MedicineWoman

Historical all the way! Reading historical romance and historical mysteries with an occasional (women’s sports) nonfiction title mixed in. 🐈🐈‍⬛🩺📚🌻🪴⚽️🎾

615 points

0% overlap

My Taste

Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr, #20)

The Belle of Belgrave Square (Belles of London, #2)

The Matter of the Secret Bride (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries #8)

MedicineWoman finished reading and wrote a review...

MedicineWoman

Oct 16, 2025

4.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 4.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 4.0

For me this was the perfect follow up after Lord of Scoundrels. Lighter in tone even though the topic would suggest otherwise. Little bit of a medical mystery woven in with Gwen as the medical sleuth. Cameos for Jessica & Dain and Genevieve and her duke.

MedicineWoman started reading...

The Mad Earl's Bride (Scoundrels, #3.5)

Loretta Chase

Originally appeared in the print anthology Three Weddings and a Kiss (1995). Gwendolyn Adams is about to propose to an earl. On his deathbed. Gwendolyn Adams isn't shocked at being asked to save a handsome earl's dying line, even when she learns the prospective bridegroom is seriously ill and possibly insane. She's quite a good nurse, after all, and her family is famous for producing healthy male children. Those stories about his riding the moors half-naked on a pale white horse? Extremely intriguing—especially after she gets her first look at the gorgeous lunatic. The Earl of Rawnsley wants only to lose what's left of his mind in peace and privacy. But his busybody relatives have saddled him with a surprise bride and orders to sire an heir forthwith. (And they say he's mad?) But with Gwendolyn, his health is returning, and his resistance ... crumbling. Is it possible that love is the finest madness of all?

MedicineWoman commented on MedicineWoman's update

MedicineWoman made progress on...

Lord of Scoundrels (Scoundrels, #3)

Loretta Chase

72%

MedicineWoman finished reading and left a rating...

MedicineWoman

Oct 15, 2025

3.0

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

I found this a very difficult read and at the same time I could not put it down. It kept haunting me even after I did put it down. I loved Jessica, but I hated Dain with a vengeance. After breezing through the Carsingtons and loving all the books and the lighthearted and often funny scenes, this story and especially the hero in this book was a bit too dark and disturbing for me. This was not the escapism I need in my fiction, but at the same time I can appreciate this book as a true work of art.

MedicineWoman made progress on...

Lord of Scoundrels (Scoundrels, #3)

Loretta Chase

72%

MedicineWoman made progress on...

Lord of Scoundrels (Scoundrels, #3)

Loretta Chase

12%

MedicineWoman commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

MedicineWoman

Unmaking of Historical Romance (Bookriot)

Bookriot has written an in depth article about the declining sales of historical romance with quotes from many well-known HR authors, like Mimi Matthews, Sarah Maclean, Joanna Shupe and Liana de la Rosa. I am a huge fan of historical romance and this trend of established HR authors being pushed into other genres by publishers makes me very sad. I also learned from this article that the mass market paperback is officially dead per the end of 2025. I knew this was happening (even Harlequins shifted to a larger format), but this also makes me very, very sad. I adore my large collection of mass market historical romances.

Are you still reading HR?

Article link: https://bookriot.com/unmaking-of-the-historical-romance-genre/

MedicineWoman started reading...

Lord of Scoundrels (Scoundrels, #3)

Loretta Chase

DETERMINED LADY Tough-minded Jessica Trent's sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And when Dain's reciprocal passion places them in a scandalously compromising, and public, position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction... LORD OF SCOUNDRELS Damn the minx for tempting him, kissing him... and then forcing him to salvage her reputation! Lord Dain can't wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place—and in some amorous position. And if that means marriage, so be it!—though Sebastian is less than certain he can continue to remain aloof... and steel his heart to the sensuous, headstrong lady's considerable charms.

MedicineWoman finished reading and left a rating...

Last Night's Scandal (Carsington Brothers, #5)

MedicineWoman

Oct 12, 2025

4.0

Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 4.0

MedicineWoman finished reading and left a rating...

MedicineWoman

Oct 11, 2025

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

MedicineWoman finished reading and left a rating...

Not Quite a Lady (Carsington Brothers, #4)

MedicineWoman

Oct 11, 2025

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

MedicineWoman started reading...

