Sophie Reads YA: November 2020

November summary

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What I've read this month:

First Comes Marriage
Series: Huxtable Quintet #1
Author: Mary Balogh
March 1st 2010 by Piatkus Books
Read: October 31-November 1 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Then Comes Seduction
Series: Huxtable Quintet #2
Author: Mary Balogh
May 6th 2010 by Piatkus
Read: November 1-3 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

At Last Comes Love
Series: Huxtable Quintet #3
Author: Mary Balogh
June 3rd 2010 by Piatkus
Read: November 4-8 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Kingdom of the Wicked
Series: Kingdom of the Wicked #1
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
October 27th 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton (ARC)
Read: November 9-11 2020
My Rating: 5 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Cold-Hearted Rake
Series: The Ravenels #1
Author: Lisa Kleypas
June 24th 2015 by Piatkus
Read: November 12-14 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Marrying Winterborne
Series: The Ravenels #2
Author: Lisa Kleypas
May 31st 2016 by Piatkus
Read: November 14-15 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Love Is a Rogue
Series: Wallflowers vs. Rogues #1
Author: Lenora Bell
December 10th 2020 by Piatkus (eARC)
Read: November 11-16 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Devil in Spring
Series: The Ravenels #3
Author: Lisa Kleypas
February 21st 2017 by Piatkus
Read: November 16-17 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Hello Stranger
Series: The Ravenels #4
Author: Lisa Kleypas
February 27th 2018 by Piatkus Books
Read: November 17-19 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Devil's Daughter
Series: The Ravenels #5
Author: Lisa Kleypas
February 19th 2019 by Piatkus
Read: November 19-21 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

When a Duchess Says I Do
Series: Rogues to Riches #2
Author: Grace Burrowes
April 30th 2019 by Piatkus
Read: November 21-22 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

The Lord’s Desperate Pledge
Series: The Dukes' Pact #3
Author: Kate Archer
December 8th 2020 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc. (eARC)
Read: November 22-23 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Always the Matchmaker
Series: Never the Bride #8
Author: Emily E.K. Murdoch
November 26th 2020 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc. (eARC)
Read: November 24-26 2020
My Rating: 3 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Forever and a Duke
Series: Rogues to Riches #3
Author: Grace Burrowes
November 26th 2019 by Piatkus
Read: November 26-28 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Her Wicked Marquess
Series: Sinful Wallflowers #2
Author: Stacy Reid
December 29th 2020 by Entangled: Amara (eARC)
Read: November 28-29 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Challenges Update:
2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge: (30 total)
2020 New Release Challenge: 5 (100 total)
2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge: 10 (98 total)

Summary:

I've enjoyed the books I've read this month, and discovered some new favourite authors of mine. I can't wait to see just how many I'll have read by the end of the year!

How have you done this month? Let me know below.

2020 New Release challenge

ARC Review: Always the Best Friend (Never the Bride #4) by Emily E.K. Murdoch

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Always the Best Friend
Series: Never the Bride #4
Author: Emily E.K. Murdoch
Published July 7th 2020 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
Always the best friend and never the bride—it was a trap she never saw coming...

Lady Harriet Stanhope grew up with her twin brother and his friends, never questioning their laughter or their games—but now she's a young lady, she's desperate for one friend in particular to see her in a different light.

But after twenty years of knowing each other, she's just the best friend, not a serious contender for the Duke of Devonshire's heart.

Montague Cavendish knows what is due to him and his family name, and he is not fool enough to wish for a love match. He'll find a pretty young thing with plenty of money, and that will be that.

Until Harriet—Harriet—breaks into his rooms to seduce him. He should resist her; he knows he should. But Montague had never imagined such perfection lay beneath the gown of his best friend.

He's determined to resist. She's sure that he will fall in love with her after one night of passion.

Mistakes will be made, and confusion abound as friendship is put to the ultimate test.

Is it possible for two people raised as siblings to become lovers—and if it all goes wrong, what will be left of their friendship?
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Harry, or Lady Harriet Stanhope to give her full title, has been best friends with Montague Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire for as long as she can remember, and in love with him for just as long. He has never seen her as anything but 'Harry', and now that Monty needs to marry, and quickly, Harry is slowly losing her chance to win him. Because of a weird addition in his grandfather's will, Monty needs to marry by the time he turns 26, or lose the title and everything that comes with it, to a male cousin. His problem - he has no male cousins, and the title will become defunct. Whenever he spends time with the society ladies, he is bored and wishes they were more like Harry, who he can talk to about anything, and does. He's never seen her as a choice though, and honestly, forgot she was female until others started paying her attention. Harry decides to take matters into her own hands and climbs in Monty's bedroom to seduce him, and it actually works. He seems to be falling for her, and the night they spend together was wonderful, but, of course, a spanner is thrown in the works, words said that shouldn't have been, and Monty needs to grovel on his hands and knees to win Harry back. Will he manage it?

