3 stars-- Highland Spitfire (Highland Weddings #1) by Mary Wine

Highland Spitfire landed on my review pile a few, erm, years ago. I loved the cover -- seriously this cover has amazing covers!-- and accepted it. Then realized Mary Wine is the pen name of Dawn Ryder. Who I'd just tried and...did not like... at all. *cue the blogger groan* So it's sat on the review pile for a few years. I finally tackled it. It wasn't knock me over amazing but it wasn't so bad, either! Yay!

The Gist: Rival clans and a King's Regent who's had enough of all the fighting and killing over a stupid generations old grudge. His solution? The Laird's kids are gonna marry. They have no choice. Either they marry at that moment or he's going to slaughter both clans and be done with all of them. So....a wedding. With two very reluctant participants.

Christmas Minis { Once Upon a Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt } & { The Lady in Red by Kelly Bowen }

Yall know I love me some Christmas books. And Christmas-ish novellas. <3 So I had to pick these two up since I love the series they come from. And they were a good time.


Once Upon a Christmas Eve (Maiden Lane #12.6) by Elizabeth Hoyt

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Christmas and Elizabeth Hoyt. I was in!

QuoteTastic/Review-- The Highland Duke (Lords of the Highlands #1) by Amy Jarecki

I'm always up for checking out a highlander. It's a weakness. And I have no shame! lol Jarecki was a new to me author and I had a pretty good time. I really loved this moment between the hero and heroine. She'd just had a big scare and I thought it was so sweet.

4 stars-- Duke of Pleasure (Maiden Lane #11) by Elizabeth Hoyt

Dark, sexy, and thrilling! Duke of Pleasure was everything I've come to know and love about Hoyt's romances. Passion, danger, and characters that'll leave you addicted.

So, basically, Hugh has made some enemies while trying to take down a secret society. Which kinda led to an ambush in a dark alley and kinda being saved by a mysterious masked...woman. Who vanishes just as quickly as she appears. Yeah, that'll catch a man's attention for sure. Her joining in on the hunt for the villains? Yeah...he's hooked.

4 stars-- Kill or Be Kilt (Highland Spies #3) by Victoria Roberts

Grumpy, growly Highlanders and smart, sassy English Ladies. Gah this series! I just love it. It's been such fun watching the English Walsingham sisters invade Scotland and send the lives of so many Highlanders spinning. Kill or Be Kilt was utterly charming and deliciously entertaining!

The quick of it is that Ian is basically facing what he considers hell. It's time for the yearly check in with the English King and Ian and his fellow Lairds are having to leave Scotland and make their way to Court. Bad enough on it's own but this time he's going to face one of his greatest fears as well... Lady Elizabeth. The sister-in-law of another Laird who has been smitten with him since she was 15 years old and wasn't one bit shy about letting that be known. Trying times are definitely ahead especially when he realizes she's no longer a child but every inch the desirable woman and there's something hinky happening at Court and her family may very well be involved. Oy!

Bits & Nibbles-- {The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match by Juliana Gray} & {Brave Enough by M. Leighton}

The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match (Untitled 0.5) by Juliana Gray

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The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match was a cute little transatlantic jaunt as the Duke, well, meets his match in the intriguing widow Mrs. Penelope Schuyler.

The quick of it is that the elderly duke--yall he's 74!--is tasked with hunting down an anarchist hiding in the midst of a ship full of American heiresses voyaging to England. Oo excitement!

Bits & Nibbles-- {The Perfect Fit by Jenna Sutton} & {I Thee Wed by Celeste Bradley}

The Perfect Fit (Riley O'Brien & Co. #4) by Jenna Sutton

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What a cute, make-you-feel-good read! I loved every second of The Perfect Fit. The only downfall of this one? That it had to end. I had such a good time with these two as desperation brought them together as roommates and they went from strangers to best friends to something even more. *sigh* I loved them.

Zeke is one sexy beast of a man. He's a little older at 36--she's 25--and maybe a spot world weary after coming home from war. And Margo. She's his opposite. She's young and cheerful and shiny compared to his regimented and more serious self.

