Amanda Diehl

Meredith Duran delivers an emotional love story of reconciliation and healing in her return to the Rules for the Reckless series.

The Sins of Lord Lockwood begins with a whirlwind romance between the charming William “Liam” Devaliant and Anna Wallace, a confident and courageous Scottish heiress. Though their marriage is one of convenience, their attraction is palpable, and it’s easy to see that their arrangement would lead to something more, if not for a dreadful tragedy.

Following their wedding, Liam goes missing, and Anna’s heart breaks at the thought that her new husband has abandoned her and that she’s misinterpreted their chemistry all along. In reality, he was kidnapped, imprisoned and sent to a penal colony. It takes nearly four years for the pair to be reunited, and even then, their marriage is fraught with dark and dangerous feelings.

Liam is out for revenge, consumed with his desire to unmask the men responsible for his disappearance. He also suffers from severe PTSD, and trying to rebuild a life with the wife he left behind is a huge uphill battle. Duran doesn’t go into the gritty details of Liam’s imprisonment, instead hinting at the traumas and abuse he endured in well-deployed pricks of memory. Anna has had to live with her feelings of neglect and abandonment for years, as well as the knowledge that she’s been a source for all kinds of gossip. And even after Liam returns, she realizes the man she married may still be lost to her.

Duran is incredibly adept at piecing together each part of Liam and Anna’s relationship, flashing back to pivotal moments throughout The Sins of Lord Lockwood. We see their courtship and flirtation, the pain their separation causes both of them, and how much their time apart has changed them. Liam worries he has no room in his heart for love when he’s so fueled by anger. He’s very much a wounded animal, so unlike the charismatic lord Anna married. Tears will be shed over how desperately Anna wants to convey to Liam that she’s there for him, despite how much his shame makes him push her away.

The romance is hard won but worth it. Seeing Liam and Anna fight tooth and nail for one another is exactly what makes a happily ever after so satisfying. It’s raw. It’s real. And honestly, it’s easy to feel jealous of Liam. Anyone would be lucky to have Anna and her perseverance for the people she loves most.

The Sins of Lord Lockwood is a book that readers will adore, even as their hearts are being put through the wringer. Trust me, it hurts so good.

A Scottish hero gets more than he bargained for when he promises to take care of his friend’s daughter in Amy Jarecki’s return to the Lords of the Highlands series.

Handsome, broad-shouldered Captain Reid MacKenzie is no stranger to adventure. It’s during a fearsome battle on the high seas that he gives his solemn vow to protect and see to the safety of Nicholas Kinnet’s daughter, Audrey. Reid expects Audrey to be a child, a girl that he can easily ship off to some boarding school until she’s of marriageable age. Much to his surprise, Audrey is already of marriageable age. She’s hopelessly shy, but beneath her wallflower exterior is a spitfire of the highest order.

When a strange man shows up on Audrey’s doorstep, giving her news of her father’s death and announcing that she’s now his ward, she thinks the man has gone mad. To make matters worse, he insists that she be married off immediately. However, as Reid’s claim to guardianship proves true, a battle of wills ignites between the two of them. Audrey wants nothing to do with marriage, unless it’s on her own terms. Reid sees marriage as a way of ensuring Audrey’s welfare while getting her out of his hair.

The Highland Guardian is a true gem when it comes to compelling, dynamic characters. Reid’s sense of duty and responsibility is ingrained into everything he does, despite his often brusque manner. Meanwhile, Audrey is the star of the show, possessing a hidden intelligence and finding strength in the face of uncertainty and danger.

Though Reid and Audrey aren’t quite enemies, there is a crackling tension between the two. Audrey isn’t used to having her life upended by some bossy Highlander, however handsome he may be. And as a captain, Reid’s direction isn’t often questioned. He sets upon finding suitors for Audrey, insisting on taking her to various events and balls, despite Audrey’s hatred of being put on display. She’s also a dreadfully terrible dancer.

When Wagner Tupps stakes a claim for Audrey’s hand in marriage, Reid senses that something isn’t quite right. He refuses, igniting Wagner’s thirst for revenge on Reid, Audrey and the reputation of her late father.

Jarecki takes on a heavy responsibility in capturing the turmoil the Jacobites faced by setting The Highland Guardian in the 18th century, but she does an extraordinary job. The book’s sense of place is easily its own character, and the era’s cultural upheaval adds an additional element of foreboding to Reid and Audrey’s romance.

With clever, enchanting writing, elements of life-or-death danger and a romance that takes both Reid and Audrey completely by surprise, The Highland Guardian is an historical romance so on point it’ll leave readers awestruck.

Three Weeks with a Princess is an adorable and fun return to Vanessa Kelly’s Improper Princesses historical romance series. When an illegitimate duke’s daughter grows up as the childhood friend to a rather respectable, duty-bound boy, things can only get more scandalous from there. Packed with humor and a well-balanced cast of characters, this is a lovely addition to a series that just keeps getting better.

Lia Kincaid is no stranger to gossip. Not only is she an illegitimate child, but the woman who raised her—her grandmother—was a notorious mistress. The fact that her actress mother had an affair with a duke dashes any hopes Lia ever had of being respectable. At a young age, she finds a friend in Jack Easton, a man destined for the title of marquess. While they may be friends, Lia knows nothing can come of her crush on Jack. Because of her background, she’s destined to become a rich man’s mistress.

Jack is protective and loyal to Lia, and watching him take care of her as much as propriety allows—and then some—is enough to make any reader swoon. He knows he must revive his crumbling estate by making a sensible (and wealthy) marriage match. But even though he has a lot on his plate, Jack can’t resist Lia’s plea for help. She trusts him, and he’s her only hope when it comes to meeting a titled man in need of a mistress. What Jack doesn’t count on are the torturous, detailed questions Lia asks about how to seduce such a man.

Fans of a friends-to-lovers romance will find Three Weeks with a Princess to be utterly charming. There are uptight relatives, bawdy bits of family history and tender moments between Lia and Jack. But deeper than that, this is a romance about two people who want to veer from the course set out for them. Lia wants to eschew the infamous Kincaid name and does not want to be a kept woman like her mother and grandmother before her. Meanwhile, Jack lacks the desire to be a marquess and sees his title as more of a burden than any sort of honor.

Kelly’s pacing is brilliant, and there are snappy bits of dialogue and sticky situations galore as Jack dashes through London after Lia, clearly distressed by the idea of helping her become some man’s mistress. The pair complement each other so well: Jack with his endearing practicality and care, and Lia with her brash self-confidence. Jack truly is a knight in shining armor when it comes to her—the way they feel for each other is obvious to everyone but them.

It’s a “Just kiss already!” type of book.