I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FINAL DECISION: The emotional depth, beautiful prose, masterful character development, and perfect balance of angst and humor make this one of my favorite books of the year. Long never disappoints. This is a second chance story of an estranged couple finding their way back to one another.

THE STORY: Colonel Magnus Brightwall, an orphan who rose to become a war hero, arranges a marriage with Alexandra Bellamy by offering to save her family’s fortunes. A misunderstanding on their wedding night drives them apart, sending Magnus to Spain for five years. Upon his return to England, scandal forces them to share quarters at the Grand Palace on the Thames while seeking a courtesy title from the king. Though Magnus plans to exile Alexandra to his American estate afterward, their forced proximity begins to change both their hearts and their futures.

OPINION: I loved this book. There is some angst, but this book, as so many of Long’s books are — is a meditation on love, giving and sacrifice.

I loved Magnus. He appears at first the stern war hero, but we quickly discover his soft, gooey heart beneath the stern exterior. His journey from an unwanted orphan to respected colonel shapes him deeply, but Long reveals his vulnerable heart with expert care. Every scene peels back another layer of this complex man who yearns for love but fears it simultaneously.

Alexandra is his perfect match—strong, intelligent, and willing to face their shared past honestly. What I particularly appreciated was how the story avoided unnecessary drama. Magnus and Alexandra made mistakes in their past, and the story doesn’t shy away from showing how they each contributed to their failed marriage. Yet perhaps only now, with years of growth between them, can they truly see and understand each other.

The story’s strength lies in its intimate focus. Long doesn’t waste time on unnecessary plot devices, instead crafting a beautifully claustrophobic narrative in which Magnus and Alexandra spend time together, learning about each other through shared meals, conversations, and adventures at the Palace. Their gradual rediscovery of each other through these quiet moments and delightful escapades feels genuine and weighty.

The emotional intimacy between them is breathtaking—Long writes the scenes where they are together with such beauty and raw emotion.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book has some great humor — donkey races and ghosts.

CONNECTED BOOKS: THE BEAST TAKES A BRIDE is the 8th book in the Palace of Rogues series. While it stands alone perfectly, familiarity with previous books enhances appreciation of the boarding house setting and its delightfully eccentric residents.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley in order to assist in writing this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FINAL DECISION: My favorite book of the series! This is an amazing book that leverages the relationships the series has already developed into a wonderful story of two people who meet by chance, pretend to be married, learn about one another, and fall in love.

THE STORY: On a dark and stormy night, Lorcan St. Leger walks through the London dock areas as a man who has accomplished so much. He managed to raise himself from the slums of St. Giles to become a privateer for the Crown (with some questionable choices along the way), and things seem to be going well. Until he spies a woman climbing out of a window and dangling in the air. That is how St. Leger meets Lady Daphne Worth. Daphne is as desperate as St. Leger is self-satisfied. Forced to take employment due to her family’s reversal of fortune, Daphne had to save herself from assault. When a major storm forces Daphne and St. Leger to take refuge at Grand Palace on the Thames, the two masquerade as a married couple to get a room. It turns out the owners of the Grand Palace are not strangers to either Daphne or St. Leger, which makes their fake marriage even more complicated.

OPINION: I loved this book. It has some great tropes, including forced proximity. So much of the story takes place within the rooms that Daphne and Lorcan rent at the Grand Palace. I’m a sucker for two characters who can talk their way through the book. But don’t be fooled, this book is hot. Nothing is better than sexy talk that just explodes on the page by the end of the slow burn.

I liked these characters. Both Daphne and Lorcan have depth and are just decent people. The story avoids all the cliches and easy answers that I expected in the story. Relationships are messy and complicated, and this book doesn’t shy away from that messiness, whether it be romance, family, or friendships.

Daphne is a woman who has taken on so much burden of caring for her family. No one has taken care of her, and Lorcan, who could have been only concerned with himself, always has a community behind him, whether it be the slums of St. Giles or his crew, always looks out for others even while he tells himself another story of his life. Her strength allowed me to believe the circumstances that surround this book. Daphne is not sheltered even though she has pockets of innocence and naivety. Lorcan is a man who needs to care for others, and his encounter with Daphne gives him something to care about even while he fights those instincts. The decency of these characters and the avoidance of the obvious romantic situations kept me engaged in the book. I was rooting for these two on every page of the book.

