This anthology is available until the end of the year!
In case you missed it, I reviewed the rest of the anthology here.
Twelve novellas from your favorite historical romance authors featuring never-before-published steamy holiday stories. Don’t miss this limited time collection—on sale only from November 1-December 31, 2022. (A more complete anthology synopsis is available on Goodreads or on my original post.)
(More) Reviews:
Mrs. Peabody and the Unexpected Duke by Grace Callaway is part of her Lady Charlotte’s Society of Angels series, a historical version of Charlie’s Angels. It’s a secret duke, opposites (though only in station, because IRL these two are a perfect match in every way) attract story, and it was delightful from start to finish! I haven’t read any of the rest of the series yet, but you’d better believe they’re on my TBR now 🙂
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
The Frosty Duke by Lila DiPasqua is a grumpy/sunshine, oh dear we’re snowed in delight! OMG, this one had me constantly giggling–until it had me fanning myself instead. Ms DiPasqua is a new-to-me author, but I will absolutely be reading more from her–soon!
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
Desert Island Duke by Kate Bateman is a fun-in-the-sun, brother’s best friend, oh no, there’s only one palm-leaf shelter on this island! romance. Perfect for those who want their holiday ducal romances to have more sand than snow, with the occasional tarantula thrown in 😉
Rating: 4 stars / A-
Her Duke with Benefits by Jess Michaels is a lovely friends-to-lovers, widow finding love again story. This one made my heart happy!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
The Duke Deal by Valerie Bowman is a marriage in trouble story. It was beyond frustrating at times that the two MCs weren’t talking to each other–hadn’t, in 2 years, actually–but the grand gesture was appropriately grand and the HEA was lovely!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
Audacious by Minerva Spencer is an age gap romance–the “duke” in this case is actually a ship captain who goes by “O Duque” and is a friend/mentee of the heroine’s father. She’s of age, he’s not for his age, and her mother is in favor (and dad eventually gets on board) so there’s HEAs all around! Set in the universe and features characters from the author’s series The Outcasts; worked fine as a standalone/series intro as well.
Rating: 4 stars / A-
My Duchess, My Wife by Sasha Cottman is a slice of life story that takes place over the Christmas holiday. It’s very clear that its part of a larger series–TBH it was hard to keep track of who was who and what exactly the major drama was really about as a newcomer to the series, but at the same time it was a lovely story about a married couple keeping the magic alive and a duchess learning that she doesn’t have to do it all, all by herself, all the time.
Rating: 4 stars / B+
Right Place, Wrong Duke by Elisa Braden has an interesting idea behind it–Lucie’s behind ridiculous plan to save get family (her heart was in the right place, at least?) results in her abducting the wrong “duke” at unloaded gun point (which he knew all along)–but I had a hard time getting behind how fast he had her bound and at his mercy. Sure, it had a happy conclusion and she was happy with her lot in the end, but the lack of true consent and insta-instalove didn’t always sit well with me.
Rating: 3 stars / C+
Overall rating: 4 stars / A-
Though I didn’t love *all* the books, I liked (even loved) more here than I didn’t like and it’s a great introduction to twelve different authors and their writing styles/series. It’s absolutely worth picking this one up before it goes away! Many (maybe all) of the authors will probably republish their own novellas somewhere, but this will be your only chance to get them all in one place 🙂
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.