Challenge Corner discussion

A mistress. A mountain of debt. A mysterious wreck of a building.

Delilah Swanpoole, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring,” is a lot more interesting—and perfidious—dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man.

But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue’s Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice.

They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts. Now a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his own code of honor…or choose a love that might be the truest thing he’s ever known?

Planning to start this series in a couple of weeks.

Started

Chapters 1-7 (view spoiler)[I’m not really sure how I feel about this book yet. I can’t tell if I don’t like it or just not into historical romance still. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 8-14 (view spoiler)[I’m having such a hard time listening to this one. I think I’m bored or just don’t care about the story. One of the two. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 15-20(view spoiler)[Still bored. The spice was okay, but even still, I’m not feeling this one. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[The ending was okay, but I just felt like I’ve read so many similar things before. I just did not care for this one and it could just be I wasn’t in the mood. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 1-5: (view spoiler)[Oooooh this was such a strong start to the book. I really liked how sort of an uncoventional friendship has formed between Lady Derring and the mistress Angelique. I am curious to see how they turn the decreipt building into a boarding house. Meanwhile Tristan is looking into how Derring got the cigars(?) which confused me but I am being patient. Time would reveal what it is all about (hide spoiler)]

Finished book 1.

Chapter 6-11: (view spoiler)[LOL Angelique and Delilah really turned the old building into a boarding house but something nefarious was definitely going on there before Lord Derring's death. I am wondering if what Farraday was asking were different varieties of cigar and I really do hope the book is about something more than those. Tristan and Delilah haven't had as much contact as i would have liked till now and I hope it picks up soon (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12-17: (view spoiler)[I am still waiting for something substantial to happen. Delilah and Tristan did spend some good time together in this segment and the sparks definitely flew but I think this is much too slow paced for my liking. The romance between the two MCs is not as prominent in the story as it should be and the side characters are taking up a lot of space. I am curious about this Mr. Brinker, was he someone who knew who Tristan actually is? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 18-21: (view spoiler)[UGH I am not really feeling the chemistry between the two despite liking Delilah as a character so much, I feel like something is missing between the two. Maybe Tristan is just too focused on whatever he is investigating about and I am feeling restless because even that mystery isn't turning out to be that great, he is looking for suppliers of some cigar for god's sake (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[So the Gardners were the smugglers under disguise, it all seems a bit too far fetched that Delilah and Angelique weren't able to recognise that considering the time period this is set in sets such high standards for women which I do not think could have been fulfilled by men disguising as women. I believe the conflict was resolved without much of a build up too which was slightly disappointing. (hide spoiler)]

I'll get back to this series soon. Waiting on my library.

Still waiting.

Will get back to this soon.

Starting this next.

Chapters 1-6(view spoiler)[Not really sure how I feel about this book right now. Hopefully it gets better and I like the characters a little more. (hide spoiler)]

58% (view spoiler)[I’m just starting out o think this author might just not be for me. I’m so bored listening to this. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 14 (view spoiler)[Now I just think it’s a lot of spice. Maybe I shouldn’t read when I start feeling sick. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[I'm thinking this series is just not going to be for me. I thought that ending was WAY too dramatic for what it was. (hide spoiler)]

Coming back to this one soon. Waiting for my library hold.

Still waiting

Waiting for my library still.

I'll get back to this soon.

Still waiting on my library.

I'll be starting this one soon, just finishing up some other buddy reads first.

Continuing soon

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RESTARTING APRIL 12TH, 2024


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RESTARTING JULY 31ST, 2024

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Updating this now since I’ll be on vacation the next few weeks.

I’ll read this one soon

Chapters 1-5

(view spoiler)[I am so glad not to be living during the time of this novel, where a woman's livelihood is dependent on a man. Plus, living when men had mistresses and wives couldn't do anything about it.

Delilah finds herself basically without nothing after her husband dies, except for a building that isn't in great shape. Such an a-hole, so through no fault of her own she is in financial strain.

Dealing with this while also meeting her husband's mistress at the same time. Then these two becomes friends.

