Here are four quickie reviews of books I’ve read lately.

How to Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long

An infamous privateer’s limits are put to the test when he’s trapped during a raging tempest with a prickly female at the Grand Palace on the Thames.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Grand Palace on the Thames works its magic yet again. This time for a runaway lady and a rough-and-tumble privateer. On paper Lorcan and Daphne don’t make any kind of sense. They should not even have met. But circumstances forced Daphne to the docks and the safety of the boarding house, only to team up with Lorcan and discover that “safe” is a relative term.

I loved seeing the other inhabitants again, especially Dot. They all brought such rich dimension to an already captivating story. Daphne and Lorcan managed to lie without really lying and that was some spectacular word smithing there. I can highly recommend this entire series if you like steamy historical romance far away from high society.

Genre: Historical Romance
Published: July 25, 2023
Sensuality Rating: Hot
Series: The Palace of Rogues

Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher

Love Redesigned is a steamy, small town romance about two family friends-turned-childhood rivals.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ For Julian, Dahlia was always the one that got away. Dahlia was consumed with her failed relationship and what that meant for her future, but Julian was able to take her out of her head with their angry, sometimes sexually charged, banter. Their different approaches to design eventually proved to work together really efficiently. Between working together, not able to stay away from each other, and their large, well-meaning, interfering families, they didn’t really stand a chance. I truly enjoyed their individual journeys of introspection and self-discovery that led to love.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: November 7, 2023
Sensuality Rating: Hot
Series: Lakefront Billionaires

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. They now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and Olive’s luck seems worse than ever.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ I had fun with this book. The reason for the animosity between Ethan and Olive didn’t really resonate with me, it was a bit flimsy. And at some point I thought that their banter had a bit too much bite to it, but overall I enjoyed the interactions between them. I’m a big fan of them using the wrong names on purpose to needle each other. It was well done in this book. Maybe not the best one by Christina Lauren, but I can recommend it nevertheless if you like a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: May 14, 2019
Sensuality Rating: Hot
Series: Unhoneymooners

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper

Nineve’s magic is misbehaving and formed a bond between her and Morty, with whom she had an awkward first date. Together, they try to discover the source of her magical woes and help Morty come to terms with their new powers.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ I liked the first two books a lot more. Nineve and Morty were both very interesting characters and after some initial freak outs, Morty adapted quickly to the new situation. For me, this was more a personal discovery story for Nineve. It didn’t have the same suspense and magical intrigue as the previous books. But I enjoyed the writing a lot and that’s why this one gets 4 stars as well.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: January 3, 2023
Sensuality Rating: Warm
Series: The Witches of Thistle Grove

Hope you enjoyed these quickie reviews. Have you read any of these books yet?

^{**Image by Freepik}