Review: Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

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Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
Series: Something Fabulous #1
Publication Date: January 25th 2022
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

From the acclaimed author of Boyfriend Material comes a delightfully witty romance featuring a reserved duke who’s betrothed to one twin and hopelessly enamoured of the other.

Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.

It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.

Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.

Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.

Something Fabulous is an M/M historical romance from Alexis Hall! I’ve been so looking forward to this one because I love historical romances and Alexis Hall’s books are always so entertaining. This was another fun rom-com of the author’s and I’m hoping we get more historical romances after this!

Valentine is the Duke of Malvern and he’s engaged to a woman named Arabella. Unfortunately, she’s a romantic and he is not, so she runs off to escape the engagement. Her twin brother Bonny goes to Valentine asking him to help find Arabella, and the two set off on a cross-country adventure together.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book so much because of how over the top everything was. It felt like a funny, silly historical rom-com, which I didn’t mind at all. But then things fell a little flat after that for me. I kept feeling bad for the Valentine because everyone walked all over him. I wish he was able to stand up to the other characters more. Still, the writing is fun, and the book is definitely a good time for those looking for a historical M/M rom-com!


lacey

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Review: After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long

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After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long
Series: The Palace of Rogues #4 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: November 30th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Sparks fly when a daring diva clashes with an ice-cold war hero in the newest thrilling romance in USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long’s Palace of Rogues series.

She arrives in the dead of night, a mob out for blood at her heels: Mariana Wylde, the “Harlot of Haywood Street,” an opera diva brought low by a duel fought for her favors. But the ladies of the Grand Palace on the Thames think they can make a silk purse from scandal: They’ll restore her reputation and share in her triumph…provided they can keep her apart from that other guest.

Coldly brilliant, fiercely honorable, General James Duncan Blackmore, the Duke of Valkirk, is revered, feared, desired…but nobody truly knows him. Until a clash with a fiery, vulnerable beauty who stands for everything he scorns lays him bare. It’s too clear the only cure for consuming desire is conquest, but their only chance at happiness could lead to their destruction.

The legendary duke never dreamed love would be his last battleground. Valkirk would lay down his life for Mariana, but his choice is stark: risk losing her forever, or do the one thing he vowed he never would…surrender.

After Dark with the Duke was fabulous! I haven’t read too many Julie Anne Long books but this is easily my favorite one so far. I’m a sucker for a stoic, older hero!

Mariana Wylde is an opera singer known as the “Harlot of Haywood Street.” She needs some help in restoring her reputation, and the ladies at the Grand Palace on the Thames are determined to do just that. There’s just one little chink in this plan, and that takes place in the form of General James Duncan Blackmore. He’s 18 years older than her and very straight-laced. He doesn’t approve of Mariana because of her supposed reputation. There’s wit, banter, and plenty of chemistry between them. I loved the push and pull and the way the romance slowly developed.

If you love opposites attract and forced proximity in your historical romances, I highly recommend this book. Even though they get off on the wrong foot in the beginning, James and Mariana have this fantastic connection that draws them in. They’re both hiding at the Grand Palace in their own ways and manage to find love and solace with each other. It was just a very swoony romance and I really want to read more JAL books now!


lacey

Reading Order: The Palace of Rogues series

#1 ~ Lady Derring Takes a Lover: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Angel in a Devil’s Arms: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ I’m Only Wicked with You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ After Dark with the Duke: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ You Were Made to Be Mine: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads (June 28, 2022)

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Review: Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

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Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Series: Written in the Stars #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: February 1st 2022
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Following Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon, Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur pens another steamy queer rom-com about former best friends who might be each other’s second chance at love…

Margot Cooper doesn’t do relationships. She tried and it blew up in her face, so she’ll stick with casual hookups, thank you very much. But now her entire crew has found “the one” and she’s beginning to feel like a fifth wheel. And then fate (the heartless bitch) intervenes. While touring a wedding venue with her engaged friends, Margot comes face-to-face with Olivia Grant—her childhood friend, her first love, her first… well, everything. It’s been ten years, but the moment they lock eyes, Margot’s cold, dead heart thumps in her chest.

Olivia must be hallucinating. In the decade since she last saw Margot, her life hasn’t gone exactly as planned. At almost thirty, she’s been married… and divorced. However, a wedding planner job in Seattle means a fresh start and a chance to follow her dreams. Never in a million years did she expect her important new client’s Best Woman would be the one that got away.

When a series of unfortunate events leaves Olivia without a place to stay, Margot offers up her spare room because she’s a Very Good Person. Obviously. It has nothing to do with the fact that Olivia is as beautiful as ever and the sparks between them still make Margot tingle. As they spend time in close quarters, Margot starts to question her no-strings stance. Olivia is everything she’s ever wanted, but Margot let her in once and it ended in disaster. Will history repeat itself or should she count her lucky stars that she gets a second chance with her first love?

Count Your Lucky Stars is the third standalone in the Written in the Stars series and I’ve been looking forward to it! The series has been great so far and I ended up enjoying it so much. In this third book, we’ve got an F/F romance between former childhood best friends who were in love and now they get their second chance 10 years later.

Olivia Grant is divorced and has just gotten a new job in Seattle working as a wedding planner. Her new client’s best woman is none other than her old best friend Margot Cooper, who she had a falling out with a decade ago when they were young and in love. When Olivia needs a place to stay, the two end up becoming roommates, which means the two are forced to reconcile over what went wrong all those years ago and see if it’s possible to have a second chance at love.