Who would have thought???

I don't feel much when it comes to Tristan from his scenes yet, he just seems like a man on a mission. Well, and the bit about his past when it came to women made me wonder what it is going to be about Delilah to make him have a different view on things. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 5-10

(view spoiler)[Tristan has let a room at the boarding house and has fond out who he thought was a maid is actually Lady Derring.

I like what they are trying to do with the boarding house, but all of the boarders seem suspect to me. The sisters that checked in together Margaret and Jane, if that's their real names, Mr. Delacourt, and of course Mr. X's employer who is just a complete mystery.

One of my favorite bits was when Delilah and Angelique refused to call Mr. X by that moniker. I would have definitely rolled my eyes.

When Tristan did go to check in, he was a bit of an ass for sure. Why do men have to act stupid when they are attracted to women they don't want to be attracted to and without knowing anything about the person they are being an ass to (even if it is brief)?

He has definitely not been endearing in the slightest so far. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 11-16

(view spoiler)[I'm liking the banter between Delilah and Tristan. It's nice to see her come out of her shell when it comes to those things.

I was glad to see her say something that she'd been thinking for a while when it comes to Angelique. Was it the time or place? No, but I would have gotten all that off my chest a long time ago. Heck, I probably wouldn't have gone into business with my husband's mistress in the first place (if probably=hell no).

So now we have the mystery of who Tristan is looking for, who is telling people not to come to Delilah's establishment, the background of more of the guest, and Mr. X's employer. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 17-22

(view spoiler)[Is anyone surprised that someone like Brinker came along and decided to take liberties? The location and word on the street is definitely not working in their favor for men to think this place isn't just a boarding house.

I would have thought that at least Angelique would have thought about them having some form of protection due to the location if nothing else.

I was glad to see that Angelique was willing to stand up for Delilah when it came to Tristan, by warning him to stay away before he hurt Delilah, although it didn't do a bit of good since those two couldn't seem to stay away from one another.

I didn't necessarily feel the chemistry between them, but when they were together it was pretty steamy. Especially since I wasn't expecting it.

It's starting to look like I had reason to think that the sisters are suspicious. At least according to Tristan's thought through this part of the book. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 23-epilogue

(view spoiler)[ I had a right to suspect the "sisters" although I didn't expect them to be who they were.

I do have to say (again) that the scenes between Tristan & Delilah in the bedroom were hotter than expected I still didn't feel their chemistry and the "love" they professed I really didn't feel.

Lastly Mr. X's employer arrived and I'm curious enough to know more about him to read the next book. (hide spoiler)]

Started book 2 tonight.



Chapters 1-4
(view spoiler)[
I'm enjoying this so far. Lucian's backstory is interesting, I wonder who he wants to get revenge against? Was it someone who had something to do with him disappearing for ten years? Something else? Also, I like the way he and Angelique rile each other up.
(hide spoiler)]

I'll be finishing book 2 up this week.

Will continue soon

I’ll be continuing soon

I’ll get to this soon

Will read

Finished book 2 tonight.



Chapters 5-8
(view spoiler)[
I feel like absolutely nothing is happening. Lucien is working on some type of revenge I guess but he doesn't seem to be doing much with it. I'm not very interested in the parts with the other guests at the hotel. Hopefully something more exciting will happen soon.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 9-12
(view spoiler)[
Well Lucien's meeting with his father was a bit anticlimactic, was hoping for more there. I'm glad his and Angelique's romance has moved forward a bit although she's now backed away. Hopefully this new character doesn't come between them.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 13-16
(view spoiler)[
Ok I did like the ending better than the middle of the book. Not a ton happened in this book outside of the romance which was a little disappointing. I did still like it but was hoping for more.
(hide spoiler)]

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RESTARTING FEBRUARY 21ST, 2025

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This one's available at my library! Looking forward to joining!

Going to start this soon

I’ll continue soon

I’ll continue this soon

I will continue soon

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RESTARTING AUGUST 22ND, 2025

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I'm planning to pick up book 3 in this series this month.