I’m really delighted to be able to give you some ARC reviews, even if they are largely months late. Oops. The Poisoner’s Ring by Kelley Armstrong is the second book in a historical mystery series that I am really addicted to at the moment. The Notorious Lord Knightly is book two in The Chessmen series from Lorraine Heath and is a historical romance. And then finally, I have a review A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles, which I just finished listening to today! So, nothing like being a little delayed in getting these reviews out to y’all. Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copies.
The Poisoner’s Ring by Kelley Armstrong
I’m honestly loving this series so much, but I can’t seem to pinpoint exactly what it is about it that has me hooked because right now, it’s genuinely just a historical mystery series. And, well, that’s not really my vibe usually? I’m a sucker for a historical mystery with a slowburn romance element, but I’m still not convinced that’s at play here. There’s no flirty banter like there is in the Lady Sherlock series or even with Veronica and Stoker, but there IS maybe something?
Anyway, regardless of that, this book and the one prior have incredibly engaging plots that have me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out the reveals. Because, let us be honest, I am not the one who is solving this crime so I cannot tell you if the twists are twisty enough to be surprising because I am suspicious of EVERYONE. I’m the perfect reader for crime writers honestly because I will follow EVERY red herring and be like, “Oh, okay, that’s the guy,” and then something happens, leaving me going “OHHH, not the guy. Got it.” So in addition to the truly excellent plot in my very humble opinion, I’m actually obsessed with these characters. And the friendships. And even the snide looks the housekeeper likes to give Mallory. So I’m here to continue reading and loving this series no matter where it goes, even if it isn’t my usual thing. I’m very delighted to have crept tentatively outside of my comfort zone with this series and just really love Armstrong’s writing.
The Notorious Lord Knightly
by Lorraine Heath
Here’s the thing, when I love a Lorraine Heath, I love a Lorraine Heath, but when I don’t like one of her books, it’s because her wild premise didn’t live up to what I created in my mind. This book should have been SO good for me, but ultimately, it just fell flat. The characters were interesting and intriguing, but there were secrets being kept for what felt like no reason and honestly, there’s a spoiler thing where the way that it was handled felt horrendous. Ultimately, I will keep picking up what Heath writes because I do love her writing so much of the time. I just never know which books will be hits out of the park and which books will leave me a little bored like this one.
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles
As a person who hates deception plots, this book wasn’t exactly starting off on a high note, but ultimately, I really enjoy K.J. Charles’ writing and her characters, even when they’re making decisions I don’t love, are fully realized so that their decisions I don’t like still make sense with who they are. Essentially this book follows Rufus after he inherits an earldom and his uncle? cousin? Idk, this annoying man who is some sort of relative of his, has been trying to get the earldom back from Rufus for months. Suddenly, Luke appears and is like, “So there was this story I heard that Rufus’s dad married my mum,” which would actually make Luke the earl. So cousin/uncle man is like, Woo! I can almost taste the earldom, but Luke becomes fully Team Rufus. Rufus, who has dyslexia, finds himself leaning so much on Luke because the man has a gift when it comes to organizing his books and also helping him deal with his rude af family. I loved the development of their relationship through all of the twists and turns this book takes. I really appreciated how the relationship was tested and liked the way it was resolved, though again, I’m generally not a big fan of deception plots, this one was handled in such a way that I understood.
The audio narration of this book is done quite well for what it’s worth, though I really wish two narrators was the standard for romance with dual POVs because I just find it helpful sometimes. (A lot of times, really.) But anyway, it was really nice to see Joss and Gareth again too.
Closing Thoughts
I’ve been having a time finding historical romance that hits for me in the last couple of years, so please feel free to recommend me your favorites down below. Also, if you’ve read or are thinking of reading any of these books, I’d love to know your thoughts!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 