3.5 stars. I was going to do full review in the beginning, but I've changed my mind. It's mainly because many things have hindered my reading of this book and it took me a while to finish it. But then "Triumphant Love" was a pretty long book to begin with, and being the last book of Banished Saga, I was eagerly waiting for it until sh!t hit the fan in my personal life, as well as worldwide. Who the hell wants a pandemic tell me? I don't know how to explain my feelings as I read the book but it's been really odd with all that's been affecting my reading life lately. But it's bittersweet to say the least, saying 'goodbye' to a series I've been following since 2013.

If you are a fan of the Saga already, you'll be in for a treat, seeing all of your favorite characters coming together as they gather in Missoula where Gabriel lives. There's also some thrilling moments, suspenseful incidents that are both happy and sad. But everywhere, the tune was the same; it was time to say goodbye. One of the best moments of the story had to be the epilogue of the book. I don't wanna reveal exactly why but it left a big smile on my face. I was so happy for Sophronia and her gang, the girls (Clarissa, Florence, Zylphia, Parthena, Rowena), then felt utterly sad that this maybe the last time I'm going to read about them. It's been raining the whole morning today which kind of reflected my mood as I finished "Triumphant Love".

If I really have to mention it, the only thing that I kind of disliked was Eleanor's character. I didn't precisely hate her but she wasn't the most inspiring person either. I tried my best to sympathize with her due to her past but gosh, it was difficult since she was one of the major characters! I'm still not sure whether she was the correct choice for Jeremy and that kind of affected my enjoyment of the book.

It also occurred to me that another pandemic that happened in 1918, was mentioned in one of the previous installments, where I lost 2 of my favorite characters because of it. Which also almost broke me because I wasn't prepared for it at all. I'm trying hard not to find a connection between that and with our current situation but I can't help myself TBH. Was that a kind of foreshadowing? I don't know. I kept thinking of that the whole time I was reading this book, even if that pandemic isn't mentioned anywhere here. This last story takes place around 2 yrs. after the initial blow of it.

For any newbie to the series, please begin from the very first book that started it all, titled "Banished Love". All the books are very, very much interconnected and needed to be read in order to understand all that have been going on in a tale that spanned almost 20yrs (from 1899-1920).

I'd like to thank Ramona for this wonderful journey that she took us through for the past 7 yrs. It was wonderful and so worth it! I highly recommend this series. Also thanks for sending me a review copy. x

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I’m a big fan of Western Historical Romances and fell in love with Deborah Camp’s writing when I first read one of her books back in 2017. It was a sudden thing. I felt curious and wanted to give it a try. Needless to say, I haven’t looked back ever since. So when I heard that she’s writing a new western historical, of course I had to read it. Honestly, I’m glad that I did!

Ropin’ the Moon is a completely stand alone read so you can read it as such. The story is set a few years after the Civil War in a small town of Kansas called Far Creek. Far Creek wasn’t a bustling town by any stretch of the word but the people here were getting by somehow. They had almost all they needed, including a moderately built hotel to accommodate visitors, a town mercantile, saloons etc. What the town didn’t have, however, was strong law enforcement. Well, there was a Marshall but he didn’t have the courage to stand ground with the owner of the neighboring ranch, the Pullman’s. Junior Pullman, a wealthy rancher, a dictator and an overall a$$hole, viewed Far Creek as one of the his ‘things’ to control and his equally sh!ta$$ ranch-hands would ride the town roughshod whenever it suited them. There was no one to leash them in and make them pay for their misbehavior. No one to say anything to be precise cause the so-called Marshall and most everyone thought that catering to Pullman’s whims was the best way to go, seeing how whoever declined to obey him would more often than not be visited by ‘bad luck’ where their home and livelihood would be completely ruined. Sometimes they paid with their lives as well.

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3.5 stars. This rating and review is ONLY for “Mrs. Sartin’s Secretary” by Wendy LaCapra. If I read the other stories later, I’ll try to review them. Of course, the rating may change too.
****

Mrs. Sartin’s Secretary by Wendy LaCapra

When I read book 1 of Wendy LaCapra’s Lords of Chance series titled Scandal in Spades last year, I was blown away not only by Wendy’s beautiful writing but also the story and its protagonists. The H and h shared amazing chemistry that was palpable right from the moment they met. It was a straight winner so I was eagerly waiting for book 2...which turned out to be Heart’s Desire.

While I waited, I heard about Wendy writing a short story in between these two books, somehow connecting to book 2 through its hero, Lord Markham or Heart. But why is Markham called ‘Heart’? I talked about it a bit more elaborately in my review of book 1. In a nutshell, the other heroes of this series formed a group of sort where Markham joins later, and they called each other by sobriquets taken from the cards. The hero of book 1, the Marquess of Bromton Giles went by as Spades. Two of his close friends that will have the next books in the series, Lord Farring and Lord Rayne, are known as Club and Diamond. In that order.

