u/niskablue

I just read {When the Earl Met His Match by Stacy Reid} and greatly enjoyed it. However, the FMC’s brother made me SO mad. Richard is so patronizing and controlling of Phoebe. I haven’t read his story, which comes before this one, in {How to Marry a Marquess by Stacy Reid}, but I can’t help but feel like if I had read them in order I’d be so disappointed in Richard’s behavior. I kinda don’t even want to bother with his story haha.

Are there any other series that come to mind where the FMC or MMC in a previous book comes back and behaves badly? Just curious!

Edit for clarification: Usually if a character is horrible, their story will “redeem” them and then they are generally likable for the rest of the series. I’m curious about the books where the character comes back later in the series (after their story) and still behaves poorly!

Set in 1400s Scotland and Wales, {The Beauty Bride by Claire Delacroix} tells the tale of Lady Madeline and Rhys FitzHenry. Madeline’s brother has recently become Laird, and he discovers that he will not be able to provide for his family in the coming winter. He devises a plan to auction off the hand of Madeline, who has vowed never to marry since the death of her betrothed.

Rhys is wanted for treason against the English king, but he leaves the safety of Wales seeking a lost cousin, one of the last of his kin. His search leads him to Ravensmuir in Scotland, where he finds himself at the auction to wed Madeline and, struck by her beauty, determines to have her.

Madeline is upset at being forced to wed a stranger, especially one who is a traitor. She runs away in the night, but Rhys is no fool and unbeknownst to her he follows close behind. As Rhys and Madeline reunite and then slowly make their way to Wales together, Rhys protects Madeline from danger and woos her with tales from his homeland. But will their love survive the peril they face and, most importantly, the secrets Rhys keeps about his past?

~~

I really enjoyed this story. It has some fantasy/fey elements to it, but they are minor enough that I would still label it a historical romance. Rhys is charming and dashing, protective and possessive without being overbearing. Madeline is feisty and smart and a great female lead. The romance builds in a believable way and it was wonderful watching them fall in love. Most of the conflict of the story revolves around them learning to trust each other. The writing is beautifully done, where I felt immersed in the story. I had never heard of the author Claire Delacroix before but she has an extensive body of work in historical romance as well as some fantasy romance. I thought I would share in case anyone else is looking for a new medieval romance!

I loved Sebastian Moncrieff in {The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan Byrne} and was so, so looking forward to reading his story. Only for it to be a novella (a fact I was not aware of until I was already halfway through).

The story was enjoyable, but it did feel pretty low stakes and uneventful. They meet again unexpectedly on a train, he convinces Veronica to let him pleasure her, they have sex like 3 times, have some pillow talk, and decide to be together forever. Both of them have a lot of baggage and they just kinda get over it all in one day of being together? Where’s the angst? The working out their problems so they can truly be happy together? The side plot doesn’t even add much to the story. Really, the driving force of the story is Sebastian’s charm and sexiness, which don’t get me wrong, I love, but the story needed a lot more.

I just wanted to have a full length story where we really get to see Sebastian and Veronica fall in love while crazy stuff happens to them. I kind of feel like it was a waste of a story for Sebastian. Now I’m left wanting more of him 😭

It feels like all the fmc orgasm or almost orgasm just from having their nipples played with. Like, I know some people have highly sensitive nipples, but every female lead? Idk, seems unrealistic.

Also, every book in the series has the fmc’s nipples get firm and visibly poke out multiple layers of fabric just from being mildly aroused. It’s like the woman version of having an erection.