Sophie Reads YA: Sky Purington

ARC Review: Second Thoughts about the Heir (Second Time Brides #3) by Sky Purington

12:00

Second Thoughts about the Heir
Series: Second Time Brides #3
Author: Sky Purington
Published November 30th 2023 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
Blackmail turns to scandalous desire in this enemies-to-lovers romance.

Done mourning a husband who was three times her age, Lady Abigail Somerset is ready for adventure. She begins by pretending to be a commoner at a tavern. More daring still, when she bumps into a handsome American who appears equally as common, she gives him the impression that she is a lady of the night. Naturally, the moment she learns he is en route to the same Scottish castle as she, she sets the record straight and makes a hasty departure.

Determined to open unattainable doors to his businesses, Laurence Wright, heir to the Wright fortune, is determined to marry into the English peerage. Little does he know the beautiful commoner he runs into at a bar is an aristocrat in disguise. As ruthless in love as he is in business, he decides he will make Abigail his, no matter what. Even if it means threatening to share her naughty tavern persona and ruining her good name.

More than that, he’ll succeed even if making her his wife endangers the heart he’d had no idea existed.
Goodreads

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

Lady Abigail Somerset is finally out of mourning, but that doesn't mean she's ready to remarry, just for an adventure. Heading to her sister's estate in Scotland, she pretends to be a commoner, and meets a handsome American in a tavern, and flirts like she has never before. However, he is heading to the same place as her, and she flees quickly. Thankfully, Laurence, the heir to the Wright fortune, is willing to play along, but he wants Abby more than he has ever wanted a woman. In Britain to find an aristocratic wife, and to further his business, he's find that woman in Abby, but how can he, and the rest of her family, convince her that her late husband can't control her any more, and she's allowed to be happy?

I really enjoyed this book. In the previous one, we saw Abby's elderly husband die, and her begin her mourning period. Now out of it, she still bears the mental scars of her marriage, and it's going to take a lot of work to break down the walls she built up. Never allowed to dance or flirt with anyone other than her husband, and being a nursemaid more than anything, had left her unable to think that Laurence was anything other than a flirt and scoundrel. I loved how he pushed her out of her comfort zone, knowing she needed adventure, but would need a push to get there. The rest of her family loved her greatly, but also knew that if they left her to her own devices, she would remain a widow for life, and never find love or happiness. Laurence and Abby's banter and chemistry was fantastic, and their relationship just right for their characters.

Dates Read:
April 25-28, 2024

Rating
3 Stars

3 Stars

ARC Review: The Secondhand Earl (Second Time Brides #2) by Sky Purington

11:00

The Secondhand Earl
Series: Second Time Brides #2
Author: Sky Purington
Published September 26th 2023 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
What happens when a lady loses her heart to a tortured earl with a damning secret?

Lady Grace Howard and her ailing son have no choice but to move in with her sister Maude and her husband. Although welcome, she is too prideful to remain with them overly long. So when she crosses paths with a cynical war-wounded earl who needs her dowry but loathes the idea of falling in love again as much as she, Grace agrees to a marriage of convenience. Little does she know there is more to the bargain. Something she would not have liked one bit.

While Charles, Lord of Newcastle, needs Grace’s dowry, the business her brother-by-marriage brings to his port is the driving force behind marrying her. It’s something she must not know about, lest her pride land her in the arms of the wrong suitor. Despite preferring honesty, he agrees without understanding how much hiding the truth might cost him. But then, he could not anticipate how fond of each other they would become. How much they would help heal one another’s hearts. Moreover, he could have never foreseen passion—let alone love—igniting between them. Now his secret will likely become a damning truth.

Will Charles and Grace be able to weather the storm when it comes? Or is their marriage doomed to be as superficial as initially intended?
Goodreads

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

After her beloved husband died, leaving her and his ill son with gambling debts, Lady Grace Howard's only hope is to travel to her sister's estate in Scotland, and try and find something new. Grace is too proud to rely on charity for too long, but she will not marry unless she can find a husband who will care for her son as much as she does. So when the scarred Earl of Newcastle, who lost his wife and child before heading off to war, arrives to visit his old friends, knowing that he needs investment, and better yet, a wife, to save his estate, it's as if fate has something in store for Grace. Charles is kind, and though he has let his estate go to ruin, he cares for his people, and that's what she needs. However, will she be able to get over the baggage her late husband left her with to allow herself the chance to find love again?

I liked this book so much more than the previous one. The couple had a real connection, and both helped each other recover from their pasts in a safe and sensible way. It wasn't an instalove, but an attraction that formed into a true friendship and real love and affection for each other. Grace had to come to terms with her love for her late husband, while also hating that he gambled away their money, and risked their futures. Her love for Alex was plain for everyone to see, and Charles embodied the perfect stepfather figure in his life. This was a fantastic regency romance.

Dates Read:
April 22-23, 2024

Rating
3 Stars

3 Stars

ARC Review: Never Second Guess a Lord (Second Time Brides #1) by Sky Purington

10:00

Never Second Guess a Lord
Series: Second Time Brides #1
Author: Sky Purington
Published July 25th 2023 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
She tried to ruin his good name, and he never forgot it. What could possibly go wrong?

Finally free of a cruel and loveless marriage, wealthy widower Lady Prudence Barrington is determined to make her own way without remarrying. What she does not expect upon arriving at her sister’s castle in Scotland is crossing paths with a duke whose name she once slandered for his flirtatious ways. Or that her sister intends to make a match of them.

When Jacob, the Duke of Argyll, learns coldhearted Lady Barrington will be visiting MacLauchlin Castle, he is eager to confront her and perhaps make amends. Forgive the rumors she once spread about him. Help her find her way free of whom she became when married to her late husband, then move on. Or so he thinks until he discovers an interesting, passionate woman underneath her uppity façade.

Friendship eventually turns to scandalous desire, but nothing is as easy as it seems. Not when Prudence refuses marriage but succumbs to love for the first time. A love that is soon threatened when Jacob keeps something from her that could very well end all they find together.
Goodreads

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

As she arrives at her sister's estate, the widowed Lady Prudence Barrington knows she will do anything to avoid remarrying and finding herself controlled again. Living on a remote Scottish estate with only her sister and brother-in-law will be a dream, but when Jacob, the Duke of Argyll, arrives at MacLauchlin Castle, it's more of a nightmare. Jacob's reputation was destroyed when Prudence spread rumours about his philandering ways, and he wants to know why. He can see that the Prudence the ton know is not her true self, but no one has been able to break through that wall she put up to protect herself. What Jacob never expects is that he is drawn to her for more than just friendship, but would she ever put herself through marrying again?

I hated this book to begin with. Prudence was such a harsh character, who had set out to hurt Jacob in the past, and it took some time for me to overcome that, and start to like her at least a little. Jacob, on the other hand, was a much better character. He had loved his late wife, and didn't deserve the hatred he got for the rumours Prudence had spread. Even so, he saw the good in her, and wanted to help her. For the first three quarters of the book, I was forcing myself through it, because I knew I had the other 2 books in the series to read and really wanted to clear my NG backlog, however, the last quarter redeemed it all, and made it worth it. Hopefully the other books are much better, otherwise I'll be in for some bad reads in my near future.

Dates Read:
April 21, 2024

Rating
3 Stars