ARC Review: Three Weeks With a Princess by Vanessa Kelly

Three Weeks With a Princess by Vanessa Kelly was a let down for this reader, I am sorry to say. It dragged on too long for me, and a lot of things said about or in this book was misleading in my opinion.

Lia Kincaid is the illegitimate daughter of a prince and a courtesan. Her grandmother shared the same profession as her mother. Lia is made to grow up in the country raised by her grandmother who became mistress to the Marquess of Lendale. Growing up there, Lia befriended Lendale's grandson (or great nephew I can't remember exactly), Jack Easton, and established a school girl crush on him. He was always kind to her despite her lineage and looked out for her well being.

Unfortunately for Jack, upon the demise of both his father and grandfather (or great uncle) he must assume the title of Marquess and take over the responsibilities that come with it. In his opinion, this included Lia and her grandmother, much to his own mother's despair. However, since the late Marquess didn't provide anything for his mistress in his will, Lia and her grandmother believe they need to make their own way. Lia determines her only options are to either become an actress (as her mother has recently become) or a mistress. Jack does not like either option, and continually insists that she stay at his country home and he will continue to care for her and her grandmother.

I found I did not like barely any characters in this book. Lia was annoying in her determination to ruin herself. She didn't even try other potential options which may have been possible if she got lucky and put forth some serious effort. Jack and almost every other male in this book were just huge dictators trying to force Lia to do what they believed was best for her. Most of the female side characters had spunk but were also making dumb decisions that seemed completely silly and unrealistic.

I also disliked the flow of the story. Many of the scenes I felt were unnecessary and contributed to an overly lengthy book. I never really felt either character "fall in love". Lia has loved Jack from childhood which is just mentioned as a backstory, and Jack just seems overbearing, and I never felt his over protectiveness turn into love. I was looking forward to this story being a little more involving royalty as the title suggests a princess type is involved. It really didn't come into play very much at all. The three weeks timeline also really didn't match. I know I am nitpicking but it honestly it bothered me.

I am not really interested at all in continuing this series. I may give Vanessa Kelly's work another try someday, but with something separate.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

Someone to Honor is the sixth book in Mary Balogh's Westcott series. This book focuses on Abigail Westcott and Gil Bennington. If you need a reminder, Abigail is one of the three children discovered to be technically illegitimate in the first Westcott book because her father married her mother whilst having already being wed to another. This book takes place about six years after that first book.

Abigail Westcott has been pushed by her meddling (but full of love) family to return as best she can to society and find herself happiness through marriage. However, she finds herself no longer interested. She has gotten over the "Great Catastrophe" that happened to her mother, brother, and sister, but no one else seems to see that. They only see her as being lonely.

Gil Bennington is on his way back to England when he stumbles upon a healing Harry Westcott. Gil and Harry served together against Napoleon, and became friends. Gil insists on helping Harry get back home to recover from his wounds there. He stays with Harry even once they get to England to help Harry get his strength back. He doesn't realize the stampede of family determined to check on Harry as soon as they have word of his return. It is almost overwhelming to Gil, whose upbringing was very different to the love and concern shown to Harry.

Abby along with the rest of her family are over the moon to have Harry back home, but they are all worried about his weakened condition. She happens to find Gil chopping wood on the grounds when needing a moment and mistakes him for a servant. She lectures him about his state of dress (or lack thereof since he is bare from the waist up). Gil lacks to correct her incorrect assumption and just grits his teeth at yet another annoying lady of society.

Throughout their encounters, they find themselves disliking each other and yet being drawn to each other upon learning more of each other's character. Gil is struggling with personal/legal issues while he is there, and stemming from that, they find they need each other.

I found this book to not be very romantic. However, it touched my heart a lot! Gil is a tough guy with a hidden heart and I just wanted to give him hugs all the time! Abby was sweet and she was doing a lot of finding herself and figuring out what she wanted. It was a little too much for me with Abby though as I felt I didn't truly get to know her. I liked her; I just struggled to empathize I guess.

I did still very much enjoy this story. I believe the series will continue, and I am excited to see where it goes!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau

Kingdom of Exiles is a debut for new author Maxym M. Martineau. It was advertised on Goodreads as, "Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin's Creed." I LOVED Fantastic Beasts so it grabbed my attention, and I read the synopsis. Don't really know anything about Assassin's Creed but that's ok.

Leena Edenfrell has been exiled from her kind, Beast Charmers, though she keeps the skills she learned before her exile. In order to survive, she sells beasts that she charms for people, which is against everything she learned from the Charmers. She does the best she can, and it is all to go towards finding redemption for her false crimes. Unfortunately for her, she gets targeted by an assassin, one who though she defeats, means there is a bounty on her head that the entire organization will go after her to fulfill.

