A Duke Like No Other by Valerie Bowman

General Mark Grimaldi is almost at his career goal - promotion to Home Secretary but with one condition:  Mark needs a wife.  No problem!  Mark has a wife stashed away in France.  For TEN YEARS.  Now, Mark must go to France and convince his wife Nicole to return to London and play the part of his beloved wife.  OMG.

The plot intrigued me.  Battle-hardened General with a career goal needs his estranged wife.  But, then other things got in the way of the reconciliation and overshadowed it.  There was the murder of Mark's cousin that mark and Nicole were investigating shortly after their arrival in London.  The murder throws Mark into a tail-spin.  He is now the heir to his dying Uncle's dukedom.  And Mark doesn't want to let anybody know about his mother's side of the family because of how they treated her after she married a poor Italian immigrant shoemaker.  The flashbacks were annoying.  Mark and Nicole's stubbornness was annoying.  And Corporal to Major General to Home Secretary in ten years?  Someone had to know Mark was the nephew of a duke.  The whole "codicil that allowed for the duchy to be passed down via a female heir if and only if a male heir existed on that side" felt like it was thrown in after realizing that Mark was related to the Duke via his mother. 

I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  Thank you.

The Luck of the Bride by Janna MacGregor

Since March Lawson's parents died eight years ago, she has struggled to raise her siblings on a meager allowance.  Their previous guardian neglected the family to the point of almost starvation.  They have a new guardian, the Marquess of McAlpin, and he has not responded to her requests for more funds. 

March has had to take matters into her own hands and remove money from her own trust by forging the Marquess's name.  When McCalpin finds about the bold embezzling, he confronts March and finds out about the family's situation.

McCalpin insists on bringing the family to London and giving March's sisters the Season March missed.  Slowly, McCalpin falls for March.  When additional monies are embezzled, the culprit makes it look like it was March that did it.  Can McCalpin trust his fiancee or will March go to America to make a fresh start?


This book was quite the emotional roller coaster.  How March and her siblings survived with the neglect of their guardians was amazing.  March was a strong young woman to support her family.  McCalpin is sort of a tortured hero because of his disability with numbers.  He is so ashamed that he does not want to fully trust March.  The characters in this book, from March and McCalpin to their families were great.   This was a book with a great supporting cast.

I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  Thank you!

Royal Order by Leslie North

Simon Stuart is the serious cousin.  He has been feeling lost since his cousins King Philip and Prince Eric found love.  Lately, they have been asking him to represent the Crown at official functions.  At one of the functions, he was offered the opportunity to marry the new Queen of a neighboring country.

Penelope Alcott was happier running her toy store.  She is only Queen due to a series of unfortunate events and a bizarre abdication of the last King to "find himself".  Penelope knows she needs help and Simon is the one to take the job.

Simon helps Penelopy find her style as Queen.  They are making an amazing team, publicly and more so privately.  When the former King's ex-girlfriend comes forward with her young son claiming the boy's right to the throne, Simon and Penelope have to face losing the life they were just beginning to love.


This is the last book in The Royals of Danover Series.  I loved how Simon changed from stiff and serious to a true spouse for Penelope.  He was a smoking hot "Clark Kent".  This was a fun story.

I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  Thank you!

Lord of Secrets by Erica Ridley

Heath Grenville is the heir to a baronetcy and is part of the London elite.  He is known as the problem-solver among the Ton.  His mother is pressuring his sisters to find husbands, so Heath tells his mother he is looking for a wife to take pressure off of them. 

Miss Eleanora Winfield was raised on a sheep farm by her grandparents and as they age, Nora and her brother have been running the farm.  Her cousin is in need of a paid companion and summons Nora to London.  At one of the many balls, Nora spills a drink on Heath.    Heath is intrigued by the young woman and disappointed to find out that she is a paid companion.  He is drawn to Nora and starts finding ways to visit her cousin so he can see Nora. 

Nora is intrigued by the handsome heir, but she has a deep secret that she can't even divulge to the Ton's secret keeper.  Will it get in the way of their love?

I absolutely loved this book.  I liked how as the story progressed, Nora's character developed.  She started off meek and shy.  By the end of the book, she was confident and in love with Heath.  I also liked how her relationship with her cousin grew into a friendship.  The caricatures were a brilliant sub-plot.  I liked how Nora used a caricature to subtly get back at a dandy who made fun of Lady Roundtree. 

I received a complimentary ARC from the author and NetGalley  Thank you!

Royal Treatment by Leslie North

Leslie North gives us the Playboy Prince and Research Nerd in this Royal Romance.  I liked Prince Eric and how he was attempting to shed his playboy image.  He treated Anna like she was a woman, not a geek.  The book is a quick read and is very steamy toward the end of the book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

Dark Captive by Kate Douglas

I have read another one of Kate Douglas's series and loved it, so when I saw Dark Captive, I took a chance.  I was hooked by the end of the first chapter.  At the end of the second chapter, I was on Kate's webpage looking for other books in this series.

What I liked is the book revolves around Asha and Leo, but characters from previous books are the supporting cast.  It takes a good author to pull off this type of plotting and Kate Douglas does an amazing job.  

Asha is a shifter that was born as a snow leopard.  She was taken from her mother when she was a tiny cub and traded in an illegal trafficking ring.  Once the Chanku Alpha receives word of her existence, Leo is sent to help her shift and assess her trauma.  Once Leo meets Asha, their chemistry is off the charts.  

While this is part of a large series, it reads well as a stand-alone.  Now that I have read this book, I am going back and reading the others in the series!

I receive an ARC from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

Light as Air (Compass Boys #4) by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon

Doug and JT have been best friends since childhood.  While Doug has been working as a camera man/producer on a storm chasing crew, JT has been at home caring for his abusive, alcoholic father.  Doug has been in love with Rosalie for years, but she has kept him in the friend zone.  When the storm crew needs another camera man, Doug convinces JT to leave home and work on the crew.  Rosalie has had a cancer scare and now wants to live.  She regrets pushing Doug away.  When Doug returns with JT, she has two handsome cowboys she wants.

The chemistry in this book was amazing.  I loved the connection between Doug, Rosalie, and JT.  The book was so smoking hot.  I read it in one sitting and wished it was longer.  This was an amazing end to the series.

 I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!