Samara Parish

The Duke’s Got Mail by Samara Parish
England’s Sweethearts series #2. Historical romance.
Progress and invention. Those are the goals of Peter Montgomery, the Duke of Strafford. That and earning enough money to see his sisters taken care of comfortably. After years of following patents, he finds the revolutionary invention for the publishing industry. An automated typesetter. He puts the invention into production and sells it to almost every printing establishment in the country. show more
Unfortunately it puts a lot of people out of work.
Eleanor Wright has lost her job. She was the best compositor in London, in demand working long hours and making a wonderful wage. She’s doesn’t have time to remaster a skill and keep her home or lifestyle. How can the Duke have been so thoughtless?
On opposite sides of the new modern machine, Peter and Eleanor have something else in common. They have become anonymous pen pals and become rather fond of the other. Neither knows who the other is until a proposal to meet is discussed. A book and a flower will identify her at the busy restaurant.
You know how that will go.

A historical twist on You’ve Got Mail. A bookshop, an invention, or AI and artists, progress can be difficult. Peter and Eleanor first connect in writing with views in common and the sparks grow stronger when they unknowingly meet. Now he needs to convince her change is inevitable and that she is still relevant, strong, and lovable.

You want them to meet and find each other but also know it’s going to be rough.
Worth the wait and anticipation. Loved the two together. The gin scene was humanizing and funny and sweet at the same time.
Captivating characters, banter and family dynamics.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Forever. show less

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The stranger leaned against the shack walls, and a blond lock of hair fell over his forehead. Deep blue eyes, the color of a twilight sky, stared into hers. He was not the sort of man she was acquainted with. He wasn't pretty or refined; he was granite and rock.

How to Survive a Scandal starts us off with a scandal, Lady Amelia Crofton is found in show more dishabille, alone in a cabin with Mr. Benedict Asterly by her father, fiance, and Lord Karstark. Benedict had found Amelia unconscious in a broken wheeled carriage on the road during a snow storm, so he brought her to a cabin and was working to warm her up. Lord Karstark is a gossipy old thing and Amelia's fiance since the age of five, the Duke of Wildeforde, hates scandal and now wants nothing to do with Amelia or the scandal. Benedict is a footman's son (he's also the grandson of the Marquess of Harrington but Amelia doesn't know that right away) but to save Amelia's reputation he offers for her and we have our forced marriage of convenience.

Perhaps she wasn't so frigid and dispassionate. Perhaps it was a mask to hide her fragility. He'd been there. He understood.

I enjoyed how this started right away with the scandal and throwing our two leads together right away; the reader learns the characters as they learn each other. Amelia had the traits and personality of what one might think of an aristocratic woman of the time, she's snobby and worried about society. I didn't mind this at first, as I love to go on growth journeys with characters but, except for the very very end, Amelia doesn't lose her need for society's validation. Benedict does more of the changing and he grows to accept his aristocratic side and see how some benefits can come from it. He is an engineer and a partner in a firm that builds steam engines and we get some story of how he's working to close a deal with Americans to build engines and how that will supply the town with jobs. This is during the time of the Peterloo Massacre and while I liked how the author showed the class clashing and upheaval that was starting to manifest, I thought Benedict did more changing than Amelia and that took away some feelings of coming together cohesiveness in their relationship.

He wasn't the fine and graceful gentleman his mother had wanted, or that Amelia was used to, but that was fine. She liked him just the way he was.
And that unexpected acceptance had begun to heal wounds he hadn't cared to admit he had.

Since the marriage of convenience starts early, I was looking for some slow burn tension and while they had some moments, I can't say I really felt the emotion between the two. Their personalities never fully gelled for me and even though there is an orgasm scene for Amelia, this is a bedroom door shut romance. I usually like at least a peak in and without their personalities giving me an emotional connection, Amelia and Benedict never really came together for me.

The end wraps-up with a surprise inheritance that was a little disappointing to me, it took away more opportunity for Amelia to show some growth and the story-thread about the Americans and steam engines being hastily dealt with to the side. There are some secondary characters that drew my interest (the foreman Oliver should definitely get his own story) and I'm sure everyone is going to want to know what is going on between the Duke of Wildeforde and Benedict's partner in the firm Fiona. This had some compelling elements but unfortunately, felt pretty bloodless to me. show less

While the Duke was Sleeping by Samara Parish
England’s Sweethearts series #1. Historical romance.
Adelaide Rosebourne agrees to impersonate Lady Cordelia after she runs out on her wedding and blames it on Adelaide. They want to travel to the continent but woman aren’t welcome on any of the ships at port, Adelaide finds a small town on the map where she thinks they should be able to lie low. But Cordelia doesn’t truly understand the staying hidden concept and signs the rental agreement show more with her real name. Not more than three days later, Adelaide returns to the cottage with supplies to find a Duke knocked out on the floor and Cordelia upset that he’s decided they will be married and he’s already sent the announcements. The Duke’s not dead but he’s not waking up either. And here comes the family. Adelaide takes on the role again of the betrothed trying to find a way out for them. Finding Rhett Montgomery is part of the family and already being attracted to him makes the whole deception that much harder.

Oh, getting flung into a dirty Thames sounds so nasty. I’m so grateful that I live when and where the rivers are a resource and mostly cleaned up.
The take-off’s from the movie were fun to track and see what was similar and how it played out. The science to try to wake up the Duke, or just keep him alive was interesting and smart and I understand Adelaide having that knowledge but had to wonder how Frank knew some of it.
Captivating and delightful.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. I also purchased an audiobook copy. show less

Half way through the book, I could no longer tolerate Lady Amelia's insufferable personality and behavior. Alongside the disastrous lead, the characters and romance lacked that oomph, the story dragged and became too tedious to read. Perhaps it was just me, but it seemed like a whole lot of nothing was happening. There was barely a plot to hold my interest. All in all, if I could go back in time and unread this regency romance, I would.