Noc is the leader of an undying people in a place called Cruor. They are assassins for hire. When Leena walks into their home with one of his brothers hostage, she immediately has his attention. They strike a deal; she will acquire four beasts for him and his people will spare her life. Noc hopes there is a possibility a beast can stop a curse put upon him. He is also clever though to create a loophole in their bargain so he can still keep his contract.

Leena, Noc, and three other Cruor members set out to find the beasts. All the while, the assassins do what they've learned they shouldn't do to get their job done. They get to know Leena and start to believe in her innocence. All the while, she sneaks into Noc's thoughts and heart, which could be fatal for them both.

Within this emotional struggle and new world was a great starting point for a fantasy romance. I loved learning about some of the beasts described, but I was disappointed that as the book progressed, we learned less about new creatures. The love interest between Leena and Noc wasn't as convincing to me, though it wasn't horrible. I found myself more interested in the three other members of the group.

For me this book had a great build up and idea, and then around the halfway mark, it began to lose my interest. Despite that, I did enjoy the tale overall and I hope to have the opportunity to continue reading the series. Definitely a great debut!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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Review: Elizabeth Vaughan

Warprize is the first in Elizabeth Vaughan's Chronicles of the Warlands series. It is also a debut book for me of hers. The book has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read honestly for years. Having finally picked it up, and devouring every page, all I can do is ask myself why I waiting so long to read this book!

Xylara "Lara" is a princess of Xyland. Her older half brother is the current ruler and he is in the middle of a war with the "firelanders" as the Xylander's call them. Lara has defied custom and convention by becoming a healer for her people. This is something uncalled for because of her royal heritage. However, her father allowed it when he was alive, and though her brother doesn't like it, he allows her to continue her work. During the war she is helping with the wounded Xylander warriors, but she is also caring for the prisoners of war. She is the only person with the guts to help them against the King's wishes, but she feels the duty to help all in need because of the oaths she took.

While helping the foreign warriors, she initially begins learning their language to help treat them better. Lara is one of only a few who can communicate with them. Then she discovers that one of her patients is of the higher ranks. She worries that his position will cause her brother to execute him, so she keeps his secret while healing him. After this, she is confronted in the market by a man named Keir who demands to know of her patient's condition and to pass along a message to him. She refuses to pass any information, but does update him on the patient's condition. But by telling the POWs about her conversation with Keir, it seems they've gotten the message regardless.

Very soon after, Lara is happy to hear that peace negotiations are taking place. Until she discovers that she is to be sacrificed to their King as a slave as a part of the agreement. She agrees to the condition (though her brother never even truly asked her) to save her people. Lara is surprised to discover Keir is the king. So he takes her back to his camp. And thus begins a relationship between two people of different cultures that don't completely understand each other. It is also starting with lies. Lara struggles to learn her place, and she is terribly confused.

This is a book written in the first narrative, which is something I typically don't enjoy. However, this story line was best suited with that narrative since the reader is trying to understand this unique culture with her, and it didn't bother me in the slightest. While I loved the supporting cast the most, Keir did end up growing on me. Lara was strong and brave but also naive and too cautious to ask questions. For the most part, I liked her though. The story is full of unknowns that pull the reader in because they want to understand. 

I am excited to have finally read this romantic fantasy, and I cannot wait to continue the series. I only wished I had picked it up sooner!

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ARC Review: Love's Call by C.A. Szarek

Love's Call is the second book to C.A. Szarek's The King's Riders series and the first book I've read of Szarek's. I was hopeful that coming into the series having not read the first book, that I wouldn't be lost, and I wasn't. I believe whenever they referenced the first book, they explained very well what happened. While this was a good thing since I didn't get lost in the story, it did make me wish I was reading that book instead of this one.

Ansley (I LOVE that name) is a Senior King's Rider. Basically she is a messenger for the king. The King gives her a message that needs to go to one of his Duke's with all possible haste. She leaves immediately with her "bonded" wolf companion, Ali, and she pushes her horse hard. Along the way Ali brings her to a stop because there is a girl in bad shape lying on the ground gasping for help. While she starts to try to figure how she was going to get the girl on her horse to safety, a large group of armored men show up. So far this story has really gotten me interested.

