Saturday, April 2, 2022

Historical Romance Bracket Challenge: Sweet Sixteen Day Two


Welcome to Day Two of the Sweet Sixteen! Today will decide the final four books to make it to the Elite Eight! There's a good chance that, if you're in the US, you are watching or anticipating a basketball game right now. March Madness is hitting its peak, with the men's Final Four tonight, the women's championship tomorrow, and the men's championship Monday. Lucky for us romance fans, our contest goes for a few more days and we have access to great romance novels all year round!

Current Standings:
Some of my favorite books were knocked out today, but I won't let that stop my reporting back to you. For Group 1, Beauty Tempts the Beast by Lorraine Heath beat The Scandal of It All by Sophie Jordan. In Group 3, The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe knocked out The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite defeated Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall in Group 5. Lastly, The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan beat The Duke's Guide to Correct Behavior by Megan Frampton for Group 7.

Enemies to Lovers Alley
Only One Bed Lane
Marriage of Convenience Avenue
Aristocrat in Disguise Road

Today's Books:
Group 2 - The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham vs Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean (April 2nd, 8pm)
Group 4 - Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian vs Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins (April 2nd, 8pm)
Group 6 - Some Like It Scandalous by Maya Rodale vs Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas (April 2nd, 8pm)
Group 8 - A Taste of Honey by Rose Lerner vs A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare (April 2nd, 8pm)

Title:
The Rakess
Author: Scarlett Peckham
Publisher: Avon
Release: April 28, 2020
Series: Society of Sirens #1
Pages: 400
My Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Meet the SOCIETY OF SIRENS—three radical, libertine ladies determined to weaponize their scandalous reputations to fight for justice and the love they deserve…

She's a Rakess on a quest for women's rights…

Seraphina Arden's passions include equality, amorous affairs, and wild, wine-soaked nights. To raise funds for her cause, she's set to publish explosive memoirs exposing the powerful man who ruined her. Her ideals are her purpose, her friends are her family, and her paramours are forbidden to linger in the morning.

He's not looking for a summer lover…

Adam Anderson is a wholesome, handsome, widowed Scottish architect, with two young children, a business to protect, and an aversion to scandal. He could never, ever afford to fall for Seraphina. But her indecent proposal—one month, no strings, no future—proves too tempting for a man who strains to keep his passions buried with the losses of his past.

But one night changes everything...

What began as a fling soon forces them to confront painful secrets—and yearnings they thought they'd never have again. But when Seraphina discovers Adam's future depends on the man she's about to destroy, she must decide what to protect…her desire for justice, or her heart.

You Can Find it At:

Title:
Wicked and the Wallflower
Author: Sarah MacLean
Publisher: Avon
Release: June 19, 2018
Series: The Bareknuckle Bastards #1
Pages: 396
My Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

When Wicked Comes Calling...

When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees—on one condition. She's seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won't accept a marriage without it.

The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain...

Bastard son of a duke and king of London's dark streets, Devil has spent a lifetime wielding power and seizing opportunity, and the spinster wallflower is everything he needs to exact a revenge years in the making. All he must do is turn the plain little mouse into an irresistible temptress, set his trap, and destroy his enemy.

For the Promise of Passion...

But there's nothing plain about Felicity Faircloth, who quickly decides she'd rather have Devil than another. Soon, Devil's carefully laid plans are in chaos, and he must choose between everything he's ever wanted...and the only thing he's ever desired.

You Can Find it At:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-million
iTunes
Kobo
Google Books
Indiebound

Title: Two Rogues Make a Right
Author: Cat Sebastian
Publisher: Avon
Release: June 23, 2020
Series: Seducing the Sedgwicks #3
Pages: 304
My Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Will Sedgwick can’t believe that after months of searching for his oldest friend, Martin Easterbrook is found hiding in an attic like a gothic nightmare. Intent on nursing Martin back to health, Will kindly kidnaps him and takes him to the countryside to recover, well away from the world.

Martin doesn’t much care where he is or even how he got there. He’s much more concerned that the man he’s loved his entire life is currently waiting on him hand and foot, feeding him soup and making him tea. Martin knows he’s a lost cause, one he doesn’t want Will to waste his life on.

As a lifetime of love transforms into a tender passion both men always desired but neither expected, can they envision a life free from the restrictions of the past, a life with each other?

You Can Find It At:
Indiebound
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
iBooks
Kobo

Title:
Wild Rain
Author: Beverly Jenkins
Publisher: Avon
Release: February 9, 2021
Series: Women Who Dare #2
Pages: 355

Synopsis:

The second novel in USA Today bestselling author Beverly Jenkins’ compelling new Women Who Dare series follows a female rancher in Wyoming after the Civil War.

