4 stars — I will admit that the main reason I picked up this book is because Mary Jane Wells is the narrator. That won’t completely sell me on a book, but it’ll have me giving it a second look. And it sounded a bit different, a bit out of the ordinary for a historical […]
4 stars — Man I love Ms. Kleypas. Her historicals are always just so easy for me to read and fall in love with the characters. I mean, yes, I love some more than others. But this one definitely hit the right buttons for me. I remember being extremely intrigued by Cam Rohan in the […]
4 stars — This is one of those books that kind of challenged me, b/c honestly? There were aspects that I was initially NOT a fan of. And I think I’m still thinking of them. But at the same time, b/c of those aspects, I think I was surprised at how much I ended up […]
4 stars — I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this book given that the heroine initially has feelings for someone else. And while I definitely struggled with the whole prolonged misunderstandings/lack of communication thing at the end, it was still just a really fun and adorable book. I loved how absolutely nerdy […]
4 stars — While I definitely enjoyed this one, there were moments where I felt like the conflict drew out too long and I was impatience for growth or change…and probably on a personal note, I had a harder time remembering the issues of the times and Beatrice’s very valid avoidance of remarrying. Maybe because […]
4.5 stars — This one felt both very different from historical romances I’ve read so far, but also not. There was just something refreshing and frank about Jess, and I loved her. Ms. Kingsley did a great job with the narration. Occasionally I had a moment of not knowing who was speaking, but generally it […]
3.5 stars — I loved that this book opened me up to different parts of history that I totally forgot about (or was never taught). I ended up looking up all sorts of things because of this book. But I think in the end while I appreciated the novelty of who our characters were and […]
4 stars — There were parts of this book that I absolutely loved, but I think I spent a lot of time thinking of gender identity and all that that encompasses, and while this touched on that to some degree, particularly the paths that were open to women in this time period vs all the […]
4.5 stars — This was utterly delightful. Honestly, the happy moments between Mina and Simon were just so freaking good, I just wanted to read them over and over. You could genuinely feel the connection between these two. From their initial intrigue, to crush, to fascination, to lust, to more. It was just…so good. I […]
4 stars — While there were parts of the book that frustrated me, the delightful parts were just so wonderful that at the end that’s what I’m left feeling. I appreciated Phoebe’s determination to seek out a better situation for herself. She’s definitely impulsive and reckless, but it’s tempered by her kind heart and sassy […]