Leargan, the man leading the group of armored men, is the captain of the Duke's personal guard. They were out on patrol when they came across the two women. After cautious introductions, the men help Ansley get the girl back the the Duke's town. One of the personal guard, Roduch, seems intensely drawn to the hurt woman, and immediately considers it his duty to take care of her. He recognizes her as a woman he has seen in dreams and visions. Leargan is also immediately taken with Ansley, and Ansley is amazed to discover Leargan there, as she has been half in love with him for years. At this point I am still very intrigued to see where everything is going.

Upon getting to the Duke's home, they immediately get a healer to work on the poor unknown girl who is in such a rough state. After she has been seen to Ansley is able to deliver her message and find sleeping quarters. The next morning, the Duke shows the message to Leargan, and it says that the king and Ansley's father want Leargan and Ansley to get married. While Leargan admits being attracted to Ansley and a willingness to obey his king he isn't sure how she will take being ordered to marry him. He doesn't let her know about it for the time being. Also, that same morning, the mysterious hurt woman wakes up and tells them all her name is Avril, and starts to tell them the abuses that happened to her. It enrages everyone, and they all want vengeance on the man responsible.

This is where the book starts to die down. It focuses mainly on the romance between Ansley and Leargan while Avril gets more and more comfortable to share what she can of her situation. Ansley is annoying. Her thoughts and actions reminded me of a 13 year old girl in a 22ish year old's body. I also later learned how much of a hypocrite she is. Leargan seemed a pretty good guy, but he makes some bad decisions. The two struggle to communicate. And they go from 0 to 60 with the beginning of a kiss to almost being intimate every time they're together. Roduch and Avril's patient and slow time of learning each other and gaining trust grabbed my attention so much more.

As for the magic, there really isn't very much explaining and it seems used in odd ways not really helping the story as much as it could. No one seems worried about being hurt because the healer will have you back to normal in no time at all, and he even can manipulate your body's functions how he wants. I saw great potential in the bonding some characters had with wolves, but that really never amounted to much after the beginning when Ali found Avril. They just acted mostly like domesticated dogs in every other scene. 

With how much the characters talked about the adventures of the first book, all the action in this book was so anticlimactic. Nothing really was any sort of struggle, and I never felt once that I didn't know how the story would go. It was very disappointing. I do hope that the aversion I have to this book is a fluke in comparison to the rest of Szarek's work, because this story had amazing potential at the first. I am very interested to read the first book in the series after hearing about it from this one. I think I might someday try it out.

**ARC provided by NetGalley**

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ARC Review: The Duke That I Marry by Cathy Maxwell

The Duke That I Marry is the last (I believe) in Cathy Maxwell's Spinster Heiresses series, and it was unfortunately also my least favorite of the bunch. While still a decent novel, several parts and bits weren't to my liking.

Against her normal character, Miss Willa Reverly is taking her life into her own hands and doing something bold. The day before her wedding, she sends her betrothed a note releasing him from their engagement. She knows there will be a scandal, but seeing as how the man has been absent since their engagement party, and honestly didn't even propose to her but talked with her father, Willa believes it's the best course of action. She agreed to the marriage originally because she got a copy of romantic poems he wrote years before that made her believe he was capable of loving her, and she has always been the obedient daughter. But now with his absence and rumors of his affair with a married woman, she wants out.

The rumors are true that Matthew Addison, Duke of Camberly, was in love with a married woman. And it was because of her rejection of him as well as business in his newly acquired estate and dukedom, that he left London. Matt has quite a morning when he gets Willa's note right after he learns that his family lost their entire fortune due to blackmail. It looks like the blackmail turned into murder, and Matt now wants vengeance for his family. But first, he must get Willa back on board with marrying him for her funds.

Matt makes all haste to confront Willa and convinces her to continue their betrothal. From there the couple must jump hurdles of jealousy, and Matt's quest for vengeance. Willa struggles with the marriage, but Matt keeps working at it. Willa wants love, and Matt is nervous to fall in love again after the disaster that happened the first time.

I struggled with the entire love story. I felt Willa forgave Matt way too soon, and that he didn't express his apologies well enough. As with most relationship issues, the two mostly just need to communicate better. Otherwise, I really wasn't convinced of their romance. The vengeance/mystery side of the story was intriguing and honestly was the only part of this book that kept me going. Also, without giving away spoilers, I was disappointed with the Epilogue as it didn't really touch on things I believe it should have.

While this wasn't a grand slam in my opinion, it was still a pretty pleasant read. I still love Cathy Maxwell as a writer, and I am curious to see what she has in store for her readers next.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: The Mad Herringtons by Jane Myers Perrine

From what I can tell, The Mad Herringtons is a standalone book from Jane Myers Perrine. I was bored a bit at the beginning of this book, and I didn't connect well with any characters. However, as the story progressed, it got better, until by the end I discovered I really enjoyed it. Also, by the end, I was happily surprised to realize it was a relatively clean historical romance! This is a rarity, and I am excited by it.

