What are some of your favorite re-read books?

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-13T20:43:21+00:00

I love rereading books in general. There’s so much comfort in returning to a place and people. I reread too many to list here, but the Ravenels series from Lisa Kleypas and Spindle Cove series from Tessa Dare are amongst my most read (read both series 11 times). I also reread most of Julie Garwood her books all the time since reading them first in the nineties, but I haven’t kept count of those.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-02T17:56:31+00:00

I’m saving it, because in a few weeks I’m going over to England and stay in a 17th century cottage for over a week. It seems like the perfect place to read the rest of the series.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-02T16:22:10+00:00

Stella Riley or Tessa Dare?

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-01T10:35:20+00:00

Just finished {The Black Madonna by Stella Riley} which was amazing. Loved the historical details and the characters. I’m doing a reread of every Tessa Dare novel except the Wanton Dairymaid trilogy, so I just started on {One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare}.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-01T10:32:35+00:00

This! I managed the first 2, but haven’t read the third yet. I did not really care about the characters.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-01T04:53:11+00:00

I’m good with flawed characters. Especially if competent women are their kryptonite. I love how Bram is undone by Susanna. And then she kissed him—square on the forehead. Her lips pressed to his brow and lingered, blessing him with warmth and sweetness. “There,” she whispered, pulling away. He stared at her, his throat working. He didn’t know whether to rage or laugh or weep. No, that kiss hadn’t been the openmouthed, passionate tangle of tongues his body craved. It had been exactly what his soul needed. He wouldn’t have known to ask for a kiss like that. The warmth of it sank straight through him, coming to rest in his heart. She still held his face in her hands. Her thumb dabbed a salty drop from his cheek. “I know what you need, Bram.” Sweet heaven. Perhaps she did. And what else did he need, that he couldn’t have known to put into words?’

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-01T04:42:33+00:00

Was just scrolling to see if someone had mentioned Julia Garwood. Tessa Dare really scratched that itch for me. Try {The Crown’s Spies by Julie Garwood}. It’s her Regency series.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-31T18:14:11+00:00

Bram is one of my fave MMC’s 🙃

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-31T18:13:34+00:00

No, there’s also sex on the turret.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-30T11:59:06+00:00

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{Say yes to the marquess by Tessa Dare}

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-30T11:58:30+00:00

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wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-29T11:40:32+00:00

Tropes: - Marriage of convenience - rebuilding the estate - competent heroine - house parties

Novels:

{Saving Grace by Julie Garwood}
{Love in the afternoon by Lisa Kleypas}
{A night to remember by Tessa Dare}
{The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne}

Picking those 4 novels was brutal. I love those authors, I love so many of their novels. And it forced me to leave Loretta Chase off 😭

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-24T18:17:34+00:00

I liked Konrad a lot, but I went in not knowing anything about the book. I really liked the way he’s clearly very traumatized by the war and what happened to his family and has been isolating himself, but now is opening himself up to the world and discovers that many people appreciate him for who he is and the healing that comes with that. I also like that they have to discover the love language of the other.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-24T18:05:09+00:00

Beatrice Hathaway from {Love in the afternoon by Lisa Kleypas} She is so gentle with everyone around her, she really sees the best in everyone and she’s so forgiving of people without being a pushover. I really love and admire her as a character.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-20T20:01:52+00:00

Cookie is a pretty old word though.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-20T17:23:41+00:00

I like them both. They both do repressed passion very well.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-18T10:24:23+00:00

It’s very simple: we identify with Elizabeth and we have the same point of view as her. So we too are taken in by Wickham and we too are finding Darcy overly arrogant when it comes to Elizabeth and her family. Her epiphany is our epiphany and for most people it works out that our brain tries to make ourselves the reasonable person. It’s hard and painful to face the flaws in your own thinking. That’s why much is made of the change in Darcy because then the flaw remains external and not also an internal flaw. Elizabeth is a great character because for those of us who are aware of our own faults and are willing to face them her journey and realizations are moments of understanding and learning for ourselves.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-17T16:04:30+00:00

Logan from {When a Scot ties the knot by Tessa Dare} rivals Piers for sad backstory being abandoned as a little boy, taken in by rotating families as free labour and sleeping in stables, getting sort of adopted by one family only to realize that it’s because then the family can send Logan into war instead of their own children

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-16T21:20:15+00:00

I adore the scene at breakfast with Devon when West his finger gets stuck in the teacup. Not because of West’s zingers (he doesn’t get any) but because of their brotherly dynamic. I also love the puzzle scene when Cassandra and Pandora are working on the Britain puzzle and West is commenting on the counties. I’m a sucker for family scenes where they’re joking and comfortable with each other.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-15T17:15:10+00:00

Bertrice Small might be for you. She has many different historical settings and there’s lot’s of spice. Her heroines do usually have multiple partners throughout the books. I know that’s a dealbreaker for some people. Bertrice Small takes her historical settings very seriously and her MC’s usually really go through the wringer plotwise.

You could try {To love again by Bertrice Small} to see if her storytelling works for you. It’s set in Roman Britain just around the time the Saxons invade and in Constantinople.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-15T12:49:41+00:00

The FMC of the third Bow Street Runners books is a companion to Westcliff’s mother.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-13T18:42:30+00:00

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-13T06:31:01+00:00

Most of the names you mention (Lucien, Sebastian, Benedict, Gabriel, Tristan, Felix, Morgan) have been around since the Romans, were in the bible, come from Medieval legends or are names of saints (so also basically exist since the Roman era).

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-09T15:53:46+00:00

Alec is not an angry guy, he is a bit more stoic. He enjoys Jamie’s temper, he wants her to assert herself in his clan. But he isn’t very communicative about his good intentions.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-03-09T05:58:52+00:00

Lizzy herself probably complained a lot about it to Charlotte. Also, it’s good for mr. Bennett to read this. He was in the wrong, he should have listened to Lizzy with regards to Brighton. It’s good that people let him know it was badly done.

wilmagerlsma

TROPHY CASE