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The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Tessa Dare has again proven she is the BEST Historical Romance writer out there. This story continues her Girls Meet Duke series with Penelope (Penny) and Gabriel Duke. This book is funny as Tessa’s books always are, but this one has a slow burn that keeps you glued to the page.

(yes, friends I read steamy romances)

But, the most important message of this story is how Penny gets to choose her happy ending on her own terms.

Another winner from Tessa Dare.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Edelweiss for the ARC.



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Its been a while since I posted here on the blog. If you want to see what I am currently reading and more reviews, catch me on Instagram at @jennibet_com or Goodreads.

Its much quicker and easier to post reviews there than here, but I will from time to time update the blog.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/81052928-beth-shulam

This is my first book by Sue Moorcroft. It is available beginning May 2, 2019.

Clancy has been devastated by the betrayal of her fiancé and business partners in London and finds herself needing a place to live. She turns to Roundhouse Row, a group of cottages owned by her cousin Alice and Aaron, located in Nelson’s Bar. There she becomes caretaker of the property and of the residents of Roundhouse Row.
As Clancy moves into Nelson’s Bar she faces opposition from Aaron’s family and members of the community.

As Clancy’s acclimates to the Nelson’s Bar community, she juggles her job and budding romance with Aaron with the lives of her new found village friends.

The setting of the village of Nelson’s Bar was lovely and made me want to experience the real place. The introductory chapters started off promising,. However, I felt the book was too long and dragged on in spots. I found myself skipping chapters to fast forward through it. I felt there were too many secondary characters. And, with all the issues of the secondary characters, that Clancy and Aaron’s story kind of got lost.

Thank you #netgalley and #avonbooksuk for the early advanced copy to read and review.

I am trying to slowly make my way through the Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine bookclub picks. Happened to luck up and find this at McKays bookstore in the bargain section!

Well I just finished One Day in December by Josie Silver. I just feel so drained, but in a good way. Like I lived every minute of these characters’ journey myself. It brought back college day feels for me big time. Laurie and Jack’s happy ending was a long time coming, filled with so many heart wrench barriers. I was truly invested in Laurie getting the life she deserved and her HEA did not disappoint. Enjoyed this book.

I have finally come round to reading Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series. Becky Bloomwood is living a glamorous London life. She’s a finance reporter, but finds it incredibly boring. She is heavily in debt, but loves to shop. Big. Problem. Her life is surrounded by posh connected people and she hides the fact she has no money. The book takes us through her efforts to first spend less then make more money. She finally gets a big break with a fantastic story she happened upon by chance and it changes her life.

I did enjoy this Read. I got through it very quickly. I love writers who have lots of dialogue between characters. I like conversations. It was very good. Now on to book #2, Shopaholic in Manhattan.

Intriguing flashback/forward novel about an inheritance and how it intertwines the lives of two women. 
Lauren Willig always has that flair for slow reveal that keeps you reading. I did not see the ending coming and it was heartbreaking.

This is a story about the Butler Family. Althea and her husband Proctor are arrested and it shocks both the town and rocks their family to the core. Althea’s daughters are being looked after by their aunt Lilian and Viola. The aunts are struggling to care for the girls as this trauma brings back many of the issues they faced as girls brought up in the same small town. Lilian is trying to hold everyone together and failing and Viola is avoiding coming back to town to help.

Exquisite writing from several POV, this novel was a heart wrenching story of what happens when the actions of two people impact their family. We see how past family dynamics influence people’s future and how the difficulties of mental illness make those dynamics even harder to maneuver. 

Kinsella doesn’t disappoint with this new rom-com. Fixie tries so hard to keep her father’s shop and her family together. Her siblings and crush keep throwing new twists at her every time she has something “fixed” and she can’t keep it all together. Then she meets Seb at a coffee shop and saves his computer and that starts a new adventure for Fixie that will start her on the path to changing her life. 

I enjoyed this read. It was light and entertaining just as a Kinsella book should be. 

What a glorious retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I got to travel to Pakistan and learn about this beautiful culture layered over a familiar story that made understanding the unique issues of Pakistani society easier to grasp. 

I cannot wait for Soniah Kamal to write another book.