A reporter has come to Wyoming to do a story on doctors for his Black newspaper back east. He thinks Colton Lee will be an interesting subject…until he meets Colton’s sister, Spring. She runs her own ranch, wears denim pants instead of dresses, and is the most fascinating woman he’s ever met.

But Spring, who has overcome a raucous and scandalous past, isn’t looking for, nor does she want, love. As their attraction grows, will their differences come between them or unite them for an everlasting love?

You Can Find it At:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Indigo
Kobo

Title:
Some Like It Scandalous
Author: Maya Rodale
Publisher: Avon
Release: June 18, 2019
Series: The Gilded Age Girls Club #2
Pages: 357

Synopsis:

They are sworn enemies…

Theodore Prescott the Third, one of Manhattan’s Rogues of Millionaire Row, has really done it this time. The only way to survive his most recent, unspeakably outrageous scandal is marry someone respectable. Someone sensible. Someone like Daisy Swan. Of all the girls in Gilded Age Manhattan, it had to be her.

Pretending to be lovers...

Daisy Swan has plans and they do not involve a loveless marriage with anyone. But when a devastating family secret threatens to destroy her standing in society, suddenly a fake engagement with Theo is just the thing to make all her dreams come true.

And now it’s time to kiss and make up…

Daisy Swan aspires to sell cosmetics that she has created, but this brainy scientist needs a smooth talking charmer’s flair for words and eye for beauty to make it a success. Before long, Daisy and Theo are trading kisses. And secrets. And discovering that despite appearances, they might be the perfect couple after all.

You Can Find It At:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop.org
Book Depository
Apple Books
Kobo

Title:
Marrying Winterborne
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Publisher: Avon
Release: May 31, 2016
Series: The Ravenels #2
Pages: 400
My Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

A ruthless tycoon.

Savage ambition has brought common-born Rhys Winterborne vast wealth and success. In business and beyond, Rhys gets exactly what he wants. And from the moment he meets the shy, aristocratic Lady Helen Ravenel, he is determined to possess her. If he must take her virtue to ensure she marries him, so much the better . . .

A sheltered beauty.

Helen has had little contact with the glittering, cynical world of London society. Yet Rhys’s determined seduction awakens an intense mutual passion. Helen’s gentle upbringing belies a stubborn conviction that only she can tame her unruly husband. As Rhys’s enemies conspire against them, Helen must trust him with her darkest secret. The risks are unthinkable . . . the reward, a lifetime of incomparable bliss.

And it all begins with . . . marrying Mr. Winterborne

You Can Find it At:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iBooks
Audiobooks.com
Books-A-Million!
Indigo.ca
Indiebound.org

Title:
A Taste of Honey
Author: Rose Lerner
Publisher: Rose Lerner
Release: September 12, 2017
Series: Lively St. Lemeston #3.5
Pages: 140

Synopsis:

Fire and ice cream...

Robert Moon risked everything, including his father’s hardwon legacy, to open his beloved Honey Moon Confectionery on the busiest street in Lively St. Lemeston. Now he’s facing bankruptcy and debtor’s prison.

When a huge catering order comes in, he agrees to close the sweet-shop for a week to fill it. There’s only one problem: his apprentice is out of town, so his beautiful shop-girl Betsy Piper must help Robert in the kitchen.

Betsy’s spent the last year trying to make her single-minded boss look up from his pastries and notice that she would be the perfect wife. Now the two of them are alone in a kitchen full of sweet things. With just one week to get him to fall in love with her, she’d better get this seduction started...

She soon discovers that Robert brings the same meticulous, eager-to-please attitude to lovemaking that he does to baking, but can kisses—no matter how sweet—compete with the Honey Moon in his heart?

You Can Find It At:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Indiebound
The Ripped Bodice
Kobo
iBooks

Title:
A Week to Be Wicked
Author: Tessa Dare
Publisher: Avon
Release: March 27, 2012
Series: Spindle Cove #2
Pages: 356
My Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

When a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin…
Time is not on their side.
Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove’s confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland.
Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be… anywhere but Spindle Cove.

These unlikely partners have one week
to fake an elopement
to convince family and friends they’re in “love”
to outrun armed robbers
to survive their worst nightmares
to travel four hundred miles without killing each other
All while sharing a very small carriage by day and an even smaller bed by night.

What they don’t have time for is their growing attraction. Much less wild passion. And heaven forbid they spend precious hours baring their hearts and souls.

Suddenly one week seems like exactly enough time to find a world of trouble.
And maybe…just maybe…love.

You Can Find it At:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million
Chapters Indigo
IndieBound
The Book Depository
Apple Books

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