Intrigue at Court - Book Review

 Intrigue at Court

Author : Victoria Maze

Rating : 4/5

Coming at you with this review of a recent read that would be perfect for the holiday season. This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It is a nice and light, Christmassy read.

Brian is the Duke of Wentworth, and is under pressure by his parents to marry. They invite suitable women but none of them are able to captivate his heart.

Anna Pembrooke lives in Ramsgate and she has a crush on Brian. She has never met him and has only seen his pictures in the newspapers. He is a rake and Anna’s mother discoursages her daughter from fixating on him. She wants to marry for love by is under pressure to marry James, her childhood friend. Anna is invited by Amelia, her friend to stay with her in London for the season. She decides to go and think about her future.

A chance meeting between Anna and Brian kindles the flames of love. But the path of love is never smooth. It is fraught with troubles. Will their love be strong enough to overcome obstacles and make it work or will they bow down to pressure?

I liked the writing style and the attention to detail. For example, Anna's dresses were described in such detail that I could visualize them. There was a description of how a hairstyle was created.

There was a lot of poetry and quotes from other classical literature in the book that I really enjoyed.

What I did not like was that the author took a long time bringing Anna and Brian together. There were some errors like Anna does not know that Brian is the Duke of Wentworth even though she has read about him in the newspapers. Also, the name “Intrigue at Court” is misleading because there is nothing about the Court in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thankyou Booksirens.com for the ARC.

A Recipe For Love

Recipe For Love

Author - Anne Malcolm

Rating - ⭐ 1/5

The book started off strong but then went downhill. The first chapter had me completely engrossed and hooked with its brilliance. But as I continued reading, it all turned into a mess. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not one to be overly critical - but there were moments when I simply had to put down the book because what was written was too much for me to handle.

Despite its potential, the execution was abysmal. At first, it promised to be a perfect blend of grumpiness and sunshine, with elements like instant love and longing for one another.

The initial spark ignited by this story soon faded into disappointment as I witnessed Rowan's caveman-like behavior.

His constant brooding behavior coupled with controlling tendencies made him quite unlikable at times (not gonna lie). There were some cringe-worthy comments during intimate scenes between the two leads.

Nora went off on too many tangents and gave us countless useless inner monologues.

The story itself was moving at a slow pace, and this just made things worse. And, not to mention the fact that she had anxiety and was a hypochondriac. These were treated as quirks rather than real disorders that people struggle with.

Also, can we address how rushed the romance between these characters felt? One moment something happens and suddenly our leading man is declaring “ownership” over her without any substantial conversations besides discussing pastry preferences!

For me, the recipes at the end were the saving grace!