Sir Hugo Seeks a Bride

 Sir Hugo Seeks a Bride

Cinderellas of Mayfair #1

Anna Campbell 

Reviewed by Helen

This is another steamy, sensual, fun and witty story from fabulous storyteller Anna Campbell, come along and meet Sir Hugo Brinsmead on his trip to London to find a wife.

Aphrodite de Smith is working in a Bonbon shop in London writing witty verses to go with the bonbons purchased, it is a very different life than the one she started out with she hides away from scandal with her best friend Sylvie owner of the Bonbon shop, she is lonely but feels that this is the life for her she never expects to find love and happiness but maybe there might be a chance when a Yorkshire farmer arrives to have a verse written to send with some bonbons for the woman he is interested in.

Sir Hugo Brinsmead strong Yorkshire farmer has decided that it is time to find a wife and makes the trip to London with the help of his friend Ivor he looks to the diamond of the season and goes to purchase bonbons and a verse to go with it but what he finds is the most appealing woman he has ever met and he knows that she is the one he wants but can he convince her to be his wife?

Aphrodite is instantly attracted to the new customer, he is big and handsome and the witty banter between them is something she hasn’t enjoyed for many years but when he is persistent and wants to marry her she knows that she cannot ruin his reputation you see she is not who he thinks she is but ignoring the attraction between them is way too hard and soon she agrees to be his mistress but Hugo will never give up trying to make her his wife.

What a fabulous story, I loved Hugo so much he is the best a very caring and loving man and Aphrodite is beautiful inside and outside she is caring loving and they make the best couple the sheets sizzle with them together, will they really be able to find their HEA? I do highly recommend this one if you love a witty, sensual and steamy story.

5 stars

August 13, 2025 by Anna Campbell

Deceived by the Highlander

 Deceived by the Highlander

Daughters of the Isles #2

Christina Phillps

Reviewed by Helen

We are back on the small isles with the MacDonald family we saw Isolde find her love in the first book this time will Freyja find hers, can she still hold with the beliefs of her foremothers and still find love?

Alasdair Campbell is the bastard son of an Earl, never acknowledged until the new Earl recognized him as his half-brother and he will do anything for him and now he has been given a task by his half brother the Earl of Argyll, and that is to marry Lady Freyja MacDonald gain her land and gain the barony that he so wants will he be able to do so without seduction?

Freyja is determined to stay on her island of Eigg and follow the path of her foremothers, she is a healer and cares deeply for people when her grandfather is taken ill on the Isle of Rum she immediately goes to help and here she meets a man Alasdair Campbell he is not only good looking but very easy going and also very supportive of her and she finds herself getting closer to him and when her grandfather makes a death bed wish that she marry Alasdair although shocked she keeps her promise and soon she is leaving her island and the ancient prophecy and making her way to the highlands but has Alasdair been keeping secrets from her?

Arriving at his castle Freyja is loving being with Alasdair and determined to be a good wife and run the castle well and there is no denying that in the bedroom they sizzle and Alasdair feels things that he has never felt before for Freyja she is the best thing that has happened to him but there are things that he must tell her but before he gets a chance things change and suddenly Freyja is in grave danger, will they be able to save each other and find the true love that they both deserve?

I did love this one, it is such a great story, it had me turning the pages and cheering them on, sensual, moving and emotional it has all the feels of a beautiful romance, fabulous characters and is one that I highly recommend, I am really looking forward to the next one in the series.

My thanks to Dragonblade Publishing Inc. and Netgalley for my copy to read and review

5 stars

September 2, 2025 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc

Vices, Villains and the Viscount

 Vices, Villains and the Viscount

The Lost Lords Series #3

Karla Kratovil

Reviewed by Helen

Elizabeth Harper was left devastated when the man she loved heir to a Dukedom is killed then she realizes that she is pregnant but her father stands by her and she has been raising her young son Robert and now with the loss of her father she is running the newspaper he started, she is a good investigator and has been investigating gaming hells around London and the murders of young woman, when she is asked to try and locate a friends daughter she finds herself at the Blue Angel gaming hell and yet another murder has happened.

