ARC Book Review: Winterset by Tiffany Odekirk

October 7, 2025September 23, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 272 pages
Author: Tiffany Odekirk
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: October 7th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A hidden past. A house with secrets. And one chance for two wounded hearts to find love together.

Northern England, Late Fall, 1820

Katherine Lockwood is hiding for her life in the most unlikely of places: the forgotten priest holes in the abandoned Winterset Grange manor house. When Kate learns that Winterset’s long-absent owner, Mr. Oliver Jennings, is about to return, she is desperate to find a way to make him leave, even if it means “haunting” him from behind her protective walls.

After a grand tour of the Continent, Oliver returns home to England determined to make the most of his inheritance. But from the moment he arrives, nothing is as he expected. His manor is in disrepair, the steward hired to care for his estate is a thief, and to top it all off, Winterset is haunted. Undeterred, Oliver resolves to reclaim his life, piece by piece.

When Oliver discovers the hidden rooms, he’s shocked and pleased that his “ghost” is actually a beautiful young woman. Captivated by Kate and her story, he invites her to stay at Winterset under his protection.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for a gifted copy.

A DASH OF DANGER.

I have been waiting for Oliver’s redemption story and I loved seeing his journey. He truly showed up in making the best of the situations before him and how he approached and took his time with Kate to show her what she meant to him. There were many sweet moments between the two and I was so happy to finally have them meet and interact.

I loved the setting. All of the hidden passageways and nooks added a fun element and led to a bit of chaos. For such a small cast I hardly noticed because the side characters were great to be around.

Seeing Oliver get a chance to reconnect with Damon and Hannah were some of my favorite scenes. I have been begging for those moments and that peace was felt between them. I enjoyed Kate a lot too. She and Oliver matched well in their personalities and I loved the soft nature between them.

Overall audience notes:

Historical Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: mild
Content warnings: gun violence, loss of loved ones (recounted), kidnapping

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: September 2025

September 30, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

THE BER MONTHS.

I always love seeing these line ups because all of the covers together feel like a quilt of my reads. And I’m continually surprised at what I get through and all of the different genres and niches I fall into.

HAPPY READING!

Epics Etched in Echoes (Tales of Wonder and Woe #3.5) by Renee Dugan
If Not for My Baby by Kate Golden
Entreat Me by Grace Draven
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
[ARC] An Echo of the Grave (Fallow Creek #4) by Claudia Cain
[ARC/ALC] We Met Like This by Kasie West
Last Night Was Fun by Holly Michelle
Mistress of Bones (Mistress of Bones #1) by Maria Z. Medina
House of Hearts by Skyla Arndt
The Silversmith (The Selvaren #1) by LJ Claren
Scorched Earth (Dark Shores #4) by Danielle L. Jensen
[ARC] It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard
[ARC] Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy #1) by Julie Soto
[Novella] Fearful (The Powerless Trilogy #3.5) by Lauren Roberts
[Novella] Pumpkin to Talk About by Allie Samberts
The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk (Crowns of Nyaxia #4) by Carissa Broadbent
Rookie Season (The Boys of Loft 3B #1) by Katie Bailey and Leah Brunner
Better Luck Next Time by Cara Bastone
The Crownless Queen (The Blood and Water Saga #4) by Cassidy Clarke
An Embroidery of Souls by Ruby Martinez
Love at Second Down (Boys of Ann Arbor U #2) by Gracie Graham
[Novella] Hot for Slayer (Scared Sexy Collection #1) by Ali Hazelwood
[ARC] Winterset by Tiffany Odekirk
[ALC] Overdue by Stephanie Perkins
[Novella] Falling (Scared Sexy Collection #2) by Christina Lauren
Playing for Keeps by Ranee S. Clark
Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #4) by Jessica Townsend
[ARC] Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

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Book Review: The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter by Mimi Matthews

August 27, 2025July 31, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 232 pages
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: December 1st, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A WORLD-WEARY RAKE

After years of unbridled debauchery, Tristan Sinclair, Viscount St. Ashton has hit proverbial rock bottom. Seeking to escape his melancholy, he takes refuge at one of Victorian society’s most notorious house parties. As the Christmas season approaches, he prepares to settle in for a month of heavy drinking…until an unexpected encounter changes his plans—and threatens his heart.

A PRIM VICAR’S DAUGHTER

Valentine March is not the drab little spinster she appears to be. When her new job as a lady’s companion lands her smack in the middle of Yorkshire with England’s most infamous rake, she resolves to keep her head down and her eyes fixed firmly on her future—a future which most definitely does not include a sinfully handsome viscount.

A MATCH MADE IN SCANDAL

A friendship is impossible. An affair out of the question. But when one reckless act binds them together, will two star-crossed souls discover there’s more to each other than meets the eye? Or will revelations from the past end their fragile romance before it begins?

ANOTHER GREAT MIMI BOOK.

This was a very good use of instant love that honestly worked well for me. I think the beauty of Mimi Matthews writing is convincing me of any trope and just rolling with the journey these characters take.

For a very short book I didn’t love how the third act went down because it took away from the relationship. I loved Valentine and Tristan together and would have read pages and pages of Tristan falling HARD for his woman.

I’m almost finished with Mimi Matthew’s backlist books and they are just as charming as her current books. You really can’t go wrong with these historical romances.

Overall audience notes:

Historical Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low

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Book Review: Outshine (House of Oak #5) by Nichole Van

August 20, 2025July 23, 2024 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 331 pages
Author: Nichole Van
Publisher: Fiorenza Publishing
Release Date: March 31st, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Time is not a river. It is a vast cosmic sea, where each life exists as rippling circles on its surface. Usually, the eternal ocean oscillates in harmony, all lives breathing up and down as one. But something has broken this equilibrium, turning the cosmic ocean into turbulent waters . . .

In 1828, Daniel Ashton, Lord Whitmoor, faces a problem of epic proportion—an earthquake has caused the time portal in Duir Cottage to stop functioning, disrupting the cosmic ocean and threatening Time itself. He needs a computer to crunch numbers and provide a solution. But with the time portal on the fritz, a computer is two hundred years in the future. So Daniel sets out to find the next best thing—an anonymous mathematical genius of legendary renown.

Fossi Lovejoy knows she is too odd, too intelligent, too old and too poor to ever marry. So she busies herself in her father’s ministry and her mathematical equations, choosing to focus on what she has, not what she lacks. But then Lord Whitmoor publishes one of her private theorems, taunting her to respond. Fossi is compelled to action—when you have so little in life, you defend the few things that are yours with ferocious tenacity. Even if it means matching wits with the infamous Lord Whitmoor.

Can two people past their youth find unexpected love?

FAVORITE OF THE SERIES.

I am in a big backlist mood as of late and I loved getting to check this series off of my list! I adore Nichole Van’s books and this has been a fun series. I easily think this is my favorite and I loved the emotional depth and journey Daniel and Fossi went on.

There were so many good swoony moments and these tender quiet ones where the trust was built and you could see how much faith they had in each other when the action filled ending came about. I loved their relationship. I loved that Daniel wanted to be with Fossi completely as she is, and that Fossi found a home in Daniel. They had a beautiful dynamic.

Overall audience notes: