t be charmed by Jade. Certainly not Caine.

Caine. I love Garwood’s males. They are pure and simple alpha males. Which is why it’s so much fun to watch them fall. And, they fall almost immediately, usually in the first chapter. I will be honest, I don’t think I want to be married to one – they are wayyyyy to possessive for my taste, but in these little fairy-tale books by Garwood they are fun to watch.

In case you didn’t guess, Guardian Angel was a joy to read.

Time/Place: Regency England/High Sea
Sensuality: Warm/Hot

The Gift by Julie Garwood - The Garwood Wayback Machine Project, no. III

March 25, 2019

Garwood Wayback Machine continued
https://juliegarwood.com/
Now, on to the third in the series – The Gift - 1991. I know all of you romance readers out there have experienced this. You read a book, and there is a scene you will remember forever. The problem arises when years pass. While you still remember very vividly a particular scene, you forget what book it’s from. You start rereading old romance books in search of it. You go online, hang out on message boards; sometimes you even get up enough nerve to send a “help me identify this book” message. Don’t lie, I know it’s happened to you. Well, when I started to reread The Gift I was smacked in the face with one of those scenes I’ve been trying to find alllllllll these years. Yes, yes, yes!!!! Now I can clear my mind of that little problem – I just have a gazillion more scenes to find.

The scene. We are witness to a wedding scene with a stoic groom and a drooling bride. The bride turns out to be four years old and the groom fourteen. They are, of course, then separated. Years pass and our hero, Nathan, has come to collect his bride. He hasn’t seen her in a while, for all he knows she could be as ugly as sin, but he’s willing to sacrifice. She, of course, isn’t anywhere close to being ugly – far from it. She – Sarah - is tired of waiting for her groom. She has sent unanswered letters to him over the years, and he’s never put in an appearance. When Nathan kidnaps Sarah, she’s more than ready to go. They board Nathan’s ship and are off on a grand adventure.

By the way, Nathan is the brother of Jade/Pagan from Guardian Angel, and he has taken the name of Pagan for his own. There is one problem with this: he gets sea-sick, which provides us with some funny scenes. Sarah is another one of Garwood’s innocent-charming female leads. She is a bit of a klutz; accidents happen when she’s around. This proves especially disastrous aboard a ship, and the crew at first wants her off. She damages the ship, injures members of the crew, even accidentally poisons them – but the crew is so captivated by her charm that they cannot hurt her feelings by rejecting her.

I feel as if I’m repeating myself. As with the other books in this series, I thought this book was great fun and I’m enjoying this reread a lot.

Time/Place: Regency England/Sea
Sensuality: Warm/Hot

Castles by Julie Garwood - The Garwood Wayback Machine Project, no. IV

March 25, 2019

Now onto the fourth book in the series, Castles, where we run into a snag
http://www.juliegarwood.com  
It had to happen. Remember me rambling on about the wonderful Garwood alpha males? How we love those alpha males, blah, blah, blah. Well somewhere in our journey in the Wayback Machine we ran into an alpha male who also happens to be a bonehead. Yes, Colin is a stubborn, boneheaded, alpha hero. Now these boneheads come in many varieties. Some are drunks, some are gamblers, some are abusive, some are unfaithful, and some would rather be poor then use any of the little woman’s money. Guess which one Colin was? Colin, by the way, was the missing brother of Caine from Guardian Angel. He now has his own book, and compared with the rest of the males in this series he’s a let-down.

First of all, Colin is avoiding his family because he believes everyone is trying to match-make, and nothing could be worse than being married. Secondly, he’s in need of funds but doesn’t want anyone else to help him – ever. He owns a shipping company, and he’s doing it his way. He has a five-year plan, and nothing will interfere with that. Oh yes, he also limps. 