Aphrodite Herrington comes from a very large family. She feels like an outsider to her kin, and she is very reserved and responsible while her family is each ruled by their passions. A couple years prior she let her heart start to be ruled by passion, but it failed her. So she is looking for a respectable marriage. She is pleased when Mr. Horne offers her marriage, or well a almost proposal based on a meeting with his mother. She agrees to go to a house party in the country to make Mr. Horne's mother's acquaintance.

Upon hearing of the almost engagement of Aphrodite and his cousin, Mr. Horne, Viscount Thomas Warwick thinks to save her from his outrageous Aunt. Despite his proclamations that he is only there to support his cousin, he cannot stop thinking about Aphrodite and their courtship from before. He just cannot seem to keep himself out of meddling with the potential engagement.

What I really liked about this book was the transformation in all of the characters. There were some side plots for the supporting characters like the other party guests, I like it when people show convincing growth. It makes the romance(s) also more convincing. Again I was happy to find this book didn't need the sexual encounters of so many others within this genre. If I remember correctly there were a couple of desirous imaginings or thoughts, but nothing more than that. Refreshing and a diamond in the rough for readers who have to usually skip those blush inducing scenes.

I am glad that this book got better and better as it progressed. It was a good standalone, but of course I became interested in the Herrington family. It left me wanting more. If that's not a sign of a good book, I don't know what is!

**ARC provided by NetGalley**

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ARC Review: The Other Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

The Other Miss Bridgerton is Julia Quinn's third installment to her Rokesby series. Julia Quinn will always have a special place in my heart because it was reading her first Bridgerton book, The Duke and I, that started my obsession with Historical Romance. Since then, I've learned that I dislike some of her books, love some, and anywhere in between. However, I always read anything she releases. The Other Miss Bridgerton fell into the "loved it" category.

Poppy Bridgerton is visiting a friend on the coast who is pregnant. She is an adventurous young lady, so she likes to explore the shore line. Usually she brings along a lady's maid as her companion, but because she doesn't want to be held back, she convinces the maid to leave her be and take a break. Poppy discovers some caves and whilst investigating some crates she finds, a couple of sailors find her. They capture and take her to their captain on their ship.

Captain Andrew James (secretly Andrew Rokesby) finds himself in quite a pickle. He has a young lady on his ship, and the gentleman in him must try to keep her safe and her reputation intact, especially since her cousins are his family's neighbors. Also, he has no time to send her back to her friend's home since he has time critical cargo to be delivered. On top of that, Poppy is no mild miss. She is a fire pistol and becomes the bane of his existence during their trip to Portugal.

Both characters cannot deny their attraction for each other. However, Poppy continually has to remind herself that despite Andrew's charm, he is still her captor and is confining her to one room for at least two weeks. He is trying to keep her safe, but it isn't good for her adventurous heart. Andrew knows he may have to marry her at the end of the trip to save her reputation, but he tries everything in his power to not pressure the two of them into a loveless match. Of course matters of the heart don't listen to silly things like logic.They cannot stop thinking of each other.

I don't want to give too much away of the story, but I will say that the plot definitely spices up. There were a few heart stopping romantic scenes that took my breath away. I loved how the two characters became acquainted with each other. I adored Poppy to no end. Parts of her personality reminded me of me, so I connected with her quite a bit.

This isn't your typical ballrooms and trips to Gunter's for ices kind of historical romance. It takes you onto a ship and then to Portugal. This book was a joy to read, and I am happy it fell into my "love it" category for Julia Quinn's books. I am excited to read the next book in the Rokesby series! ( I am also excited for the Bridgerton based show coming to Netflix!!)

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Someone To Trust by Mary Balogh

Someone to Trust is the 5th book in Mary Balogh's Westcott series. This book follows Someone to Care to the second, time wise. Someone to Care finishes with Marcel and Viola's wedding at Christmas. Brambledean court is where the entire family (which I admit is hard to keep track of, but there is a family tree included in the book for your reference) comes together for Christmas.

Elizabeth, Lady Overfield, has been a very interesting character throughout the first four books. She always seems to be poised, intelligent, and unafraid to have fun. She seems to have an ease to conversing with everyone. Seeing that her sister-in-law's brother, Colin, off to the side alone, she approaches him and starts a conversation. The two seem to act like they're close confidantes from the beginning. They tease each other a little, but also stray a little into more deep subjects about their lives. Elizabeth goads Colin into snow filled activities.