Audio Files-- {Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich} {Legacy by Jayne Ann Krentz} {Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger}

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Audio Review-- Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger

Floating schools, mechanimals (omg I want!), vampires and werewolves and highwaymen. How to curtsy, poison guests, and spying lessons. I mean. This is what everyone learns at finishing school...right? Heh

3.5 stars-- One Love: A Multicultural Romance Boxed Set

This was an interesting boxed set. All of them were previous releases except for possibly North's contribution and they revolve around the theme of being multicultural romance. Some it was fairly obvious. Some it was fairly light as far as that element went. I ended up reading four of the six books included. The last two were just too long to tackle by release day though I'm sure I'll check them out eventually. This is a pretty hefty sized box set for just 99cents. It was over 15.000 locations on my Kindle and 15ish hours of reading. Not bad! There's a nice variation of storylines too which was nice. Some I really loved and others...not so much. A little on each of the ones I read...

All You Can Handle by Farrah Rochon

How to School Your Scoundrel (A Princess In Hiding #3) by Juliana Gray

Princess Luisa has devoted her life to duty, quietly preparing to succeed her father as ruler. Nothing, however, primed her to live on the run, disguised as a personal secretary to a notorious English scoundrel. The earl is just the man to help her reclaim her throne, but Luisa is drawn to her powerful employer in ways she never imagined…

Philip, Earl of Somerton, has spent six years married to a woman in love with another man—he refuses to become a fool due to imprudent emotions ever again. Only, as his carefully laid plans for vengeance falter, fate hands him hope for redemption in the form of a beautiful and determined young princess who draws him into a risky game of secrets, seduction, and betrayal. And while his cunning may be enough to save her life, nothing can save him from losing his heart…

Type: Historical Romance
Heat: 2.5 out of 5 (very limited)
Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon | All Romance | Book Depository | BAM | Goodreads

Have you ever read a book where you sit at the end and are all "omg. I...don't even know what to say about this one."? Welp. That's kinda me. lol How to School Your Scoundrel was so not what I was expecting but dang I loved it for what it was. I enjoyed the characters, the continuation of the secondary storyline--princesses in hiding after an assassination attempt on the royal family in their country--and the romance that was just a touch dreamy. Though it was so not the romance I was expecting as Markham (Princess Louisa) and Somerton head off against each other as employer and secretary and are brought face to face with the revolution set on ending her life. Pretty...damn...awesome. *nods*

A Lady Never Surrenders (Hellions of Halstead Hall #5) by Sabrina Jeffries

When the youngest Sharpe sister hatches a plan to gain marriage offers, the straight-laced Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter knows he'll do whatever it takes to ruin her scheme...

Lady Celia Sharpe hopes that if she can garner offers of marriage from several eligible gentlemen and show her grandmother she is capable of gaining a husband, she can convince Gran to rescind the marriage ultimatum for her. And if that plan doesn’t work, at least she’ll have a husband lined up. But Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter seems determined to ruin her plans by disapproving of every suitor she asks him to investigate. It’s only when she and Jackson work together to solve her parents’ murders, plunging them both into danger, that she realizes why--because the only man he wants her to marry is himself!

Type: Historical Romance
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 5 out of 5

Amazon | All Romance | Goodreads

This. was. the. best. freaking. book! I love the Hellions of Halstead Hall series but A Lady Never Surrenders was by far my favorite. I'd been looking forward for Jackson Pinter's book and damn it was good. Fantastic dynamic between the hero and heroine, full of action and danger, twists and turns, snark, humor and a meddling family. And a romance that'll make a girl envious. Seriously, I loved every single effing page as the last of the Sharpe siblings surrenders to their grandmum's ultimatum of finding love and marrying.

Mistress by Amanda Quick

After a year of grand adventures touring the classical ruins of Italy and Greece, Iphiginia Bright returned to England to discover that the real excitement was at home. It seems that her Aunt Zoe has fallen victim to a sinister blackmailer and only Iphiginia can hope to stop the culprit before he can do more harm. Her plan is inspired: Imitating history's most legendary beauties--Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Aphrodite--the former schoolmistress will remake herself, and descend upon London Society as the dazzling mistress of Marcus Valerius Cloud, the infamous Earl of Masters.

