jess_justmaybeperfect's reviews
769 reviews

Class differences meets a conspiracy meets revenge meets a murder mystery. 

A sexy, feminist, hilarious, adventurous, romance. A the villain is extra villainy. A great Hoyt. 

Love Quirk’s narration. 

No Ordinary Duchess is a story of a sheltered young woman who has just left her isolated childhood home for society and a powerful, older, heir to a Duke. 

Clearly this set up had the potential to be a shocking power imbalance. But, and this should come as no surprise, Hoyt doesn’t let her FMCs be controlled by their men. 

Elspeth may present as naive and sheltered, but she’s actually fiercely independent and on a mission to save the society that raised her. Julian is indeed powerful but he’s also lonely, terrified of his uncle, and enjoys being submissive, especially to Elspeth. 

I loved the series long mystery, the clashing families, the intrigue, the emotional and physical relationships, the found family, and lasting friendships in this read. I can’t wait for more of the series. 

Thanks for Hoyt and Forever for the ARC. 

A sparkling wallflower and rake tale! I loved watching Alice gain confidence and Kit gain self awareness. The friend group is a delight and so is Shupe’s insistence on pushing the envelope with progressively minded MCs. 

Just don’t love the narrator. 

This 1760 set HistRom starts with a forced marriage between a young woman and her evil uncle’s henchman. As they start to fall in lust and than love, truths and  betrayals are revealed and hearts are broken and mended. 

The class differences and opposites attract is exquisite in this book. As is the found family and henchman-has-good-heart-actually of it all. The good heart springs from an incredibly tragic back story. 

This book is a reminder of just how tragic 1700s Britain was for those without the protection of money and power. Hoyt does a great job of examining privilege through the FMC who spends a lot of the book reconciling with that tragedy. 

Plus it’s pretty hot, there’s an excellent sick bed scene, and I love the Bet and the Fox tie in at the beginning of each chapter. 

I think I’m going to really enjoy this series. 

Best friend’s sister meets unspeakable (and yet to be solved) murder mystery meets avenging “witches” meets f*ck the patriarchy. 

A very fun, super hot, start to what I imagine will be another great series. 

Lots of setting the scene for the series in the first half and the romance takes some time to get started. 

This book, the 3rd in MacLean’s Hell’s Belles series features perhaps the most intriguing of the Belles, Lady Imogen Loveless, and Detective Thomas Peck, a dedicated member of Scotland Yard. 

These two are classic opposites attract, with a twist. 

She’s the delightful chaos to his serious steadiness. She’s short and curvy. He’s tall and muscular. She’s a Lady. He has worked his way up from nothing. Turns out though, they have similar goals. 

Imogen wants nothing more than to do her science in peace and of course, to strike fear in the hearts of cruel men in power. Then she meets Tommy and miiiiiiight want just one more thing. 

Tommy wants to keep his city safe and work his way up in the force, to be someone his adoring family* is proud of, and now, to protect his personal slice of chaos, Lady Imogen. 

*(there is a dinner at his mother’s home that will melt the coldest of hearts ♥️♥️) 

Imogen and Tommy want each other from the first, literally the first book. Some of us have been waiting for this story for a LONG time. 🤣🤣 And boy does MacLean make these too work for their HEA. In one of the classes she teaches MacLean stresses that authors must be able to address why the characters can’t be together RIGHT NOW. And while these two are on the page together for most of the book, they have A LOT to overcome to be together: Class. Belief in justice. Their own insecurities. Villains. Paternal legacies. Family. 

Knockout continues the intrigue of the previous books but is definitely a stand alone story. Many of your favorite characters from earlier books and earlier series make appearances too, a theme in the MacLeaniverse! 

Imogen is a perfect MacLean FMC. She knows what she wants, who she is, and how to get it. She doesn’t necessarily need help, but when it comes from the right person, she may just accept when no one expects it.

Plus the author’s note is spectacular (and in the audio version). 

I first read this book as an arc provided by Avon and Ms. McLean. My thanks to them both.