Not Quite a Lady (Carsington Brothers, #4)

Loretta Chase

Irresistible Force Darius Carsington is a spectacularly handsome rake with a rare intelligence and no heart, a man who divides his time between bedding loose-moraled women and writing scholarly papers. He finds society's "perfect darlings" exceedingly boring. But there's something intriguing, and not quite perfect, about faultless Lady Charlotte Hayward. He senses a crack under her polished surface, and finding it is a challenge he can't resist. Immovable Object Lady Charlotte is so beautiful, charming, and gracious that no one has noticed what an expert she is at Not Getting Married. Early on, she learned a painful lesson about trust... and temptation. In the years since, she's devoted her life to being all she ought to be—and she's not about to let a man like Carsington entice her to do everything she shouldn't. A Splendid Collision But the rules of attraction can easily overpower the rules of manners and morals, and sometimes even the best-behaved girl has to follow her instincts, even if it means risking it all.

MedicineWoman commented on MedicineWoman's update

MedicineWoman started reading...

Lord Perfect (Carsington Brothers, #3)

Loretta Chase

IDEAL The heir to the Earl of Hargate, Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne, is the perfect aristocrat. Tall, dark, and handsome, he is known for his impeccable manners and good breeding. Benedict knows all the rules and has no trouble following them—until she enters his life. INFAMOUS Bathsheba Wingate belongs to the rotten branch of the DeLucey family: a notorious lot of liars, frauds, and swindlers. Small wonder her husband’s high-born family disowned him. Now widowed, she’s determined to give her daughter a stable life and a proper upbringing. Nothing and no one will disrupt Bathsheba’s plans—until he enters her life… SCANDALOUS Then Bathsheba’s hoyden daughter lures Benedict’s precocious nephew into a quest for a legendary treasure. To recover the would-be knights errant, Benedict and Bathsheba must embark on a rescue mission that puts them in dangerous, intimate proximity. It’s a situation virtually guaranteed to end in mayhem—even scandal!—if anyone else were involved. But Benedict is in perfect control of events. Perfect control, despite his mad desire to break all the rules. Perfect control. Really.

MedicineWoman finished reading and wrote a review...

Mr. Impossible (Carsington Brothers, #2)

MedicineWoman

Oct 07, 2025

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 4.0

Action packed story with a lovely romance, interesting Egyptology tidbits and lots of funny moments that counteracted all the rather disturbing violent moments perfectly. An old school romance that would not be published nowadays. CW: colonialism, violence, murder.

MedicineWoman started reading...

Lord Perfect (Carsington Brothers, #3)

Loretta Chase

Post from the Mr. Impossible (Carsington Brothers, #2) forum

MedicineWoman

Podcasts discussing this book

I decided to add this book to my shortlist TBR after listening to Meg & Laine from Plot Trysts discuss it on The Historical Romance Sampler Podcast earlier this year.

The Historical Romance Sampler Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-historical-romance-sampler/id1720045502?i=1000693865885

It also featured in their podcast a couple of seasons ago. Plot Trysts: https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/plot-trysts/id1468525290?i=1000441511118

MedicineWoman started reading...

Mr. Impossible (Carsington Brothers, #2)

Loretta Chase

Alternate cover found here. Impossible Rupert Carsington, fourth son of the Earl of Hargate, is his aristocratic family's favorite disaster. He is irresistibly handsome, shockingly masculine, and irretrievably reckless, and wherever he goes, trouble follows. Still, Rupert's never met an entanglement—emotional or otherwise—he couldn't escape. Until now. Outrageous Now he's in Egypt, stranded in the depths of Cairo's most infamous prison, and his only way out is to accept a beautiful widow's dangerous proposal. Scholar Daphne Pembroke wants him to rescue her brother, who's been kidnapped by a rival seeking a fabled treasure. Their partnership is strictly business: She'll provide the brains, he the brawn. Simple enough, in theory. Inevitable Blame it on the sun or the blazing desert heat, but as tensions flare, and inhibitions melt, the most disciplined of women and the most reckless of men are about to clash in the most impossibly irresistible way.

Post from the Murder at Somerset House (Wrexford & Sloane, #9) forum