Tag: historical romance

ARC Book Review: Gate to Kagoshima (Ancestor Memories #1) by Poppy Kuroki

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance (Time Travel)
Length: 320 pages
Author: Poppy Kuroki
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: January 28th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this exciting historical romantasy in the spirit of The Hurricane Wars and The Time Traveler’s Wife—Outlander set in Japan—a young Scottish woman is magically transported to the last Samurai era, where she encounters ghosts from the past, her own Japanese ancestry, and a love that transcends time.

While in Japan researching her family’s history, a vicious typhoon sends Isla Mackenzie 128 years back in time, to the dawn of the Satsuma Rebellion. There she meets her ancestors, and a charismatic samurai, Kei, with whom she unexpectedly finds romance.

But, unlike her Beloved, Isla knows about the looming Samurai rebellion—and Kai’s fate. Should she attempt to change history or somehow make her way back to the life she’d had before?

Compulsively readable, historically grounded, and irresistibly immersive, Gate to Kagoshima is an unforgettable tale of duty, and of timeless love.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC and LibroFM for the audiobook.

I’LL READ BOOK TWO.

And sometimes that’s the best review I have. I also think the audiobook did a great job of upping my thoughts on this book. I was able to breeze through it quickly and the narrator did an amazing job.

This is definitely in the Outlander vibe but less wide scale. I was surprised at how short this book was and how much history it was trying to cover at the same time. I loved the historical aspects though and learning more about samurai’s and the culture of the time period.

The romance took a bit for me to get behind and I think it could have used a few more romantic notions buuut the ending scenes were super good. They very much increased my desire to read book two and see how this will continue to progress.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: vague open door
  • Violence: moderate

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ARC Book Review: A Heart Devoted (The Penn-Leiths of Thistle Muir #5) by Nichole Van

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 250 pages
Author: Nichole Van
Publisher: Fiorenza Publishing
Release Date: January 28th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Living happily ever after should be easy. After all, Tristan and Isolde Gilbert, the new Duke and Duchess of Kendall, have overcome obstacles, confessed their love, married, and are eager to sail off into the sunset of their glorious future. But, of course, life rarely offers smooth sailing. After their honeymoon tour, an unexpected return to London sends the new couple reeling.

Tristan struggles to balance his new Isolde-loving self with his former role as the autocratic Duke of Kendall. Upstart relatives and scurrilous accusations complicate his efforts to find a purpose and settle into his altered standing within the ton. Worse, the still-scandalous Isolde—who never expected to be at the center of Polite Society—now finds she has to navigate meetings with the Queen, dodge vile rumors, and fend off the jealous attacks of other aristocratic ladies.

For Tristan and Isolde, falling in love was simple. But merging two disparate former lives into one proves more fraught. Can the newlyweds find a way to remain both true to themselves and one another in their new life together?

Thank you to Nichole Van for the eARC.

OBSESSED IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

You know when you have those FAVORITE characters? The story you can’t stop thinking about? And you would do just about anything to get more stories about them? THIS IS THAT BOOK. It felt like this beautifully crafted extended epilogue where I got to fall in love all over again with Tristan and Isolde.

Please please make sure you have read A Heart Sufficient (at minimum) before reading this book!

It was EVERYTHING. I soaked up these pages loving the communication and teamwork and the I would burn the world down for you vibes that only come from two enemies who became lovers (e2l supremacy). I appreciated how the conflict came from the outside and allowed Tristan and Isolde to only become closer as they leaned on each other to solve the problems before them.

And WOOOOO this was heated. In the best, closed door books can still be heated, kind of way. I just AHH. I can’t form the right words. I loved this story. I am obsessed with these two (A Heart Sufficient was the only book I read twice in 2024).

READ IT AND THANK ME LATER.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: Peaches & Honey: These Immortal Truths by R. Raeta

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: R. Raeta
Publisher: Atera Books
Release Date: September 8th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A shapeshifting god,
an immortality granting peach,
and a woman gifted with forever.

England, 1184: Anna is used to hunger and hardship. Ever since she was seventeen, when the pale shadows of her vitiligo were spotted, she has spent more than a decade struggling to survive alone and in exile. Then a single act of kindness towards a beautiful stranger and the taste of a divine peach changes Anna’s life forever.

Suddenly, her body is as untouched by Time as it by harm. As she watches the world change around her, knowing every human connection is only temporary, there is only one person she trusts to always return no matter the years or distance…

The shapeshifting god who gifted her with immortality.

A HISTORY BOOK.

I am a bit disappointed by this book. It felt closer to a history book rather than an indie version of Addie LaRue (of which I loved). The years chosen for all of these jumps didn’t feel random necessarily, but there wasn’t a good flow of the plot of the jumps Anna hangs around different critical moments of history, talks about how horrible they are, and then goes to the next one.

Khiran is kind of a love interest? They seem to talk only ever few hundred years (until later in the story) and I honestly never felt a true connection. Yes, there’s some good moments but nothing I’d rave about.

I’m confused by the magic system, we had one story at the very end that kind of described what was happening, and that was it. We meet some other immortals with no background info and I wish this was more fully put together.

I don’t have plans to read the next book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: one low explicit open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: witnessing a lot of humanities crimes, attempted sexual assault, loss of life

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Book Review: A Modest Independence (Parish Orphans of Devon #2) by Mimi Matthews

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: April 23rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He Needed Peace…

Solicitor Tom Finchley has spent his life using his devious intellect to solve the problems of others. As for his own problems, they’re nothing that a bit of calculated vengeance can’t remedy. But that’s all over now. He’s finally ready to put the past behind him and settle down to a quiet, uncomplicated life. If only he could find an equally uncomplicated woman.

She Wanted Adventure…

Former lady’s companion Jenny Holloway has just been given a modest independence. Now, all she wants is a bit of adventure. A chance to see the world and experience life far outside the restrictive limits of Victorian England. If she can discover the fate of the missing Earl of Castleton while she’s at it, so much the better.

From the gaslit streets of London to the lush tea gardens of colonial India, Jenny and Tom embark on an epic quest—and an equally epic romance. But even at the farthest edges of the British Empire, the past has a way of catching up with you…

SWOONY READ.

I enjoyed so much of this book. I liked all of the traveling aspects and seeing Jenny find her own sort of path in the world. Tom was GONE for her from the get-go and the way he looked after her made me weak.

The banter and soft teasing between them really lit their chemistry on fire. I loved their interactions and how much forced proximity was squeezed out of this adventure.

I struggled a bit with Jenny’s hard headedness during the third act, but I found the final moments super sweet and romantic. Another great read from Mimi Matthews. She is a wonderful comfort author for me.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historial Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: heated kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: colonialism, mentions of war, loss of loved ones, mentions of child abuse (recounted)

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