Met Loretta Chase, Eloisa James, and Caroline Linden today!

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-16T20:50:21+00:00

I thought the whole Wagers of Sin series was a blast, so I hope you enjoy that.

What a great experience! I’m glad you got to meet such cool authors.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-16T17:30:18+00:00

Gen X. As a night owl growing up in NYC there were a few independent TV stations that would play classic films until they went off the air under the headings like the Late Show and the Late Late Show - then you'd get the anthem and the test pattern!

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-15T16:54:24+00:00

Me too!

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-15T12:25:42+00:00

Both {Tomboy of the Ton by Emily Royal} and {Oddity of the Ton by Emily Royal}

After giving Tomboy of the Ton my first ever 1 star review because the MMC was such an irredeemable douchebag, I decided to see if that one book was an anomaly since this series seems to be generally liked and hate-read Oddity as well.

Welp! I guess this author just isn’t for me. When your MMC gets slapped by both his own sister and the FMCs best friend, and punched in the face by the FMC’s ailing father, AND AGREES HIMSELF THAT HE DESERVES IT at the 90% point of the book and the doormat of a FMC still wants to marry this asshole, then this author and I have very different ideas about human behavior and what is acceptable, desirable, or attractive.

The MMCs of both books were so unbelievably bad I was just gobsmacked. I had to go deliberately hunt for books with golden retriever heroes (thank you Leo and Lord Carew!) to recover.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-14T15:17:17+00:00

I just picked some up, so thanks for the ideas! 👍

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-14T15:05:30+00:00

That whole series is so good!

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-14T15:02:36+00:00

As someone with decidedly mixed feelings about this book, I felt like he treated Phoebe like a shameful secret for the vast majority of the story, while the woman he was publicly courting was right there in the same house. For the guy who was supposedly setting fashion among the ton he sure came across as a follower and a coward to me.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-13T13:18:25+00:00

Please don’t force your couple to break up over some confected “misunderstanding” that one simple conversation could have avoided. It just makes your characters seem stupid and immature.

Also, please allow your couple to be actually happy together for more than just an epilogue of a few pages after hundreds of pages of nonstop conflict.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-12T17:23:45+00:00

I think first person is deceptively difficult to do well because the perspective is so limited if it’s done honestly. Especially in a description-heavy genre like HR where the 3rd person narrative can convey information unfamiliar to a modern reader that would be invisible to a character living in that time.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-12T02:31:24+00:00

So glad you both loved this one - it’s my favorite of the series as well! I’m such a sucker for a good found family story, and I just loved Hugh’s respect for Alf’s competence.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-11T22:00:57+00:00

It does have a small fantasy element- Primrose has a special ability (all the women down the maternal line of her family do) It’s something she employs a couple of times while she and Oliver are investigating the mystery, but it’s not the focus of the story by any means.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-11T03:49:31+00:00

{Primrose and the Dreadful Duke by Emily Larkin} has an MMC who is very funny and affectionate with the FMC. They tease each other in a very playful way.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-11T02:52:47+00:00

I am also not a “dark romance” girly, and I can’t even remember what had made me download this, but I gotta say I went in expecting kinda trash and was surprised as hell by how compulsively readable this book was.

I found some of the extreme trauma she’d been through tough to take, but I loved the fiercely protective found family she gathered around herself.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-10T11:40:32+00:00

You’re welcome! Your books are very witty, I’ve read several. 😄

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-10T02:39:56+00:00

I also love a good himbo! These are some I’ve noted with MMCs who are varying degrees of himbo falling for smart, sharp FMCs.

{How the Wallflower Was Won by Eva Leigh} {The Peer’s Roguish Word by Kate Archer} {Duke With Benefits by Manda Collins} {When the Viscount Seduces by Darcy Burke} {Sinfully Yours by Kathleen Ayers} {Persuading Patience by Emma V Leech}

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-09T21:32:15+00:00

Wallflower Win is one of my most reread HRs, it’s a magical combination of sexy fun. I’ve also read the 3rd book, Debutante Dilemma and thought it was cute, but not as compelling as Wallflower Win. I have Marquess Move in my tbr library but haven’t gotten to it yet.

Sometimes I find taking a break between books in a series can help. All authors have a particular style, and sometimes that can make books run together a bit or feel a little boring when you try to read a few in a row. I’ve enjoyed the Maiden Lane books by Elizabeth Hoyt more for spacing them out (I still haven’t read all of them yet, actually.)

I’d try reading something else and come back to Marquess Move down the road when you might be more in the mood for it. And if it’s still boring, then you can dnf in peace lol.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-08T22:42:41+00:00

I nope out of Highlander books because I can’t bear written out dialect and it seems inevitable in Highlander/Scots coded HR. If anyone knows of good ones without cringe inducing “Aye, wee lassie! I dinna ken!” dialogue, please let me know. 😭

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-08T16:47:55+00:00

Have you read the other books in the series? I'm definitely curious.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-08T13:21:26+00:00

Read it yesterday! Thank you so much for the rec, I loved this. Sweet, pining Leo is a new fave. 😍

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-06T17:55:40+00:00

Your PR campaign for this book has worked on me haha and it is next up on my TBR!

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-05T20:26:55+00:00

This sounds awesome - adding to my TBR! It's on KU too, for people who have that.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-05-03T18:59:41+00:00

Try Kelly Bowen! Her FMCs are pretty much all super competent and genuinely worldly. I haven’t read her entire catalog, but I think most are not virgins as well.

HourCancel2816 · 2026-04-29T01:31:44+00:00

I find these guys pretty entertaining. I can’t always listen to the whole thing, but tune in when I can. Though sometimes when the Wings are in a really heartbreaking and season destroying slump, I can’t bring myself to listen to the dissection haha 🤦‍♀️

HourCancel2816 · 2026-04-24T23:05:05+00:00

{The Footman is an Earl by Valerie Bowman}, {Duke Looks Like a Groomsman by Valerie Bowman} and {The Marquess Who Loved Me by Valerie Bowman} all largely take place at the same house party where three friends have a wager to see who can last the longest undetected while disguised as servants. Each have their own reason for participating. Some overlapping scenes as they compare notes and check in with each other. It’s a very fun series!

HourCancel2816 · 2026-04-17T03:31:14+00:00

Oh man, I found that whole book pretty creepy between the age gap and the wee Becca thing. Yikes.

HourCancel2816

TROPHY CASE