Enter Princess Alesandra. What do I always say about princesses? I hatesssssss ‘em. Anyway, Princess Alesandra is staying with Colin’s parents, but they have flu or something. They ship her off to Colin to stay while they recover. They can’t send her to Caine and his wife because they also have the flu. Colin doesn’t believe any of it; he thinks they are trying to match make. He visits all of them. He gets the flu. Alesandra nurses him back to health. I started to have a problem with this novel at this time. I’m thinking Ms. Garwood didn’t necessarily abide by the historical romance guidelines of an unchaperoned woman living with a bachelor. But that seems to be overlooked in this narrative.

Along the way, Alesandra is almost kidnapped, which somehow forces Colin to marry her. By the way Alesandra makes lists. Why am I telling you that? Because, in one of the funniest scenes of this book, Alesandra takes a pad of paper and pencil to bed with her on her wedding night. She wants to take notes. It was all very funny.

Even though Alesandra was a princess, I liked her. She found all kinds of ways around her husband’s five-year plan. She had tons of money, and she used the name of Uncle Albert to buy things – like ships. Among the many things she did, without her husband’s knowledge, was have special shoes built so that he doesn’t limp. Why doesn’t he know about any of these things? Because he’s a stubborn bonehead hero.

He will not use her money – ever. He will not use her money to save his company, buy ships, eat bread – whatever. He makes it impossible for her to be honest with him. When she wears fancy jewelry, he gets nasty because HE didn’t buy it. This is one of the problems with alpha males in Romanceland – they just won’t use that money that’s sitting there doing nothing.

Anyway, while Castles had a delightful heroine, the hero turned out to be a headache. Out of the four books in this series, this was my least favorite.

Overall, I had a fun time in the Wayback Machine with Julie Garwood. For the most part, these stories still work and surprisingly don’t show too much of their age. It was a pleasure to read them again.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot

Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch

March 18, 2019
Romanceland Plan Alert
 
http://www.suzanneenoch.com/
Even though Suzanne Enoch is one of my auto-buy authors, I must issue an alert for another Romanceland plan. Not only is there a romanceland plan in this book, it’s a dreadful one.

Ms. Enoch has been one of my go-to authors since she was knee-high to a grasshopper – that’s a very long time. As with all authors, no matter how much I love them, every once in while a clinker comes along. As much I as I wish otherwise, It’s Getting Scot in Here didn’t work for me. Why is that? As I mentioned before, it allllll boils down to Francesca’s Romanceland Plan. This plan makes everyone in the story look odious.

Once upon a time, Angus MacTaggert, Earl of Aldriss, and Francesca Oswell meet, fell madly in love, married, and left for his ancestral home in Scotland. It isn’t long before the bloom is off the rose (or whatever that saying is). Soon Francesca and Angus are having marriage problems. He hatesssss London, loves Scotland; she loves London, hatesssss Scotland. Eventually they have four children, Coll, Aden, Niall, and Eloise. When Francesca gives birth to her daughter, the youngest of her children, she decides she cannot take it any longer.  Yes, she’s had enough peace and quiet in the wilds of Scotland – what a horrible place to bring up a daughter. Her daughter will never turn into a refined lady by living among the trees. Oh yes, something very important to the plot line: Francesca controls the money from the Oswell family. It is the Oswell family coffers which are keeping the Aldriss land afloat – I guess.

As I was saying, Francesca’s had enough, she’s mad as heck, and she’s not going to take it anymore.  She makes an agreement with Angus. She will leave her sons behind with Angus and return to London with Eloise. Angus lets her, as long as she continues to pump money into the land. What a great set of parents. Did you notice something? What about the boys? Let me repeat Francesca’s actions again for you. When she agrees to Angus’ demands, she is choosing life in London’s society over her three young sons. Francesca leaves her three young sons behind to be raised by their father in the wilds of Scotland. Coll, who is the eldest, is twelve at the time; the other two are just a few years younger.  What a traumatic experience that must have been for those abandoned boys. What does that say to those boys? It says that their mother loved the social swirl more than she does her own sons. Seventeen long years pass with nary any communication between Francesca and her sons. There is also no contact between Eloise and her father, nor Eloise and her brothers. While Angus is to blame for some of this, Francesca’s choice of society over being with her sons is a betrayal. Francesca is never going to win the mother of the year award. As far as I was concerned, this was a selfish act which would take a lot to be redeemed in my eyes. But wait, there’s more! Someone puleeeese make it stop! Seventeen years have passed, and she’s got a plan! Yes, Francesca has a Romanceland Plan – and, it’s a doozy.

