Month: April 2019

Scars of the Duke, by Deborah Wilson

Selena was pregnant and ruined. Abandoned by her duke, she fled the city. Before Duke Marley Bing could recover from the shock she was gone and he was kidnapped and held captive for years. When he returned nobody would tell him where Selena was. Although he longed to do right by his love and his child, he couldn’t find them until his well-meaning brother laid a trap and she was caught.

Now all Marley has to do is get Selena to forgive him. For everything. Selena doesn’t want to hear his excuses, and she certainly doesn’t want to forgive him. Can Marley gain her forgiveness and win back her trust, or will he lose the only woman he has ever loved?

This was a great book. The secrets and the depth of history this couple had before the kidnapping gives them a deep backstory. The tragic coincidences that kept them apart at crucial times make for a heart-wrenching storyline, but the love behind it all gives one hope for a happy ending or should I say a happier beginning to the next chapter of their lives. I love this series and can’t wait for the next book.

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The Bears of Valor Lake Box Set

The Bears of Valor Lake Box Set is worth notice. Each book covers a different family/clan of bear shifters who live around Valor Lake. The clans don’t agree on much. Managing resources, distributing wealth, and above all, keeping the secrets of the shifters are a constant source of problems between the clans. Then you have the exiles who don’t want to live by the rules but are forced to stay in the area. All in all it has the ingredients for a rich world full of conflict and romance.

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The Highlander’s Promise by Anne Morrison

Nicholas is an English Knight. Recently ransomed from a prison is France, he returns to his lands to find them in the hands of a stranger and there’s no sign of his sister Agatha or his niece Catherine. Fearing Catherine might have been taken north, he heads into the border lands after her.

Ava is a Scotswoman who lives by her own rules, dressed as a boy, she’s been raiding cattle and traveling the country since she was a child. She’s in a spot of trouble with some villagers who are determined to burn her as a witch when she’s rescued by a lost and confused Nicholas.

It quickly becomes apparent that Nicholas needs some rescuing himself. Feverish from an infected wound, he barely makes it through the rescue before collapsing.

When he recovers, Ava agrees to help him travel north and look for his niece. They have some hope of finding her because of a birthmark on her foot. This is fortunate given the number of orphans and foundlings caused by the recent wars.

This was a very interesting and enjoyable book and I highly recommend it. The dialogue is quick and witty, sometimes funny, sometimes painful. The plot is intricate and refers to other books in the series in a intriguing arc.   The book is part of the Highlands Warring series but each book is completely readable as a standalone.

I received an advance copy from the author. My opinions, as always, are my own and are freely given.

Kasey Briggs Leave a comment

The Marriage of Time, by Mariah Stone

In The Marriage of Time, by Mariah Stone, Mia is a modern woman in need of a rescue, and in a hurry. Her ex boyfriend/mafia boss just found out she is pregnant and is dragging her back to his lair. Help can come from strange places and in strange ways. After a brief interaction with an old woman, she finds herself outside a Viking village, threatened by a bear, an grabbed by a Viking as he thunders by on horseback. Shocking, but she an her baby seem to be safe, for now.

Hakon “The Beast” believes he is cursed. He has been told so since he was born. After a defeat in battle, he agrees to meet a daughter of the king the next summer in the secret grove and then to marry her. This happens to be the very day Mia arrives after touching a golden spindle.

Both Mia and Hakon have bad histories, trust issues and secrets of their own. Do they have it in them to look for the happy ending neither believes they can have?

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was varied with a lot of surprises and a complicated arc that kept my interest. The dialog is engaging and the mythology seems to be well-researched. I recommend this book. It is book 3 in the called by a Viking series. I’ll be checking the rest of the series out soon.

I received an advance copy of this book. My opinions are, as always, my own and freely given.

Kasey Briggs Leave a comment