Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I *think* I enjoyed it? Either way, glad I read it.

A Gamble At Sunset by Vanessa Riley

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As seems to continue happening, I was searching for a book to listen to at work on Libby, and Vanessa Riley’s newest, A Gamble at Sunset was available to check out immediately. Riley is one of those authors whose novels I always have the intention of reading. I read one or two of her self-pubbed books a decade ago, but keep Not Reading the others, for no fault other than they’re not at the top of my list when I’m looking for my next read. And that’s […]

The Heart Trumps the Head

Never Wager with a Wallflower by Virginia Heath

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Venus and Galahad have never really gotten along, but when he buys the buildings next to the orphanage she works at intending to turn them into a gambling hall, their sparring begins to look a lot more like attraction and respect. This is the third book in the Merriwell Sisters, which follows a trio of sisters who must make their own way in the world after being abandoned by their ne’er-do-well father. I haven’t read the first two books, but this worked well as a […]

Matters of Inheritance and Love on the Brink of Waterloo

Deserted by Mary Lancaster

Beloved by Mary Lancaster

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Deserted – 4 stars Sophia thinks she’s escaped the clutches of her tyrannical cousins when she comes to be companion to the Duchess of Cuttyngham, even if it’s under strange circumstances. But when her employer makes her escape to Brussels and her family pursues her to her new home, Sophia is forced to turn to the icy but beguiling Earl of Frostbrook for help. This is the third book in The Duel series, which follows the fallout of the Duke of Cuttyngham’s death in a […]

Bonus: Ridiculous 1830s Fashion

Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase

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Five series and 28 or so books into a very successful career, it comes as no surprise that Loretta Chase is a really consistent historical romance author who provides great entertainment value combined with sincere emotional connections. I loved Dukes Prefer Blondes when I reviewed it for Cannonball Read in 2016 during Romancelandia’s Year of Difficult Men*  and I adore it  now. I went back to revisit a specific scene and the next thing I knew, I’d re-read to the end and then gone back […]

Crime, suspense and romance in Regency England

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies (The Ill-Mannered Ladies Book 1) by Alison Goodman

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Shoutout to Narfna for bringing this book to my attention! This was a very entertaining novel that contains three exciting adventures featuring a highly unusual woman in Regency England. Lady Augusta Colebrook is forty-something, single, and a member of the noble class. She and her fraternal twin sister Lady Julia are well connected and well liked in London society, but then again very few people know about their private activities. When we meet Augusta (Gus) and Julia, they are attempting to help a married friend […]

Love in Masquerade

My Only Valentine by Victoria Henshaw, Julia Parks, Donna Simpson

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Three couples in Regency England find their way to each other through various Valentine’s Day related events and hijinks. In “The Valentine Poem” by Victoria Henshaw, Susan Kimball falls in love with her Italian tutor, little suspecting that he is actually a nobleman undercover. This is a cute romance with little plot, and I liked the relationship between John and his half-brother the duke. However, Susan’s bleak moment seemed very illogical for a generally logical heroine – it really should have been timed for before […]



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