Matthew Reeves always felt abandoned by his aristocratic family when he was a young boy, sent to live with his uncle in London but when his uncle dies young Matthew changes his name puts his aristocratic past behind him and lives on the street with a gang determined to make something of himself and with the his friend Rhys Seaton he is now the owner of The Blue Angel gaming Hell he has his younger sister living there and he needs to protect her and the other members of his family, but when a reporter comes nosing around, he is determined to prove her accusations wrong.

When one of his dancers is murdered he and Elizabeth start working together to get answers and what they uncover link them in a small way to things that have happened in the past and the on=going story line in this series but the chemistry between them sparks hot and strong, will they get through safe and sound to find a HEA.

This is a very steamy story as Elizabeth and Matthew work to keep everyone safe from someone who has caused devastating problems in the past I was eager to get answers from the on-going story line and am looking forward to the next book in the series. I would highly recommend this one to any lover of a very hot and steamy historical romantic suspense.

My thanks to Tule Publishing for my copy to read and review.

4 stars

August 21, 2025 by Tule Publishing

A Woman's Voice

 A Woman's Voice

Alli Sinclair

Reviewed by Helen

We have waited a long time for a new Alli Sinclair book and it was worth it, I loved this one so much from start to finish it pulled me in, I felt all of the emotions as I traveled from 1911 Berlin to England and then in 1965 from Venice to Australia, a must read for any lover of historical fiction.

Ida Naber lives in Berlin it is 1911, her father is a luthier and he has taught her to be one as well she is creating a special violin for her mother but not quite finished her mother passes away and Ida’s life changes, not for the better in a world were woman have no voice Ida stands her ground and fights hard for herself and other woman, she joins the suffragette movement and finds herself escaping to London where he life again will be changed.

1965 Laura Hartley is a violin virtuoso, who has traveled the world playing in concerts she also writes beautiful music with her fiancé Jeremy, her precious violin was given to her by her dear grandmother, Elizabeth when she was just five years old and she and the violin are joined with love and a special magic so when her violin is stolen it is like Laura has lost her heart for music, add to that the death of her grandmother, heart broken and grieving she leaves Jeremy and makes her way to her grandmother’s home in outback Queensland, Gungderring what she discovers is another world altogether a story through snippets of music written by her grandmother about the strength and courage of woman fighting to be heard all those years ago.

Laura is soon finding her way around in her grandmother’s home town, making true friends for the first time but music seems so far away until she is asked to help with a choir this starts to help her and the fact that she has found someone who really cares for her pilot Rhys, could her life change so much, after all she has discovered, secrets that have been kept for so many years, is it time for Laura to make changes in her life?

This is a beautifully told story starting with fact about suffragettes it is well researched and then moving onto a story with such awesome characters and beautiful settings, I do highly recommend this one, an amazing story that kept me turning the pages, cheering them on and crying emotional tears.

5 stars

July 22, 2025 by Penguin

The Nanny's Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes

 The Nanny's Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes

Amy Rose Bennett

Reviewed by Helen

Oh my goodness this is such an awesome story, fun, witty and just fabulous I loved getting to know Emmeline Chase and Xavier Mason, Duke of St Lawrence, and the children that she will be taking care of. Set in London in 1851.

Emmaline is widowed and just graduated from the Parasol Academy for Exceptional Nannies and Governesses and has an appointment for her first interview, but her Tel-ley-porting seems to have taken her in the wrong direction instead of where she needs to be she is on the roof of St Lawrence House in Belgravia, home to a Duke none the less, how on earth is she going to get off the roof? A Raven named Horatio comes to the rescue and soon has his master none other than the Duke Xavier Mason, helping her from the roof.

