In Her Highlander's Bed (Highland Brides #11) by Lynsay Sands (2023)

This latest book in the Highland Brides has left me feeling 'meh.' I'm not quite sure why, because normally, I love this series. I don't know if it's just that I'm finding the mention of racy bits annoying (not that I read it, but the fact that I have to take time to skip it is annoying) or if it was just these 2 characters, but I didn't really click with either of the OTP. In fact, the heroine quite got on my nerves and the villain was extremely Snidely Whiplash.

It sounds like Alec might be the next hero, which would be a welcome return of the Buchanan brothers. Even though the heroine is their cousin and we see some of them, it's just not the same as the chaotic goodness that is the Buchanan clan. A bit disappointed.

(I'm not really feeling the cover, either. It looks like Stretch Armstrong was crossed with a Mr. Universe. Just not my jam.)

3 out of 5 stars.

What Happens in London (Bevelstoke #2) by Julia Quinn (2009)

We first met Olivia Bevelstoke in The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (Bevelstoke #1). This time around Miranda's best friend gets a romance of her own. There's well-rounded characters and a really nice romance that develops. 4/5 stars.

The prologue of our tale introduces us to our hero, Sir Harry Valentine. The middle of 3 children (an elder sister and a younger brother), Harry has a strong-willed, opinionated Russian grandmother, a passive, disconnected mother and a father who is a drunk. A agreeable drunk with a bad habit of stumbling and tripping, laughing when no one else did, and throwing up with regular frequency. By the time Harry was 12, any other young child would have lost count of the number of times he'd cleaned up after his father, but he had always been a precise sort of boy, and once he'd begun his accounting, it was difficult to stop... once he'd reached 20, the issue became somewhat academic... It had to be academic. If it wasn't academic, then it would be something else, and he might find himself crying himself to sleep instead of merely staring at the ceiling as he said, "Forty-six, but with a radius quite a bit smaller than last Tuesday. Probably didn't have much for supper tonight." By the time he graduates from Hesselwhite (a reasonable rigorous academy for families without the clout to attend Eton or Harow), the count has grown to 126. 

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (Bevelstoke #1) by Julia Quinn (2009)

At the age of ten, Miss Miranda Cheever showed no signs of Great Beauty. Her hair was brown -- lamentably -- as were her eyes; and her legs, which were uncommonly long, refused to learn anything that could be remotely called grace... Unfortunately for Miranda, the society into which she was born placed great stock on female appearance. 

After her best friend, Olivia Bevelstoke's, 11th birthday party, Miranda's father forgets to send someone to collect her (he's busy translating a manuscript from the ancient Greek). Lady Rudland enlists Olivia's older brother, Nigel, to escort her home. 

"Nigel is nineteen, and he is very eligible," Olivia said matter-of-factly. "He's a viscount. And he's very handsome. He looks just like me."

Even though she and Miranda have been friends since birth, she's never met older brother Nigel (away at Eton, of course). She's rather in awe when they finally meet:

At the sound of the deep voice, Miranda turned her face to the doorway and almost gasped. There stood quite the most splendid creature she had ever beheld. Olivia had said that Nigel was 19, but Miranda immediately recognized him as the man he already was. His shoulders were marvelously broad, and the rest of him was lean and firm. His hair was darker than Olivia's but still streaked with gold... But the best part about him, Miranda immediately decided, was his eyes, which were bright, bright blue, just like Olivia's. They twinkled just as mischievously, too. Miranda smiled. Her mother always said that one could tell a person by his eyes, and Olivia's brother had very good eyes.