While the story takes place primarily within the walls of the Grand Palace, the vibrant community that has been built throughout the series blossoms in this book. The arrival of Daphne and Lorcan causes (or exposes) problems in the household. This book felt so vibrant with all the relationships shifting and being renewed.

I think this is the best book in the series, but it relies upon all the previous books to have so much depth. There is one night in the book that might be the funniest sequence I’ve read in one of Long’s books. It felt like an old sitcom or a 1940s movie comedy. I don’t want to give anything away because it is structured so well, but I loved the entire evening, which was funny but also served as an important catalyst in the book.

We get to see a lot of the people in the Grand Palace, which I really enjoyed because I do love the characters, and I like to see how the Grand Palace is changing and how these people are growing together.

I can’t say enough about this book, and it is definitely my favorite book of the year so far. My last note is that his book has a perfect epilogue that left me feeling so happy about the book.

WORTH MENTIONING: Who knew that spillikins could be so sexy?

CONNECTED BOOKS: HOW TO TAME A WILD ROGUE is the sixth book in the Palace of Rogues series. The romance here is self-contained and thus can be read as a standalone; however, the other characters matter in this book, and a richer experience awaits those who read the series in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 enthusiastic stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

FINAL DECISION: This book suffers from a delayed meeting between the hero and the heroine. There just isn’t enough time for them to meet, fall in love, and resolve both the emotional and plot issues in this book. At the same time, Long, as always, writes so beautifully and lyrically about love and pain. There are passages that just enthralled me.

THE STORY: Christian Hawkes, an English spy, newly freed from a French prison, agrees to find the Earl of Brundage’s fiancee, who has disappeared. Lady Aurelie Capet has fled France and comes to the Grand Palace on the Thames, traveling under a false name and hiding from her fiance. Hawkes soon arrives at the Grand Palace as well. The two are keeping secrets from one another and falling for one another.

OPINION: Mixed feelings about this one. Once the hero and heroine meet, the book has such beauty in it. But the book doesn’t take the time to develop the relationship between these two characters. They meet, and love is quick and fast between them. Most of the book is unwinding the plot with the villain of the novel.

So I loved Hawke and Aurelie; the story was beautiful and painful when they were on the page together. Both have suffered incredible betrayals, which threaten their ability of them to trust other people. Yet, from the start, something between the two is powerful and draws them together.

I wanted to like this book more than I did because I adored the characters. Hawke emerged from being imprisoned during the war, having lost almost everything. What could have made him hard and cruel instead has made him empathetic and understanding. And he is almost immediately willing to give up his own desires to protect Aurelie.

Aurelie could have been destroyed by what happened to her, but instead, she has the inner strength and determination to take control of her own life. One thing I really loved in this book is how these two wounded people recognize both the pain in the other and also the strength and ability to overcome the deep wounding that both experienced.

Hawke is one of my favorite heroes. He is immediately determined to do what is right once he realizes that things are not what was represented to him.

The book also has a good dose of characters we already know from the series, so fans will be pleased to see beloved characters again.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book discusses and has rape as a significant plot point, although it occurs off-page before the book begins.

CONNECTED BOOKS: YOU WERE MADE TO BE MINE is the fifth book in the Palace of Rogues series. The romance here is self-contained; thus, the book can be read as a standalone. Characters from the other books do make significant appearances, however, so reading in order provides more depth to the story.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

FINAL DECISION: Oh, I loved this one! Emotional with lots of longing and (not too dark) angst. This combined with the beautiful lyricism of Long’s writing makes this an example of the reason I’m a big fan of Julie Anne Long’s books.