Francesca’s plan. She is going to stop supporting her husband’s ancestral home/farm/estate/village/tenants in Scotland (Aldriss Park) unless her sons come to London and marry English women. One of those women has to be someone she chooses. This plan didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I’m not sure what she was hoping to gain. She doesn’t seem to be aware of just how much her sons have grown to resent her over the years. Not only has she been out of their lives for seventeen years, she abandoned them for something frivolous.  She has ignored them, and never been there when they needed her. Now, not only is she forcing them to separate from their father, she is threatening their livelihood, the place which they love, and the people who depend upon them. Talk about bullying. Her plan was baffling; it didn’t make any sense to me. It was a cruel, heartless plan, and I was disgusted with her. Did she think this plan would create some kind of bond with her sons, that they would learn to love her?  It was all very confusing.

The more I thought about this plan, the less it made any sense. So, what if the sons allllllll married women of their mother’s choosing? Did that mean that once they were married, they would remain in London with their wives? Not likely. Wouldn’t the sons pack their wives off to Scotland? None of her sons liked the city; their lives were in a different country. They would still resent her, and probably the women she selected. They would still live away from her, as would any future grandchildren. Of course, she could always threaten them again. Francesca and her plan made me fume throughout most of this book, and writing this review is making it allllll come back.

Francesca’s chosen bride. Francesca has picked a suitable match for her eldest son Coll: Amelia-Rose Baxter. I thought Amelia-Rose had possibilities in the beginning, she was spirited, and spoke her mind – sometimes. She turned out to be unlikable, and hey, she didn’t like barbarous Scots. But wait! She has a horrible mother too! Her mother wants a title for her daughter and she doesn’t care what has to be done to get it. Her mother has no love for her daughter; she is overbearing, and mentally abusive to her. Amelia-Rose will do almost anything to escape from her mother’s control, even marry a barbarous Scot. You know this book was jam-packed with unpleasant women. But, it’s not just the females who had me grinding my teeth. Let’s talk about the so-called future heroes.

Coll, Aden, and Niall’s plan. Yes, there is another plan in this story. The guys have decided to make things as unpleasant for their mother as they can. That includes a bagpiper and a stuffed giant animal. They plan to be rude, insufferable, and completely obnoxious. They plan on showing their mother just how uncivilized they are. Even though Coll is the son who is picked out for Amelia-Rose, it is Niall who steps in to smooth things over. He is the one who escorts Amelia-Rose to the opera, dances, picnics, etc. And, he is the one who falls in love with her. Why is that? Well because Coll is a big bonehead, intolerable jerk through out most of the book. He disappears at the beginning of the story after he finds out that Amelia-Rose isn’t the shy, reserved woman he will accept as a wife. No, Amelia-Rose insults him almost right away. Evidently the tenants in Scotland don’t mean all that much to Coll, because he leaves Niall to cover for him. Of the three brothers, Niall was the most likeable, but they were all pretty much childish clods. But then, they were being forced to do something by a woman who abandoned them and now was trying to win them back. Here comes my rage again. AAAAaaaarrrgggg.

The more I think about this book the less I like it. While this story was supposed to be a romance, that part of the story was lost among many hateful, unpleasant people. There wasn’t any chemistry between Niall and Amelia-Rose, and I found allllll the parents in this book appalling. Every time I try to talk about the hero and heroine in this story, I become distracted by the “plan.” I am disappointed that this book came from the pen of one of my favorite authors. I’m not sure if the future books in the series will be able to redeem the main characters. I had such a strong reaction to Francesca’s dreadful plan I cannot recommend this story.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Hinky-dink without chemistry