Category: Book reviews

Book review: Two Dukes and a debutante by Jenni Fletcher

by Rhoda Baxter, posted in Book reviews

Caro is sick of the ton and sick of the season. She just wants to go home. All her dreams of finding a suitable husband were shattered by a secret scandal that nobody knows about. She’s pretty much sick of men too, until she befriends Marmaduke, who is the brother of the most eligible of Dukes. She and Marmaduke are friends, maybe more than friends, but he’s definitely not a suitable match.

I loved Marmaduke! I loved that he and Caro bonded over cake – and he brings her cake at one point, which is pretty much perfect courting behaviour, by my reckoning. He’s irreverent and funny. Caro, who was annoyingly positive about the Season in the first book has been rendered a different person by her adventure. I think I prefer this Caro, sharp tongued and strong willed, to the previous version.

I really enjoyed this regency romance. I hope there’s more in the series. I’d like to see Marmaduke’s brother get together with the girl who likes hot air balloons…

Buy a copy: https://amzn.to/42JhEx4 *

*As an Amazon affiliate, I will make a small amount of money from qualifying purchases. This will not cost you anything extra.

Book review: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

by Rhoda Baxter, posted in Book reviews

I read this because I wanted to read the book before I watched the film. Alex is the son of the US president and he’s half Mexican. Henry is the ‘spare’ prince of England. Their romance is completely adorable.

There was quite a lot of politics in this book, which was stripped down in the film. Whilst I could take or leave the details about how US politics works, I did think the close run political race made the climax of the book much more gripping than the film.

The characters were a lot of fun and I enjoyed this book immensely.

Buy link: https://amzn.to/3UMqlVf *

*As an Amazon affiliate, I will make a small amount of money from qualifying purchases. This will not cost you anything extra.

Book review: The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

by Rhoda Baxter, posted in Book reviews

This book is fantastical in the true sense of the work. The trans-Siberian express runs through the wasteland, where strange plants grow and surreal creatures roam. The very air is tainted. The train is a steam powered fortress that powers through the landscape, fortified so that it never comes into contact with the outside.
The Trans-Siberia company is a powerful entity and an oppressive presence throughout the novel. The book has three points of view – Weiwei, the child of the train, who knows the train better than anyone; Marya, who is in disguise and trying to find the truth and Henry Grey, who is desperate to get out into the wasteland and collect samples.
The writing shows the atmosphere on the train – partly exciting, partly claustrophobic, vividly. It’s set in a sort of alternative history and, although I don’t think the time period is specified, it feels like the golden age of steam.
The story goes along at a good pace and I genuinely wasn’t sure what was going to happen at the end.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s vibrant, imaginative and interesting.
I got a review copy from Netgalley. I requested it mainly because it was set on a steam train (and I’m a sucker for a steam train!).

Buy link: https://amzn.to/3T5iLCX*

*As an Amazon affiliate, I will make a small amount of money from qualifying purchases. This will not cost you anything extra.

Book review: The very secret society of irregular witches by Sangu Mandanna

by Rhoda Baxter, posted in Book reviews
A cartoon image of a small car driving up a road towards a house with high gables. There is a high hedge and a gate in the foreground. The sky is purple.

I picked this book up mostly because of the title. It looked like fun. Which it was!

Mika Moon is a witch. In the book, all witches are orphans and they are raised (often) by other witches and live mostly alone. So Mika is quite lonely. She gets an unexpected offer of a job – training three little witches, all orphans themselves, so that they can be kept safe. She moves into Nowhere House, so that she can be with them and help teach them.

This is a lovely book. There’s a charming romance in it with the librarian of Nowhere house, who has trauma of his own. The kids are adorable and annoying in equal measure (just like real kids are!). It’s a really fun read. If you like witches and cosy romance, you’ll like this book.

Buy link Amazon*

*As an Amazon affiliate, I will make a small amount of money from qualifying purchases. This will not cost you anything extra.

Book review: The Christmas Season by Ally Sinclair

by Rhoda Baxter, posted in Book reviews
Book cover. The foreground has a couple walking away in the snow, holding hands. They are walking towards a large house. The ground is covered in snow. The sky is pink and snowflakes fall.

This is a second book in the series – so the idea is that there is a series of Regency style dating events, where people will meet their true love, rather than just have a random hookup.

The person running these events is Emma Love who is a matchmaker. So you do get to see Emma, who found her happy for now in the last book, again. She’s struggling with being in a relationship, which is slightly different to falling in love.
There are also the points of view of Holly who failed to find somebody last time and her twin cousins, Grace and Connie. I love the dynamic between Grace and Connie. They’re identical twins, but they’re very, very different people and they’ve responded to their parents splitting up in completely different ways.

The people that they meet are exactly the people they need to be with to heal.

I thought this was lovely. I love the Regency vibe with a contemporary setting – Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl. I love the Christmassy-ness!
There’s so much Christmas and it’s just such a fun Christmas read.

Buy link Amazon*

*As an Amazon affiliate, I will make a small amount of money from qualifying purchases. This will not cost you anything extra.

Book review: The Island Cottage by Jane Lovering

by Rhoda Baxter, posted in Book reviews

The Island cottage is set in Orkney, which is not a place I knew very much about. It sounds quite bleak and windswept, but beautiful. The story is about Brid who inherits a cottage in Orkney, which turns out to be a witch’s cottage. According to local lore, the person who lives in the cottage is the witch.

So Brid turns up in Orkney and she’s trying to kind of gussy up the cottage a little bit so that she can sell it as a holiday home. Except the cottage is less ‘cottage’ and more ‘hovel’ and has a family of geese nesting in the pantry.

People keep turning up and asking her advice as the witch and she keeps doing your best and it keeps working. She’s very much a witch from the headology school of witchcraft, but there’s a hint of something more, perhaps. And there’s this local guy, Magnus. He’s actually a jewellery maker, but he helps out with the farm and does things for people when there isn’t a tourist boat visiting. He there helping her out with the house a little bit and she can’t help noticing that he’s quite hot. I liked Magnus. He’s just adorable.

I like Jane Lovering’s books anyway, and I absolutely love this one. I received an advance review copy through Netgalley.

Buy Link Amazon*

*As an Amazon affiliate, I will make a small amount of money from qualifying purchases. This will not cost you anything extra.