THE STORY: Fleeing to the Palace on the Thames, Mariana Wylde is considered a harlot as an opera singer who had a duel fought by two men for her favor. Almost penniless and desperate to hide from gossip and those who want her to pay for her part in the duel. The proprietresses of the Palace see an opportunity to promote the Palace and also to help Mariana’s reputation. At the Palace is also General James Duncan Blackmore, the Duke of Valkirk, honorable and deeply respected. A self-made man who gained his own title, Valkirk initially scorns the scandalous opera singer but finds himself drawn to a woman he finds to be intelligent and deeply vulnerable.

OPINION: In the story of Mariana and James, the series gets a fantastic emotional story. What is not to love about the self-made Duke who always does what is right and proper and the woman who has found herself on the seedy side of society’s judgment. The slow entanglement of these two was deeply satisfying.

The Duke is almost twenty years older than Mariana and is a widower with a son who is already an adult. He has structured his life as being proper and above reproach. Now he has reached a midlife crisis of a sort and is having trouble writing his memoirs. His meeting of Mariana changes his life. He finds a new purpose and a threat to his perfectly organized life. The gentle way in which Long demonstrates how James changes throughout the story is what makes her such a great writer.

Mariana’s past is something that she doesn’t apologize for. She recognizes her mistakes but doesn’t enter into society’s condemnation of herself — and neither do the owners of the Palace. Her story is one of self-acceptance and accepting her mistakes.

One thing I really enjoy about this book is that the story is concentrated between these two characters. By centering both of these characters in the Palace, there is an ability for them to spend time together and grapple with their relationship. This is a great device that allows Long to avoid many of the expected interactions between a stuffy proper Duke and the opera singer. The domestic setting allows the book to avoid the setups for Mariana and James to meet and instead allows the story to focus intently on their relationship.

I loved this book because of the emotional resonance of the characters and how deeply invested I became in their relationship.

WORTH MENTIONING: One thing I love about this series is following the development of the Palace itself. I’m rooting for it to succeed as the Palace itself is a central character in this series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: AFTER DARK WITH THE DUKE is the fourth book in the Palace of Rogues series. This book can be read as a standalone although there are characters that appear in other books.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FINAL DECISION: A solid entry in the series that was slow to develop, but ended in a satisfying fashion. The book is my least favorite in the series as I didn’t find enough emotional conflict in the story, but even an average Long book is better than most books I read.

THE STORY: Hugh Cassidy is an American who has traveled to London searching for a missing woman. Instead, he finds Lillias Vaughn, a lady who is a bit out of the ordinary and strains against acceptable lady behavior. The two meet at the Grand Palace on the Thames where the boardinghouse guests must adhere to rules which require them to interact with one another. Hugh and Lillias, however, have difficulties with the “civilly” part of the rules. Instead, they needle one another as each has interests elsewhere, and yet the two end up in a compromising situation necessitating a hasty engagement. But there is hope that the engagement could be unraveled with a little effort from both of them.

OPINION: I struggled through the first third of this book. There was a lot of talking but not much conflict that felt interesting. Once the forced engagement occurred, the pace of the book picked up and I felt that the relationship between Lillias and Hugh became emotional and engaging. I was willing to give the story time to develop, but less dedicated readers might have given up by then. I’m not sure why that first portion of the book was so unengaging, but I think it might be because so much time is given to explaining Lillias’s unconventional outlook on life. The real conflicts in the story (her other connection) are kept as a surprise and the reader doesn’t really get a good sense of Lillias’s interior emotional life.

At the same time, once the surprise reveal occurs, the emotional depth between these two main characters had resonance. This was a book where I could see the first third of the book excised and then expanded in the last portion. I loved Lillias’s parents who become real characters by the end.

Why did I rate this so highly when the first part was disappointing? Because if that portion did not exist, the story would have been fulfilling just based on the last two-thirds. I finished the book satisfied with these characters’ story even if it took a while to get to the good part.

WORTH MENTIONING: Readers of Long’s Pennyroyal Green series will be happy to know that this series takes place in the same universe. Watch for the reference!

CONNECTED BOOKS: I’M ONLY WICKED WITH YOU is the third book in the Palace of Rogues series. This book can be read as stand-alone although the supporting characters appear in other books in the series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.