Barbara Russell

Miracles and contrivances!

All Madeline Debenham dreamed of and worked towards was being accepted by the Royal Women’s Academy of the Arts. To be able to paint! An eminent painter Mrs Blanchard was willing to look at her work!
All Hector Wentworth (brother to the Duke of Blackburn), wanted was to become a member of the Royal Botanic Society and join a scientific expedition to South America.
When Maddie’s dream is shattered through an injury caused by Hector she’s left weak and hardly able to hold a brush. That’s a tall tale indeed. Plausible in a strangely earnest way.
By this time I was ropable. Maddie’s dream is dead in the water but she bravely deigns to forgive Hector and send him off to follow his dream! What!! Of course he fails to return. Meanwhile tragedy strikes the Wentworth family and a new heir is waiting in the wings.
Many years later on the way back from a trip to the Bahamas, Maddie sights a raft and sounds the alarm
That’s right, Hector is the raft’s occupant!
What are the odds? Well the situation is being revealed from the pen of the author so all bets are off!
However this is a stretch too far for me.
What with Hector being now shunned by society, and Maddie helping to try to reclaim Hector’s rightful place and inheritance, I found it way too contrived.
There’s so much going on I was dizzy.
And let’s not even talk about Maddie’s mother!!
Still, contrivances aside, suspend all cynicism and this is a pleasing read to while away a couple of hours.

An Oliver-Herber ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (meer)

When I requested an ARC of Between the Dragon King and His Wrath, I expected a steamy Dracula origin story. It is that, but I had no idea I'd be so invested in the story. It’s a tale of healing and redemption, through love. The hero and the heroine have a shared history that tugs my heartstrings. The setting is incredibly vivid (narrow, twisting castle passages, a firefly-lit lake, trees with bones hanging from their branches), and the touches of dark magic give the story a folkloric feel (I love the Sisters!). Barbara Russell’s vampires feel at once familiar and unique—the stuff of whispered, old world superstition.

As the cursed Dracul, Wlad is Beast-like, but he's sweet and gentle with the traumatized Annika. The way Annika processes sexual assault feels true and is handled with care. There is only one moment, toward the end, that gives me pause (hence four stars instead of five). I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves retellings and romance!

Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ❤️… (meer)

Between the Dragon King and His Wrath is a standalone fantasy romance.
The story-line was captivating and well written with historical and paranormal romance elements.

The intriguing plot, strong lead characters along with the well-balanced romance, action and drama kept me engaged.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Thank-you to Barbara Russell, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#BetweentheDragonKingandHisWrath #NetGalley… (meer)

All Nathair ever wanted was to become a knight, but after doing poorly on his final exams and being accused of cheating, his only hope of redemption was dashed when he was assigned an impossible task. What's worse was that his father was dead, his sister crippled, and his family part of the Snake people, a race that faced constant discrimination. The only way to help them was to accept the quest, so he did. The quest? Enter enemy territory alone (apart from the useless automaton that monitored him and his mentor who trailed several miles behind) and singlehandedly rescue a princess. Needless to say, he gets into trouble almost immediately and the princess rescues herself and him which is only the beginning of the surprises he will encounter.

A Knight in Distress was a pleasant surprise. Not only did Princess Bryhannon rescue the knight, she understood her strengths and weaknesses and chose the battles she thought were worth fighting. In a society where women were not allowed to use magic (witches are evil while wizards are good) or weapons (although some men see the advantage of training their daughters in self-defense), several of the knight trainees were very open to the idea that the common beliefs were wrong. The villains were unexpected and had motivations that made sense. And the way the Round Table mythology was woven throughout the story was continuously surprising and wonderful.

The story wrapped up neatly - at least the main characters seemed to think so, which was odd for me since there were a lot of things left unfinished and unexplained. But it is only the first in the series, so it would be odder still for everything to be resolved. I am definitely curious to see where the story goes.

I received a free ARC from Booksprout and have reviewed it willingly.… (meer)