PinkcowlandReads

When a Duke Loves a Governess  Unlikely Duchesses, Book 3 by Olivia Drake ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 A Cinderella rags to riches story where an orphaned hat maker dreams of opening her own shop one day and uses a governess gig for a Duke to find her long lost aristocratic father in the hopes that he will loan her capital for her venture…  At fist glance I thought that I would’d find the characters or the story real enough to enjoy, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book!  I got into the mystery of the unknown aristocrat father. The grumpy Duke, who had no clue how to deal with his child he abandoned and now wants back in his pulled me in too and as for Tessa James, our plucky milliner is willing to do anything to get a leg up in the world? I just loved her spunk! The child Sophy won me over as well and I felt for her and her need for a mother figure. Lastly, what is a Cinderella story without a spark? Tessa and our Duke definitely have a spark and their chemistry played well...

A Fiancée's Guide to First Wives and Murder Countess of Harleigh Mystery, Book 4 by Dianne Freeman ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 Frances, Countess of Harliegh and Mr George Hazelton are back and better together as they investigate a murder mystery from their own backyard that puts their future at risk! The visiting members of the Russian royal family in London seems to have brought with them more that just parties and their pomp and circumstances - when one of the far flung branches shows up on Hazeltons doorstep claiming to be his wife, George and Frances jump into damage control as fast as they can so that this confusion doesn’t effect their engagement. Soon the investigations into this lady’s claims turn into a murder investigation, when she winds up dead in Frances’s backyard. Now George and Frances have more than their reputations at risk by being suspects in the murder… I love how George and Frances work together so well in their relationship and in their investigations. These two are tr...

Highland Legend Scots and Swords, Book 3 by Kathryn Le Veque ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 We are back at the legendary fight club Ludus Caledonia (the Cal) where men fight for infamy and become a family while they do it! I have read and loved all the books in this series and this one is just as good. Magnus, known as the Eagle in the fighting ring has come from his unwanted bastard roots to become the best fighter at the Cal. He has found everything from riches , a life purpose and a family of friends… he is happy. That is until he runs into Diantha, a long lost acquaintance on the streets of Edinborough and agrees to help rescue her from a situation similar to his situation before he found the Cal. Magnus is a rake and used to having any woman in sight, so when he falls for Diantha and finally has to work for her affection and respect, it makes it all the sweeter when they finally come together. I am an absolute sucker for a rake who reforms for the right lady! I have enjoyed all the boo...

The Dating Dare A Sweet Mess, Book #2 by Jayci Lee Narrated by Natalie Naudus ⭐⭐⭐ /5 Trigger Warning - past partner abuse discussed. What happens when you put two people together that are very attracted together but also very broken from past relations? The dating dare, in which one dares the other to go on 4 dates with them without strings and not fall for each other… …Of course they fall for each other, but that’s where the real dare begins. Do they dare to do the work and look into themselves to let them make this 4 date arrangement into something more permanent? Both Tara and Seth have a history of partner abuse that tarnishes their views on relationships and love. They both had so much to work on that at points I found this romance hard to read. There was a lot of self sabotaging and generalizing about the opposite sex or partners. I did find it interesting that both he male and female leads used casual relationships to both boost their self esteem and to erect a barr...

Not the Kind of Earl You Marry An Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair Novel, Book 1 by Kate Pembrooke ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 A trick perpetrated by a political rival results in an unlikely alliance and a fake engagement… soon this fake engagement is feeling all too real and has both questioning what they really want in life and can they turn this fake engagement into a real marriage! One would think that Miss Charlotte Hurst would be ecstatic with he prospect of marrying William Atherton, Earl of Norwood, but they would be wrong! Though her feelings definitely grow for him throughout their fake engagement, she knows that they come from different social levels and she could never fit into his lofty rank or become the political wife that he needs for with ambitions… I loved that this is His. Rom. that shows a true distinction between the levels of the aristocracy. So ofter we see a duke falling for a lowly village girl that really omits to show the realities of the time. As well, the characters...

The Duke Goes Down   The Duke Hunt, Book #1 by Sophie Jordan ⭐⭐⭐/5 Sophie Jordan introduces us to her latest series, The Duke Hunt with the first book, The Duke Goes Down. This is an interesting tale of tables turning where the childhood bully and social better has their circumstance ripped away from them and they return to have the “victim” proceed to bully them… then they fall in love! OK- stay with me on this! Imogen Bates and Peregrine Butler (former Duke of Penning) have known each other since childhood. Always seeing himself as far above the young vicar’s daughter, Perry was never kind to her… Fast forward 10 years and things have changes drastically, Perry is stripped of his dukedom and returns to the small town where Imogen still resides and tends to her vicar father. He no longer has his titles or inheritance and he needs to find an heiress to marry in order to return to some semblance of his former life. Imogen is still nursing hurt feelings and takes it up...

The Viscount Made Me Do It A Clandestine Affairs Novel, Book #2 by Diana Quincy ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Hanna Zaydan has dedicated her life to her practice of bonsetting, so much so as to claim that she is married to her work. It’s not lake Andy of the good Arab boys her family try to set her up withhold ever permit their wife to continue in her practice. Hannnah has not even noticed what she is missing until Mr. Thomas comes to her practice to treat an injury that has left him in pain and his arm useless for 2 years. Thomas Ellis, Viscount Griffin spied Mrs. Zayden in a coffee shop wearing a necklace that was on his mother at the time of her death- a death he has been blamed for since his youth. Under the guise of treating his old injury he goes to her practice to find out how she got his mothers necklace.  Over the course of treatment, she heals his arm and captures his heart! But these two are not just from different classes, they are from ethnicities and Hannah risks being banished f...