In book 1 I had the hint that Markham, the youngest of them all, was a bit of a rake, hence he was the Hearts. It was said that he never left his lovers wanting. Just how much of a rake, you get a glimpse of it in this really short story here. From the beginning though, I had issues. I had a difficult time connecting this story with the series. For one, Mrs. Sartin or her secretary, the two protagonists were never even introduced in book 1 so I had no earthly idea who they were and why they even had a story to begin with?! Well apart from the fact that it becomes clear very early on that Mrs. Sartin is Markham’s lover. (note here that Mrs. Sartin may well have been briefly introduced in book 1 but I don’t remember her at all so my point stands)

In the end though, Wendy’s note explains that we’ll be seeing more of Mrs. Sartin in Markham’s book, Heart’s Desire. She wanted the lonely widow to have a story so she gave her one.

Fair enough.

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His Duchess at Eventide is book 2 of Wendy LaCapra’s the Mythic Dukes series. I’ve been a fan of this series since it debuted last year and have been eagerly waiting for the next installment. Alluding to the story of Odysseus and Penelope, along with author’s wonderful writing, this story was a treat to read from page one.

The Mythic Dukes is a brand new series by the author that doesn’t connect to her previous series titled the Furies. That was another wonderful series through which I discovered her work. Book 1 of the Mythic Dukes, Her Duke at Daybreak, introduces us to a trio of Dukes, childhood friends—The Dukes of Ashbey, Cheverley and Hurtheven. Ashbey was our typical angsty duke who was tortured by his past and a so-called curse that’s said to have tainted his ancestral name and anything else they’ve called their own for many generations. Ashbey’s own life had been mired with tragedies and bad luck, to a point he’d given up hope for a life of happiness. He’s become so cynical, so dead inside that he never thought anyone could ever revive the empty space where his heart’s supposed to be. Then, enter Alicia our heroine.

Called as the Angelic Widow by Ashbey the moment he clapped his eyes on her, Alicia had known her own hardship with a cheating husband who publicly dumped her over his mistress. She’d been hurt all throughout her miserable marriage so Alicia never truly thought she’d ever be happy. But I think over the years since her husband had left her, she’d come to terms with the fact that he’d never return to her. To Alicia his death, though sad, had been more of a good riddance. Yet, because he was a famous figure Alicia was still the talk of the town. All negative talk, and through no fault of her own. Because they hero-worshipped her husband, she was the evil woman who didn’t die in time for him to marry the ‘love of his life’. Absolutely disgusting to think they’d treat her this way! Alicia couldn’t go out without veiling herself. Yet somehow, Ashbey or Ash who’d heard of Alicia from Cheverley, and wanted to meet her, identifies her among the crowd of people gathered to mourn their so-called hero. There amongst the crowd, they shared a moment that pretty much sealed their fate. I loved the book and Ash and Alicia’s coming together. A proper widow and a Duke who thinks he’s the very devil, and a cursed ancestry to go with it. ;) It was full of love, yearning and so much hope that I was grinning ear-to-ear when I finished it.

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What Lies Between is book 2 of B.N. Toler’s Where One Goes series; one that was most anticipated by many of us who loved book 1, Where One Goes. It was one of my favorite reads of 2015 and a 5 stars at that. B.N. Toler was a new to me author and she blew my mind with her storytelling. I was pretty sad that there won’t be a sequel to the story when it felt like it needed a one badly. In that sense, this is a very lovely surprise that I didn’t expect to see but was extremely happy nonetheless to see it becoming a reality. 

As usual with my reviews, I’ll begin with a bit of backstory. Where One Goes is narrated from multiple first POVs of the main protagonists; 3 of them. But it begins with Charlotte, our h, trying to help out one last soul before she became of them. Charlotte had a lovely childhood until a few years ago when a tragic accident that changed everything. One moment of impulsive decision took the life of her elder brother Axel and left her badly injured. As she was recovering from her near fatal injury, Charlotte found out the most astonishing thing that had ever happened to her!  She could see spirits; souls in limbo that needed help in crossing over. Since she wasn’t used to it, Charlotte needed help alongside the love and support of her parents in gradually becoming used to with her new ‘gift’. However, her strictly religious parents couldn’t connect with her ‘issues’, thinking she’s become mentally unstable and their relationship deteriorated to a point that she was told simply to leave. Just go away , was all she got. Ever since then Charlotte has been on her own, trying to eke out a life herself and doing what she was meant to be doing; helping out souls that needed her help.