I love second chance romances! Add in the roommates trope, and I’m even happier. There’s a lot of good forced proximity here, but even without that, there are still a lot of sparks between Margot and Olivia because of their unfinished business. The romance is sweet and emotional and I loved seeing the characters from the previous books here too. The whole series has such a great friend group! I thought it was adorable how Brendon turned into such a matchmaker. Count Your Lucky Stars is a bit slower paced than the first two books and there’s a lot of back and forth between the main characters, but I did really like the story and second chance.


Reading Order: Written in the Stars series

#1 ~ Written in the Stars: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Hang the Moon: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Count Your Lucky Stars: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Review: Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne

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Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: January 18th 2022
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Central Park Pact comes a reverse My Fair Lady for the modern era about a pampered and privileged Manhattan socialite who must teach an unpolished and denim-loving nobody from the Louisiana Bayou how to fit in with the upper crust of New York City. Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.

Violet Townsend has always been a people pleaser. Raised in the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan, she always says the right things, wears the right clothes, and never rocks the boat. Violet would do anything for the people closest to her, especially her beloved grandmother. So when she asks Violet to teach the newly-discovered grandson of her friend how to fit in with New York City’s elite, Violet immediately agrees. Her goal? To get Cain Stone ready to take his place as heir to his family company…but to say he’s not exactly an eager student is an understatement.

Born and raised in rural Louisiana and now making his own way in New Orleans, Cain Stone is only playing along for the paycheck at the end. He has no use for the grandmother he didn’t know existed and no patience for the uppity Violet’s attempts to turn him into a suit-wearing, museum-attending gentleman.

But somewhere amidst antagonistic dinner parties and tortured tux fittings, Cain and Violet come to a begrudging understanding—and the uptight Violet realizes she’s not the only one doing the teaching. As she and Cain begin to find mutual respect for one another (and maybe even something more), Violet learns that blindly following society’s rules doesn’t lead to happiness…and that sometimes the best things in life come from the most unexpected places.

I’m a big Lauren Layne fan so when I heard she was releasing a reverse retelling of My Fair Lady, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Was it everything I was hoping for? …Not quite. It wasn’t a bad read, but I did struggle with our main characters. I liked the idea of this romance, and just wish I could’ve loved it more!

Violet has been asked by her surrogate grandmother to do a makeover for her newly discovered, long-lost grandson. (Violet and Cain are NOT related, lol.) This seems almost an impossible task for the NYC socialite, especially when Cain is very reluctant to go along with any of her suggestions. But he needs to transform himself, to learn how to fit in with the Park Avenue elite, in time to become the new CEO of his family’s company.

Violet and Cain were a bit hard to like for me. She’s snobby and stuck-up, and he’s just plain rude to her all the time. But I liked that they embodied “opposites attract” and they did have some cute banter together. Thankfully, Violet does go through some character growth and I enjoyed her by the end of the book. It was Cain I couldn’t stand and I truly didn’t see why Violet liked him so much.

Still, it’s a quick and easy read, and good if you’re in the light-hearted mood, which Lauren Layne can deliver on. I just had higher expectations for this and it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for.


lacey

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Review: Gentleman Seeks Bride by Megan Frampton

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Gentleman Seeks Bride by Megan Frampton
Series: Hazards of Dukes #4 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: November 30th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

In this delightful flip of a classic romance trope, Megan Frampton creates a handsome, witty, hero in need of a wealthy bride who meets his match in Lady Jane Capel, from A Wicked Bargain with the Duke. Perfect for fans of Sarah McLean, Tessa Dare, and Eloisa James.

It’s a well-known fact that when a man is in search of a bride, a good dowry is never a hindrance.

Thomas Sharpe is handsome, well-bred, and desperately in need of a wealthy bride. His father has lost their income, his sister needs looking after, and so to save them all from a life of poverty he travels to London in search of an heiress.

Enter Lady Jane Capel. After her fiancé ended their engagement two years ago, Jane boldly left her parents’ home and moved in with her half-brother Percy. What does one more scandal matter to a family with such a curious reputation? Jane is independent, but not as well versed in life—and love—as she wants.

The two of them strike a deal: Thomas will show her all there is to know about the world —and intimacy—and Jane will help him find a bride. But the more time they spend together and the closer they get, the two of them soon realize that things aren’t so simple when it comes to men and women…

My main reason for wanting to read Gentleman Seeks Bride was the cover. Yes, I totally judged this book by its gorgeous cover. It was also my first read by Megan Frampton! I’d been wanting to read her for the longest time and I’m glad I read this one. I’m looking forward to reading the series from the start now!

Thomas is in need of a wealthy bride to save his family after a bad investment that cost his family fortune. Jane is a scandalized lady who’s living with her half-brother and in need of lessons in intimacy. The two strike a deal: she’ll help him land an heiress and he’ll teach her all the ways of the world and bedroom. I love reading these kinds of historical romances and I thought Megan Frampton did a great job at writing it!

Even though this is book 4 in a series, it read totally fine as a standalone. I wasn’t lost about anything and did enjoy the characters. The steam is great – Jane and Thomas share a lot of chemistry and they definitely act on it. The only reason why this isn’t quite a 4 star read, even though it was close, is because the second half of the book fell flat and wasn’t as engaging as the first half.

Still, for my first Megan Frampton read, it was solid! I can’t wait to read more historical romances by her and would love more covers like this one.


lacey

Reading Order: Hazards of Dukes series

 

#1 ~ Never Kiss a Duke: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Tall, Duke, and Dangerous: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ A Wicked Bargain for a Duke: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Gentleman Seeks Bride: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ Four Weeks of Scandal: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads (June 28, 2022)

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