I often geek out when visiting historical sites. The whole “OMG, so and so ACTUALLY walked here, lived here, died here…” gets me every time. No surprise then that Juliana Gray’s dedication in “A Strange Scottish Shore” definitely spoke to me: To all those who have stood where history was made and felt its echo.” This is the second in what I truly hope is a continuing series about a no-nonsense administrator, Emmeline Truelove, her employer, the Duke of Olympia, and her would be paramour, […]
Historical Romance with a, “Seriously?”
Despite the wonderful writing and Juliana Gray’s consistent ability to create interesting characters and throw in some excitement, I couldn’t fully enjoy the Victorian romance novella The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match, but I didn’t mind. I paid a reasonable sum for the book, and since I borrowed all of her other novels from the library, I am happy to have contributed to Gray’s coffers. May she enjoy my shekels in good health and continue to devise the complex, dovetailed series plots and wonderful characterizations at which she excels. From Amazon: Aboard […]
Unexpected, in some ways that you want and in some that you don’t
In a comment collection on a CBR post not too long ago, I snarked about the tendency of romance authors to make their rakes all superior lovers. On its face, it doesn’t seem that unlikely: practice makes perfect, right? It’s one thing for a man to hone a set of skills over time that most women might appreciate, but these rakes are uniformly self-described scoundrels who care very little for the women they are bedding and admit to considering sex something like a standard bodily […]
Another Historical Romance, But with a Bully
The last novel in Juliana Gray’s “A Princess in Hiding” Victorian romance series, How to School Your Scoundrel features a challenging hero and a remarkably self-possessed and capable heroine. Luisa is the eldest and last hidden princess. Like her sisters Emilie and Stefanie, she fled her country after her father, the Crown Prince, was murdered in a coup. Luisa’s husband was killed as well. Secreted away by a first-rate manipulator and conniving bastard, their uncle, the sisters were trained to masquerade as men and then […]
Affairs by Moonlight Trilogy
I discovered Juliana Gray’s Affairs by Moonlight trilogy much like I have any other romance series – on Cannonball, after reading Mrs Julien’s reviews. I probably won’t have much to say that she hasn’t added herself but here goes. Since the books go together I’ll just review them all together here. A Lady Never Lies tells the story of Lady Alexandra Morley, a recently-widowed young woman with a lot less financial stability than people think, and Phineas Burke (aka Finn), a genius bastard (literally, his […]
NOT Another Historical Romance. I’m Joking, Of Course. It’s Three Historical Romances.
Who else loves to see an autocratic hero brought down a peg? My newfound delight in Juliana Gray continues with the historical romance trilogy Affairs by Moonlight which includes A Lady Never Lies, A Gentleman Never Tells, and A Duke Never Yields. If you read them in order, you have two books to wait before the aforementioned peg lowering and they are a really enjoyable ride. The Set Up: It’s 1890. Three aristocratic/aristocrat adjacent English men rent a villa in Tuscany to escape Society, explore […]