Rumors hint that the Earl has disappeared at the blackmailer's hands, and by posing as his unknown mistress, Iphiginia is convinced she can ferret out the villain. Overnight, Iphiginia is transformed into a vision with a host of eager admirers, including one she does not expect -- the Earl of Masters himself, who strides into a shimmering ballroom one evening to cooly reclaim his "mistress". He is everything they say he is... arrogant, attractive, devastatingly seductive, and Iphiginia can't help but be enthralled. But when Marcus agrees to play along with her charade, she doesn't know that the determined earl has plans of his own: to tease and tempt her, until the beautiful deceiver becomes more than his mistress in name only.

Type: Historical Romance
Heat: 2.5 out of 5
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Amazon | All Romance | Book Depository | Goodreads

I just love Amanda Quick. She's one of my comfort authors and the first I binge read when I started reading a few years back. They've got it all. A bit of mystery and danger, a bit of romance and humor, unique characters that are a little quirky and entirely lovable. They're just fun, light reads and Mistress definitely hit the spot with all of the above.

In Want of a Wife (Bitter Springs #3) by Jo Goodman

Jane Middlebourne needs a way out. In 1891, life in New York is unforgiving for a young woman with no prospects, especially when her family wants nothing to do with her. So when Jane discovers an ad for a mail-order bride needed in Bitter Springs, Wyoming, she responds with a hopeful heart.

Rancher Morgan Longstreet is in want of a wife who will be his partner at Morning Star, someone who will work beside him and stand by him. His first impression of the fair and fragile Jane is that she is not that woman. But when she sets out to prove him wrong, the secrets he cannot share put into jeopardy every happiness they hope to find….

Type: Historical Romance--America 1890s
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon | All Romance | Book Depository | BAM | Goodreads

In Want of a Wife was so one of those reads I just didn't want to give up! Seriously yall I was glued to my book the whole time as Jane leaves her life on the east coast to marry a man who placed an ad for a wife. One she's written to but never met until now.

Secrets of Seduction (Legnedary Lovers #3) by Nicole Jordan

"A fairy tale come to life and a delightful read for those who enjoy retellings of the classics." ~herding cats & burning soup 

The most charming Wilde cousin, Lady Skye has secretly loved the enigmatic Earl of Hawkhurst since girlhood, long before the tragedy that left him scarred both physically and emotionally. When Skye learns that the celebrated hero has returned to England from his self-imposed exile to make a cold marriage of convenience, she brazenly plants herself on his castle doorstep, determined to convince Hawk that she alone is his true mate and destiny.

An elite member of the Guardians of the Sword, Hawk has vowed never again to risk the pain of loving—but that’s before he deals with the most enchanting, annoyingly persistent seductress he’s ever encountered. One night of blazing passion leaves him impossibly torn. Will Hawk choose duty over love, or will he open his heart and let Skye’s healing light penetrate his darkness?

Type: Historical Romance
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon | All Romance | Book Depository | BAM | Goodreads

Secrets of Seduction was a fairy tale come to life and a delightful read for those who enjoy retellings of the classics. In this case...Beauty and the Beast...with an oh so cheerful and vibrant heroine in need of help from the grumbly and scared man she's been smitten with for most of her life. Ahh how I loved it!

The Winter Bride (Chance Sisters #2) by Anne Gracie

Damaris Chance’s unhappy past has turned her off the idea of marriage forever. But her guardian, Lady Beatrice Davenham, convinces her to make her coming out anyway—and have a season of carefree, uncomplicated fun.

When Damaris finds herself trapped in a compromising situation with the handsome rake Freddy Monkton-Coombes, she has no choice but to agree to wed him—as long as it’s in name only. Her new husband seems to accept her terms, but Freddy has a plan of his own: to seduce his reluctant winter bride. (Not sure where they got this from at all since it's not the case in the actual book--it's a case of fake mates not a forced marriage)

Will Damaris’s secrets destroy her chance at true happiness? Or can Freddy help her cast off the shackles of the past, and yield to delicious temptation?

Type: Historical Romance
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5
Series: Best read in order though not a must

Amazon | Book Depository | BAM | Goodreads

Fake betrothals, passion, humor and a wonderfully charming hero and heroine made The Winter Bride a winner in my book. Add in an utterly unique series set up and I'm even more on board. I love when authors bring something fresh to the table and Gracie definitely brought an interesting set up as the Chance sisters--who aren't really sisters--are brought together to form a family and given a second chance to overcome their sordid pasts. And maybe love along the way.