Christi Caldwell

**3.5 stars**
The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne
I have been waiting for so long for Sebastian’s story! I have to admit I had forgotten that Veronica was a past character in Kerrigan’s previous books but tbh in the story it doesn’t really matter. The attraction is hot as usual, and this was an enjoyable read. I appreciate that it was a novella because that made the forgiving Seb for his past transgressions whiz by.

Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
This was the story that surprisingly connected most with me emotionally. It is a second chance romance with our characters having been separated when young. There is talk/vague-ish references to possibly DV but that wasn’t expanded on. I just found these Thaddeus and Edie’s story to be touching and I am glad they got their HEA.

The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
I really enjoyed Wolf and Jocelyn and my one complaint was I feel the story could have been fleshed out more in a proper book. I wanted moar! LOL.

Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
This was the story I enjoyed the least. Martin the ML was not the best character. Infact I don’t believe he deserves Amelia. He was too prideful and whew, didn’t come to his senses till almost the end? She deserves better completely.

Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid
Enjoyable story by Stacy Reid. I also wanted more story like I did for the Amelia Howard’s story. Verity and Ethan’s story felt like the most “fairy-tale” amongst all the novellas in the collection too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for the ARC
… (més)

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Introduction
The Heiress At Sea is a standalone or maybe the first book in a new series, to be honest, after finishing this one I am SO not sure. There were leads in the books that I feel like I NEED their books, so it definitely didn't have the finality of a standalone and not all the ends were tied in this one, I really want the heroine family's books because give me all the privateer romances. I will be honest this was a grab from Netgalley that was super random and yes the cover is what sold me to read this one finally. I have no guilt about it whatsoever though. I do wish that I had been in the mood this one earlier because this book was everything. It was so entertaining and I had forgotten how well this author works for me. If you like authors like Amy Rose Bennett or Elisa Braden, then I definitely recommend this author.

Summary
Lady Cassia McQuoid is a spinster but she has always wanted to explore the world outside the life of the Ton. She decided to dress as a boy, and sneak aboard her brothers ship and she is determined to shape her own adventures. But what Cassia doesn't realize is that she has boarded the wrong ship and becomes the deck hand for the privateer, Nathaniel Ellsby who also happens to be the future Duke of Roxburghe. When the disguise is discovered by Nathaniel, he will now have to deal with a woman on his ship and a supersticious crew while also trying to deny the growing feelings that he is having for Cassia, who is a female contradiction. But will love win in the end?

My Outlook
The Heiress at Sea was such a delectable fun romance to read. It wasn't anything like what I expected. I thoroughly enjoyed this one fully and it had such great witty banter to the story that I had forgotten this author tends to write in her stories. Its been so long since I read a privateer romance and I found the premise of this one to be so intriguing. You definitely should go into this one with a open fresh mind. And the whole trope "female dressed as a boy" yeah its been a long while since I have read that as well. I honestly loved how different our characters are from each other. They are complete opposites but get along so well in their own way. The hero is sarcastic bad boy of a hero who thirsts for life on the sea and commanding his own ship. The heroine is sassy and completely clueless to sarcasm. The way that these two interact with each other especially in the beginning is just so fun. The reveal of the gender of the heroine was just right and I really enjoyed how the author definitely took a strong focus on the supersticious nature of seamen especially in regards to women. Highly entertaining from beginning to end. We even get some action scenes that really build up the intensity quite well. I actually enjoyed how the story concluded, and I am hoping that this ends up turning into a series because I just fell in love with the families that we see connected in this one here.

Overall View
I found Heiress at Sea to be a delectable sexy romance that catered to the thrilling nature of a nautical romance with all the adventure and aspects of fighting for love that became so endearing from beginning to end.

Rating Evaluation:
Plot: 4
World Building: 4
Cover: 4
Hero: 4
Heroine: 4
Steam: 4
Heart & Feels:4
Ending:4
Overall View: 4.25… (més)

The heroine is sick of being confined by society to be a well-bred lady. She yearns for adventure and decides to masquerade as a lad while stowing on a ship. The ship's captain is the hero, who ends up becoming the heir of a duke after his older brother dies, a title that he didn't want at all. He then learns about the heroine's identity and must protect her throughout the journey.

This is a standalone historical romance by Christi Caldwell. For the most part, the book was enjoyable to read. Even the couple were not bad in certain parts of the story. However, the heroine was tolerable at most in other sections of the book, and it made the story not as entertaining in those particular areas. Though the hero did help alleviate the story a bit, and the book cover is beautiful to look at. But overall, this is a nice historical romance read.

** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **… (més)

I started this book not realizing it was the second book in a series. But I soon realized I had missed the set up stories behind these two characters. It wasn't hard to pick up on what had happened previously and I'm actually glad I got to meet Sophie and Christopher on their own. I'll save Emmaline and Drake's story for another day.

In this book, Christopher and Sophie both feel pressure from their families to marry .... each other. The only problem is that they have a deep hatred of each other that goes all the way back to childhood. There are secrets and lies and betrayals that make the story somewhat repetitive and predictable, but not boring. I was invested in these two and couldn't wait to see how or if things worked out for them.

One thing I really liked was that you could clearly see them go from hate to love. It wasn't fast or easy for either. There was a lot of frustration and misunderstandings, but the journey was somehow worth it.… (més)