{Review} A Lady For A Duke by Alexis Hall

Page count: 480

Publisher: Forever

Published on: May 24, 2022

Genres: Historical romance

Format: paperback - personally purchased

CW: violence (historical and such), attempted kidnapping, misogyny, transphobia, biphobia, lesbophobia, PTSD flashbacks, conversations pertaining to PTSD, ableism, and dead-naming

Rep: lesbian rep, trans rep, gay rep, questioning rep

✨ RATING: 3 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

A lush, sweeping queer historical romance from the bestselling author of Boyfriend Material—perfect for fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton, Evie Dunmore, and Manda Collins!

When Viola Caroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood.

Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become.

As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.

~ ~ ~ ~

Hey, all!

Welcome back to another review! It's been a minute. Sorry!

I had the pleasure of reading this with my book club. We had a lovely conversation about it. If you're interested in joining, email me or DM me on Instagram!

For me, this book was just okay. I'm actually quite disappointed because the last two Alexis Hall books that I've read have just not scratched the itch for me. Perhaps it's because I wasn't in the mood for historical fiction. Perhaps it was the list of reasons I'll flesh out...now:

I really felt like my main issue was the pacing. It wasn't until I hit the 100ish page mark that I was fully invested. I started this book fully prepared to enjoy and read it lickedy split. However, it was just slow and the characters barely grabbed me. There was so much happening, but I really think that it could have been 100-150 pages shorter. It was really random when the pacing would lag. There wasn't a reason for it other than unnecessary additions to the story.

However, once the romance was established, I was absolutely SWOONING! It was too cute. Gracewood and Viola were so lovely. Gracewood said the most beautiful things and Viola was so articulate in her feelings. Once they got over the communication hump, it was so nice. I love them so much.

I do genuinely think that this is worth reading. I think my issues with the pacing are valid, but I know that so many others adore a more drawn out love story.

Combined with the swoon worthy moments, the representation, and the delightful writing style. I think this is worth a read.

Happy reading!

Olivia
Liv the Book Nerd
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{Review} Highland Conquest by Heather McCollum

Page Count: 300

Published On: April 28, 2020

Published By: Entangled: Amara

Genre(s): historical romance

Source: eARC provided by the publisher and NetGalley
Where To Find It: Amazon // Book Depository

My Rating: 1.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Cain Sinclair has a plan. In order to finally bring peace to his clan, he will wed the young female chief of their greatest enemy. Only problem: capturing her and forcing her back to Sinclair castle doesn’t exactly make her want to say yes. Ella Sutherland may be clever, passionate, and shockingly beautiful, but what she isn’t is willing.

Every attempt Cain makes to woo her seems to backfire on him. A gift? The kitten practically claws his eyes out. A competitive game of chess? Even when he wins, he loses. It seems the only time the two ever see eye to eye is when they’re heating up Cain’s bed. Still, the only thing Ella truly wants is the one thing he cannot offer her: freedom.

But when Cain discovers she’s been harboring a secret—one that could threaten both clans’ very existence—he’ll have to decide between peace for the Sinclairs or the woman who’s captured his heart.

~ ~ ~

Content Warning: sexism, parental abuse, violence

This does contain sexual content.

Hey, guys,

I was sent an eARC of this book for my honest review via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own. 

When I first requested to read this book, I was really hopeful. The synopsis was intriguing, the characters and drama were something that I was very interested in reading about, and I haven't really read many historical romance books that take place in Scotland. I'm a sucker for a brooding man in a kilt. 

Unfortunately, this book was just really annoying to me. The characters weren't developed well at all, the romance was so lackluster, and the language used throughout was just a slog to get through. I didn't enjoy this book at all.

When it comes to historical romance books of the cheesy variety, I usually have to suspend my reality to fully enjoy the story. They're supposed to be dramatic and unrealistic but in the best way. Unfortunately, this was just too bizarre, unrealistic, awkward, inconsistent, and full of plot holes for me to actually enjoy.

One of my main issues with this book was that the language was just a chore to understand. There was a good mixture of modern English, Old English, and random Scottish slang or terms -- as well as random words that were spelled differently to sound Scottish or old. For example, "cock" was "cod" and "fuck" was "fok." Not only was the first extremely terrible to imagine. (All I imagined were dead fishes whenever a person was called a cod. Please no.) The use of "fok" kept getting 'autocorrected' (if you will) to "fork" or I would just cringe and be annoyed. In my opinion, these random uses of phrases and terms just made it even more confusing to follow. It was just awkward and annoying to me. 

I love it when books use terms or phrases from a different language or even when they make up their own language, but this book just randomly used the phrases or terms willy-nilly and it was quite obvious that they didn't really know what they were doing. I swear I'm not trying to sound like a snob or something, but the method that this author used in this book was just annoying my English major heart. I couldn't do it.

Let's move onto another thing I didn't enjoy -- the romance. The characters in this book were quite two-dimensional already, but the attempted romance just made their lack of depth unbearable. I feel like the author was focusing their efforts on making the language historically accurate, rather than focusing on the story. The romance that developed just didn't feel realistic to me. The "strong" female lead wasn't the kind of strength that I expected. There were some good feminist ideas throughout, but the execution was just lacking. 

I'm in the middle of a massive romance kick right now, so I wish I had liked this book more. I need to find a historical romance book that I completely adore. Until then, I'm going to keep tentatively searching for my historical romance sweet spot. 

Stay tuned!

Happy reading!

Olivia

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