March was a very good month for me in terms of both fiction (and non-fiction) books. I loved every one of the books I read, and I would highly recommend any of these.
A Portrait of a Scotsman
Author: Evie Dunmore
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the third book in Evie Dunmore’s series, A League of Extraordinary Women. I read the previous two last month, and this was my favourite in the series. What I love about this series is the way Dunmore is able to integrate interesting side plots and discussions of social issues, in this case labour conditions, without the book becoming preachy. This is a balance that’s hard to strike, and Dunmore does it brilliantly.
The story follows Hattie Greenfield, an art student at Oxford during the Victorian period, who finds herself engaged to Lucien Blackstone, a ruthless businessman, and a professional rival of Hattie’s father. Throughout the story, Hattie stretches beyond her previously sheltered life and learns about the world and her place in it. After spending most of her life without much direction due to limits imposed on women’s agency, Hattie learns how she can use her art to make an impact on the world.
I was surprised by the ending of this book. It would have been very easy to stop the story a few chapters before the author did and give it the finish of a relatively standard historical romance. But the way Dunmore ended it was perfect for the character arc she was shooting for, and added a depth that is sometimes missing in books within this genre.
The Gentleman’s Gambit
Author: Evie Dunmore
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the last book in A League of Extraordinary Women and finished off the series wonderfully. This book follows Lady Catriona Campbell, the daughter of an Oxford professor, who is an academic in her own right, but suffering from writer’s block while working with her friends to advance women’s rights. In comes Elias Khoury, who enters Catriona’s life under false pretences with the intent repatriating cultural artifacts that have been stolen from his homeland in the Levant by the British.
Like the previous book, this deals with important issues that are still being discussed today, including the politics of who owns cultural artefacts, the role of women in society and how neurodivergent people deal with social expectations both publicly and privately. Again, this book addresses all of these things well in a way that is woven into the story without overwhelming it. The book was also a nice wrap-up to the series, and give some follow-up to the stories of Catriona’s three friends who we followed in the previous books.
In addition to the interesting plot, I loved the relationship between Catriona and Elias. It was clear from the backstory we get about Catriona that she’s the sort of person who will bend over backwards for the people she cares for, but that her attention has previously been wasted on people who didn’t deserve or appreciate it. It was sweet to see Elias spark that consideration in her and both value and return it in kind. They clearly had a deep connection, and that made for a more absorbing reading experience.
I loved this entire series, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for quality historical romance with added substance.
A Fate Inked in Blood
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book has been on my radar since it was first announced, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it in my February Fairyloot subscription. This Viking-inspired fantasy follows Freya, a young woman in an unhappy marriage with a secret power that launches her into the centre of a war between rival clans. After ridding herself of her first husband, she is quickly manipulated into marrying the jarl of her clan, who intends to use her to unite the various Viking nations under himself. Meanwhile, she finds herself dangerously attracted to the jarl’s son, Bjorn.
I loved the banter and relationship between Freya and Bjorn, and the plot was interesting, though admittedly predictable. That being said, I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
The Endless War
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After finishing A Fate Inked in Blood, I decided to pick up another book I had been waiting to read from this author. This review contains spoilers for the first three books in The Bridge Kingdom series, but if you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it. The Bridge Kingdom series is planned to be a series of three duologies that each follow a different couple, but the overarching plot does build in each book, so they do need to be read as a series.
This book is the second in the duology following Keris and Zarrah. At the end of the last book, Keris had just become King of Maridrina and Zarrah had been arrested by her aunt and was bound to be sent to a deadly prison. This book was non-stop action, and I was able to sink right back into the plot and the relationship between Keris and Zarrah, who are now some of my favourite characters in fiction but ones I don’t hear a lot about.
In the previous book, they met and bonded over their desire to get their respective nations out of the endless conflict in which they’d become embroiled. In this one, they’re faced with the challenge of actually doing that while dealing with the fact that their countries have been at war with each other for decades and the prospect of their relationship getting out is enough to risk their armies turning against them.
This was another one that ended perfectly for the story and the character arcs, and it also teased some events that will likely be taking place in the last two books in the series.
Bride
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was a delight. It’s a paranormal debut from Ali Hazelwood, who is one of my favourite authors, and although it sticks to its genre, I liked how Hazelwood still incorporated some of her signature women in STEM elements, in this case making the FMC, Misery, a cybersecurity professional in addition to being a vampyre.
The story follows Misery, the daughter of the head of the Vampyre Council, who basically barters her off as an offering to Lowe, the Alpha of a pack of werewolves, to maintain peace between the groups who have been in conflict for decades.
I liked the relationship between Misery and Lowe, and like all of Hazelwood’s books, this was clever, witty and absorbing.
N.B. In terms of the *ahem* more animalistic elements of this book—if you know you know—I didn’t find it overly extreme or gratuitously detracting from the story.
The Kat Bite 