Genre: historical romance with contemporary vibes London, 1821
“What happens on Earls Trip, stays on Earls Trip. Usually.” Thus sets the tone of the advGenre: historical romance with contemporary vibes London, 1821
“What happens on Earls Trip, stays on Earls Trip. Usually.” Thus sets the tone of the adventures of Archibald Fielding-Burton (Archie), the Earl of Harcourt and his friends Simon Courteney, Earl of Marsden, and Edward Astley (Effie), Viscount Featherfinch. Every year, the friends take a trip together. There are some rules - no more hunting after Archie accidentally shot Effie when he thought his plumes were a wild animal, for example - but this is largely a responsibility-free getaway. Except this year, Clementine and her sister Olive, old neighbors of Archie’s, have themselves in a spot of trouble. Olive appears to be eloping with Clementine’s fiance, and now both girls may be ruined, and at the request of their father Sir Albert, Archie and his friends are off to the rescue.
What a fun read! I enjoy Jenny Holiday’s contemporaries and was delighted to discover she had a historical rom-com. This book puts the com in comedy: it's entirely modern and tongue in cheek in a late Georgian setting. It starts out with a quote from Ted Lasso, and that sets the tone. Holiday leans into this tone, which works well, because the book never masquerades as something it's not. If you can't handle overly modern language or sentiments in your historicals, stay away, but if you want light hearted fun, fresh characters, and an enjoyable trip, this is for you.
I’ll be excited to see where this series goes, as there are a lot of possibilities for great character development. The friendships in this book are just as strong as the romantic relationship, and I know they’re all going to continue to get up to no good!
Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an eARC for review. Earls Trip is out 4/23/24! ...more
Obviously I loved it. I have a lot of thoughts and want to keep this spoiler free.
Everything is always better with dragons. Especially pink ones that sObviously I loved it. I have a lot of thoughts and want to keep this spoiler free.
Everything is always better with dragons. Especially pink ones that spit glitter.
Genre: fantasy romance
Twyla and Frank, Frank and Twyla. They’ve been neighbors forever, have seen each other through one spouse (Frank’s) leaving and one dying (Twyla’s), and their respective children growing up. They’ve been partners as Tanrian Marshals for years, and they’re best friends. But absolutely nothing more. Working a deployment in Tanria with Ralston Hart’s former partner, the young Duckers, Twyla and Frank run into the unexpected: dragons. Pink, glitter spewing dragons, to be precise, and one of them has imprinted on Frank. Their boss brings a dragon expert into Tanria - the handsome tweed wearing Dr Quill Vanderlinden - who faints upon seeing his first real live dragon. The dragons aren’t the only thing to challenge the status quo, though, because Quill asks Twyla on a date, and Frank has no real ability to stand in the way.
What a delight to return to Tanria and Eternity. Megan Bannen has a way with writing that makes her stories so easy to read. The world she shaped for us in The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy has changed since Hart’s heroism. There aren’t as many threats in Tanria now that the drudges aren’t on the loose anymore. Bannen has said that her goal with Hart & Mercy was to take the concept of death and funerals and make it “look like Baby Yoda” and she does the same here…she makes other worlds sparkle.
A friends to lovers romance is notoriously difficult. A writer has to convince us of their friendship first, and then convince us that there’s a reason for them to be together romantically. The friendship and partnership between Twyla and Frank really works well. It’s really clear throughout the novel that Frank has feelings already, that he isn’t just catching them now. Twyla on the other hand, loves living alone and having her space - she’s earned it after having raised three children, now all grown - and hasn’t dated anyone in the thirteen years since her husband died. What was missing for me in the romance itself was the key moment where the switch flipped for Twyla. Once she’s in, she’s all in, and so was I, but I live for the lightbulb moment in friends to lovers, and didn’t have it here. But I will also always live for the small gifts, the sweet gestures, and the lingering gazes in a book like this. And dear romance writers: please continue to give us more main characters over fifty! Because everyone deserves their chance at love.
I ADORED basically everything about this book. It didn’t live up to Hart & Mercy, but that would have been really hard anyway, because that’s literally one of my favorite books of all time now. I reach for comfort reads like Hart & Mercy and Twyla & Frank when I want a little adventure, a little silliness in the worldbuilding, and a lot of swoon. I cannot recommend the two of these books highly enough.
Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an eARC for review! The Undermining of Twyla and Frank is out 7/2/24. ...more
Harrison Archer - cut off from his family several years ago and left out of his father’s will - has been instrucGenre: Historical romance, Gilded Age
Harrison Archer - cut off from his family several years ago and left out of his father’s will - has been instructed to find a bride to help save the family’s failing business. Harrison agrees, but only because he knows it’ll give a double punch to his mother and brother when he buys the business out from under his brother. But it also gives Harrison an excuse to reconnect with Maddie Webster, his childhood best friend and crush. A tennis phenom allowed to delay marriage to continue to play for another year, Maddie is now entertaining suit from the Duke of Lockwood. Maddie agrees to help Harrison find a bride from amongst her friends by arranging a house party in Newport. Only, Harrison’s plan revolves around winning Maddie back for himself.
This first book in a new series by Joanna Shupe does a lot of heavy lifting for set-up. We meet all of the main characters we’ll see in the subsequent books (I know because I checked), and setting the stage for the particular intricacies of this Gilded Age Society. Maddie is a firecracker of a heroine - she’s strong and utterly focused on her tennis and only courting Lockwood because he’s the top catch of the Season. Harrison is a little on the devious side, looking to drive a wedge into Maddie’s relationship and to show her what she’s missing. I don’t always like a devious hero, and yet Harrison and Maddie worked so well for me, and I truly believed this pair could go from friends to lovers.
For many readers, this is a stepping stone to get to the next in the series, and I can see that as you’re meeting so many characters, yet I did really love it for itself as well. ...more
Liv has been donning her armor daily since she was young - perfect makeup, perfect body, perfect job, perfect hair. But then, something snaps: she sayLiv has been donning her armor daily since she was young - perfect makeup, perfect body, perfect job, perfect hair. But then, something snaps: she says no to an assignment she doesn’t want and jumps on a plane (or rather five planes with four layovers) to join her four best friends who she’s known for elevent years and who are already on vacation in South Africa. There’s Phoebe - her closest friend, Mac - who happens to be Phoebe’s ex, Simone - a well-off influencer, and Deiss - or Lucas Deiss, who seems to care about nothing but music. When the lodgings she’s booked fall through, Liv finds herself sharing a room with Deiss, and finding there’s more to her enigmatic friend than meets the eye. Upon return from their trip, disaster strikes Liv, and she finds herself relying even more on her friends and taking a good, hard look at her life.
I have to start off by saying - and this is not a disqualifying thing about the story - Liv is likely the most opposite from me of nearly any character I’ve ever read. The things that build her character are close to the opposite of what makes me tick. I find it fascinating to read characters like that, though! Her armor of makeup, of perfection, of keeping even her close friends at arm’s length is a defense mechanism for her past. Watching Deiss and Liv peel away their layers for one another was really sweet. But, for me, like nearly all friends-to-lovers, I had hard time fully engaging in the spark moment where they go from friends to lovers. On the other hand, once the feelings started flowing, I absolutely bought into the chemistry, and the friend group dynamics.
This is a fun one to spend a weekend getaway with - or just to treat yourself to a safari and a low-ish angst friends to lovers romance with some great found family. It wasn’t a book that knocked it out of the park for me, but I enjoyed reading it! ...more
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