Day: June 4, 2021

A Spinster for the Rakish Duke is Ava MacAdam’s newest addition. I was lucky enough to get an arc copy of this book and I have to say it was a lovely book. The third book in the Notorious Sisters of London series this book can be read on its own, though I heavily suggest the other two as well. My one complaint would be the title of this book, which I will explain momentarily. Now allowed me to get in to the nitty gritty of this book.

As with previous books Ava MacAdam’s provides a wonderful story of enduring love with a tiny bit of mystery. The female protagonist Emma fits well in to the time frame in which the story takes place, and her issues are believable and well placed. Though I found some of her reasoning towards the end of the book to be flimsy, I had to remind myself that she was a woman in love.

The male protagonist, Donovan, is where my issue with the title of the book comes in. While he may have a couple of moments with Emma that could be rakish in nature, these moments remain private, (for the most part) his public reputation is one of a fairly respectable Duke. (Unless you are a solicitor, anyway.)

All in all, aside from my issue with the title choice, which I know is chosen to grab attention as all book titles are I have to say that this is yet another fantastic romance by Ava MacAdam’s and should be read by both fans of the author and historical romances.

The Dragon’s Touchstone by Irene Radford is an interesting fantasy novel. I know this is an older book, but not one I would have picked up this one on my own. I got it as part of a program at my local library that mails you random books based on preferences you send them. I honestly expected little from this adventure in literature, but I was pleasantly surprised when this new discovery showed up on my doorstep. Since most of what I read these days is digital, it was also nice to get my hands on a physical book for a bit.

In this world, battles are decided less by the soldiers who fight them, and more by the mages who plan out and fling spells to fight for and protect the lords they serve. This makes battlemages high in demand. And extremely deadly.

One Mage has decided he wants to end the wars that are more or less just between mages. So he sets out on a journey to see a lord who wants to see peace settled on to the throne. In the process, he meets a woman who is being guided by dragons!

This story amazingly combines a creative fantasy world and a story of a man who simply wants to see the world at peace, or at least his home country, and actually can make that happen. If only he can get people to agree to work with the dragons.

If you enjoy fantasy, particularly epics, this is a must read for you! It is part of a larger series but you can read it alone.