Colin, Lord Hodges, falls in love with the family togetherness for Christmas and cannot help but yearn for something similar within his own family. He and the rest of his siblings are estranged apart from Wren (Elizabeth's sister-in-law). He throws himself full on into all the fun at Brambledean from sledding to snowball fights. One fortunate accident with the sled leads Colin and Elizabeth into an impromptu kiss amid the snow (how romantic)! However it affects them both, they just try to brush it off considering she is almost 10 years his senior, which is an unheard of thing in Regency England.

The two agree to keep their "friendship" strong throughout the Season coming up and arrange to share the first Waltz together at every event they both attend. Elizabeth is considering remarrying, and Colin is also considering marriage. It was hard for me to completely understand the way they kept pushing the idea of themselves as a couple away because it isn't so unheard of in our times. I kept wanting to shake them for not seeing what was happening. However, I can acknowledge that times were different then. 

Both Elizabeth and Colin have parts of their pasts that shape the way they act (as all people do) but as usual Mary Balogh really seems to go to the right depth with it. I love how she seems to understand a person's inner thoughts and motivations. Her work is perfect in my opinion on that. This romance was a sweet one, and it was perfect for Elizabeth (who up to this point has been my favorite side character in this series). I want to share the ending with you, but don't want to spoil either. Mary Balogh handled it perfectly and with a spice of humor. I hope the series will continue, or at least for some of these amazing side characters get their own stories in some way, too!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Unmask Me If You Can by Shana Galen

Finally it is Lord Jasper's turn! Unmask Me If You Can is Shana Galen's fourth book in her Survivors series, and I am so happy for Jasper to finally get his Happily Ever After. The previous three books were amazing, and Jasper was a side character in each that I believe many readers have been waiting for.

Lord Jasper is a man who can find things. His friends in his troupe nicknamed him the Bounty Hunter for that reason. The troupe (they call themselves The Survivors) is a tight net group of twelve men who made it through the war against Napoleon despite extremely dangerous missions that were considered suicidal. Now that the war is over, he makes his living finding things, but mostly people. He is tasked by the Carlisle's to find their daughter who had run away five years before. Her mother is on her deathbed and wishes only to see her daughter again. So Jasper decides to help the family and finds himself in a remote village where he believes the girl lives. On his way up a steep cliff towards the house, he is stabbed and left for dead.

Olivia Carlisle used to be the typical debutante within Society. She was the dutiful daughter to her parents, and she agreed to become betrothed to a duke by their direction. He makes her uncomfortable, but her parents don't seem to think there is reason to do anything. The duke rapes Olivia, and she runs away before the marriage can take place. She has been living in hiding as a widow with her son in a remote village hoping the duke will never find her. It's a much different life than the fancy dresses, parties, and ton, but she does whatever she has to for her son. Then her safe haven and peaceful life gets turned upside down when her son finds an unconscious and hurt man on the path to their home.

It takes a lot of courage for Olivia to take this man in need in to her home and care for him, especially after what had been done to her. However, she pushes herself to do it. I think a lot of her gumption stems from a "Mama Bear" instinct to take care of her son. When Jasper comes back into consciousness, he cannot help but admire this strong and capable woman. Though she knows not all men are like the duke who had hurt her, it is difficult for her to put trust into any man. Jasper knows to be very patient with her, and he is completely understanding. While he has physical scars on his face that he is ashamed of, she also has scars that she is ashamed of. While neither of them have ANY reasons to be ashamed, their experiences bring them together in a unique way.

I loved Jasper, just as I fully expected to, and Olivia was a strong female lead. I always get uncomfortable with books about rape, but Shana Galen did a good job in my opinion of portraying the gravity of it without too many details. It also wasn't played out all at once. Just snippets here and there. I think Shana Galen also did an amazing job of portraying the hesitancy Olivia feels about men and certain experiences because of what she went through. I think this story shows a lot of character growth between Jasper and Olivia. The romantic aspect of the story didn't have too many heart dropping, swoon worthy moments so I had a hard time feeling it as much as some of my favorites. But I do think the way it played out was perfect for this particular situation.

I sincerely hope this series continues! There was a small teaser of her next book at the end of this one, but I believe it was for a different series. While I will usually devour anything by Shana Galen, I hope any breaks from our Survivors aren't too long! We did meet a Survivor I don't believe has been in any previous book, and his small contribution already has me wondering about him. Shana Galen also shows us some more about Colonel Draven's personal life, but only a little to keep us guessing. Hopefully she wouldn't be so cruel as to leave it at that? Liked this book, love this series!

**ARC provided by Author**

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