Harry and Monty's friendship and later romance was lovely to read about. I read this book in a few hours one morning, and just needed to read more and more without putting it down. Because of how close they had always been, the intimacy between them was immense and the way it developed into romantic love was perfect for them. At first, the seduction scene I thought might've been a dreamscape, but loved how it was done, and how the aftermath was dealt with. The other cast of characters, from Harry's twin brother Josiah, his wife Honora, and Monty's cousin Letitia were wonderful additions to the book, and I'm looking forward to reading Letitia's story in the next book, Always the Wallflower.

Dates Read:
July 23, 2020

Rating
3 Stars

November

Stacking the Shelves: November 28th 2020

10:00

2020 Beat the Backlist challenge

Review: Scandal Takes the Stage (The Wicked Quills of London #2) by Eva Leigh

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Scandal Takes the Stage
Series: The Wicked Quills of London #2
Author: Eva Leigh
Published October 27th 2015 by Avon

Goodreads Synopsis
Eva Leigh’s smart and sexy Wicked Quills of London series continues, with a playwright and a Viscount . . . together they may create a scandal worthy of the stage, but can their love last after the final curtain falls?

Successful playwright Maggie Delamere has no interest in the flirtations of noblemen like Cameron, Viscount Marwood. She once paid dearly for a moment of weakness . . . and vows to rebuff the wildly persistent—and irritatingly handsome—scoundrel at every turn. But when pressure to deliver a new play hampers her creativity, an invitation to use his country estate as a writer’s retreat is too tempting to resist...

For years, Cam has admired Maggie’s brilliant work, and he can’t pass up the opportunity to discover if the beautiful, mysterious playwright is as passionate and clever as the words that flow from her quill. He’s never offered a lady his bed without being in it, but if it means loosening Maggie’s pen—and her inhibitions—he’ll do exactly that.

But soon Cam’s plans for seduction become a fight for Maggie’s heart. He’s more than the scandalous, carefree rake society believes him to be . . . and she’s the only woman who has ever noticed.
Goodreads

Review
In Scandal Takes the Stage, notorious rake, Cameron Chalton, Viscount Marwood, shows his softer, more caring side, when it comes to the theatre. Since a child, he's always loved going to see plays performed, of any kind, and none more so than those put on at the Imperial, written by the mysterious Mrs Delamere. Maggie has suffered a lot in her life, but through her writing and her shows, she's managed to find a place in the world where she is comfortable. She still is wary around nobles, even considering her best friend, Eleanor, is the new Countess of Ashford, but the theatre set are her family. When Cam appears at the Imperial again and again, Maggie is apprehensive about his intentions, but her writer's block over the highly anticipated sequel of her biggest hit has pushed her to spend more time with him, especially when he offers her his country estate as a writer's retreat. When the attraction soon develops into love with Cam and Maggie be able to push the boundaries of society and marry, like the Ashford's have, or will their differing social status be too much to overcome?

To say this book was fabulous would be an understatement. As soon as I finished Forever Your Earl, I started this one, because Maggie and Cam had so intrigued me in that book, I needed to see their love story for myself! Both of them were perfect for their roles and the time period. Cam has always felt different to the rest of his very serious family, and never expected to marry, at least not marry well like his parents had, and fall in love with his wife. His younger brother was married, and had a son, so there was an heir, so no rush. Meeting Maggie though, turned his head to be more serious himself, stop all the carousing and womanising, and settle himself to better pursuits. Becoming a patron is one step on the right track, but when he is with Maggie, especially alone, the true Marwood appears, and we understand him so much more. Just like with Cam, when Maggie's history comes out, and we see her more vulnerable side, we definitely understand that these two were made for each other, and can bolster the other, and help them to be their very best self. They were perfect together, and their love story is one of the best I've read recently. I can't wait for book 3!

Dates Read:

July 26-28, 2020

Rating
4 Stars

#RockMyTBR 2017 Challenge