The meeting between them seems like fate maybe with the fact that Xavier has three young wards in his care and has already lost two nannies, when he finds out that Emmaline is a Nanny then maybe she will be able to help and is soon requesting her to join his household as the Nanny, this is what he needs as he is working hard on plans for a new clock The Kings Clock and peace is what he needs with everything that is happening the household, will Nanny Chase be able to ensure this?

Things move in strange ways in this house with a saboteur on the lose Nanny ensures that the children and The Duke are kept safe she has all sorts of tricks in her magical pocket and her parasol is also very helpful but the more time they spend together the more the chemistry grows between them and this is one rule in The Nanny’s Handbook which must not be broken but it seems that Emmaline is breaking more rules than she should at the moment, will she lose her place as and exceptional Nanny?

I loved this one so much, I laughed and cheered them on throughout the book, the characters are just so very good from Horatio, the raven to the children and of course Xavier and Emmaline, I can’t highly recommend this one enough it is a beautiful historical romance with bit of magic and mayhem, a little bit Mary Poppins and Harry Potter with magic spells, it is awesome and the start of a series, woohoo, don’t miss this one.

My thanks to Kensington Publishing and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

July 29, 2025 by Simon & Schuster Australia September 30, 2025 by Kensington

Louise's Christmas Champion

 Louise's Christmas Champion

The Bookshop Belles #3

Catherine Bilson & Ebony Oaten

Reviewed by Helen

I am loving this series and it is now Louise’s turn to find love and happiness, when a stranger arrives in town he is tall, so tall and this is so very good for Louise as she is also very tall but that is only the first thing that Louise notices, he is very handsome and helpful, and for the first time Louise finds herself actually attracted to a man, could she find love like Estelle and Marie?

Shaun Jackson arrives in Hatfield on the coach, he is not in a hurry to get back to London after the war with France he has sold his commission and is looking for a place to settle and when he delivers a box of books to Baxter’s Fine Books and meets the lovely Louise Baxter maybe he has found his place.

Shaun soon finds himself hunting an arsonist and doing his best to protect not only Louise but her sister Bernadette and the bookshop but the town as well, but his feelings for Louise are growing daily and he is sure that she feels the same way but with rumours going around about his past things don’t always run smoothly not only is the arsonist still lose but there are bullies in this town that need to be set straight.

This story is fabulous, a beautiful romance with intrigue running through the pages, fabulous characters that are so easy to love and Louise is so strong and Shaun is caring and loving, I do highly recommend this one and the series it is so good.

5 stars

April 8, 2025 by Shenanigans Press

Tempting the Duchess

 Tempting the Duchess

Disgraceful Duchesses #2

Sara Bennett

Reviewed by Helen

Second book in this series and we meet the youngest of the Mallory sisters, Ellis and see if she can find her HEA, she is now a Dowager Duchess after the loss of her Duke but she is running for her life as The Duke’s cousin Theo is determined to get what he thinks should be his either by forcing her to marry him or kill her but Ellis is made of sterner stuff and escapes his clutches only to fall into the hands of another man.

Ellis married her Duke after being pushed by her mother but it was a marriage on paper only but Ellis was happy to while away her life in the country her husband was a good friend and happy but Ellis has always longed for a man to love and have him love her and when she knocks on the door after running through the forest it is answered by a man who might just be the answer to her wish.

Owen, Lord Lyndhurst likes his quiet life in the country where he draws pictures of beautiful woman in some very brazen poses they sell well and he is happy doing it when he has a beautiful sitter but his last sitter has burnt him and run off and now here is a beautiful woman needing help on his doorstep, could she be the answer to his wish for a new sitter.

After Ellis see some of Owen’s drawings she wants very much to sit for him and soon they are tempted in ways that neither of them expected but will they find what they both deserve with danger lurking?

This is a fabulous story that is devoured, sensual, beautiful and moving, it is one that I highly recommend, I loved it, now to read book three in the series.

5 stars

August 29, 2024 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.